Partisanship has reached such extremes in U.S. politics that Republicans are prepared to brush aside multiple allegations that Roy Moore preyed on teen-age girls to keep a Democrat from winning in Alabama, writes Michael Winship.
By Michael Winship
Amid all the craziness surrounding Roy Moore’s race for the U.S. Senate and the seeming willingness of Alabama’s likely voters to send a man of such dubious merit and morality to Capitol Hill (where, admittedly, the bar already is pretty damned low), I keep thinking of a line from the Randy Newman song “Rednecks.”
Roy Moore, the Republican Party’s U.S. Senate candidate from Alabama.
It’s the lead piece on his classic ’70s album Good Old Boys, and begins with a Southern man lamenting how the north-of-the-Mason-Dixon-line media types make fun of former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, the arch-segregationist notorious for using an ax handle to threaten those who tried to integrate his fried chicken restaurant.
“Well, he may be a fool but he’s our fool,” Newman sings, and yep, there’s the upcoming Alabama election in a nutshell. Outsiders are resented and tribalism reigns, no matter how irrational or destructive to self-interest.
“Thank God for Mississippi” is the old joke: No matter how bad things were in Alabama, there always was a state right next door where things were often worse. Alabama is the third “hungriest” state in the nation, with 18 percent of its population food insecure, behind Louisiana and, yes, Mississippi. It’s the sixth-poorest state, with some 18.5 percent living in poverty, and the third-highest state when it comes both to murders and the number of citizens behind bars per 100,000 members of population. According to the Centers for Disease Control, opioids are prescribed in Alabama more than in any other state, and a Center for Health Statistics report notes that Alabama’s rate of overdose deaths from opioids has doubled since 2011.
But no, instead of campaigning about how to get the federal government to help his state pull itself from the clutches of such poverty, hunger and addiction, Roy Moore acts like a crackpot false prophet, preaching Islamophobia, homophobia and the dominance of “God’s law” over the Constitution; denying the allegations of the many women who say he assaulted or harassed or stalked them when they were teenagers (on Tuesday, a Moore spokesperson described the accusers as “criminals”) and all the time hammering away at his Democratic opponent Doug Jones on abortion.
Moore wants all abortion to be illegal and supports the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Jones has declared he is against “anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose,” but also has said that he supports “current law” that restricts abortion after 20 weeks unless pregnancy threatens the health of the mother.
Moore’s wife has attacked Jones for supporting “full-term” abortion, which is wildly and deliberately misleading. What’s more, the website AL.com reports, “An examination of statistics compiled by the Alabama Department of Public Health shows that late-term procedures are almost nonexistent in the state. Three out of 6,642 abortions performed in Alabama in 2016 occurred after 20 weeks, according to the agency.”
Damn Yankee-ness
Admittedly, I write all this as one of those Northern media types, but also as one with a Southern mother and at least one great-grandfather from Alabama. Not that it grants me much immunity, if any, from my innate damn Yankee-ness, but I put it out there just to suggest that genetically at least I may not be a total hostage to Eastern seaboard prejudices and pointy-headed intellectualism.
President Donald Trump places a prayer in-between the stone blocks of the Western Wall in Jerusalem, May 22, 2017. (Official White House Photo by Dan Hansen)
Besides, these symptoms of self-righteous bigotry and callousness hardly are limited to Alabama. This knee-jerk tribal impulse that afflicts so much of the state’s politics is just a pure, concentrated and poisonous microcosm of the Republican Party’s Trumpism, right up to and including the race and gender prejudice, religious bias and sheer chutzpah, although that’s not a word one imagines in Moore’s Jesus-wants-me-for-a-sunbeam vocabulary.
And let’s not forget opportunism. National Republicans pay far more heed to poll numbers than Moore’s Ten Commandments. That’s why we’ve witnessed the appallingly cynical backflips on his behalf from Donald Trump, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Republican National Committee (RNC) as Moore’s percentages seem to have bounced back from an initial drop after the first allegations of his unchristian-like behavior with teenagers.
