It's astounding to see the very same people (literally) who expressed horror at Donald Trump's character last year, and were distressed that the Republicans chose him as their nominee in the primaries, and were shocked that the Evangelicals and other religious groups would endorse someone like that, the same people who refused to give him full-hearted support even after the nomination... suddenly defend Roy Moore with their dying breath AS IF THERE IS NO CAUSE FOR CONCERN whatsoever.
Now, don't get me wrong. I've been struggling with this issue myself since the story broke out. Unlike many of Moore's supporters, I never liked the man to begin with, but since this is the candidate Alabama voters have chosen, I was hoping, and could certainly understand, that Moore's conservative colleagues in the Senate would try to make the best of the situation, buddy up with him, and get him to vote for the right things and avoid saying and doing harmful things as much as possible. I would not be happy that he was there at all, but I could live with that outcome. I cannot live with a liar, who makes fools of his own constituents, and who appears to be completely non-chalant about the seriousness of the accusations by his detractors. I will be significantly less diplomatic about it than some people I very much respect were and say as following: sure, the timing MAY very well be entirely political and disruptive. But that does not justify Moore's crimes, if he is guilty of them, and it's certainly does not justify the lying.
And it absolutely does not justify those "conservatives" who are willing to put aside all moral judgment and support Moore EVEN if it turns out that all claims are true and he is indeed a pedophile and a liar. To say that I'm disappointed, not so much in the original Trump supporters, but in the people who did consider character an important issue to selecting a candidate and who now completely destroyed their credibility by trying to find excuses for the inexcusable, is not to say anything. I've already seen a fair number sliding down that slippery slope into blatantly favoring evil, not even the lesser evil, just evil, so long as it's "their" kind of evil, and this further degradation just adds an additional layer of disgust on top of it all. Now, I get if people are genuinely struggling with this issue. I myself expressed grave concerns about the high likelihood of defamation of character, conveniently launched by political operatives and picked up by those who simply dislike Moore.
For that reason, I have a great deal of respect for Steve Deace, who, in a very earnest statement, explained why he himself is struggling with this issue. I myself was not willing to "buy into" (as I was accused of doing) the political machinery behind the latest election-time shenanigans. I wanted to see what would happen next. I was sorely disappointed by Roy Moore's own actions, his loss of credibility on Hannity, and by the bandwagon of apologists, who do not care about truth, righteousness, or even legality of his actions, so long as he "wins" and they get to score points against the left. Once again, my advice to the conservatives: the road to hell is paved with good intentions. You might want to reconsider your own choices that keep leading you towards increasingly more impeachable candidates. There is no shortage of staunch conservatives without this kind of baggage. How about, instead of falling for the most shrill, grandiose megalomaniacs that you can find, supporting people with no dark secrets of the sexual crime variety, who will do their job earnestly, and who will not blatantly lie to you about the most basic facts of the situation?
I am further disgusted by the accusations of bad faith and being a tool of the left that are being launched at me now that after a time of carefully monitoring the situation and struggling with various angles of it, i have come to a personal choice that Moore is more likely guilty than not, and that he is almost certainly lying about at least some aspects of this situation. I took heat from the left when I cautioned against jumping at easy political bait and at the gravity of undermining someone's reputation. I am equally willing to take the heat now, because truth to me, matters a lot more than opinions of people on the Internet. I am not willing to make compromises with my own conscience and to support someone who engages in this level of deceit and is either covering up a crime, or is so narcissistic, that even for the sake of clearing his name and helping his party dig itself out of the moral morass, will continue covering up, lying, and equivocating.
I pray and wholeheartedly hope that Moore turns out to be entirely innocent of the heinous accusations against him. However, he disgraced himself on Hannity, and he disgraced himself further by refusing to clear his name and by not calling out to his supporters and cautioning them against their willingness to support criminals. That would have been the right thing to do in this situation. Unlike the many "conservatives" I have encountered, I remain fully confident that the State of Alabama, has, in fact, a number of viable, conservative candidates, who are neither pedophiles nor liars or equivocators, and who would make fine candidates in the event Roy Moore wisely decides to spare us all additional embarrassment and to withdraw. He is now a complete liability to the party, and the best he can do is come clear, apologize, and take his leave. If he stays in the race, somehow manages to win the election (which I doubt), and takes the Senate seat, he will have not only disgraced that institution, but he will be a political loss for conservatives. His vote will be tainted, and he will end up as disservice to his own state.
Well stated, Irina - but then I posted similar comments, so in my case, preaching to the choir. I fervently agree with another comment you made on FB about this not being the hill on which it is worth dying. So very true. The conservatives are in big trouble here. The RNC already dropped Moore from their roster of supportive candidates, and more elected Republicans have also distanced themselves from Moore. Like you, not a fan of Moore to begin with - I have always thought him to be creepy, and these allegations are simply supporting my sixth sense. Not only on Hannity did Moore not help himself - his answers were ambiguous at best, and never once a tacit denial of the charges levied by his accusers. A court of law may not be needed as Moore is losing badly, in the court of public opinion. Certainly the yearbook inscription is rather damning and again, creepy. I, too, would prefer Moore be innocent and tell people I told you so, but from outside the confines of the Senate Chamber. The GOP is in enough hot water on the electoral front having failed to repeal and replace Obamacare and presenting so-called tax reform, that were I a member of Congress would vote against.
ReplyDeleteKeep sharing your wisdom, Irina.