Has Sen. Kristen Gillibrand demanded that Rep Tony Gonzalez resign yet? Asking for Al Franken.

[QueerDuck]

24. So she played into the hands of the "corporate media" ... interesting take.

Her voice was quite loud and frequent. That's no accident. That's largely how she's remembered and for good reason. It's unclear what reason anyone would have to try and deny the larger-than-life and aggressive role she played in taking down a good, honest and decent man.

With regard to his resignation... it's interesting that people like to give an abbreviated, stilted and truncated description of that. Often limited it to something as simplistic and abrupt as "and in the end Franken chose to resign" (implying guilt) but omitting other details that put his resignation in context of the time and in the context of his unselfish reasons and the party divisions and civil war that he had hoped would be avoided. I wonder why that is. (Actually, I don't.)

Yes, he resigned... but it was for the good of the party because he could see how divisive it was going to be. His resignation was not an admission of guilt or wrongdoing. He fell on his own sword out of deep respect for the party and recognition that cooler and calmer and rational heads would not prevail in the atmosphere and popular hashtag movement of the time. The argument that "he could have stayed" is a rather cynical attempt to mischaracterize or paper-over the reality at the time. The situation had already progressed beyond any hope of fairness, and he knew that. The bandwagon effect took over. The damage had been done and the saboteurs won.

So... let's be honest... Franken was no idiot. He could see what was happening and that the writing was on the wall. He could NOT have stayed and he could NOT have fought because everything was already rigged against him. He put the party above his own ego and what was right and fair. And still, in spite of his loyalty to the party and choosing to not put us through a drawn out process... there are still people who line up to eagerly bash him for it and to give him absolutely no credit. Sheesh. He was right. He knew it was a no-win situation, or that by demanding fairness, it would come at a political cost (to the party) that he was not willing to indulge for his own vanities and luxury.

He weighed the outcomes and the cost of each, and he chose the best one at the time. He put the party above his own pride and his own legacy. I admire him for making a difficult choice and I respect his reasons for doing so. So should you.