Sweet Home Alabama
Of course, I mean alleged, but let's face it, as the winds of change blow people like Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Louis C.K. into the ash heap of history, why not Roy Moore, a man who took the stage after his nomination with a little gun and a big cowboy hat? This is the same man who has been removed from the Supreme Court of Alabama--twice!--for violating Federal law. He is part of a new and ugly trend of judges who deem that "God's law" supersedes man's law, which would make him a fine religious nut but not a judge or a senator.
Moore is now running in a special election for an Alabama senate seat that has been tainted all along. It belonged to Jefferson Sessions, who was denied a Federal judgeship for being racist, so ran for the Senate and won. He is now Donald Trump's toady Attorney General, at least until he is indicted. The governor of Alabama at the time, Robert Bentley, was being investigated for a sex scandal. He was entitled to replace Sessions, and chose Luther Strange, the Attorney General of the state, who was investigating Bentley. Strange subsequently lost the primary for the special election, perhaps because he was not crazy enough, which Moore is.
Now Moore has been accused by five women who, as teenagers, were accosted by him. The most serious charge seems to be by a once fourteen-year-old girl who Moore "dated" while in his 30s. There has been the usual hand-wringing by the far right, such as the old "why did they wait so long" claims, as if they know how traumatic it is to be sexually molested by someone. There has also been incredibly distasteful and offensive support of Moore. Sean Hannity, Fox New's resident blockhead, said that whatever they had was "consensual," seeming to forget that fourteen is under the age of consent and therefore can not legally be consensual no matter how much she wanted it, which she didn't. The prize for worst comparison went to Alabama state auditor Jim Ziegler, who compared Moore to Joseph, because of course Joseph was older than Mary, who was a teen. The last refuge of scoundrels is not patriotism, as Oscar Wilde said, but using the Bible to justify pedophilia.
Moore denies all charges, and said he didn't even know the women, which was easily disproved. However, sensing danger, much of the Republican establishment is calling for Moore to quit the race. They are afraid that Doug Jones, the perfectly reasonable Democratic candidate (he prosecuted the bombers in the "four little girls" bombings) might win. Their problem is that Alabama law states that it is too late for the candidate to be replaced, so if he does win, Jones would win by default. Some are calling for Strange to run as a write-in candidate, but that would also probably hand the seat to Jones. The possibility that Alabama, which hasn't had a Democratic senator in over twenty years, might turn blue is scintillating. It will be a tough go for Jones, though, as Alabama voters may still want a pedophile over a Democrat.
There are all sorts of ludicrous things surrounding this media circus. Keurig, a maker of coffee machines, dropped out as a sponsor of Hannity's show. In response, there has been a call to boycott Keurig, for boycotting a man who supported a child molester. Right-wing nuts have been destroying their Keurig coffee makers, which they have already purchased! A man was on CNN today comparing the act of sexual abuse of a minor to stealing a lawnmower. It looks like his hair was cut with a lawnmower.
The election is December 12th. Mitch McConnell, who like a broken clock is right at least twice a day, came out today and again called for Moore to drop out, saying he believed the women. But maybe he doesn't have to. An op-ed in the New York Times today said that even if Moore is elected, the Senate can refuse to seat him. That's a ticklish precedent to set, but would be funny. If so, new governor Kay Ivy would call another special election. Maybe Moore would run for it.
Comments
Post a Comment