Roy Moore

[Rommie]

Perhaps more a BMR appropriate thing, but...

You know what has annoyed me most about the coverage of the Republican candidate for Senate? He was already a terrible person before the allegations against teenage girls, who had ethics violations against him because of his refusal to uphold the law, thinks homosexuality should be illegal and should be punishable (also that trans people don't have rights), and thinks Muslims should be barred from serving in Congress. I'm sure there are some other things he's done too that are worth mentioning, but my point is if your moral compass is only upset about him now, it was pretty damn broken.

I feel this is definitely one of those snapshots on how divided the country has become in its tribalism if he still wins- it's literally a grab bag of all the terrible things you can think of, short of actually advocating, say, concentration camps (but if that bombshell drops in the next month I won't be shocked), and people accepting those because surely the other side is still worse. Boggles the mind on how different some people's version of reality truly is.

[SciFiFisher]

Just to add fuel to the fire. Moore also advocated armed insurrection if Clinton won in a blog he moderated. His supporters are also saying they would rather forgive him for sexually assaulting under age girls and elect him to the Senate. Several of them are quoted as saying essentially that a Republican pedophile is better than a democrat in office.

Read that carefully... They admit the allegations may be true AND they are willing to elect him anyway.

I consider myself to be more conservative than liberal. But, I don't recognize these people. Calling them conservative is like calling Stalin a progressive because he wanted to modernize Russia. The fact that they can say that they honestly believe that merely being a Democrat or a liberal makes you worse than a man who preyed on young girls is mind boggling. I also agree with Rommie that if this was the thing that made you finally realize that Roy Moore was rotten to the core we really have some problems in this country.

[geonuc]

On top of all the reprehensible 'values' he has, as someone trained in the law, his actions in defiance of the rule of law while he was Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court really made me despise him.

[Rommie]

This is a post I mentioned earlier in the Louis C.K. thread, but because it's a political one in nature (though related to sexual harassment scandal) I decided to post it here as I thought it'd be of interest to people like Thumper who expressed some concerns about these recent scandals.

link

TL;DR, this movement is going to have serious issues in 2020 (and perhaps in other elections before then) when it comes to the Breitbart conspiracy theory crowd. Simply put, how are we going to react when crazies realize the power of such accusations can be co-opted, and start conspiracy theories about candidates they don't like- not just Pizzagate, but rather going so far as getting women to say things happened that did not- and then start shouting about how you have to believe all women?

I unfortunately think this is a plausible enough tactic that it made me worry a bit about the future going forward.

[geonuc]

I'm already there. Worried, that is.

[SciFi Chick]

I'm certain that some despicable opportunists, in Hollywood will now turn the casting couch on its head and get parts by blackmailing innocent executives into casting them so, of course it's going to happen in Washington.

I don't know that much about Moore. The only dog I have in this race was that I wanted Strange to win because we could have had so much fun with his name.

[Cyborg Girl]

Well... Moore lost his election. By a disturbingly small margin, though.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... jones-wins

[SciFi Chick]

Well... Moore lost his election. By a disturbingly small margin, though.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... jones-wins

It's only disturbing if you think accusations = guilt. In an entrenched Republican area like Alabama, this is pretty impressive.

[Loresinger]

I agree SFC - this is a huge step for that state. I am happy for them (and us).

[Rommie]

I found the demographics interesting that basically it’s the turnout of minorities that likely did it- Black women are 12% of Alabamans, but were 18% of voters for example. Hopefully a lesson learned there.

I really doubt Jones will survive more than this term, but my relief is so huge right now who cares.

[Cyborg Girl]

^^^ this.

White people in Alabama voted for a pedo rather than a probably-not-pedo. All it took to sell them on this was sufficient Bible-thumping and dogwhistle racism. That is FUCKED UP. And you can bet it's not just an Alabama thing; sentiments of scraggly-bearded, latte-sipping Bostonian yuppies notwithstanding.

[Thumper]

Gullible grew a beard!?

[Thumper]

I stumbled onto a radio station I didn't know we had here in town. One of those super right wing indignant mis information stations. The moron that called in was saying basically Alabamans got what they deserved, and he just didn't know what to think anymore. Then he added how could you possibly vote for the "party that introduced the KKK to the South?" And I thought, wow, that is an amazing flip. His candidate has said that he wants to take Alabama back to the time when slavery was in full swing. His opponent was one of a very few southern AG's who actually prosecuted and gained convictions against KKK members.

Reality much? The saddest part is that most of the unfortunate morons listening in were probably believing everything this "caller'" (paid shill) and host (narcissistic paid shill) were saying.

[Cyborg Girl]

Gullible grew a beard!?

LOL

Quite the opposite, actually...

