Officials. 2027488001 for republicans, 2027488000 for democrats, for ndependents, 2027488002. Thanks very much for being with us. Inside the opinion page of Washington Post, photograph of senator al franken, one of three public official who is resigned this week along with trent franks of alabama and john conyers of michigan. And also in the Washington Post, nbcs matt lauer, roy moore of the Alabama Senate race, bill oreilly of the Fox News Channel sch and harvey weinstein. Will the federalist website have two different points of view that we want to get your opinions on this. First from denise in mccallister. She wrote a mans character is certainly a factor in the quality of his governors but when the sins are governance, but when the since are personal n nature, host you can read the full essay by the federalist website. And theres this from georgey borman if a politicians personal life doesnt matter for voting, why even voice support for those values at all . Going on to say im not only saying the choir boys are a squeaky clean record should be elected by the inconsistencies between values of leaders and what the rest of us are supposed to live by will grow more stark without enforcing moral standards. The right and left will become two sides of the same grimy coin. Who cares whether it comes up heads or tails . Well all be paying the price in the long run. Lets get to your phone calls with maria, independent line. Should there be a higher ethical standard for politicians . Caller well, good morning, steve. I think it would be wonderful if they get it up to the average american vote. Before eric kanders last congress, he put in an amendment that still made Insider Trading possible for family and friends and people in congress. So they had that going for us. And theyre subject to blackmail. If theyre protecting each other because they know each others secrets, then any foreign country or interest can come and upend them to their will. So i feel that maybe what we ought to to is just make them subject to the same standards as an average american should be. And actually, they are supposed to be our servants. So actually, we should be able to keep better watch on them through that. Ok. Thanks a lot for everything, steve. Host mayor ya, thanks so much. We go to ohio, outside of cleveland and our line for independents. Good morning to you, bob. Caller good morning. How are you . Host good morning. Caller i am an administrator in ohio, high school principal. And in ohio, and i think in a lot of other states too, the department of education has adopted an ethical code of conduct standards for all educators from superintendents to cafeteria workers, anyone that works within a Public School system that really does hold people that work with kids in Public Education to a higher standard. Then theres progressive discipline if the code of conduct standard is broken, to the removal of a teacher, loss of their license. So i just wanted to add that to the discussion that public educators, they are expected to operate at a higher standard. Host but how do we get there then, bob . I mean, youre on the front lines of this. Caller i think somebodys got to just step up and take a leadership role. And i know at least in ohio, the state board of education adopted the standards. They were vetted public hearings. And my feeling is ive been a public educator for 35 years and i feel we owe to it the public if were going to supported with tax dollars, that we should operate at a higher standard. Were considered clem lars and were role models for children and i expect the same from our lawmakers. Caller when the citizen for women came out and two republican senators, susan sexols whats her name . Lisa when they came outside and stood like giants, talking about al franken, i would have mind them more if they had came out in the same breath and said not only frank lynn should go because he did something that was wrong. They also should have said trump should have left because we have tape showing and listening to him saying he could grab women by the general also. He can kiss them without permission. And women saying he groped and sexually harassed them. So i dont understand why these other guys can lose their jobs, can lose their positions, and we still got us the guy that has done the same thing and he did admit it. Sarah huckabee said franken i mean, im sorry, give me a second. Trump admitted that he did something also. So what does that look like . To the people around the world . You got other people thats taking the bullet for doing the same thing that trump said he did but yet we still got this man sitting up in the highest office, the highest office in the land. It starts from the top and work itself down. So i think those ladies should come back out again next week, hold another press conference and especially those two republican senators. If you can say franken had to leave, why cant you say trump . This is why trump think hes above the law. Host kathryn from chicago, thank you for the call. Donald trump admitted to back in 2016 was what he called locker room talk. But this morning, inside the Washington Post, Kathleen Parker with this story. Senator al franken demartyred and she says frankens alleged actions including one that was captured on camera were certainly objectionable but nowhere near the charges against roy moore and even men of other prominence. The story this morning in the opinion piece from Kathleen Parker from the Washington Post. And on the senate floor, senator al franken announcing his resignation. Serving in the United States senate has been a great honor of my life. I know in my heart that nothing i have done as a senator, nothing has brought this honor on this institution. And i am confident that the Ethics Committee would agree. Nevertheless, today, i am announcing that in the coming weeks, i will be resigning as member of the