Al Franken's SNL colleagues' damaging letter
Al Franken
According to a CNN report filed on Nov. 20  a second woman has accused  Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn .) of inappropriate touching  this time after  he  joined the Senate. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)
Well   he  didn’t do anything to me.
That  in so many words  is what three dozen women who worked on “Saturday Night Live” said in a letter supporting Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) on Tuesday.
“What  Al  did was stupid and foolish  and we think it was appropriate for  him  to apologize to Ms Tweeden  and to the public ” the women wrote. And later  “We would like to acknowledge that not one of us ever experienced any inappropriate behavior; and mention our sincere appreciation that  he  treated each of us with the utmost respect and regard.”
Good  I guess?  Franken  has been accused of unwanted sexual contact by two women  including radio host Leeann Tweeden  but apparently  he  refrained from groping at least 36. Though this character testimony may at first seem relevant to any accounting of  Franken ’s misdeeds  look closer and it’s not the least bit helpful.
It’s unclear what the letter seeks to prove. (The writers  at least  acknowledge that  Franken  mistreated Tweeden.) The number of women a man didn’t assault does not matter if there are others he did. There are plenty of people the Zodiac Killer did not murder.
Saturday Night Live briefly criticizes  Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn .)  a former writer and star of the show on Nov. 18  as he faces sexual misconduct allegations. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
Refocusing attention on what  Franken  did right just distracts from what  he  did wrong. It also assumes a harasser abusing everyone  he  comes into contact with is the norm. That paints an inaccurate picture of workplace harassment  and it lowers the bar for behavior by suggesting that a bad man isn’t so bad after all if he’s only bad to some people.
“Sincere appreciation”? “Gratitude”? The letter-writers are thanking  Franken  for not groping them  instead of insisting that women should be able to take a grope-free atmosphere for granted.
The  Franken  letter isn’t the first time we’ve seen women speak up not to support women but to stand behind a man accused of harming women. Lena Dunham got hit hard over the weekend after she and a “Girls” co-writer mounted a similar defense of one of their colleagues accused of assault.
Dunham’s defense was worse; she claimed the accusation against her friend was “one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year.” But she based that claim on “having worked closely with him for more than a decade.” Dunham  in other words  thought her friend was a good guy  just as  Franken ’s defenders from “SNL” see  him  as “a devoted and dedicated family man” and “an honorable public servant.”
According to a CNN report filed on Nov. 20  a second woman has accused  Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn .) of inappropriate touching  this time after  he  joined the Senate. (Joyce Koh/The Washington Post)
Well   he  didn’t do anything to me.
That  in so many words  is what three dozen women who worked on “Saturday Night Live” said in [TGT].) on Tuesday.
“What  Al  did was stupid and foolish  and we think it was appropriate for  him  to apologize to Ms Tweeden  and to the public ” the women wrote. And later  “We would like to acknowledge that not one of us ever experienced any inappropriate behavior; and mention our sincere appreciation that  he  treated each of us with the utmost respect and regard.”
Good  I guess?  [TGT]has been accused of unwanted sexual contact by two women  including radio host Leeann Tweeden  but apparently  [TGT]  refrained from groping at least 36. Though this character testimony may at first seem relevant to any accounting of  Franken ’s misdeeds  look closer and it’s not the least bit helpful.
It’s unclear what [TGT] seeks to prove. (The writers  at least  acknowledge that  [TGT]mistreated Tweeden.) The number of women a man didn’t assault does not matter if there are others he did. There are plenty of people the Zodiac Killer did not murder.
Saturday Night Live briefly criticizes  Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn .)  a former writer and star of the show on Nov. 18  as he faces sexual misconduct allegations. (Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
Refocusing attention on what  [TGT]did right just distracts from what  [TGT]  did wrong. It also assumes a harasser abusing everyone  [TGT]  comes into contact with is the norm. That paints an inaccurate picture of workplace harassment  and it lowers the bar for behavior by suggesting that a bad man isn’t so bad after all if he’s only bad to some people.
“Sincere appreciation”? “Gratitude”? The letter-writers are thanking  Franken  for not groping them  instead of insisting that women should be able to take a grope-free atmosphere for granted.
The  Franken  letter isn’t the first time we’ve seen women speak up not to support women but to stand behind a man accused of harming women. Lena Dunham got hit hard over the weekend after she and a “Girls” co-writer mounted a similar defense of one of their colleagues accused of assault.
Dunham’s defense was worse; she claimed the accusation against her friend was “one of the 3 percent of assault cases that are misreported every year.” But she based that claim on “having worked closely with him for more than a decade.” Dunham  in other words  thought her friend was a good guy  just as  Franken ’s defenders from “SNL” see  him  as “a devoted and dedicated family man” and “an honorable public servant.”