And so you have a morally compromised president who now shouts “Go get ‘em, Roy,” to a fellow misogynist and birther, as well as an RNC that has resumed cash transfusions for the Moore campaign. You have a woman governor in Alabama, Kay Ivey, who says, “There’s never an excuse for or rationale for sexual misconduct or sexual abuse” but who will vote for Moore anyway because “we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate to… make major decisions.”
Then there’s Tully Borland, philosophy professor at a Baptist university in Arkansas, convolutedly writing in The Federalist that relations between older men and teenage girls are “not without some merit if one wants to raise a large family,” but adding, “Moore was a dirtbag and is currently lying about his actions rather than confessing the truth and asking for forgiveness.” And then adding, “That being said, I don’t think it’s wrong to vote for Moore.” As they used to say on Monty Python, “There! I’ve run rings around you logically.”
No wonder my head hurts. Conservative columnist Jennifer Rubin recently wrote that the GOP contortions are “the final result of years of win-at-all-cost politics in which no evil (Child molestation? Murder?) compares to the ‘evil’ of electing a perfectly competent, patriotic member of the other party to office. …
“Republicans will tell you they support Moore and Trump as vehicles to policy goals. That assumes (falsely) that their policy goals are noble when they are actually unrealistic, unpopular, inconsistent and unconservative… In truth, the goals these Republicans care about, if they ever did, have long ago been sublimated (they certainly changed them entirely) to the goal of holding power, of winning. When that is the highest calling they’ll vote for alleged child predators, racists and just about anyone else with an ‘R’ next to his or her name.”
According to Greg Sargent at The Washington Post, Democrats are planning to publicly hold Republicans responsible for supporting Moore. GOP Senate candidates will be asked if they agree with the decision and whether they’re willing to serve with Moore if he wins. Well-clad feet will be held to fires.
But it could be too late. Sargent suggests Trump’s behavior may already have degraded all of our politics beyond the point of no return. And he has given right-wing Republicans the chance they’ve sought for years: trying to gut every social policy achievement of the last eight decades while further enriching the oligarchs (including the Trump clan) as he distracts the rest of us with his unhinged, oafish behavior.
He may be a fool but he’s our fool. Trump and his many accomplices, including and especially Roy Moore, only succeed if we keep letting them.
Michael Winship is the Emmy Award-winning senior writer of Moyers & Company and BillMoyers.com. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelWinship. [This article first appeared at http://billmoyers.com/story/moore-alabama-senate-race/]
Apparently the rule of law has been thrown out the window and simple accusations are enough to tar and feather another. That’s not to say Moore’s innocent….however cmon people doesn’t that ring in your nose HURT?? Merica is truly Fu**** and it’s mostly due to it’s almost CONpletely ignorant populace.
There are reports that Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post “adjusted” the pervert reporting on Moore, so I’m going to skip that in favor of stuff which seems to be carved in stone.
From Moore’s web site:
Lower taxes, smaller government, and less spending will reduce the deficit and enable economic growth and a truly “stimulated” economy.
Who isn’t in favor of lower taxes. And free beer. Moore thinks the Trickle Down Theory will finally pan out. Maybe he believes in the tooth fairy too, but that’s Alabama’s problem.
I believe in the reduction of taxes at all levels, and a need to reform the tax system by studying and implementing a “flat tax” or a “fair tax,” which is a tax on goods and services purchased instead of a tax on income.
Here he reveals who will pay such taxes as remain. Poor people. Bill Gates uses approximately as much toilet paper as I do. Ditto for all the other consumables like hamburgers and hand lotion. His total tax bill will collapse under a “flat tax” and mine will explode.
We should cut the deficit and balance the budget using accurate data unlike budget projections used by past administrations.
Cutting the deficit means that not only will my “flat taxes” pay for current operations, but they’ll bring down the deficit. My taxes will go up even more than I thought.
More funding should be available to develop a missile defense system and to provide our Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines, and Coast Guard with the most modern technology including weapon systems.