United States senate. I, of all people am aware that there is some irony in the fact that i am leaving while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of swal Sexual Assault sits in the oval office and a man who has repeatedly praised on young Girls Campaign for the senate with the full support of his party. But this decision is not about me. Its about the people of minnesota. Its become clear that together both pursue the Ethics Committee process and at the same time, remain an effective senator for them. Let me be clear. Imay be resigning my seat but am giving up my voice. I will continue to stand up for the things that i believe in as a citizen and as an activist. The minnesotans deserve a senator who can focus with all her energy on addressing the hallenges they face every day. Host senator al franken announcing he will be stepping down in the coming weeks and the available on span. Org. And from another viewer saying that question should have been involved when kennedy was president. Now the question is asked who among us wishes to cast the first stone . And from another viewer saying politicians should represent the best of American Values and are obliged to uphold them. Finally this tweet saying youre asking about ethics . Have you seen who is president . Lets go to herb in orcharled park, new york, democrats line. Ood morning. Caller your geography is as good as brian lamb when he did the morning shows. But anyway, let me make my point, michael. Sexual harassment by politicians is certainly not acceptable and its wrong. Theres no question about that. However, the point id like to make is that it pales in to Office Holders or higher levels of positions that lie to the American People, to take us into war such as the war in iraq. When many of them knew there were no weapons of mass destruction, but use that device to take us into a war that caused Many American boys their lives to say nothing of the lives of the vacation. Iraqis that to me, is a much greater sin but the American People arent ready to demand the rez mation of those that commit that greater sin. But would put a heavier price on Sexual Harassment. Host herb, thanks for the call. If roy moore gets elected on tuesday, al franken should stay put. And then theres this from michael saying politics in america has never had a high bar. I doubt there will ever be agreement on any firm standards. And from david roth. Without double standards, we would have no standards at all. Lewis is joining us from nebraska. Good morning. Welcome to the conversation. Caller yes. Id like to know why if theyre not put up for higher standards, why do they have a stress fund for when they do something wrong, they get paid with politicians money . Thank you. Host thank you, lewis. This is a survey from trri and takes a look at the question were asking. Whether or not there should be a higher ethical standard for politicians. As you can see from 2016, 70 of republicans agree that personal immorality is not disqualifying for politicians. 61 of democrats agree and 63 of independents. A comparison back in 2011 where 36 of republicans agree with that point of view. 49 of democrats and 46 of independents. You can read the full poll at prri. Com. From annapolis maryland, youre next. Caller my name is carolyn. Wouldnt it be refreshing if we could have nominees running for office who actually could enter into the 18th century . Am so tired of the g. O. P. , old, white men telling us what to do and how to do it. If roy moore goes anymore to the right, hes going to fall off the planet. Host caroline, thanks for the call. Lets go to ray in rockwood, tennessee, good morning. Caller morning. You know they talk about morals, lobbies . Lobbieses . Lobbyists . Host thank you for the call. Ller i wonder why men sit around and let other men harass their children, harass their wives and their Family Member and then they dont want to admit that they knew about it. You know, to be their cousin. It could be anybody. They just it and look. And they get up on their feet and say leave these women alone. Because these women aint did nothing to you. They dont want to do that. Why the men dont want to stand up . Why the men knowing this . Because a lot of them to know what happened to us. As women, all our women and their children. All right. Thats all i want to say. Host thanks for the call from selma, alabama, voters in that state going to the poll on tuesday. Doug jones with a 10 million war chest outspending roy moore, the republican candidate. Here is one of the ads now on the air in alabama. Im doug jones and i approve this message. Alabama, theres a pattern. In a 2014 case involving a man convicted of abusing two underaged girls, judge roy moore disagreed and broke the opinion. In a 2015 case involving a man who pled guilty of raping an underaged girl, roy moore descented again and he was the only Supreme Court justice who signed with a felony convicted of sexual abuse of a child at a daycare center. Court document, real facts. Roy moores disturbing conduct. Host one of the ads now in the air is from the Alabama Senate race. And theres this headline. Days before the election, roy moore disappears from the campaign trail. The story points out in the last few days before the december 12 election in alabama for the senate seat. The republican candidate has all but vanished from the public continuing a pattern of absence that took hold after allegations of abuse, assault, and misconduct with nine women surfaced in early november for republican roy moore. Next is on our line for independent, anthony in beaumont, texas. Should there be a higher ethical standard for Public Officials, for politicians . What do you say, anthony . Caller yes, sir. The thing is, not just republicans and democrats. Its everybody. There are people abusing money or taking advantage from women, they should be gone. If theyre abusing the