If times were less toxic and if the culture hadn't been corrupted by the Clintons, Sean Hannity's revealing interview of Roy Moore last Friday would be dispositive.
Moore's responses were dumb and incriminating—from his attempts at being lawyerly, (e.g., "When you were 32, did you ever go out with young teens?" "I did not generally do that"), to his memory loss that would occur at opportune moments. (e.g., "I don’t remember going out on dates with her. I knew her as a friend. If we did go out on dates, then we did. But I don’t remember that."
This is not a court of law, it is an election. The presumption of innocence and an imminent election are mutually exclusive constructs, i.e., voters will have to make a determination before anything is proven.
For the good of the country, Moore must withdraw now. It is counterproductive to make his voluntary departure contingent on his guilt. The man is too invested in his professed innocence and rectitude.
4
Trump IS the essence of the GOP. We have gone from keeping these kinds of issues in the closet to expected total acceptance. While the church has been complicit with these actions in a somewhat subdued fashion, they too are now blatantly giving these actions the thumbs up in bold unadulterated actions.
Trump on “The View” “I don’t think Ivanka would do that [pose for nude photographs] inside the magazine,” Trump says, speaking for his daughter. “Although she does have a very nice figure. I’ve said that if Ivanka weren’t my daughter, perhaps, I would be dating her.”
And then, as the words he had just spoken formed meaning in his mind, Trump asked: “Is that terrible?”
Joy Behar asks “Who are you, Woody Allen?” Everyone laughs, including Donald Trump, who remarks “That’s very good.”
“He told Rolling Stone that if he weren’t happily married and his daughter’s father, he’d — well, he didn’t finish the thought, but you can guess what he meant."
Then there was the 2013 episode of “The Wendy Williams Show,” when father and daughter were asked what they had in common.
Ivanka: “Either real estate or golf.”
Trump: “Well, I was going to say sex.”
Overt incest is presently defined as obviously sexual in nature. There’s no doubt that something sexual is going on, at least for the abuser anyway. It may or may not, include full blown intercourse.
Covert incest is subtle, touching the child in a way as to make appear “accidental”.
2
Any woman at any age who has gone through what BYN went through as a teenager knows that the fright, hurt, and indignity of even attempted rape lasts for a lifetime. I'll give a #metoo on this one, twice over. I feel for her.
9
What do Bannonite Senators Mike Lee and ted Cruz have to say about this creep?
3
So, Roy Moore is a pedophile and a predatory creep who derives sexual pleasure from exerting power and control over those weaker than himself. Shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Round up the usual GOP, white extremist excuses. The base will bow down, worship them and march in line.
3
Are women allowed to vote in Alabama?
7
The most offensive part of all of this is Roy Moore's galling bombacity in refusing to admit wrongdoing. He tries to paint the victims as "political" hacks out to stop him from becoming a Senator.
To show how utterly remorseless Moore is for the things he's done in the past, he has the nerve to imply that these women are liars trying to stop his overly agressive goal of becoming a US Senator from Alabama.
He is right. This IS the perfect timing to put an end to men in authoritative positions of power from hiding their dirty little pasts. Should women pay taxes to men who can't keep their hands off young girls and Congressional pages?
Should women be forced to endure men like Moore and ALL of those Alabama men who hid Moore's sexual misconduct just like the Republicans hid Dennis Hastert's pedophilia? Just like they went right ahead and allowed Trump, another sexual predator to shove it all under the rug? And why is that women ask?
No other reason than MEN like Trump, Bannon, Moore, Sessions, Cornyn, Graham, Gowdy, Cotton, Walker and the rest of the Confederate good ole boys believing they ARE the law. No. They are NOT. The Law is the Law. They are merely vessels of enforcement of the laws we Americans choose to keep our society from becoming a banana Republic.
But now, we have the Republican Moron in Chief openly committing treason and violating his oath of office in Asia putting down our top intelligence men like Clapper, Brennan and Comey getting away with it.
6
With that yearbook signature Moore’s protests start to sound like Austin Powers’ denial about whose Swedish penis enlarger was in the box.
2
Whether it's politically motivated isn't the point. If these accusations cause Moore to lose the election, well that's a bummer for him, and good on whoever uncovered them. However, Trump admitted --in fact, bragged-- about being a sexual predator and he still won the election, so by precedent, Moore should have nothing to worry about.
The point is that the guy appears to be a predator; there is mounting evidence that in the 70's he was a bit, shall we say, randy. Either all those women are lying (I suppose that's possible, but what would be their motivation?) or Moore is lying. The newest news this morning is that Moore was banned -- BANNED -- from the local MALL for being a creepy predator. Who gets banned from a mall, for God's sake? When there's smoke...
http://www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2017/11/gadsden_residents_say_moores_b....
