"Movement" or "Moment"?

Gail Collins

Gail Collins writes in The New York Times of "The Great Al Franken Moment," in which there seems to be a tectonic shift going on. Women are claiming their power not to be sexually harassed by men without severe consequences for the men. A progressive Senate Democrat, Al Franken, is having to step down in view of his past transgressions. That's real change.

(Collins mentions the installation of a ladies' restroom in the 1860s in the A.T. Stewart Dry Goods Store in New York City. Alexander Turney Stewart — who knew he was a progressive on women's rights — was an ancestor of mine.)

Christine Emba

But Christine Emba writes in The Washington Post today ("Real change is taking root on sexual harassment. Unless it’s not.") of how she worries this Al Franken "moment" is just that: a moment, and not a movement.

A litmus test will be the outcome of Tuesday's special senatorial election in Alabama. Will the Republican candidate, Roy Moore, be able to edge the Democrat, Doug Jones? Moore has been credibly accused of pursuing teenage girls romantically and sexually several decades ago, when he was in his 30s. But he has great credibility with religious and political conservatives today. Emba says, and I agree, that Alabama voters should deny Moore a Senate seat because of his sexual past. All eyes will be on this race this week.