Missile defense systems as currently configured do not work. Barring some kind of unexpected breakthrough, the schemes can’t possibly work. Moore wants more F-35s? More Ford Class Carriers? The most expensive military in the history of the world gets MORE money? How will we do all this stupid stuff on a flat tax while paying down the deficit?
Silly question. Throw the rest of the economy to the wolves.
We do not need socialized medicine which will ultimately lead to loss of quality and affordability of heath care, as well as a loss of access to the latest medical technology. Obamacare should be completely repealed as soon as possible.
Businesses should receive tax credits for employee health care coverage, and health insurance should be available between the states for competition and quality care.
This shows Moore is an uninformed idiot, a liar, or both. The US is perhaps the only first-world nation without “socialized medicine”, and we pay twice as much for less than half the care. And that part about businesses getting “tax credits”? That means my Flat Tax bill will be even higher, for somebody has to pay, and under Moore’s schemes it won’t be Big or Small Business.
Consider Alabama’s position on the Infant Mortality chart. It’s next to the bottom of course, just above Mississippi. 8.7 infants per 1,000 live births die! And this creep is worried about the “unborn”. While on the subject of infant mortality, “Mississipp North” (what we call our fine Hoosier state) is the lowest northern state on the chart with 7.2 deaths/1000. But like those fine southern places, we have Values!
Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence signed legislation forcing women to hold funerals for miscarried or aborted fetuses.
Good old 1-heartbeat-from-the-White-House knows what matters! Weep and cry for the “unborn”, but the little bastards are on their own after taking their first breath.
Finally, a 10-year-old poem by the soft-hearted Roy “Bean” Moore.
America the Beautiful
By Judge Roy Moore
America the Beautiful, or so you used to be,
Land of the Pilgrims’ pride, I’m glad they’re not here to see,
Babies piled in dumpsters, abortion on demand,
Oh, sweet land of liberty, your house is on the sand.
Your children wander aimlessly poisoned by cocaine,
Choosing to indulge their lusts, when God has said abstain.
From sea to shining sea this Nation has turned away,
From the teaching of God’s Law, and a need to always pray.
So many worldly pastors telling lies about our Rock,
Saying God is going broke so they can fleece the flock.
We’ve kept God in our temples, how foolish we have grown,
When all the earth is but His footstool, and Heaven is His throne.
We’ve voted in governments that are rotting to the core,
Appointing Godless judges who throw reason out the door.
Too soft to put a killer in a well deserved tomb,
But brave enough to kill that child before he leaves the womb.
You think that God’s not angry, that our land’s a moral slum?
How much longer will it be before His judgment comes?
And how can we face our God, from Whom we cannot hide?
What is left for us to do, but stem this evil tide!
For if we who are His children, will humbly turn and pray,
If we seek His holy face, and mend our evil way,
Then God will hear from Heaven and forgive us of our sins.
He’ll heal our sickly land and those who live within.
But, America the beautiful, if you don’t then you will see,
A sad but Holy God withdraw His hand from Thee.
© Copyright 2007 Roy S. Moore
I find significant partisanship in Mr. Winship’s essay.
On abortion he talks about Alabama state law when the contest in issue is for Federal office. Moreover Jones’ stated position seems somewhat different than Winship represents: MSNBC quotes Jones as follows:
“I’m not in favor of anything that is going to infringe on a woman’s right and her freedom to choose. … Once a baby is born, …That’s where I become a right to lifer.”
As far a Mr. Winship’s gratuitous comments on poverty and hunger in Alabama and Mississippi (my state), is it reasonable to blame Moore and his supporters, rather than an unnecessary war and radical reconstruction which ravaged those formerly prosperous states. Much like the devastation from the treaty of Versailles led to the rise of National Socialism in Germany, perhaps the effects of Reconstruction bear some blame for the evils which followed that were Jim Crow and enforced segregation.
Is it partisan to consider issues more serious than unproven and curiously timed allegations of 38 year old misconduct?
Now that serious flaws are becoming more apparent in the sex allegations, should us rednecks be expected to fall in line with the Putin & Russia are evil canard and for that reason reject Roy Moore’s admitted finding kinship with Russia’s respect for traditional family and Church?
