Mark Shields:

No, and that's what we have found so far in these instances. It's not usually a single, solitary event.

But I think David makes a very persuasive point about what we have with Roy Moore, quite frankly, the reaction, in the opening news summary, when the governor, Kay Ivey, of Alabama says she has no reason not to believe the women, but she's still going to vote for Roy Moore.

Now, there is a disconnect there. And the only explanation can be just blind, unyielding, total partisanship, and I don't care.

Let's be very blunt about it. There were feminists who rallied to Bill Clinton's support during his long, complicated lying to the American people about a disproportionate power relationship that he had with a 21-year-old intern and adulterous behavior, who rallied to his support because Bill Clinton was pro-choice on abortion.

And there are those now who are ready to skewer Roy Moore — and I'm not going to deny that he needs skewering — for ideological reasons, and because he has proved he's anti-woman by his political positions.

But if we're just talking about behavior here, and not blind partisanship, I don't think that Al Franken's behavior rises to the level of eviction from the Senate or anything of the sort.

That is not — but for a party that has based an awful lot of its appeal on identity politics, that we are the women's party, that we believe in women's rights, that we respect women, and that Republicans don't, this is a body blow.

And Al Franken has been a major fund-raiser for Democrats, and he has been an aggressive inquisitor on committees and — representing the Democrats. So, I think it is serious.

I don't know where it's going to stop, and — but I think, in the final analysis, we have to come to grips. It is power. And it's been men exercising power, generally speaking, with — almost overwhelmingly speaking, and the women in the position of supplicant, without the resources, without the means of protesting or just bringing to justice to these people.