No doubt, nearly everyone in the media and politics bearing the scarlet letter of sex-harasser wants to find a way out of his[i] shame.  Senator Al Franken is offering lip service to being "ashamed" and, a moment later, "looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow."  Translated, he wants forgiveness on the basis of his progressive activism.  But he realizes that he has a tall order finding redemption:

I know I'm not going to regain their trust immediately. There's no magic words I can say here to make that happen.

That’s right, Senator.  Words alone won't do it.  This is a disorder of the soul.

Nor will progressive activism.  Recall the pathetic attempt of Harvey Weinstein to make that sort of bargain, promising to fight the NRA to gain redemption.  That hasn't deterred the LAPD, NYPD, and London Metropolitan Police from pursuing criminal investigations.  Franken's alleged infractions don't go as far as Weinstein's (yet, at least so far as we know), but forget about gaining redemption that way.

The world has changed.  Women no longer trade away "one free grope" or rape (hello, Ms. Broaddrick) in return for political support for feminist causes.

I truly feel for Al's agony.  The poor man has a tortured soul.  He needs a little perspective.

Here's how it is done.  Christopher Hitchens:

[S]ome of you may not know that John Profumo, who shared the favours of the call girl Christine Keeler with a Soviet Diplomat while he was a junior defence minister in the 1960s, and lied to the Commons about it, then vanished into London's east End for 40 years, doing quiet good works and keeping his mouth shut.

Those "good works" included cleaning toilets at Toynbee Hall, a settlement house serving the East End poor, reportedly on a daily basis for those four decades.

I will happily donate a pair of rubber work gloves to Senator Franken as my personal contribution to his soul finding peace.  I am relatively certain that St. Joseph's Home for Children or some other worthy institution in Minneapolis could use some help with its janitorial needs.

Hat tip: CF