4
This would be a good time for all the Republican senators and representatives to stand up as one and say they believe the women. Let's face it: the trauma of the women demeaned and assaulted seems not in the GOP politicians' realm of concern.
1
If Moore heard a story about a 30 year old guy hitting on a 16 year old guy he'd be calling for the death penalty.
8
These allegations should have come out during the primary race. The fact that they didn't raises the question of why not then? Maybe it is now the fashion and it wasn't just a few months ago?
Or, maybe it is a coordinated political plot. Possibly financed by the Russians?
In any case, if people have charges to make about the behavior of a political candidate, they have a public duty to come out this them as soon as possible. Ambushing a candidate with charges that he could not possibly refute, even if they were false, because of the passage of time undermines the democratic process.
I tend to believe the accusers, but, as the events were decades old, it would seem that Roy Moore has reformed. These accusations would be far more relevant if they served to establish a pattern of behavior that has continued to the more recent past.
2
Someone help me understand why people in the entertainment business are held accountable for their sexual misconduct but our elected government representatives are given a pass? Moore and Trump have multiple accusers. What is being done?
3
Since none of the ten commandments forbid pederasty or hypocrisy, God wants Roy Moore to be Alabama's senator.
4
Mitch is a swamp rat who literally spent MILLIONS to defeat Roy Moore in the primaries. So if he can't win fairly, he'll try to win UNfairly. Then we have the usual parade of Washington Post encouraged women, (INCLUDING an activist for Hillary Clinton...oh no, she COULDN'T be lying, right??) coming out after nearly 40 years to wag their fingers at Moore. I mean, if anyone can put politics aside for even ONE minute, how would YOU like to see your career and reputation go down the drain by unproven allegations? And if you have NO empathy for Moore due to his politics, were you THIS zealous when Monica Lewinsky, Juanita Broddrick, Kathleen Wiley or Paula Jones...to name but a few...accused Bill Clinton? If not, you are a hypocrite, aren't you?
2
None of these women is an activist for Clinton. These are Trump supporters. Don't believe everything you hear on Fox/Breitbart.
Bill Clinton had consensual affairs with women. Moore forced himself upon adolescents. See the difference?
8
Weren't they all consensual and of age? Didn't we almost impeach Clinton? Isn't that a small part of what caused Ms. Clinton to lose?
3
And why is DT not being held accountable for his indiscretions?
1
Gag at a gnat (Roy Moore), swallow a camel (Donald Trump). Roy Moore will be compensated in some way.
1
If you support Roy Moore, then you support a pedophile and condone pedophilia amongst our leaders and lawmakers. Looks like the GOP backs the King's Privilege. Why, it never went away at all! If you get elected to office, then you are allowed to have sex with children. If this is not dealt with, it will become the new norm. We are already fast becoming a nation of neo-nazis and white-power bigots, now we will become a nation of pedophiles and those who condone, support and advocate for the support of pedophiles.
1
Ray "Creepy" Moore is what happens when a political party doesn't take responsibility for the bottom of the swamp creatures who are far right conservatives. Here are my takeaways from this ugly mess.
1) Those who proclaim their innocence the most invariably leave a trail of loathsome behavior. Moore is quite happy to denigrate homosexuality but is on board with molesting underage females. His obsession with the ten commandments apparently doesn't apply to him.
2) The populist segment of the Republican party represents the supreme hypocrisy of proclaiming "family values" while protecting those whose values are the complete opposite. Trump is exhibit one. Populists are the most intolerant, most ignorant members of the Republican party.
3) Steve Bannon should go back under the rock he came from. Perhaps his willingness to overlook Creepy Moore's behavior with females is a result of his own personal experience or approval regarding such behavior.
4) If there's one female who has been abused and assaulted by one of these horrible males, the likelihood is that there are also others, often many. These self-righteous liars will have a hidden history of such behavior. Time to call them all out.
Eclectic Pragmatism — http://eclectic-pragmatist.tumblr.com/
Eclectic Pragmatist — https://medium.com/eclectic-pragmatism
6
Many mock or disbelieve that the feminists and their politician allies are not on a determined campaign to deny due process to males accused by females and thus nullify the Constitution's 5th and 14th Amendments protection. I draw your attention to success that they have already achieved in that regard.
