# Trump, the Clintons, and sexual harrasment

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-clintons-and-sexual-harrasment/801780>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [November 16, 2017, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-clintons-and-sexual-harrasment/801780 "2017-11-16T16:58:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 52

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**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\
**Post date:** [November 18, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-the-clintons-and-sexual-harrasment/801780/52 "2017-11-18T21:25:55Z")

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An ethics inquiry IS a slap on the wrist. A real consequence would be resignation. Here, RTFirefly said it better than me:

> [@Now, Al Franken](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/now-al-franken/801770/465):
>
> This is the conundrum, isn’t it?
> 
> I agree that proportionality is important, and that we ought to sanction people in a way that’s not out of proportion to their offense.
> 
> The problem is, AFAICT it’s really all or nothing. The Senate could censure Franken, but that doesn’t really _mean_ anything. They could strip Franken of his committee assignments, but that is a punishment to the people of Minnesota that Franken represents, in addition to punishing Franken.
> 
> I just don’t see a meaningful condition to “he stays in the Senate, on the condition that…”
> 
> If someone can come up with one that makes sense, I’d like to hear it. But if the choices are “Franken resigns” or “Franken stays but sanctioned in a meaningless way” I’m still on the “resign” side.
> 
> (BTW, Spice Weasel, I’m quoting your comment not so much because I disagree with you (even though I reach a different conclusion) but because I think you’ve nailed the dilemma. There needs to be accountability, and there needs to be proportionality. But is there a way of having both? And which do we choose if we can only have one?)

Senate Dems are on the “Franken stays but sanctioned in a meaningless way” side.

ETA: scratch that, they’re actually on the ‘let’s investigate a bit first and decide whether we should sanction him in a meaningless way or not’ side.

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