[grapes]

Secretary of State reported Jones with 49.92 percent of the vote, and Moore with 48.38 percent

Apparently, 12% of eligible voters are black women, but 18% of those who voted were black women. That "extra" 6% made a huge difference. Also, 2% of white votes were write-in, apparently Republican voters who refused to vote for Moore. That also made a difference, as it could have also swung the total, even with the other effort. In a tight race, you have to pay attention to all possibilities.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics ... b885e11263

[Thumper]

Secretary of State reported Jones with 49.92 percent of the vote, and Moore with 48.38 percent

Apparently, 12% of eligible voters are black women, but 18% of those who voted were black women. That "extra" 6% made a huge difference. Also, 2% of white votes were write-in, apparently Republican voters who refused to vote for Moore. That also made a difference, as it could have also swung the total, even with the other effort. In a tight race, you have to pay attention to all possibilities.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics ... b885e11263

All those breakdowns are quite interesting. Some quite disturbing.

[SciFiFisher]

I am saddened that a huge margin of the white voters voted for Moore. I can *almost* understand it. I am also disturbed that over 650,000 people voted for him at all. The fact that the race was so close is why I say that. There should have been no doubt in a large percentage of the people's minds that Roy Moore was not fit to be a Senator. For a lot of reasons. But, the ONE that should have been a deal breaker for at least 80-90% of those 650,000 people was the allegations of being a sexual predator towards young underage girls. There were 8 accusers. Even *normal* Republicans had difficulty saying these allegations were fake.

A huge number of people deliberately chose to vote for Moore even though they know that he was, and may still be, a sexual predator. That disturbs me a lot.

[Swift]

That disturbs me a lot.

I'm sorry to tell you, but the world is a very disturbing place, with a lot of disturbing people. And no, I am not being funny.

The fact that so many people would vote for this guy does not surprise me in the least. I'm only surprised he didn't win.

[SciFi Chick]

If y'all want to assume that he's guilty because of accusations, go for it. I think he might be guilty, but I'm very aware that I have bias because he's clearly an asshole.

However, to assume that everyone thinks like you do, that all the white people who voted for him believed he was guilty and didn't care is incredibly cynical and arrogant. Please quit assuming that everyone who isn't on your side on every political issue is evil. This polarization HAS to stop

[geonuc]

I judge Roy Moore on his record as Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, which is abominable and renders him unworthy of any public office.

[Rommie]

I don't think they're evil. I just think they legit don't care as much as they care about other stuff (like, abortion rights or lack thereof), and am very disappointed in their decisions.

[Thumper]

I judge Roy Moore on his record as Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, which is abominable and renders him unworthy of any public office.

Yep, it was said around here earlier, "If you waited until the sexual assault "allegations" to come out before you decided whether Moore was fit for office, you're late to the party." I think he is a horrible human being whether the latest allegations are true or not or whether I believe them or not. If that makes me arrogant, I can live with that.

[SciFi Chick]

I judge Roy Moore on his record as Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice, which is abominable and renders him unworthy of any public office.

Yep, it was said around here earlier, "If you waited until the sexual assault "allegations" to come out before you decided whether Moore was fit for office, you're late to the party." I think he is a horrible human being whether the latest allegations are true or not or whether I believe them or not. If that makes me arrogant, I can live with that.

That's not what I said. I said assuming everyone who voted for him believes him to be a pedophile yet still voted for him is arrogant. I

BTW, I never even heard about the guy before this uproar so I know nothing about his record, but he sure comes across as a first rate asshole.

[Thumper]

Yer late to the party.

[Swift]

If y'all want to assume that he's guilty because of accusations, go for it. I think he might be guilty, but I'm very aware that I have bias because he's clearly an asshole.

However, to assume that everyone thinks like you do, that all the white people who voted for him believed he was guilty and didn't care is incredibly cynical and arrogant. Please quit assuming that everyone who isn't on your side on every political issue is evil. This polarization HAS to stop

I don't think all the white people who voted for him believed he was guilty and didn't care - I suspect a lot of them believed he was not guilty because that is what they wanted to believe; they convinced themselves of that because that's what they wanted to be true.

A lot of them voted for him because his views matched their beliefs and his goals matched theirs - to put in place a theocracy based on fundamental Christian beliefs. It was easy for them to believe that the reports of pedophilia were just Fake News trying to destroy their savior.

Anyway, as geonuc said, there is more than enough stuff from Moore's record as a justice, and the public statements he has made, to hate him and believe he is in unfit to be a Senator.

And yes, I am incredibly cynical. If you want to say I'm arrogant, fine, I don't care. A significant percentage of voters are idiots. If you want to dismiss my opinion with the label of arrogance, I don't care.

I'm more than tired of playing nice and being told (not particularly by you, but by many people and pundits) that polarization has to stop. I put up with 8 years of conservatives polarizing issues and the electorate, of bashing President Obama, for their own agenda. That polarization was OK. Oh, but now that their fellow is in the White House, we all have to play nice. Nuts to that.