In California, feminists succeeded in getting legislation enacted which requires excessive bail upon arrest for domestic abuse (which usually occurs upon mere accusation). This assures punishment of accused males immediately, without even a trial and conviction. Every male arrested based upon accusation of domestic abuse must have bail set at $50,000.00. Worse, persecutors usually allege multiple counts for a single incident. That results is legislatively required bail of $50,000.00 per count. Thus bail is often $100,000.00 - $200,000.00. The consequence of this legislation is that a great many merely accused males are imprisoned for many weeks or many months upon mere accusation simply because they cannot afford the excessive bail. Even those who post a bail bond and are released until trial (which often never occurs because the cases are dismissed) suffer substantial financial loss since the non-refundable bail bond fee is normally 10% of the bail amount. This all occurs despite that the US Supreme Court long ago ruled that excessive bail was unconstitutional.
2
The Constitution protects due process in criminal proceedings. It has no applicability to the current situation. This is an election, and nobody has the right to a Senate seat.
5
Roy Moore, serial pedophile. This is why his rhetoric is so sex laden, why he is so obsessed with sex.
And for those of you who say, “that was 40 years ago,” I have to wonder if you understand the gravity of this situation.
When you are still a developing child (and teenagers are that), and someone in power not only abuses you but then threatens you, you’re not going to run and tell someone. He was right, she wouldn’t have been believed.
There are more of us out there who have been victims of the Bible thumping sex addicted Roy Moores in this country. And there are a lot of them.
I hope this man is mercilessly crushed and his life ruined forevermore.
9
Add him to the list of (Manohla Darghis list)
#creeps and Moore is an especially scary creep. Frightening that we have brutal sexual predators as senators and Hollywood producers when they should be behind bars for a lifetime. Seriously frightening to be a female. How do you think males would react if they were abused this way? The army would be out in force.
1
Bannon vs. McConnell! What an awful duo! At this point I would have to vote for the Anarchist Bannon to lose this one!
1
McConnell seems to think it is just fine to have a self proclaimed sexual predator in the oval office, why suddenly worry about the reputation of the Senate?
I thought the Republicans liked Sexual deviants. They keep electing them after all.
4
Well, when a Molester chooses to be in the Spotlight,..this kinda Thing can Happen.
2
Forget it Jake… It’s Chinatown… Er, Alabama.
2
I believe he must have done something to these children.
What I don't know.
They might or might not be the type of action that would if proven put him in prison.
I believe he would never be convicted because of the presumption of innocents we have to give him in court and the fact there isn't any evidence a crime was even committed other than the testimony of these woman who are claiming something happened many years ago.
I would never convict based only on evidence that has to be questioned because of the length of time that has elapsed between the present time and the time these woman claimed they were attacked.
I do not see how his guilt or innocents would effect his ability to represents his constituents in the Senate.
I believe they should have the right to choose who they want Ito represent them.
He should therefore have the right to run and because he most likely won't even be charged the senate has no right to remove him from office.
1
Testimony is evidence. And, this isn't a trial anyway.
3
It's getting to the point women can take down anyone they want by simply accusing someone of sexual assault- the truth is irrelevant. As of right now these are all simply unsubstantiated allegations and should be tried in a court of law rather than public opinion.
Actually, they're all substantiated. If you cannot decide not to support a child molester without a trial, that helps explain why Missouri is almost as bad as Alabama. And yes, I grew up there.
3
This is not a political issue as some claim [because of the timing of Moore running for the senate.] The timing has to do with the amount of women in all walks of life who have came forward recently concerning sexual harassment. They have become emboldened by the numbers, and lets not forget Cosby, the tip of the iceberg. These women are not suing, and would never have spoken publicly had not others found their voices. Women make up the majority of the population. Imagine if all who could would vote.
4
I am still with Moore based on his positions on today’s issues.
I watched the entire statement/news conference. Moore didn't just sexually assault her. He was supposed to drive her home but instead drove to a dark secluded place behind the restaurant and locked her in the car against her wishes. This was kidnapping. He then attacked and injured her. This makes it kidnapping with violence which as far as I can tell has no statute of limitations in Alabama. At this point, he should be charged with kidnapping with use of violence which is a serious felony with no statute of limitations in Alabama.
6
Moore lies and denies, calls it "fake news" and attacks the victim. Same thing, different Republican. This same old song they play over and over is tiresome.
2
The biggest question that hangs over the women's heads is why did they not come forward sooner... They claim because they were young.... Okay, I'll accept that... But then why didn't they come forward when he was running in the primary? Or any of the other past elections... At any point they could have said something but they all lack the spine to say a thing until right before this election? I just doesn't add up... Making it look even more suspicious is the one woman claiming to be a Trump supporters, 1) why does that give her more credibility when Moore was running against the candidate Trump supported, 2) why wasn't she registered to vote if she was a Trump supporter... and of course she lawyers up with Gloria Allred... sorry but some of the women have a credibility problem.