Is not the republication of this essay not itself partisan and inconsistent with my understanding that contributions to Consortium are tax deductible?
agree
once again, nytimes tries ro downplay the admission of the woman who’s yearbook she “added” to roy moore’s signature.
go look at the article photo of the yearbook inscription
now go look at a color photo of th same inscription from the original allred press confrence
i’m sure you all can use google
it should be plain as day to the naked eye that the times is taking part in the cover up of this scam
wtf?
Sir, I suggest you locate a pair of reliable history books. One to instruct you about the reality of the South before, during, and after the Civil War. From the other you might learn that what you’ve written about the aftermath of WW1 is equally nonsensical. The “devastation from the treaty of Versailles” is a fantasy written and peddled by the Germans themselves. That they were as successful as the losers in the South proves they were both great propagandists. And both great liars.
Germany came out of WW1 in far better shape than any of the combatants besides the late-arrival US. That explains why they were able to promptly begin work on WW2 and gained such a head start on the others.
Mr Smith
Thanks for your response.
I do not know you and will not presuppose the extent of your scholarship. Likewise you don’t know me or the extent of my study of history.
If you care to seriously discuss our respective positions regarding Reconstruction, Revanch, Rednecks, and the Rise of National Socialism, based upon credible evidence, please advise.
Peace be with you
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/12/08/trump-endorsed-roy-moore-condemned-reminiscing-fondly-about-great-era-us-slavery
No doubt Ann Coulter would agree with this:
I expect the not-stupid people in Alabama to elect this fine fellow.
two facts to add
the accusations about moore came out at about 30 days before the election. just late enough not to be able to put another name on the ballot.
in a recent article by the washington post, a followup to the original story they “broke”, they included a photograph of the yearbook that moore “signed”.
they had doctored the photo to take out the color of the inks so that the entire page seemed to be in black and white.
what we are watching is dishonesty taking place on a large public scale. and i think that some people notice that. it is so transparent that it has become an asset for moore.
Note that half the fetuses killed are female. Which is worse – fetus killing or trying, 38 years ago, to date a 14 year old female? The woman in question did not die. The fetuses do die.
Definitely Moore’s actions. You conflate issues. What’s worse, raping a corpse or a living person? Go ahead, ask them both. You care little for the living.
I know a woman well who is as predatory or even more predatory than any man I have ever known, and believe me she is still a beauty at the age of 54. Tall, blonde Bridget Bardot ( young) face, oh yeah, she married well, divorced better and has a multi million dollar house and still plays the game …., but that’s not the issue, is it? Suddenly there is a revelation that politicians are dogs and the women who work for them accept this and work with it…., oh. , that’s not the issue either. OK , the Christian Right have really exposed their hypocrisy here. I’m indignant and even though they are happy about School vouchers and the US recognizing Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel they are still REALLY YUCKY> Is that OK. PS Any of you young guys out there, really out there, who think you’re up for it I can hook you up in time to be made mince meat pie for Xmas.. Peace on Earth
“They falsely accused Jesus. Vote Roy Moore.
It’s difficult for me to believe that the Good Christians of Alabama won’t put the jerkwater Moore into the Senate. It’ll be a “middle finger” event to the rest of the nation I believe they’ll savor.
h**p://whnt.com/2017/12/04/opelika-church-receives-backlash-after-posting-political-message-on-church-sign/
i don’t particularly like moore. but i do believe in the right of people to be represented by whoever they want. if they want biblethumpance, so be it.
it’s one of the reasons i moved away.
That reminds of the church with the signs saying they are all armed. Invoking Jesus, what blasphemy.
Sort of tough for the Dems to get too overwrought about Moore while awaiting further word
about Bill’s (and maybe Hill’s ?) fairly recent escapades on Jeffrey Epsteins ‘Lolita Express’.
Depending on where you live you can be prosecuted for not reporting child abuse. Never happens though.
