As claims that Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota has groped women have ignited sparks of controversy about the behavior of male elected officials toward women, another Democrat running for governor in Ohio has taken a blowtorch to the issue.
“Now that the dogs of war are calling for the head of Senator Al Franken I believe it is time to speak up on behalf of all heterosexual males,” Ohio state Supreme Court Justice Bill O’Neill posted Friday on his personal Facebook account.
“As a candidate for Governor let me save my opponents some research time. In the last fifty years I was sexually intimate with approximately 50 very attractive females. It ranged from a gorgeous blonde who was my first true love and we made passionate love in the hayloft of her parents barn and ended with a drop dead gorgeous red head from Cleveland,” he wrote.
“Now can we get back to discussing legalizing marijuana and opening the state hospital network to combat the opioid crisis,” he added.
The post was taken down, but O’Neill was not done with the subject.
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“As a 15 year jurist, I like to think I speak with clarity. So let me try again. When a United States Senator commits a non criminal act of indiscretion; and when it is brought to his attention he immediately has the integrity to apologize; and the apology is accepted by the victim: IT IS WRONG for the dogs of war to leap onto his back and demand his resignation from the United States Senate,” he wrote in a later Facebook post. “It is morally wrong.”
“And as an aside for all you sanctimonious judges who are demanding my resignation, hear this. I was a civil right lawyer actively prosecuting sexual harassment cases on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office before Anita Hill and before you were born,” he wrote.
But he had one more thing to add.
“Lighten up folks,” he wrote. “This is how Democrats remain in the minority.”
On Saturday, he had another thought to add.
“If I offended anyone, particularly the wonderful women in my life, I apologize. But if I have helped elevate the discussion on the serious issues of sexual assault, as opposed to personal indiscretions, to a new level … I make no apologies. Suggesting the admitted conduct of Senator Al Franken and the alleged conduct of Judge Roy Moore are on the same level trivializes the serious subject at hand,” he wrote.
“There are Democrats out there who are saying neither one of them pass the purity test to sit in the United States Senate. And that is sad,” he wrote.
In a Friday interview in which he said he would likely be dropping out of the governor’s race due to the expected entrance of former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray into the contest, O’Neill elaborated on his message.
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“Sexual harassment is a big problem in America. I know that,” O’Neill said. “But I think the Al Franken case is a classic example where the media frenzy takes real bad acts and goes into indiscretions and says, ‘That is a disqualifying event.'”
Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor was outraged at O’Neill’s comments.
“No words can convey my shock,” O’Connor emailed The Washington Post. “This gross disrespect for women shakes the public’s confidence in the integrity of the judiciary.”
Ohio Democrat Party Chairman David Pepper called O’Neill’s remarks “terrible.”
Just a terrible post by Justice O'Neill. We’re having a serious national conversation about rape culture and sexual harassment, and it’s crucial for men to take time to listen to women and consider their experiences and insights.
(1/2)
— David Pepper (@DavidPepper) November 17, 2017
(2/2) Justice O’Neill’s Facebook comments both dehumanize women and do nothing but trivialize this important conversation, which is actually about harassment and abuse, not encounters between consenting adults. https://t.co/NmdDeWnM3g
— David Pepper (@DavidPepper) November 17, 2017
“We’re having a serious national conversation about rape culture and sexual harassment, and it’s crucial for men to take time to listen to women and consider their experiences and insights,” he tweeted. “Justice O’Neill’s Facebook comments both dehumanize women and do nothing but trivialize this important conversation, which is actually about harassment and abuse, not encounters between consenting adults.”