A few more accusations and he might catch up to Bill Clinton.
1
Does anyone wonder if as a District Attorney Moore was sexually abusing minors, did he prosecute sexual assault cases to the fullest extent, or was he lenient on perpetrators of sexual assault??
4
Every time I think it can't get any worse, something happens that sinks America deeper into the muck of hypocrisy, venality and corruption. It's becoming difficult to look at, or watch, any news without cringing. Who are we? Forty-five is an embarrassment; his acolytes are hopelessly corrupt, and incompetent--a very dangerous combination. Now this. Moore should be told in no uncertain terms that he will never be seated as a US senator, so he needs to drop out of the race.
4
Well, you can still count his accusers on one hand, i guess . . .
If Gloria Allred can selectively find so many abused women to represent why hasn't she come forth to take up the cause for so other many women who today are still being ignored and even ridiculed by Hillary Clinton who defended her husband while he was being accused of the very same despicable acts perpetrated by today's growing number of abusers now coming to the surface. Could Ms. Allred political leanings have something to do with this?
1
Perhaps. She's a lawyer and can represent anyone she likes. Lawyers aren't required to be bipartisan; they're private citizens.
2
I will believe these women when you liberals believe the women who accused Bill Clinton and reopen the case. Hypocrisy is a two-blade sword.
1
“Sexual misconduct”? How about “attempted rape”?
4
The RNC is STILL paying for 6 people who are in Alabama to assist with Moore's campaign. They have not cut their fundraising agreement with him. So, for all of McConnell's declarations of believing the women, his party is blazing trail to help elect the first known serial child sexual predator in the US Senate. Do NOT believe a word he says until the RNC pulls all support from Moore. As usual, McConnell is trying to have-his-cake-and-eat-it-too!
McConnell is a cold shrewd steward of the senate. Absolutely nothing stands in the way of his responsibility to make sure republicans keep a majority and are able to push through their middle class killing agenda laid out by the activist oligarchs’: Adelson, Mercer and the Koch brothers.
Republicans' legislative agenda & control of Congress are all that matters. So what if Moore sexually assaulted some vulnerable teenage girls 40 years ago? Their trauma means nothing compared to republican quest for political control.
Let me tell you why I believe these women. Moore didn't assault 3 of theses women. That tells me he is a predator. He KNEW they weren't responding to his grooming efforts or he knew right away they weren't vulnerable enough to risk assaulting. He threatened the 5th victim, telling her no one would believe her over him. Any woman who has experienced sexual assault as a minor knows this too.
This is it! This is war. We can't let a party that will keep funding/supporting a child predator to hold any offices.
7
The State of Alabama has shown contempt toward federal authority in both in war and civil rights movement. They have elected Roy Moore, Alabama Supreme Court Justice twice and was removed twice.
He will be elected next month. Now, the U.S. Senate Republicans will have a problem. The public reaction will be disdain and disgust. Christmas is coming early for the Democratic National Senatorial Committee.
4
Ethical standards in Washington appear to have changed dramatically since Roosevelt, the Kennedys and Clinton.
You are correct, they have changed, or haven’t you noticed the charges against Cosby and Weinstein? And Bill Clinton should be held just as accountable as Moore. The truth is that this type of behavior, whispered about before, is now out in the open, and there is an opportunity to further ensure a price is paid by all of the perpetrators, regardless of their political leanings. Women, all women, need to speak out right now, at least to their families and loved ones.
It is not only the rich and famous who have perpetrated this type of abuse. It all needs to end right now.
1
Moore calls himself a conservative Christian. Guess his definition and mine are very far apart.
5
"Moore" evidence that the inmates are trying to take over the asylum. Way too many people on the conservative right who think that they can do whatever they want as long as they continue to push their narrow-minded agenda. And, all Jeff Sessions can think to do is investigate the Clinton Foundation.
1
Being barred from a mall for bothering young women says it all.
6
Let him run, we need Moore to undermine the Republican Party.
1
Roy has a "thing' for younger girls...where was he living in his teens and 20s?
Did anyone notice as Moore spoke: "I am not GUILTY of these accusations" This is perfect lawyer-ese... Notice he doesn't say: I didn't do these things... Just like Bill Clinton's double speak... for which he remains roundly condemned...
“..... he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
If only Mark Twain was alive to see this!
2
Be that as it may be, but what if this Moore guy is "now a Born-Again Christian"?
