I woke up feeling sad this morning. We’ve had a cold snap and along with a 40 degree temperature drop-off in a 24 hour period, it’s been gloomy and rainy. It was pitch black when I first stirred and the space heater was purring in the bedroom. I didn’t feel like getting out of bed but I did albeit slowly and hesitantly.
The word depressed is over used in the 21st Century. I’m not depressed: I’m melancholy, which is a word that needs reviving. It’s on my list, just like a kiss is on Daryl Hall’s list. I have not, however, seen the Lars von Trier film of that name. Not sure that I want to trier out at this point in time…
In addition to nothing but gray skies (to paraphrase Irving Berlin) another reason for my melancholia is the departure from the arena of John Conyers and Al Franken. I understand that the venerable Civil Rights icon had to go but I’m still sad about it. Social media is full of people who know nothing about Conyers and his lifetime of achievement in and out of Congress. In fact, one person I follow on twitter blasted Conyers and in her next missive celebrated Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks was a member of John Conyers’ staff from 1964 to 1988. Conyers, like most of us, is complicated and his life should be placed in context. Some nuance is required.
I’m also sad that Al Franken has announced his plans to resign his Senate seat “in the coming weeks.” He’s made me laugh for many years and has been a good and thoughtful Senator. Once some thirty of his Democratic colleagues called for his resignation, it was time for him to go. But I’m still sad about it because his offenses are loutish at worst, and not comparable to the Weinsteins, Trumps, and Moores of the world. A slap on the butt is not the same thing as dating underage girls. Some nuance is required.
We need to devise a spectrum of misbehavior when dealing with our allies in particular. There are obviously things that require banishment and others admonishment. I’m not sure how to come up with such a spectrum but we need to differentiate the clumsy pass from sexual assault and worse. The latter term is maddeningly vague: simple assault is any unwanted touching by another person. It’s being used as an all-encompassing term when some specificity and nuance is required.
I hope that Senate Democrats are acting strategically, not tactically. But they have a long track record of focusing on short-term goals instead of the big picture. Like Slate’s Dahlia Lithwick, I’m concerned about the effects of unilateral disarmament:
Who knows why the GOP has lost its last ethical moorings? But this is a perfectly transactional moment in governance, and what we get in exchange for being good and moral right now is nothing. I’m not saying we should hit pause on #MeToo, or direct any less fury at sexual predators in their every manifestation. But we should understand that while we know that our good faith and reasonableness are virtues, we currently live in a world where it’s also a handicap.
Unilateral disarmament is tantamount to arming the other side. That may be a trade worth making in some cases. But it’s worth at least acknowledging that this is the current calculus. It’s no longer that when they go low, we get to go high. They are permanently living underground. How long can we afford to keep living in the clouds?
I’ve been reluctant to weigh in on this topic because I’m a middle-aged white dude whose ethnic culture is a touchy-feely one. Once again, I believe some nuance is required whereas the public discussion has been all black and white without much attention to the gray areas. We have to figure it out before it comes back to bite us in the ass. If we’re going to discard valued allies there had better be a damn good reason for it, especially when Donald Trump remains in office.
All of this is reason for melancholia. And the sun is still obscured by clouds. The last word goes to a sad song from The Band songbook complete with the appropriate line “and the sun don’t shine any more…”
From another (well past) middle-aged white dude, I will maintain a stony silence on l’affaire Franken except to say that I now expect every Senator who called for Franken’s resignation to now call for Rand Paul’s resignation until that resignation is tendered. This expectation is put forth under the non-partisan Goose and Gander Principle.
I loved the film. The person I went with hated it. Do spoiler it for yourself. The first few minutes of rather bizarre images is stunning. I loved the whole thing. Plus I have a crush on Kirsten Dunst even though I’m a sixty-something gay male. Also loved her in Virgin Suicides, and that one though great is likely too dark for someone already feeling down.
Well, not that I’m pounding the walls with my fists, but … damn.
Franken really should have known better, particularly regarding any credible allegations after 2008 (I’m aware of only one, but…one’s enough) Even if his personal definition of appropriate/not appropriate is different, he was/is a public figure, and if I remember, some of his more salacious comedy was freely used as oppo/mud by Coleman (who, Nancy LeTourneau of Washington Monthly pointed out, has issues of his own re: personal behavior).
Plus, groping is just plain wrong. Touch-feely is one thing, literally grabbing ass is another.
But…the entire arc of this story was and is depressing. Wrong as it is, yeah, we’ve lost a progressive voice in the Senate when we can least afford it, and the same Senate is about to GET a batshit crazy wingnut child molester, Trump’s still president…
If this had happened last year, would anyone besides Franken have cornered Jeff Sessions and forced him into recusal from the Russia investigation?
Again, no defense of groping — which is why I’m pissed AT Franken, but what pisses me ABOUT the story is that I seriously doubt it will swing any votes away from the likes of Trump, Roy Moore, et al…but it might become another smear to use against Democrats. IOKIYAR, INOKIYAD.
And if Lassie married a canteloupe and they had a child, it would be a
*wait for it*
Melon-collie baby.
Thank you! I’ll be here all week! Be sure to tip the veal and try your waiter!