More on Moore

Folks, Roy Moore is one of those maddening -- but very colorful -- political characters that seem more common in the South.   Think Flannary O'Connor and her outlandish characters.  We have to reach back to Georgia's Governor Lester Maddox (1967 to 1971) to come up with a politician anywhere close to Moore's clownish, right-wing idiocy.  But Moore is far more dangerous.

After Moore was removed, for the second time, from his elected position as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, the head of the Soluthern Poverty Law Center commented:  "The Court of the Judiciary has done a tremendous service to the people of Alabama by stripping him of his judicial power. . . . He clearly did not understand the difference between being a judge and being a preacher."

Some Moore supporters are using the following line of defense against accusations of inappropriate sexual touching of a 14 year old girl when he was 32:
"Jesus' mother Mary was a teenager -- and Joseph was an adult carpenter" -- the point being that what Moore did couldn't be so bad.   What they forget, and what is gleefully pointed out by comedians, is this:   According to Biblical belief, Jesus was the result of "immaculate conception" -- Mary was the "Virgin Mother," which means no sex with Joseph was involved.   The spirit of God impregnated Mary;  it wasn't Joseph who did it.

But never worry about the right-wing Christians being bothered by inconsistency or illogic when they want to claim pious backing for their politics -- or to excuse the bad behavior of their politicians.

Conservative, former "Red State" blogger Erick Erikson wrote this, originally published on his current political blog "The Resurgent":   "Y’all, I think the facts of the case as presented by the Washington Post are pretty damning. If I were a voter in Alabama, I would probably have to sit it out. But there are a lot of voters who are really damn tired of the culture war and they just want to be left alone."  So, he said, he doesn't blame those who still will vote for Moore.

But Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), certainly a bona fide conservative, has rescinded his endorsement of Moore and asked to have his image removed from the campaign website.   Here's Lee's twitter announcement:
"Having read the detailed description of the incidents, as well as the response from Judge Moore and his campaign, I can no longer endorse his candidacy for the U.S. Senate."

The terseness of that message, from a colleague who had endorsed him after he won the primary, is very telling.   Unfortunately, most people are making up their minds without actually reading the detailed story, only relying on news briefs

Many politicians are still hiding behind the "if the allegations are true, then he should step aside."     OK.   But what more proof do they think is possible?  Short of photographs, or a written note from Moore, what could be proof?   You have to rely, as a jury would, on an assessment of the credibility of the accusers and of Moore himself.

Besides, this is not a court of law, where you would be taking away someone's liberty if falsely convicted.   People just have to decide whether Moore is someone they want to vote for.   And there are many things in his response that are not very convincing of his innocence.   Sean Hannity, in a radio inverview, had to literally put words in Moore's mouth to get him to acknowledge that dating a 16 year old when he was 32 -- which he admits to doing -- is not something he would want for his own daughter.

  If you read the detailed Post article, as Sen. Lee did, there are 30 sources who are giving first-hand accounts, or corroborating those accounts in some way.  The women are also quite believable in their explanations of why they did not come forward sooner -- including the former 14 year old.   She says she considered it back when he was elected to be Supreme Court Chief Justice;  but her children were still in school, and she didn't want to put them through it.   Makes sense.

So  Erick Erickson has a suggestion:   since Moore's name cannot be removed from the ballot at such a late date, he suggests that Moore should pledge that, if elected, he will then resign so that the governor can appoint another Republican to take his place in the Senate.

I say:  Don't count on Roy Moore to resign.   Vote for Doug Jones.

Ralph