Should his sins of yesteryears still dog him, Where do we draw the line? There are some things I did in my early thirties that, if found out, I wouldn't be allowed to run for office in this climate. But I wouldn't think of repeating those sins. Should I not, therefore, run for office ever?
Let s/he who has no sin cast the first stone.
I guess part of the issue here is that this Moore guy is a zealot...still casting many stones when he knows he had been living in a glass house in the past. That's probably what many people find hard to forgive.
3
We know that in France you don’t have an age limit for “consensual” sex; here is the US we have a culture that has defined children as unable to consent therefore automatically constituting sex with children a crime. It doesn’t matter if you “find Jesus” you still are indefinitely accountable for your crime by society if you are a pedophile. Whether you can be charged and sentenced under the law is determined by a given states statute of limitations.
2
Let s/he who isn’t a serial sexual predator run for national office to shape policies impacting all of us for years to come. Also let’s remember Moore being thrown off the bench TWICE for refusing to follow the law. Let’s recall the immigrants he incarcerated, starved, and tortured until some died. These are “sins of yesteryear” we should consider forgiving?
2
Moore is a recidivist disrespecter of the first amendment foundation of separation of church and state. Enable him again and you will get Moore of it.
1
the head of the Senate Republican campaign arm, said that the Senate should vote to expel Mr. Moore, a former State Supreme Court judge, if he won “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
wow! now that's saying something...
4
Reading the Comments below, it’s no wonder that women, especially teenage girls who are still learning how to deal with their sexuality, are very reluctant to come forward with allegations against men in power. Why now with these charges? What do you suppose would have happened to this small town Alabama girl if she had accused Moore? The lone voice of a single girl accusing othe local DA? Five woman have spoken out and they are still not believed, especially by those “good” people of Alabama .
With the exposure of powerful men from the left, right and center of the political spectrum, the truth is that this type of unspoken sexual harassment will no longer be tolerated. Woman need to speak our now to ensure these serial abusers know that this type of life altering crime will not go away, even after 40 years.
To end sexual abuse now, step one is for all women to share their painful stories. Forgive if you choose, but attacking the victims. cannot be tolerated.
7
These women did not volunteer to come forward, they were found and asked to speak out. I am sure there are many more such narratives regarding this horrible man and I hope that those who have failed to join the chorus do so in support of those who have stepped up and who are suffering a painful event again and under public scrutiny.
1
The women are always to blame for alluring the offender to perdition with their beauty. That is the rationale for chadors, too.
1
These women are asking us to believe their accusations that Moore assaulted them, and I do. However, I understand several of them voted for Trump. This means, despite the trauma they endured, they voted for a man who multiple women also have accused of sexual assault/misconduct, which Trump basically confessed to in the Access Hollywood tape. Given what they've been through, and their now going public in a manner intended to derail Moore's political ambitions, which presumably means they think such behavior is disqualifying for politicians, I'd like someone to ask them why they either didn't believe those other women who accused Trump, or believed them but did not care.
4
I don’t know how much time you spend in backwater towns in ‘Merica but these places do not have a wide variety of balanced views-there is only one view. They are devoid of openness and inclusiveness. They are suspicious of the new or different and they fear intellect. Most of these women vote with their husbands or what their pastor (or AM radio station) tells them to. They think they are “saving” their country from the godless. It’s incredibly sad because it’s not necessary for the outcomes (and the monikers that go with them) to be what they are.
Until we rid ourselves of private schooling and create a system of education that is the same for every school nationwide with equal funding and truly high standards of teaching we will never enable them to become the capable and discerning people they might be.
2
"At some point he gave up. He then looked at me and said, 'You are a child. I am the District Attorney of Etiwah County. If you tell anyone about this, no one will believe you.'..."
Consider that Mr Moore (and no, I will *not* refer to him as "judge")is quoted in the Victim's statement:
'You are a child. I am the District Attorney of Etiwah County..."
He willingly used his POWER to intimidate a Child Victim.
8
In all these recent cases, the victims are heroic to speak up. They help all victims.
I was molested for years as a child by my aunt. And my mother "accidentally" managed to expose herself to me dozens of times during my youth. My mother and her sister--the molesting aunt--had both been abused by their mother when they were little girls. I never said anything to anyone about these incidents until well into adulthood--after my abusers were dead-- and felt the same shame, confusion, and fear expressed by all those coming forward now in the media.
Those women and men who are speaking up about their abusers help us all feel less alone.
I thank them. We should all thank them
4
Lived in Alabama for 7 months last year. It’s like taking a trip back to the 50s and this is a reminder.
