I am more heartsick about the state of the world today than yesterday, something I didn’t think was possible. Jerusalem – let’s throw dynamite into this volatile situation and see what happens, chuckles Trump, the gleeful psychopathic six-year old. And Al Franken, one of the sanest voices in that insane land, sacrificed on the altar of political correctness in a country now so toxic, ripping itself apart from inside, it’s hard to imagine how it will continue to survive. Franken was foolish and juvenile, pretending to squeeze a sleeping woman’s breasts; another says he tried to kiss her, and another – oh imagine the horror! – that he squeezed some of the flesh of her waist during a photo op. What the hell is going on out there? Every minuscule grievance now has its chance to parade on the world stage, while an immoral pedophile makes his way to the Senate and the most loathsome predator on earth sits in the White House.
Okay, stop, racing heart. It will not do any good. Bill Maher must be climbing the walls. He’s always shouting at the Democrats for being so prissy and holier than thou, as opposed to the Republicans who have not a single iota of decency or shame. And now, at a time when a man like Franken could not be more vital to the fragile democracy they claim to love, they’ve shot themselves in the foot once again. Franken, a clever, diplomatic, reasonable, and funny man, a rare politician popular on both sides of the aisle – gone.
I know many will disagree – that any bad behaviour must be punished. And I say when the other side agrees, let them all go together. Otherwise, you’re handing the American government to the world’s most sexist, blind, cold-hearted men and women, just wait to see what they come up with. I had a long argument with my friends on FB about this yesterday; one wrote this, about Franken, whom I was defending:
When “good men” do despicable things, they are no longer “good men.” All the female Democratic Senators have called on him to resign, because what he did was not “something silly” – it was something disgusting and demeaning towards women. He does not get a free card because he is a Democrat.
Can we define “despicable”? “Due process” – have we heard of that? The fabulous, ultra-cool Deanne Taylor came up with the final word:
I don’t believe any ‘accusations’, only proof established with due process. Some of us female-persons have to stand up for a sense of proportion, for knowing the difference between a mistake and a pathology, for not screaming ‘victim’ or ‘survivor’ over a fumbled pass.
SENSE OF PROPORTION. Now, there’s an idea.
Heartsick. However. Pull yourself together, girl. It’s cold but sunny. I spent yesterday rewriting my book proposal and getting it out to a publisher. No choice, it’s got to be done; I will send to ten publishers and then, next spring, publish it myself and move on. Onward.
Heartsick.
5 Responses to “the infuriating loss of Al Franken”
Here's what I wrote to my London editor-author, just last week –
But why take the agent-publisher route, Ardella?
I love the idea of self-publishing. You're totally in control.
I refuse to sit around waiting for the benediction of an agent. And wasting all that time sending out query letters? Pah!
Look at the agents who turned down J.K. Rowling … and other great novelists.
Juliet in Paris
Re Al Franken: I think he had to go so that the Democrats could continue to hammer Republicans about their ethics. If Franken stayed, Democrats could not decry Republican transgressions. They'd be silenced. Sadly, he had to go so the party could continue to criticize. That's politics. At least that's how I see it and why other Democrats wanted him gone — especially women.
Of course, Chris – but it's just stupid for them to pretend that hammering the Republicans for their lack of ethics or morality will make the slightest bit of difference. It's just a ridiculous waste of time. They have sacrificed a good if flawed member of their team for the moral high ground, in a playing field where the other side doesn't even understand the word 'moral.' The moral high ground in this instance is meaningless.
And thanks, Juliet, yes – in the past I decided not to wait and simply self-published my last two books, loved everything about the experience until it came time to market the book. And then, though I know publishers are not great at this, I as publisher was far far worse. So I'm going to try to go through a publisher this time; after a few months of refusals or silence, which is what I'm expecting, I'll self-publish again.
And Chris – the Democrats could have said, Yes, Al Franken was foolish and did some disrespectful things, for which he has apologized. He has also done a great deal of good, legislatively, for girls and women. And his behaviour is nothing in comparison with Roy Moore hunting teenaged girls or Trump boasting about grabbing women by the genitals. They could fight, not as dirty as the Republicans, but fight. But no, we on the left are too pure for that. Well "pure" in the current utterly debased American system is nonsense.