When news first broke a few weeks ago that Roy Moore, the Republican candidate for Senate in Alabama, had been not only accused of pedophilia, but also banned from a local shopping mall because of his aggressive pursuit of young girls, a good number of Republicans did the right thing. After saying that he believed the women who had come out with accusations against Moore, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said, “He’s obviously not fit to be in the United States Senate, and we’ve looked at all the options to try to prevent that from happening.” Over a few day’s time, Moore lost even his most diehard supporters, like John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, both of whom withdrew their endorsements. The Republican National Committee then withdrew financial support, as McConnell urged Moore to “step aside”, and the head of the Senate Republican Campaign Committee went on the record saying that, if Moore were to win the race, he should be expelled from the Senate.”
Well, today, our President endorsed Roy More for Senate… Here’s how Moore announced it on Twitter.
"Go get 'em, Roy!" – President Trump
Just got off the phone with President Trump who offered his full support and said he needs a fighter to help him in the US Senate.
I look forward to fighting alongside the President to #MAGA!
— Judge Roy Moore (@MooreSenate) December 4, 2017
That’s right. Donald trump has endorsed the man about whom his own daughter, Ivanka, said deserved “a special place in hell” for the way he systematically preyed on children.
What’s worse, though, is the fact that the Republicans seem to be falling in line behind Trump. The following comes from the Washington Post.
The Republican National Committee announced Monday night that it is reopening the spigot for Roy Moore in Alabama and will work to elect a candidate accused of sexual misconduct against teenage girls to the U.S. Senate.
The underlying facts have not changed in the three weeks since the RNC cut off Moore. In fact, new women have come forward, additional evidence has emerged and the candidate — who categorically denies any wrongdoing — has struggled to keep his story straight.
What changed is Trump’s mind. The president formally endorsed Moore yesterday after seeing polls that showed he can win. He came to identify with the former judge because of his own experience with the “Access Hollywood” tape last year.
“Go get ’em, Roy,” Moore said Trump told him in a call from Air Force One.
Naturally, the RNC gave the “exclusive” to Breitbart, which is led by Steve Bannon. The former White House chief strategist is campaigning for Moore again in Alabama tonight. America First Action, a pro-Trump group, announced that it will spend $1.1 million to help Moore ahead of next Tuesday’s special election. Trump himself is planning a campaign-style rally in Pensacola, Fla., on Friday night, which is just across the border and part of the Mobile media market…
If I had to guess, I’d say that Bannon, who is a long-time Moore supporter, convinced Trump that, with Mueller breathing down his neck, and the Republican tax bill still not signed, he couldn’t afford to lose another vote in the Senate, where a Moore loss would give the Democrats 49 seats. And, as you read in the above quote, it sounds like the Republicans are rallying around Trump, and coming to the support of Moore. McConnell, in keeping with this new direction, just said that we should allow the people of Alabama to decide for themselves who they send to the Senate. And Senator Orrin Hatch said that we should look beyond the allegations, as they’re from “decades ago.”
As for why the Republicans are following Trump down this dark path, one can only imagine it’s out of fear – fear that, if they turn on Trump, he will either come after them personally, or leave the Republican party to start a party of his own, which would ultimately lead to the destruction of the GOP… So, with that said, it would appear as though our Republican representatives, having stood quietly by as a Supreme Court seat was stolen, and an epic disinformation campaign was waged to pass tax cuts for the wealthy, have collectively come to the decision that they’re going to ride this out with Trump all the way to the bitter end.
I never thought it would come to this, but I actually like what former RNC Chair Michael Steele had to say about all of this earlier today on Twitter.
I think it probably goes without saying that we cannot allow Roy Moore to win in Alabama. As that’s the case, can I count on you to join me in sending a few dollars to Doug Jones, the Democrat running against Roy Moore in Alabama’s December 12 special election? Or, if you don’t have $5, could you at least call your Senators, wherever you might live, and encourage them to take a public stand against Moore? This, if I haven’t made it clear, is really, really important.
21 Comments
I was hopeful that the Republicans would turn on Trump at some point. Instead, however, they appear to be following him deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole.
My guess is that they’re now so far in, they don’t know if they can make it back out alive.
I was just listening to a podcast about the Manson family members who wanted to leave, but didn’t know how to, as they were in the desert, hundreds of miles from civilization. It made me think of these Republicans.