1
It took a long, long time before Mitch turned the switch.
Moore had an open reputation in his town and was banned from places where female children congregated. Obviously Mitch knew all about this ages ago-why else did Trump fly down there to support his opposition?
Of course Moore denies any wrongdoing, he honestly doesn't think he did anything wrong.
2
It might be a good idea to be focused on keeping this creep out of office by electoral means, rather than bring in party politics. Disqualifying him if he wins would only embolden the likes of Steve Bannon but I will go out on a limb and confidently predict that Mr. Moore will lose the election.
It is sad to see many people bringing in the party angle instead of looking at this as an opportunity to cleanse the political system. Let liberals not forget that when this disgusting man was actually upto the antics he is accused of, he was a registered Democrat and actually ran for some office in Alabama on the blue ticket. Conservatives would do well to remember that this is not the first and certainly not the most well-known instance of such accusations against a Republican politician.
Some republicans, not just Alabama republicans, point to the timing as evidence that these allegations must be false. They can't conceive of a woman coming forward so many years later. One elected republican called for prosecution of these women for waiting so long to come forward! Republicans will stop at nothing to get what they want. When women feel safe enough or when the greater good becomes more important to them than the threat of being revictimized, they emerge to tell their stories.
It is really no different than child sexual abuse allegations arising when parents divorce. The child feels safe enough to tell or they fear the abuse will be worse when they visit dad alone. Mom won't be coming home from work anymore. Those children are never believed either. Particularly by the courts. The mother is always suspected of having coached the child to lie about dad.
Neither women, nor children, are believed when it comes to sex crimes. I am so thankful to these women for speaking their truth! Perhaps the tide is changing after all. Never thought I would live to see that day!
Just like when a child discloses sexual abuse by (usually) their father after the parents file for divorce are not believed. The evil mother has coached or brainwashed the child.
From McConnell's side it has nothing to do with the women but everything with how Republicans are seen, namely as a party that condones such behaviour just to keep the majority - that is if Moore gets elected and gets to take his seat in the senate. I'm afraid that "the good people of Alabama" would rather give their vote to a bigot pedophile than to a Democrat. And then we will see if McConnell stands by his words.
2
It's so predictable that the majority of the readers of this paper can condemn a man from something that happened almost 40 years ago with no reasonable way for him to defend himself, yet these same readers adore a Kennedy who killed a young girl in a car wreck, adore Democratic icons that abused their power to assault young girls and were likely part of the 750 million people that watched a 32 year old prince marry a teenage Diana to universal acclaim. Sexual assault is unforgivable, but an accusation does not make a fact. How is Moore a pedophile while Jerry Seinfeld was the toast of NYC when he dated a teen. This whole affair is pure politics and anti-Christian bigotry.
Five women, all Republican Trump supporters who do not know one another.
You're acknowledging that it happened and defending it as some practice protected by "Christianity."
Jesus weeps when he hears you folks.
5
The GOP has dumbed down expectations for our leaders to the gutter level. Under any other times, Moore would never have gotten this close to the senate. The fact that the GOP congress still has a problem with denouncing a nut job and child molester says everything anyone needs to know about the modern GOP. In the end, defending Moore is utterly indefensible, so once the tide turns the cowardly GOP will attack him with vengeance.
5
To paraphrase Moore, apparently Mitch McConnell and the establishment G.O.P. would rather elect a radical pro-abortion Democrat than a child molester.
Well, finally we found a line McConnell won't cross.
4
Mr. McConnell needs to go.
2
I would only be surprised if the very fine people of Alabama elected a Democrat to fill this seat. To the Republican establishment I can only quote from your favorite work of science fiction,"As you sow;so you will reap." How is that embracing of ignorance working out for you? You old boys give pigs a bad name.
6
I still say that he should be given a lie detector test on live television.
1
Moore may never get indicted for his alleged misbehavior but his surviving candidacy is an indictment against the state of Alabama, the Republican Party and the talking heads at Fox News.
20
The question is why Bill Clinton gets away with abusing women
That is not the question. This discussion is about Mr. Moore's behavior. Bill Clinton is not running for office, and Mr. Moore is. Bringing Bill Clinton into every conversation about bad behavior by a Republican adds nothing to the discussion. For years, the Republican Party has attempted to portray itself as the representative of Christian ethics and good behavior. If anything, Republicans should be even more circumspect in their behavior because of the Clinton scandals. Clinton is over, out of the picture. He will never be involved in public life again. Mr. Moore is attempting to enter the senate. The question is: will the Republican Party accept an alleged child abuser into its ranks?
