Franken's Phony Finale
Al Franken’s resignation speech on Thursday seemed less heartfelt than grudging. He cast it not as an act of atonement — he continues to deny the charges largely and acknowledged through his stifled rage that his previous quasi-apologies had hastened his demise — but a reluctant act of gallantry. He was submitting docilely to the “broader conversation” on sexual harassment, he said, while signaling that his replacement, to whom he referred as “her,” would be a female pol embodying that conversation.