There is much I could of course say. Since a great deal of it is being churned over by the primary media outlets I need not dig into it all in any great depth, but just in case you missed anything, then here is a quick summary of the core issue …
- The Original Washington Post Article that started it all – Woman says Roy Moore initiated sexual encounter when she was 14, he was 32
- ABC News has a good summary – What Roy Moore’s 5 accusers have said and his responses
Once the media smells something rotten, then they start to dig and soon more will emerge. For example “Republican senate candidate Roy Moore ‘banned from shopping mall for badgering teenage girls’” …
Sources also told one local Alabama journalist that his “inappropriate behaviour of soliciting sex from young girls” saw him banned while police officers at the Alabama mall told the New Yorker “Moore’s presence at the mall was regarded as a problem”.
The inevitable has now happened. The GOP have officially cut their links with him – Republican party cuts ties with Roy Moore over sexual misconduct allegations.
… and yet he is still moving forward and refusing to stand down.
Being Controversial is not unusual for Roy Moore
He has in many ways always been in the eye of a media storm to one degree or another, and not because he is a Christian who is being persecuted, but rather because he is a biblical literalist who feels that it is his duty to abuse his position of civic responsibility by imposing his specific variation of belief upon everybody.
Let me give you a brief bit of history that illustrates this behaviour. He has been appointed as Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court twice, and both times has had to be legally removed for defying court orders because he was permitting his beliefs to trump the law.
- In 2003 he erected a 5,280 pound religious monument outside his courthouse, and after being directed by a federal judge to remove it, he refused. He was then formally removed from office because “Chief Justice Moore has violated the Alabama Canons of Judicial Ethics as alleged by the JIC in its complaint.“
- He managed to get elected into the same position. In 2016 he was once again removed for refusing to backdown on the issue of same-sex marriage.
He might indeed feel that his beliefs trump the law of the land, but putting that into play does have actual legal consequences, even if he himself was the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court.
It also very much panders to the religious right-wing who truly do not see Roy Moore as the problem, but instead simply see it as the persecution of a man standing for God.
If you do a quick scan of his position on various issues then you will discover that it is exactly as you might anticipate it to be ..
- Abortion – strongly against it [Perhaps because he needs a fresh supply of young girls to harass]
- The US in general – It is in his eyes an Evil Empire
- Conspiracy theorist – he was a leading voice in the anti-Obama birther movement
- He believes that the Declaration of Independence was inspired by God
- His nickname is the ‘Ayatollah of Alabama’
- His view of the civil war is that it was a fight over over the federal government violating the South’s sovereignty
- Evolution – Oh come now, you can guess this one. He is quoted as saying “There is no such thing as evolution. That we came from a snake? No, I don’t believe that.“
- Kneeling during the playing of the national anthem: He claimed “It’s against the law, you know that? It was a act of Congress that every man stand and put their hand over their heart. That’s the law.” [Hint for those struggling with this … er, no its not. I’d ask you to ask a Judge to confirm that, but …]
- Free Trade: He is opposed to it.
- LGBT rights … well yes you can also guess this one. Needless to say the term “virulently anti-gay” more or less sums his position up. Many of these that are often turn out to be secretly gay themselves. In this instance, well … perhaps not.
- He has called for the banning of Muslims in Congress. When asked to justify that stance he explained “Well, there’s Sharia law, as I understand it, in Illinois, Indiana“. Yes, a “WTF” on that last bit is wholly appropriate, because it takes a considerable degree of ignorance and stupidity to actually believe that to be true.
I suspect you begin get the picture that Mr Moore is not exactly your normal candidate.
Right-Wing Evangelical Responses
This is been a big surprise for some, but to be frank it should not be. Do remember that it is this same Christian right-wing that is very much behind 45 and happily voted him into the White House in the full knowledge that he was a sexual predator.
So how have they responded to Roy Moore?
If you are familiar with the Christian Right-Wing, then it is exactly what you might anticipate …
More Than 50 AL Pastors Have Signed a Letter Defending Roy Moore
37% of Evangelicals Are More Likely to Back Roy Moore After Assault Allegations
With support like that, and his unwavering belief that he is doing God’s work, it is inevitable that he will most probably simply continue without dropping out, and will potentially win.
Oh but wait, because VOX explains that the first one there is an illusion and not true at all …
Roy Moore’s wife recycled an old letter to imply that pastors support him. They’re not happy.
At least four pastors have asked AL.com to remove their names from a letter published on Sunday that affirmed their support for Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore, accused last week of sexual misconduct with at least four teenage girls.
The reason? The pastors told AL.com that the letter was written and published in August — long before the allegations against Moore went public — and had been reposted without their permission.
According to AL.com, the original letter was written during the primaries and posted on Moore’s campaign website. Then on Sunday, a shortened version of the letter was posted on Facebook by Kayla Moore, Roy Moore’s wife. The post implied that all 50 signatories supported Moore despite the recent accusations of sexual misconduct. AL.com published an article about Moore’s post on Sunday.
So it is all a con job and yet only 4 of them actually raised an objection!!
Can It Get any crazier?
Well … when Hannity defended him this happened …
Hannity supporters boycott Keurig coffee makers over Roy Moore defense
The single-cup coffee maker announced online over the weekend that it had pulled its advertisements from Hannity’s program after the Fox News anchor defended Moore against allegations that he initiated a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl when he was 32 years old and that he dated other high school-age girls in his 30s.
…On Twitter, the hashtag #BoycottKeurig surged onto Twitter’s trending list … his supporters vehement reaction to Keurig’s decision. He shared a link to videos of Hannity fans destroying Keurig machines
And then you also have this insight …
One Group That Thinks Grown Men “Courting” Teen Girls Is Natural? Fundamentalist Home-Schoolers.
there’s a group of Moore’s allies for whom the basic idea of an unmarried older man “courting” a teenage girl is not anathema at all—fundamentalist home-schoolers.
… and inevitably more accusers come forward …
Two more women accuse Roy Moore of unwanted advances at mall
Two more women have come forward with allegations that Roy Moore pursued them when they were working at a local mall and made unwanted advances.
A Washington Post report published late Wednesday detailed the accounts of Becky Gray and Gena Richardson, who in the late 1970s worked at the same mall from which Moore was rumored to have been banned after local talk that he had been bothering young women there.
… and yet for many none of this is a surprise because the local gossip is that he was like this …
Everyone Knew Roy Moore Dated High School Girls, Says former Colleague
Final Thoughts for this posting – The Expendables
If he stays in the race and wins, then that in itself should prove to be rather interesting if that is indeed how it plays out. This is because Republican party leaders have threatened to expel him from the Senate on ethical and moral grounds. This however will not be a new experience since he has already been ousted twice from his seat as the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court for ethical reasons.
The mindset within the heads of many religious people will be one where he is now a God loving man, their representative man, and that all of this happened a long time ago before God converted him into a better human, and so this is simply political mud being toss in by Satan to stop him doing God’s word, and most of it also comes from the Fake News liberal media.
Their ongoing support for Roy Moore also sends a very clear signal that as far as right-wing evangelicals are concerned vulnerable women and middle-school girls are expendable.
Clearly the people of Alabama love a man who loves God, and can happily disregard his love of underage girls. I can’t help but wonder if the observation that his support amongst evangelicals increased when the abuse claims surfaced means that they now regard him as somebody who is just like them, because that is one other clear message that then are now sending if they continue to support him.