“Alabama is the third “hungriest” state in the nation, with 18 percent of its population food insecure, behind Louisiana and, yes, Mississippi. It’s the sixth-poorest state, with some 18.5 percent living in poverty, and the third-highest state when it comes both to murders and the number of citizens behind bars per 100,000 members of population. According to the Centers for Disease Control, opioids are prescribed in Alabama more than in any other state, and a Center for Health Statistics report notes that Alabama’s rate of overdose deaths from opioids has doubled since 2011.”
Herein lies the tragedy of this election and this country- forget about the high concentration of people suffering from the diseases of despair, ignore children who live in poverty, pretend that the high numbers of murder and violent crime only occur in big cities rather than in southern states advertising “family values”. Instead, pretend that the multiple reports of predatory behavior by a senate candidate are fabricated. Moore aggressively campaigns as the only candidate who is a champion of “Christian” principles. Those posting that Moore’s accusers are all lying need a dose of reality. I suspect none of the posters have talked with the vast number of women suffering or who have suffered from hidden abuse and sexual exploitation. When conducting my research with abused women, I witnessed subtle signs of verbal abuse openly displayed at a privately owned business, suggesting worse behavior in private. When I covertly tried to intervene with the rural woman targeted, she said to me, “I can’t talk about any of this to the law. When you live in the country [i.e. rural areas], men can do anything they want to you and you have to take it. I need this job.” Her words opened my eyes to the hidden nature of power imbalances and exploitation. We need public policy that addresses the integral need for culture change in rural and urban areas. First, we as a country must acknowledge that need.
In the mean time, the MSM and even this forum, discounts the travesty that is occurring in the House and Senate with the disastrously selfish tax bill, and attenuates Trump’s flip flop on his promise to end overseas, endless wars.
I’ve read a lot on the Moore allegations. The list of legitimate witnesses is long when looking at grooming and an overall pattern of behavior. He would likely lose in both civil and criminal court were that relevant. Given the outcomes of similar cases. He status could skew that result of course. Whatever.
What is never mentioned is this. Alabama is so very focused on the election and its relationship to this presidential term. They will vote for Moore. The entire world is judging them on the result. Who cares? The economic consequences of this will effect them for a decade or two. People will not forget.
I grew up (Canada, 1960s) hearing stories about the southern states. They are notorious. That image was starting to change. Alabama has invited some close scrutiny of the south. My own fact checking suggests it is better in a few communities, but the change has mainly consisted of better PR.
We have even worse race issues here due to our isolated reserves and system. Worse outcomes. That we are slightly less racist is no excuse. Denial is not going to help.
I can just imagine their prideful immunity to the contempt and mockery from atheists and other Christians. That one seat might not matter in a few months. I think Alabama is in denial about the economic consequences and that god is going to be really pissed.
THANK YOU for standing up to recognize the hidden sexual harassment & abuses (plus, domestic violence & sexual assault-rape) that take place daily in this country WITH NO JUSTICE. Yet, the men her seem most interested in defending a far right-wing fundamentalist theocrat & bigot who preached racism, sexism (women shouldn’t even have the right to vote!) & anti-LGBT hatred (they shouold be considered CRIMINALS). Some here have their priorities all mixed up. Thanks MILLY BLOOM54.
join the parade of ghastly scum on their way to the funhouse. What page would this be in “decline and fall of the Roman Empire”? Somewhere between the elephants and the part where the barbarians were picking their teeth with their car keys in the ruins. A’int boring!
Case would be stronger if Washington Post had broken the story before rather than after the primary. Control of the Senate, and hence Trump’s whole agenda, is very much in play after all. Talk about partisan politics.
Luke, I agree, the timing of this says a lot. Don’t forget McConnell and Bannon are foes, and Bannon supported Moore from the beginning. That’s a fight that both men are determined to win.
I read that a couple of Moore’s accusers have had some legal experiences with him. One of them was a custody battle and the woman lost her child to her mother because of criminal behavior on her own part. During that trial she said nothing about having been previously harassed by Moore who was the lawyer for her mother.
We’re hearing that Franken might be stepping down tomorrow. That would make Moore’s situation more precarious. However, the public should demand transparency on the 17 million taxpayer dollars and every guilty one should be pressured to resign — including Moore is he gets elected and evidence shows he’s guilty. This may be a big help toward draining the swamp, which is what many hope for and Bannon is determined to do.
