Al Franken announced his resignation from the Senate on Thursday, and after listening to his exit address our question is why? The Minnesota left-hander said he did nothing wrong, claimed the Ethics Committee would vindicate him, and assailed his opponents as far worse than he is. So why not stick around and clear his name? Mr. Franken started off by saying how “excited” he had been a couple of months ago that America had finally begun a “conversation” in which men listened “to women about the ways in which men’s actions affect them.” But then, he said, “the conversation turned to me. Over the last few weeks, a number of women have come forward to talk about how they felt my actions had affected them. I was shocked. I was upset. But in responding to their claims, I also wanted to be respectful of that broader conversation, because all women deserve to be heard, and their experiences taken seriously. “I think that was the right thing to do. I also think it gave some people the false impression that I was admitting to doing things that, in fact, I haven’t done. Some of the allegations against me are simply not true. Others, I remember very differently.” In other words, Mr. Franken thinks some of his eight accusers are mistaken and the others may be lying. His only admission is that he is a great advocate for women.

I am confident that the Ethics Committee would agree. “Nevertheless, today I am announcing that, in the coming weeks, I will be resigning as a member of the United States Senate.” Nevertheless? Talk about a political non sequitur. Mr. Franken has behaved with “honor,” the Ethics Committee would clear him, but he’s still resigning?

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