When it comes to the abuse accusations against DFL Attorney General nominee Keith Ellison, DFL leaders are in a tough spot.
Currently, they’re supporting Ellison and making their candidates vulnerable to charges of hypocrisy and being soft on abuse. If the DFLers embrace the allegations, they could be destroying a rising star with less proof than existed in the Franken situation (i.e. multiple accusers and an attack ad-ready photo of a Senator faux groping to get a cheap laugh at an unsuspecting woman’s expense).
It’s difficult to figure out the right thing to do. It would be easier for DFL leaders to do the right thing if the Ellison accuser released the video of the incident she describes, where she says Ellison forcefully pulled off a bed while verbally abusing her. If DFL leaders knew that incident was real and as described, they could condemn the documented abuse and actively oppose Ellison.
But the problem is, the accuser doesn’t want to make the video public, for some pretty good reasons. She feels that having the video on the news for the whole world to see would be humiliating and traumatic. That’s an understandable and reasonable position for a victim to take.
So maybe this is the solution: The accuser allows a group of credible anti-abuse advocates to see the video. If the advocates see abuse in the private viewing of the video, they proclaim that to the world, and DFLers oppose him. If the accuser refuses to allow that kind of private viewing, while Congressman Ellison welcomes it, I’d feel a little better about supporting him. Minnesota voters might too.
Or vote for Noah Johnson, the Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis candidate whose name will be on the ballot. That party’s gubernatorial candidate takes these stands: Legalize Cannabis, Campaign Finance Reform, Combat Global Warming, End Income & Wealth Inequality, Tuition-Free Higher Education, Single Payer Healthcare.
Mr. Johnson got into the race and onto the ballot (by petition) in expectation of running against prohibitionist incumbent AG Lori Swanson. He’s not attacking Congressman Ellison, nor private individual Ellison. Presumption of innocence is one principle worth sticking to. And suppose some such video does exist. Did the alleged victim bring charges? What was the prelude to the scene of conflict? Are all liberals expected to conform to a 1984-style Big Brother “Anti-Sex League”? At the Pride event this year, among all the corporate booths, were various others such as the leather & bondage devotees and the adults-who-wear-diapers (apparently for kicks, not for incontinence.) Perhaps the notion is that ANYTHING GOES when it is consensual, and NOTHING GOES when it ain’t. I can see that theoretically there is consistency in that formula. But human beings aren’t always consistent; some inter-personal conflicts may sometimes get verbally and yes physically abusive without forethought and without necessitating the intervention of either the agents of the state or the self-appointed censors of other peoples’ personal, private conduct. It may be “politically incorrect” to say so, but good people sometimes do bad or stupid things. Unless there’s reason to believe it’s an on-going, established, malicious pattern of conduct, just leave it private. Especially when Republicans get the green light for any noxious nonsense in their interpersonal interactions, it is ridiculous to purge people like Franken or Ellison. The purge certainly won’t alleviate or cure the problem of domestic conflict and abuse, so it’s just the old Puritan “Scarlet Letter” treatment.