When it comes to Sen. Al Franken, sometimes it's hard to tell if the joke's on him or on all of us.In early October, Franken -- a former Saturday Night Live comic and now the junior senator from Minnesota -- presented legislation designed to paint Republicans into an uncomfortable corner, to let him claim the moral high ground of standing up for women's rights, and to enrich some of his biggest campaign donors. Specifically, Franken introduced an amendment to the defense appropriations bill that would bar the Pentagon from doing business with any contractor or subcontractor that requires its employees to submit to arbitration (and thus avoid court proceedings) over any civil-rights claims or actions related to sexual assault.
Franken and the Left styled the measure as "anti-rape" legislation, when in fact it's really a thinly veiled gift to trial lawyers, to whom the Democratic party is largely in thrall. Federal law already precludes arbitration for such serious crimes, and the amendment would sweep in all manner of ordinary employment disputes.