“Alabama is the third “hungriest” state in the nation, with 18 percent of its population food insecure, behind Louisiana and, yes, Mississippi. It’s the sixth-poorest state, with some 18.5 percent living in poverty, and the third-highest state when it comes both to murders and the number of citizens behind bars per 100,000 members of population. According to the Centers for Disease Control, opioids are prescribed in Alabama more than in any other state, and a Center for Health Statistics report notes that Alabama’s rate of overdose deaths from opioids has doubled since 2011.”
Hey don’t just call out Alabama – these abominations against the people living in those states includes ALL of the Confederate States of the Republican Party. The CSofRP represent almost unanimously the states with the most crime, most violent crime, least uneducated, most poverty, most divorces, most teenage pregnancies, and most polluted.
One other thing they all have in common is they all vote Republican. Since 1965 – for 50+ years these states have been run by the Republican Party. Or better said: Run Down. But if there is one ray of hope the locals have, no matter how poor, or dumb, is that they can do everything in their power, politically, economically, socially and culturally to make sure anyone without white skin color has it worse. Thank you Jesus !!
As exemplified by every Confederate State passing voting laws to STOP the vote, to exclude, to deny. Immediately after the 5 white rich males on SCOTUS decided the Voting Rights ACT did not apply anymore – cause you know there is no RACISM anymore.
Return to the good ole days of Jim Crow. Thank you Jesus !
ADL, you simply nailed this one. As a suffering Alabamian, working hard to change the evil that is Alabama, I have to say you summed up the scum that has ruled the backwater South for decades.
http://www.chris-floyd.com/home/articles/gallantly-i-come-to-roy-moore-s-rescue-17112017.html
I’m going to put my Election Prediction Credibility (the evil ***** Hillary would surely win by a landslide in 2016) on the line and say that Moore takes this one. The Alabama Republicans will create a good excuse for themselves in any event, but the claim “they’re all perverts, so why not a God-fearing, Bible thumping pervert from Alabama?” ought to enable them to avoid too many mental/moral contortions.
About the only thing at this point which might take a little bit of wind out of Moore’s sails would be a Franken resignation. And I’m not at all sure that would tip the scales.
Now an endorsement for ‘Roy Bean’ Moore from the site of Chris Floyd.
As Ann Coulter pointed out–the facts — not made up claims tossed around — there are two (2) women who actually are accusing Moore of improper conduct -2 only -, the others are not — basically they state they knew him and interacted with him but nothing untoward happened with him, they were just thrown into the mix so a “mass” type phony accusation could be made in the smear job (FusionGPS style–guaranteed at some point it will come out that all this was set up by paid political operatives…)….The two accusers have serious fabrication problems that are documented yet the media and Chris Floyd types who think they are all so clever fail to reveal this truth, while slandering Moore, in lying to the suckers who go to them for information…Just as the FusionGPS smear scam is passed off as legitimate in what passes as our “free” press these days….Franken is out because he was photoed molesting/doing whatever to that sleeping woman…Moore has the allegations of 2 women from 40 years ago, one of which has zero credibility after the phony Yearbook signature of Moore she came up with was used by her “attorney” Gloria Allred and then claimed to be an outright forgery because it had Moore’s legal assistant’s initials stupidly transcribed in the attempted forgery/frame — Allred of course refused testing that would be conclusive because she already knew the truth–she wouldn’t deny it was a forgery lol…. — and both women have serious fabrication problems at issue as documented by Coulter and others elsewhere….–Moore is doing exactly what an innocent man should do in this ugly situation and people in Alabama are not a stupid as the snobs elsewhere think or the partisans who keep lying about the facts…..
Just another lying liberal hit piece.
Philip, I agree about the liberal hit piece. I was planning to donate to Consortium News but have now decided not to.