14
What exactly does Bill Clinton have to do with this? It speaks volumes that Mr. Moore's supporters make so many references to Bill Clinton and none to the current occupant of the White House. How sad for this country.
4
How exactly is Bill Clinton relevant to the discussion of Mr. Moore? The question is, why are Mr. Moore's defenders invoking Bill Clinton instead of the more obvious analogy. As for "gets away with," are there recent accusations I missed? As for perhaps "got away with," Bill Clinton was impeached. He remained in office because a majority of Americans wanted him there. The keyword is "majority."
3
If little handicapped girl raped by somali refugees, DON'T believe, attack the little victim, slander the family. If women come forward with sexual allegations against a democrat (i.e. clinton) DON'T believe, attack the women, call them liars, if women come forward 40 years later accusing Republicans, state all their allegations as fact no matter what. And spread the allegations maniacally.
1
Does “Old Roy” really think that the rest of us will believe that the five women are liars and that only he is telling the truth? Stunning! Alabamans would be better choosing anyone else in their state.
1
McConnell has figured out how to kill two birds with one stone. He wants to get rid of recused Attorney General Jeff Sessions in order to free up a new AG who can fire Mueller.
2
.
For all of Roy Moore's public displays of religiosity over Moses' stone tablets, he seems to have forgotten one enormously important commandment from The Master:
^^ But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. ^^
—Gospel of Matthew 18:6
.
5
8 women accuse Trump of sexual harassment and a 13 year old accuses him of rape.
https://www.snopes.com/2016/06/23/donald-trump-rape-lawsuit/
6
What is wrong w Alabama Republlicans???? Tonight on PBS, it was reported that these people are more committed and dug in to support Moore than ever before! I hope they do so. Alabama Republicans can destroy the GOP nationwide. Do these stupid Alabama people not see the damage they are doing nationally to the Republican party?
GOPers have really stretched the boundaries by ignoring Trump's sexual abuse, and now GOPers are being asked again to COMPROMISE NATIONALLY by allowing Moore to proceed.
As a Democrat, I want to thank you Alabama GOPers for being so arrogant and stupid.Thanks for helping the Dems to win both parties in 2018.
4
Apparently, a majority of Alabama Republicans have said they would vote for Moore, even if he admits the allegations are true. It seems incredible that these people are actually saying they would elect an acknowledged child sexual abuser to the senate, but it is Alabama after all.
2
Lost in this mess is the disquieting thought that Jeff Sessions could be finagled from his position as a recused AG in order to replace Moore, should Moore win the senate seat this December. Double bump for Republicans: keep the two-person majority in the Senate, and approve for AG someone who will be more amenable to doing Trump's meddlesome bidding. A slick way to thwart Special Counsel Mueller's relentless investigation of Russian-Trumpian ties.
1
I heard a story on NPR once about a man who rejected his daughter, who was Jewish, for marrying a Catholic. Turned out he had been having an affair with his Catholic secretary for years. His daughter had a perfect response to his reaction to her, and it fits Moore perfectly: THE BIGGER THE FRONT, THE BIGGER THE BACK.
6
I I was born and raised in New England but lived 32 years in Alabama so perhaps that gives me some credibility LOL What bothers me most is the willingness of the nyt and many of its readers to adopt a popularity oriented approach to legal matters. As a practical matter popularity has always played a large role in legal proceedings but I find it disheartening to have above-average people such as nyt readers adopting this Hoi polloi approach
Yep. You lived in Alabama!
1
“Elmer Gantry” Moore will never quit. He’s on a mission from God.
Besides, quitting would be an admission of guilt from someone who actually believes he’s always right, and in the right. He’s so right with God that he can never be wrong, or do wrong, or be evil, or do evil, because he’s free of sin. Free of sin because the Light of the Lord shines upon and within him. So, of course, this animal can abuse teenagers, even children if the Spirit moves him. Besides, it’s in the Bible.
And if most rock-ribbed Alabamans don’t see Moore for what he is, and Moore’s con for what it is, they deserve what they get. The rest of us don’t. Our nation certainly doesn’t. But we’re helpless bystanders being dragged over the cliff by religious fanatics, bumpkins and cretins, condemned to watch this train-wreck along with a few dozen others, the scandals and almost unbelievable idiocies of Sweet Home Alabama in the Covfefe Era.
6
It looks to me that the various fractured pieces of the US just send representatives to Washington to irritate the rest of the country.
1
So. . . What is a 16-year old girl doing in a car one night, with a 32-year old man- were the on a 'date', or what?!
She said her boyfriend didnt pick her up from work and Roy Moore offered her a ride home.
