A mailer from the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) has crossed the line of good taste. It is meant as a hit piece against Democrat Al Franken running for the Senate in Minnesota. Yet it is so bad it is certain to backfire.
Franken, in his a career as a humorist, has a mountain of material that can be used against him. Many of it is offensive or of poor humor, but then not that much different from what many humorists put out these days.
The NRSC has sent out a comic book not meant for kids, but its appearance will draw many young eyes to it. Its front page starts, “Come on in kids, Senator Franken’s going to tell a few jokes…”
You can imagine where that goes.
Inside the comic book, it refers to Franken’s columns in Playboy magazine as pornographic. Franken’s well-publicized joke about women being raped is also mentioned.
Whatever Franken has done in the past, he has to face the consequences this election. It is not wrong for his opponents to bring it against him. It is wrong to do it with worse taste than Franken’s jokes themselves.
This comic book from the NRSC has arrived without cover in the mail to Minnesota voters. It would not be such a problem if it did have a cover. However, any voters who leave it on the table with the rest of the mail may find young children drawn to it because it invites kids to peek inside. That is likely to create many unpleasant questions for Moms and Dads in Minnesota.
I find it utterly amazing how indignant, righteous and morally-concerned the left has suddenly become in light of this mailer. These are the same defenders of “free speech” who have no problem with the subjects of rape, pornography, violence, swearing and homosexuality in the comic books kids buy from or are exposed to in stores. This “comic book” mailer is far, far more tame than any of those.