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Nov 29, 2017PimaLib_NormS rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
It just so happened that I was in the middle of reading Al Franken’s book, “Al Franken, Giant of the Senate”, when the news broke about Franken’s inappropriate behavior towards women. My first thought was, “Really Al? C’mon, not you, too.” I’ve always liked Al Franken. I remember him from the early days of Saturday Night Live. (Who else out there remembers that the original title for the show was, “NBC’s Saturday Night”?). I have appreciated his humor, plus he and I share similar political views. The book is an insider’s account of the political process by someone who has not spent his entire life running for office. And, it has the added bonus of being appropriately funny. So, I liked the book. But, because he apparently is some kind of serial groper, I can’t just enjoy the book for what it is, I feel that I have to consider his baggage now. Will a positive review of his book cause some to see it as support for a sexual harasser? Does his abhorrent behavior render meaningless the good things he has done in his life? Should it? So many famous and semi-famous men are being outed for being sexual harassers, or worse. Which leads one to wonder, well, are there degrees of harassment? All sexual harassment is bad, of course, but is what one guy did worse than what another did? Who decides? These are just a few of many questions I don’t know how to answer.