That is one way of seeing it. The other way of seeing it is that after the MSM has foisted a phony “Russia Hacked our Election” narrative on a certain segment of the American Public as well as beating the drum 24/7 against Trump, this segment of the population has placed such media outlets (eg, WaPo, NYT, CNN, MSNBC, HuffPo, etc) in the same category as Alex Jones of infowars.com. My advice is that if the WaPo has something to report about a Republican candidate running for office they need to be 100% sure about their facts they report. If you are willing to concoct Russian Conspiracies on flimsy evidence you won’t have a second thought about fabricating witnesses against any Republican candidate you despise. It is more likely that the behavior and false reporting of the MSM “may already have degraded all of our politics beyond the point of no return”. lol.
And a few hours later my thesis appears in Ann Coulter’s column:
The media say that Republicans support Moore just because they want another GOP vote in the Senate. I support Moore just because I hate the media.
h**p://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2017/12/06/ann-coulter-jerry-seinfeld-endorses-roy-moore/
I guess she was reading my comments here. lol
I think it is a fair comment on an unfair situation.
Moreover, no evidence or due process seems to be required to end a person’s career for something they allegedly did 30 or 40 years ago, nevermind the quality of service or good behavior adhered to throughout the entire interim. The weapon that was unleashed against genuine scumbags like Weinstein and Spacey, is now used in a political arms race against Republicans like Moore and Democrats like Conyers and Franken. Be careful what you wish for. With VIP’s dropping like flies, the public does not know whom to trust or who might be drummed out of his position of influence on a moment’s notice. Did the libs really want to see Garrison Keillor ignominiously canned by PBS after a 40-year run of cuddly heartland humor?
Been there done that, it only took over 50 years to find out about catholic priests praying over little altar boys. It only lasted 30 years for Jerry Sandusky to get nailed. Dennis Hastert lasted until he was in his 70’s to get nailed and , not for his pedophilia, but lying to government organization. See, you can get away with rape and assault ..to quote Richard Pryor when he was caught in bed sleeping with another woman, not his wife, “Who you gonna believe, me, or your lying eyes?” PS , for all you out there I meant praying ,not preying in my first sentence, because a priest would never ever prey.
The critical issue is called due process under law, which was applied in all the cases you mentioned to ultimately nail the offenders. Or, should we prefer a French Revolution reign of terror where a mere allegation is enough to carry out severe punishment? What if Al Franken, for example, is being framed? How do you know the whole outbreak of recent sexual accusations isn’t some sort of bandwagon effect, rather like the hysterical Russia Gate phenomenon? You can always find true believers and fanatics to make mass denouncements if there are no legals checks in play. Be careful, fair and just not merely self-righteous and strident. That’s why our constitution provides so many protections, or at least used to.
What next? You haven’t got a clue have you? It’s okay, maybe someday you’ll figure out that due process is a two way street and until now none of these women have really had the right to due process. I suggest you take your blinders off and see the world for what it really is….
As an example what if Al Franken is not being framed and he really did all that stuff cause HE THOUGHT is was CUTE? He may have thought that but the women didn’t, so are we (women) supposed to put up it?
Thanks for corroborating my point, Dpfaef. You think that mere accusation is sufficient grounds to destroy a career. No evidence needed. Whether one is a man or a woman we should all have the same rights and protections under the constitution, no special privileges to persecute others because you are a member of vocal minority. I shall find it very fascinating to see some of these cases litigated in court–after judgement and sentence have already been passed by the MSM.
In Britain, it took until after their death to discover the truth about guys like media star Jimmy Savile, and even eminent deceased prime ministers.
The so-called MSM you give blanket blame for the ignorant & bigoted views of Alabamans failed to includethe biggest propaganda media in the U.S>: FOX “News”—which is NOT ONLY watchedin millions of homes but, is on in businesses, diners and doctors’ offices across the country. I read WaPo, NYT et al with many grains of salt (ESPECIALLY when it comes to U.S. foreign policy & the “Enemy” that the military-industrial complex is planning on bombing next—but, your LACK of any skepticism re: Republicans is a big clue on “which side” you’re on: the!% & the right-wing theocrats who want to police everyone;’s personal life. NO THANKS.