law and abusing funds or whatever, they feed to be gone. Host anthony, thank you for the call. Our line for independents, william in los angeles. Good morning. Caller yes. I was calling because i was reminded by a statement that one of your callers said recently how Congress Members were able to participate in inside trading. And i was involved in politics 20 years ago in california. I talked to some creme congressmen and some legislatures in california and one of the things that came up in conversation which sort of blew my mind because i was not a politician was that in both congress and in a lot of state legislatures, when they pass a bill in those bodies, they include in the bill a statement to the effect that these laws do not apply to members of congress and in some places where they can do it to state legislatures. In essence, accepting expecting themselves from the law which was like the lady said, why they could participate in inside trading and they could discriminate against minorities, handicapped people. And i wouldnt be surprised that one of the mechanisms that was used in this slush fund was that they may have had some such waiver on Sexual Harassment. So the people who were complaining of Sexual Harassments may have been able to would have been forced to settle because they would be fighting an uphill battle in a lawsuit if they had put that waiver into the bill and i dont see why they wouldnt have. Host william, thanks for the call. All republican line, forth lauderdale, florida. Welcome to the conversation. Caller good morning. You know, i think things are fwegget a little crazy with all of this. And i just like to say i have two young granddaughters and i wouldnt want them to subject it to so much the things like somebody having an Automatic Door lock in their office to sbrapt them. Entrap them. If a woman has a crush on a guy and he grabs her and gives her a kiss, she may like that. But if shes repulsed by the guy, well, that is going to be sexual aggression. Let me give you another example. Harassment asking about a day. We hear women complaining about men being aggressive and constantly asking them out for dates. But yet you hear a lot of women who have very successful languages say well, he kept asking me, i said no. Again, he never let up. And finally, i gave him a date and we ended up marrying. So, you know, theres a lot of stuff going on that instead of going crazy over it, maybe we ought to, you know, hear the whole story. Now, that video that people like to use was trump. You know, this was in the context of the movie business and billy bush who was a young tike and trump seem to be thinking well, he was his big uncle and he was going to give him a mantoman talk. And what proves everything in that video was falls was the video went south. Because trump talks about when he sees a beautiful woman, you know, he grabs her by the general also or kisses her or whatever he wants and everything. Well, when they step off the bushes whats at the bottom of the steps . A beautiful woman. Host did the president cross the line with that language . Caller absolutely. But you see, you know, if billy bush had said donald, youre going to be president one day. You shouldnt be saying this. Its all in the context. Host right. It was 10 years before when he was still on the apprentice. Caller exactly. And billy bush was a young guy who was being overwhelmed by the beauty of women. And he was trying to be his big uncle saying dont be so overwhelmed by these women. Host ok, paul from for the lauderdale. This is from a democrat of florida before al franken stepped down officially. She wrote the following. As elected official, we should be held to the highest standards, not the lowest. The allegations against senator franken describe behavior that cannot be tolerated host of course, senator franken said he is resigning in the coming weeks. On friday, President Trump endorgs roy moore. President trump we need somebody in that senate seat who will vote for our make America Great again agenda. [applause] President Trump which involves tough on crime, strong on borders, strong on immigration. We want great people coming into our country. Building our military, continuing our great fight for our veterans. I love our veterans. [applause] President Trump we want conservative judges like judge gorsuch on the Supreme Court. Doing a great job, too. We want people that are going to protect your gun rights. Great deals instead of the horrible deals. [applause] President Trump and we want jobs, jobs, jobs. So get out and vote for roy moore. [applause] host the president in pensacola, florida, about 20 miles from the alabama border. He did not step foot in alabama he was in jackson, mississippi, yesterday, for part of the dedication ceremonies of the Civil Rights Museum and spending the day in maralago in west palm beach, florida, which is where our next caller is from, scott. Democrats line. Good morning. Caller i think you have to distinguish in terms of these ethical things. First of all, in terms of ethics and in regards to money and the public trust, absolutely. Politicians need to be held to a higher standard. In terms of personal conduct, i believe that now that all of these things are coming out, you know, in the media, with media figures and with political figures like senator franken, yes, they had to be held to a higher standard from this point forward. What i have a point is what happened to senator franken. What he did happened before he was a senator and i believe that that should be treated differently. I believe that he should i do not think that he should resign. I understand that he is going to that. But what i would like to see him to is it would like to see him make himself a candidate in the special election that theyll have sometime next year. And i would like to see him run on a platform where he says look, ive learned from my