I have a hard time agreeing that somebody should be disqualified for the rest of her of his life due to an inappropriate attempt at "joke". Censured? Criticized? Yes. But let's be honest here, 90% of the population would be disqualified under such strict standards (and I'm not talking just about sexual context).
I totally agree with this, especially the underlined part.
Sexual assault is never merely just an attempt at a joke. We are not exactly overwhelmed with seats in Congress that need filling. There are 325 million Americans, and 535 congresscritters. We can be a little picky.
Also the point publicunofficial made above. I don't think Franken should be cast out of society, have his memory damned, or anything like that. There's plenty he can do, even plenty of very good work for very good causes,
My main point is I don't think it's right to have somebody forced out of office based on a sole accusation. Yes, it's not the court of law, but we still should adhere to the principle of presumption of innocence until proven guilty. It's a bigger issue than Al Franken. I'll repeat: it's not about whether we should believe the accuser or not, and in most cases the accuser is proven correct in the end. But let it run a proper course.
The truth is like a thin ice. Let's it hold or break on its own. It's likely Franken may soon found himself in a cold water with Roy Moore and if so, screw him, good riddance, we learned a valuable lesson.