We know the truth. Doug Jones wants to rip babies screaming from their mothers’ wombs in delivery rooms across the country and stomp on them.
https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/938039599686934528
Doug Jones will kill our children!
At least Roy Moore has an incentive to seeing them reach 12.
#ThePlussesOfPedophilia
One can’t ignore the fact that Americans don’t care if their heroes are pedophiles.
Remember all of the stink they raised about fabricated pedophile rings during the Hillary Clinton campaign? Seems that when there is a real one, they don’t have a problem with it.
In all seriousness, Moore’s behavior is not extraordinary for a Southern politician. It’s an open secret that powerful men down there will use their power to get sex, and very few people have a problem with it. It could be a remnant of the slavery days, I don’t know, but it’s there regardless.
Many of my friends sisters had boyfriends in their mid and late 20’s at 14 -18 during this same time period. There is a long history of older men seeking ‘purity’ in younger women. Of course, they sought it to claim it (one of the many reasons I hate the premium placed on any woman’s virginity). IL is right that this is a legacy of patriarchal dominance of women, the most extreme example being that of slave holder and enslaved woman or girl. But not too long ago all women who married were effectively legally owned by their husbands. Only in the 1990’s did marital rape become illegal. Perceptions of the allegations against Moore are very much dependent on ones political, cultural, and historical perspective. I would love to add gender in there, but that’s simply not the case.
Rape of a 14 year old by an older man is a horrendous crime. It’s also terribly common. It wasn’t expecially unusual back then. It was only marginally illegal. I’m trying to say it’s common without normalizing it, which is hard. But these horrors are not unusual. I can name many women I know who experienced something comparable. I think his sex crimes are only a piece of why Moore should not be a senator. Supporting a theocracy over the constitution he is sworn to uphold is a pretty solid reason as well. And more easily verified.
I would like the MeToo movement to expand so more stories can be told, awareness raised and new standards for behavior established. I grew up under the old (horrid) standards and frankly Moore was not too far out of line with them— at least in my poor Bible Belt Community at the top of Appalachia with its high rate of incest, teen pregnancy and teen marriage in the 70’s. Im not ok with those old standards, and I wasn’t then, but they existed. I was told to not be like ‘those girls.’ My brother was not told to not be like those men. (See why women are not opposing Moore in large numbers across party lines.) As much as I want change in gender norms, I would also like opposition to Moore to broaden to encompass the many ways in which he is unsuited for office.
It is no secret that the GOP wants to maintain patriarchal power structures. Their anti-abortion stance combined with their unwillingness to do the things which would actually decrease abortions (free birth control, strong social welfare programs, health care) and instead choosing a solution where women are punished if they dare to make decisions about their own bodies is proof enough of where they (and EOS) is coming from. It isn’t about “life” for them at all. It is about male power over female bodies. Is it surprising that they also feel entitled to have power over female bodies in other contexts? Not to me.
His behavior was bad enough that he was told to stay away from the mall. You can say that this kind of this happened everywhere in the 70s, when we were more comfortable with the sexualization of children, but he was kept from the mall. He took things to a different level, even by the standards of the day
The majority of women are opposed to abortion for reasons that have nothing to do with patriarchy. It’s not Ok to kill other humans for personal convenience.
But it’s ok to let them starve, not have access to education or adequate health care, die and kill in war, be murdered by the state for crimes one did not commit, submit to forced unpaid labor during incarceration, be subject to environmental toxins due to corporate pollution, be murdered while unarmed by police.
That All gets justified by EOS as legitimate consequence. Every piece of EOS ideology supports and justifies unequal treatment of all kinds of humans except unborn babies. Those 24% of US children born into poverty. Fuck them and their greedy parents who refuse to work, right? EOS ideology subjects women to the rule of the ultimate patriarchal rule— God’s word— aka the word of a bunch of dudes 2000 years ago, interpreted by more dudes for the following millennia.
He’s not only a pedophile. He also thinks all non-Christians are going to burn in hell.
EOS, are you a supporter of Roy Moore’s? You didn’t mention one way or the other in your post.
EOS is pro-life and pro-suffering. Moore is right up her alley. No doubt she will condemn the sin but claim to love the sinner. Mostly she loves imposing her moral code (aka suffering) on others with righteous and faux humble glee. Moore and EOS seem like a match made in heaven. Too bad she’s not 15.
