I can hardly believe the amount of power some here are willing to cede to anonymous or virtually

[Ms. Toad]

27. Those women are not anonymous to the reporter,

And one of them disclosed the incident to the reporter contemporaneously. (I beleive the other disclosed contemporaneously to friends who confirmed it to the reporter - but that's just going on memory.)

My concern is that we are engaging in a double standard.

The woman is to be believed if she makes an accusation against a Republican

But her account is politically movitaved (all things I've seen on DU since the Franken allegations came out:
She accuses someone on our sided
She is a Republian
She has ever permittted her photo to be taken scantily clad
She discloses too late (even if she disclosed confidentially or to friends and family
She discloses anonymously (even if she is known to the reporter, who also speaks with friends and family to whom she disclosed contemporaneously)
The timing coincides with the accusations against Moore.

We would have properly scoffed at these responses, if offered by Republicans - so they should be met with similar disdain when the person accused is one of our own.

That said, I don't think Franken should resign - even if the accusations are 100% accurate. Unfortunately, if we hold men to the standard that anyone who ever inappropriately touched a woman should resign, there wouldn't be many men left to choose from. No, it's not every man - but it is far more (even of the "good" ones) than is generally acknowledged.

Franken's second apology was appropriate and reflective. I'd like to see him make similar apologies in connection with the butt grabbing which, frankly, seems like a pattern - and I'd like to see some formal commitment to engaging in training, or a series of conversations, designed to make sure he really "gets it" that even something I'm sure he viewed as innocuous at the time (butt grab) can have a pretty severe emotional impact on the recipient. (Speaking from personal experience here - as the recipient of strikingly similar behavior from an acquaintance who really didn't understand (1) that what he was doing was wrong/unwelcome or (2) the impact that it had on me. I know both of those because we have since spent a fair amout of time talking about it.)

In contrast, the accusations against Moore, Trump, and Weiner (to add one from our side) are far more serious - and they should resign.