It’s not every day I manage to get both liberals and conservatives mad at me, and I hope this isn’t one of those, but I have something I’ve got to say, and I can’t hold it in anymore: Liberals, stop fucking defending Al Franken!

Since Leann Tweeden’s accusation of Al Franken last week, I have seen more and more people with whom I normally align when it comes to politics defending Franken and even calling his outing a ploy on the part of Republicans to steer the narrative away from Roy Moore’s sexual misconduct and make the Democrats the focus of ire.

And you know what? This may be true. It probably IS true. But that doesn’t mean what Tweeden and Franken’s second accuser — Lindsay Menz, who came forward Monday with her allegations that Franken inappropriately grabbed her rear during a photo opp in 2010 — have said ISN’T true.

And it’s not just people in the private sector I have seen defending Franken. A whole host of former SNL employees — 36 women, to be exact –have signed a statement of support for Senator Franken, asserting, among other things, that “what Al did was stupid and foolish, and we think it was appropriate for him to apologize to Ms Tweeden, and to the public.” The statement continues:

In our experience, we know Al as a devoted and dedicated family man, a wonderful comedic performer, and an honorable public servant. That is why we are moved to quickly and directly affirm that after years of working with him, we would like to acknowledge that not one of us ever experienced any inappropriate behavior.

Hey, that’s great. I’m glad these women were treated with the respect they deserve. But Franken doesn’t get a medal because he only assaulted two (that we know of) of the many women he has encountered in his life, one of whom has photographic evidence of the misconduct. Sure, he may not have sexually assaulted underage girls — REPEATEDLY — but he still crossed the line. I mean, seriously?

Aren’t we as liberals supposed to be the champions of women’s rights? Aren’t we the ones calling for less legislation dictating what women can and can’t do with their bodies? Aren’t we demanding women be paid the same amount as their male counterparts? Aren’t we crusading for stricter punishment of men who assault women, sexually or otherwise?

SO WHY TF ARE WE GIVING FRANKEN A PASS?

Listen, I get that this is disappointing. I mean, I really liked Franken as well. A LOT. And I wouldn’t put it past any Republican in power now to exploit these accusations for political gain. BUT HE STILL DID IT. He still acted inappropriately with a woman — two women — AND THAT IS NOT OK.

The minute we start dismissing these actions in favor of politics is the minute we become no better than the window-licking support base for Moore, who would rather a child predator be in public office than a Democrat. Americans’ willingness to overlook sexual assault is the exact bullshit that landed us a pussy-grabbing, casually racist Toddler in Chief.

We’re no better than the people who voted a misogynistic bigot into the White House if we start ignoring the inappropriate sexual exploits of today’s Democrats in order to desperately cling to what little political leverage we still have. We do not want to be complicit in that crap — not today. Hypocrisy doesn’t look good on us (and the GOP already has the trademark on it).

I’m not saying we can’t forgive people for their poor choices. We should strive toward forgiveness. I’ve heard the mental health benefits alone are the shit. But forgiving and absolving of responsibility are not the same. Franken’s good deeds may outweigh his crimes (and they are crimes), but we’ve still got to hold him accountable for his actions.

The political sphere is already a blazing inferno of garbage humans, and I’m finding it more and more difficult to find anyone worthy of respect on either side of the party line. So let’s not add to the dumpster fire further.

And let’s use this unfortunate revelation as motivation to rebuild the Left with even better, more qualified, upstanding candidates who will rally for the policies we hold dear and continue to call for the heads of every single one of these shitstick creepers also accused of sexual misconduct on the Right.

At the end of the day, I am not willing to look the other way just because somebody was once “my guy” in the legislative rat race. I don’t think any of us should be.