Kit— my orthodontist used to molest his pre-teen patients and everyone talked about it and knew about it. Probably some steps to protect some girls were taken by parents who were more vigilant than Mine. But he was allowed to retire an old man with a Porsche and a condo in Aspen about which he loved to brag. My sister and I removed our own braces with pliers rather than go back.
This stuff, was accepted as semi normal and only mildly of concern to most people at the time. It may have been different in wealthier places. But I’ve spent time in both realms and saw plenty of sexual abuse of teens by adults in both. There are several ongoing lawsuits at elite boarding schools across the eastern seaboard, including my own.
Again none of this is ok. It was also hidden in plain view— covered up by silent agreement by Just about everyone. We were all complicit. Time to change is now. Moore’s a dangerous weirdo, but his open theocratic politics are what make him an outlier.
I don’t think that EOS matters much.
Unless you are looking to raise money for Ozone house.
Why some people refuse to see what is in plain view will always fascinated me. Delusion impulse I guess. Narrative bias. All I know is that once the curtain is pulled back on these things you can’t ever close it all the way again. This is that moment of cultural awareness. I hope Moore doesn’t get a senate seat but I’m more interested in the culture acknowledging how pervasive the issue was and continues to be, though atcrates we know are much lower than in the past. self-reported incidence of abuse is way down over the past 30 years that the CDC has been tracking it. 1 in 4 or 5 women under 24 represents a more than 20% DECLINE in abuse since the early 90’s. Now that back to the 70’s… the pill and free love brought about a sexual revolution that was not freeing for All. It reeked of patriarchal control like all social movements of the era.
Hey EOS, abortion isn’t a crime. However, trying to finger fuck a 14 year old when you are in your 30s kinda is.
GOP senators didn’t sit quietly by when McConnell maneuvered to deny Merrick Garland SCOTUS confirmation hearings. They supported him fully, just as they supported his obstructionism in every other way they possibly could. He wouldn’t have remained Majority Leader if they didn’t back him.
But yes, of course, Moore is an appalling excuse for a human being. Pedophile, theocrat, homophobe, anti-Semite, misogynist…. To the extent that his party colleagues do not repudiate him, they also own his moral, ethical, and legal failings.
This.
https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/hi-its-us-all-the-fourteen-year-old-girls-in-america
It certainly will be interesting to see if Republican pro-life women are willing to vote for Moore. I dont know if you can make the argument that those who do are against the patriarchy. (also, small quibble about facts. A majority of women are in favor of legal abortions)
“It certainly will be interesting to see if Republican pro-life women are willing to vote for Moore.”
They will.
If Pedophilia is good enough for the Catholic Church then it is good enough for Congress
December 11, 2017
For Immediate Release
Janet Porter will join Steve Bannon, Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-TX), Wisconsin Sheriff David Clark, Jr., and Captain Bill Staehle at Judge Roy Moore’s “Drain the Swamp” rally Monday night at 6:00 p.m. Central at Jordan’s Activity Barn, 10135 County Rd. 59 South, in Midland City, Alabama. The barn will be decorated with a “Drain the Swamp” theme, complete with alligators, like the one pictured above.
“On Tuesday, the people of Alabama will vote to send the vindicated Judge Roy Moore to Washington to drain the swamp–that’s why the swamp creatures fought against him every step of the way,” stated Janet Porter, President of Faith2Action, and a spokesperson for the Moore Campaign.
After weeks of attack in the media based on a lie, Roy Moore accuser, Beverly Nelson, finally admitted much of what she claimed was Judge Moore’s yearbook inscription was, in fact, written by her.
See the lie for yourself. The only shred of ‘evidence’ of wrongdoing is a fraud.
“When you knowingly say something which is not true, that’s called a ‘lie,'” explained Porter.
“When you write something and claim someone else wrote it, that’s called a ‘forgery,'” added Porter.
“When you base your case on lies and forgery, that’s called a fraud,” stated Porter, who has called for abortion activist Gloria Allred to be disbarred.
“Their only shred of evidence of wrongdoing is a proven fake–just like the news outlets who reported it as ‘fact,'” stated Porter, who never doubted Moore’s innocence concerning the politically timed accusations generated by the Washington Post.
“Senator Roy Moore will be the deciding vote to confirm pro-life justices on the Supreme Court; Moore will protect our borders, our 2nd Amendment, and our religious liberty,” added Porter. “That’s why the people of Alabama will send Senator Roy Moore to drain the swamp and make America great again.”