Many in the media are lamenting the fact that Moore’s support continues in the face of credible allegations of sexual misconduct against him. They’d like to paint this as acceptance of such misconduct, because the alternative (and real reason) is that many people either don’t believe the allegations or (and this is related) have rightly come to find the media hypocritical and despicable, and this is a way of flipping them the bird.
Michael Walsh lays out the reasons:
The media, in the form of the Baby Boomers who have reached its highest echelons and have controlled it for the past quarter century, sold its soul to the Democrat party — first to George McGovern, then (briefly) to Jimmy Carter, and finally and fatally to Bill (but not Hillary) Clinton and Barack Obama. Whereas old-school reporters and editors abjured involvement in politics, they embraced it. Whereas once a reporter left to become a public-relations flack or, worse, to work for a politician, he was finished as a journalist, the Boomers celebrated such experience as a resume builder. In short order, a revolving door appeared, connecting the newsrooms of Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Washington Post, and the television networks to the corridors of political power.
David Axelrod, for example, worked at the Chicago Tribune, as the City Hall bureau chief, before moving on to managing campaigns. Several of my Time magazine colleagues segued into Democratic administrations, including Jay Carney (press secretary) and Rick Stengel (State Dept.). In the other direction, Clinton administration hacks and henchmen such as James Carville and George Stephanopoulos smoothly transitioned into plum media gigs. So why should anyone trust the press any more?
Why indeed? As Richard Fernandez has noted, they put the torpedoes in the water to hit Trump, and they’re circling back around toward them. I hope they hit below the water line.
It is not a decision for me to make, as I’m not an Alabama voter unlike LarryJ. The allegations are credible, even if mostly hearsay other than a very questionable Yearbook squibble.
But I’m lost on the argument that Moore shouldn’t be seated if voted in, but its fine for Al Franken to molest Arianna Huffington and just return to work. I guess you can grab at least their breasts, when they let you, eh Al? Arianna? All that squawk about Trump’s locker room talk was just talk, but Al actually does it, and the women do just let him get away with it?
I do think the charges so far against John Conyers are weak sauce, but a settlement is far more tangible suggestion of potential guilt than anything against Moore. And Conyers is considered an Icon, which I guess is just below killing a woman and being called “The Lion of the Senate” or maybe “Exalted Cyclops” for just hating blacks. That type of praise is a bit more support than just a vote for Moore.
You shouldn’t have set the range to zero, Captain Tupolev.
State laws change, but 14 used to be an age where you could get married in some states. There are serious flaws in the accusations but they are credible. If all things were equal, they should disqualify Moore… but things aren’t anywhere near equal.
Credible? Only if you are credulous. The yearbook is a clear fake (done to death in other places)and the woman who was 14 sounds to me like a flake. So we are left with he dated a few women of 18 where no impropriety was alleged..
I have a question: how many young ladies were there in Alabama 40 years ago in small towns who were in their 20s who weren’t :
1 Ugly
2 Stupid
3 Undesirable for other reasons
4 Unmarried
5 Didn’t have steady boyfriends/fiancees who were large, jealous and drove pickup trucks with guns in the rear window?
If Moore and others don’t fight this and win you can be sure that this sort of thing be be brought up any time a right wing candidate comes along where his election matters.
I feel sorry for the women who have now come forward. I think they have been induced to demean and debase themselves morally in public.
you can be sure that this sort of thing be be brought up any time a right wing candidate comes along where his election matters
That’s the kicker. This type of attack is nothing new in the realm of politics and yet each time it happens, people react as if they have never experienced it or read about similar events before.
The power of it comes from human failing, its not like zipper problems don’t exist. But we can all think of examples of this tactic where the accusations dropped right when the voting stopped.
So we are left with he dated a few women of 18 where no impropriety was alleged
That’s the part I find credible. The notion he may have been attracted to younger women.
We are supposed to read that and then clutch some pearls. Yet, I don’t find a 30 year old interested in an 18 year old as a great concern as groping a woman asleep on a plane. The latter sounds more like a predator to me.
As I said, there are serious flaws in the accusations. Obviously this is a political hit job. However is it credible that a thirty year old chased teenage women? It happens every day. You even have 19 y.o. going to prison for having sex with there 17 y.o. girlfriends.
The rules are too fluid.
Short of a video of Moore raping a teenager, it should have no effect on the election because of timing… a 40 year old charge weeks before a vote.
However is it credible that a thirty year old chased teenage women?
Because he’s admitted to it?
And apparently married the one he finally caught.
These are credible allegations of something that would have at the time more or less been a nothingburger.
Do I think with today’s sensibilities, this is something admirable? No. Was a 30-year-old interested in teenagers a thing for most of human history? Apparently. So these allegations hold no weight with me.
You want to talk about his Ten Commandments kurfuffles, fine, we can talk about that, but as Hillary likes to say, that’s old news.
Only two of the accusations, the ones made by the two college age women, are credible and even then, they have inconsistencies. The rest looks like a carefully crafted lie created by a master of political hit jobs. The lie keeps getting more elaborate, which should be a tip off.
A nice touch was the week of everyone knew about it articles, except that no one knew about it. Every story that comes out bears all the hallmarks of a lie.
Another good tactic is asking, “What if the accusations are true? What would you do then?” That creates an obligation to act on something that can’t be proven or that you think might not actually happened. Its a variation of the precautionary principle.
Well, what if they are wrong? A campaign of this sort is just as wrong, if not more so, than the accusations against Moore.
I’ve seen too many prominent Democrats say they care less about an objective truth than a carefully crafted lie which lets them believe something other than the truth for this whole thing not to raise flags.
Sorry #4 should read: married
Also at 30 you likely aren’t old enough to be the 18 year old girl’s father.
I hope Moore sues the ass off them all and wins in court and in the election.
The moment Gloria Allred swooped in to represent the former 14-year-old I wrote that one off. As Mike B says above that leaves nothing the least bit improper, let alone illegal nor — in Alabama at least (he said from only a few miles over the Georgia line from there) — disqualifying.
If I lived in Alabama I’d vote for him. If the accuser Allred is representing turns out to be legit, it can be dealt with once that’s established.
As a voter in Alabama, I have to decide who I distrust the least – the press or Roy Moore. I don’t like or trust either. Moore is a grand stander and the press has a long track record of biased reporting and lying to favor Democrats.
Then you also have to figure in: do you want that seat to stay Republican, or flip Democrat?
Sometimes you don’t get *good* choices, and have to make the least bad one you can stomach.
I figured from the beginning, there is always a remedy to fix the problem if after becoming Senator, Moore’s accusers actually prove something in court. Apparently, this is how Democrats play the game, see Bob Menendez, Al Franken, or John Conyers as current examples.