1
Read the article and find out the answer to your question.
1
My family in Montgomery says there should be at least four more coming forwar,.
3
Democrats calling for Moore to step aside are not looking at the long game. Moore's election would gravely hurt the GOP, especially if they are unable to expel him. This seat will likely remain Republican whether Moore occupies it or not, so the Democrats might as well use it as a campaign issue in the midterm elections.
4
The seat doesn't have to remain Republican. Jones and Moore are neck and neck today. All of us should be sending Doug Jones a donation to his campaign. dougjonesforsenate.com
1
I love it. Gardner of Colorado has decided Moore should be expelled "because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate."
Could not the same thing be said about the president of the United States. Are not the "ethical and moral requirements" for the president the same as for the senate?
And yet the senate has done NOTHING to remove the president from office.
24
Where was all this righteous indignation when people were being poisoned in Flint, Michigan? Speaks volumes for the Republican party. I still remember most (I don't remember Kasich's response) at the debates declining to comment.
11
Or when children were murdered in Newtown? The message seems to be that a man, any depraved, soulless man, can lead better than a woman. Nurturing is weak? Taking everything and everyone by force is strength? Where are the adults?
1
The GOP is serving up Moore as a sacrificial lamb.
As always, this is a trap.
I guarantee that they've got a few doozies in the pipeline that Dems will be hard pressed to question.
Republicans are playing chess ... again.
4
Yep, they're clever. That's how they've gotten so much legislation passed.
Oh, wait.
2
I'm no fan of Roy Moore but am trying to understand one statement by his most recent accuser. She said that when she tried to get out of the car, Moore reached across and locked the door so she couldn't get out. Can that be done?
2
Cars in the 70s, yes. You had to physically pull up the locking mechanism, merely tugging on the door latch did not release the lock.
3
I noticed that, too, but that may be far enough in the past that if the door was locked, you couldn't unlock it just by pulling the inside door handle. A panicked kid might not manage to get the door open. Besides, she said he had grabbed her around the throat. Not so easy for a kid to get even an unlocked door open in those circumstances, with a much bigger adult choking you.
1
Let’s remember it was a long time ago when girls were more vulnerable to pressure and less confident about reporting this sort of thing. Why pick on one small detail when the story is consistent with other reports? Rarely does a woman make this sort of thing up, especially when no advantage is to be gained. These women are all Republicans and not part of a plot for heaven’s sake. When will the Trump-inspired “witch hunt” defense stop for this disgustingly morally bankrupt party?
1
The bigger problem is that many evangelicals think that an adult man having sexual relations with a teenage girl is perfectly fine. Some of his defenders, instead of denying the events, have said they were not out of the ordinary. In third world countries we read about teen brides to older men and are horrified. I'm sure many Americans are horrified to find out that powerful older men are going after teens right here. It's time to decide if this behavior is acceptable or not for anyone, not just Moore.
9
It wasn't acceptable then, at least to these people: www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/11/14/roy_moore_reportedly_known_to...
It has yet to be pointed out who gave the Post the names of the four women who have made the accusations against Moore. The Post went to Alabama and heard about Moore's behavior and was able to find these women. My theory is the I formation came from the Republicans. One thing is certain. The Republicans in the Senate didn't want Moore there because they knew he would be a major problem for them politically. The notion they are only interested in his moral, ethical, and criminal behavior has absolutely nothing to do with their condemnation of him. Trump committed similar behavior and they looked the other way. And they would again if more accusations came out against him. To say they have now found their moral compass is not only ludicrous. It is also deeply offensive.
10
Since McConnell has never suggested any serious repercussions for the President's past instances of sexual assault, McConnell's pronouncements regarding Moore reek more of political convenience (taking down an alt-right challenger to the establishment) than serving as evidence of any newfound morality on the part of McConnell. One will note that he stood silent while the Trump Administration unsuccessfully attempted to force a young illegal immigrant who was a minor to carry to term and give birth to her rapist's child.
7
Some are saying the Democratic Party continues to make a mistake in ignoring white working class voters.
If you need an example of the futulity in persuing this voting block, look at Alabama.
Even though there have been mulitple credible reports of sexual misconduct by Roy Moore, his support among this same block of Alabama voters has either seen either no negative impact or an uptick in support. And if you were to quiz this block of voters in other parts of the country you would likely see a similar response to these credible allegations.
So, going forward this should a lesson to Democratic Party supporters everywhere that it is a total waste of time courting the support of a demographic of voters that is clearly incapable of reasoning and sound moral judgement.
11
I think you're right, and I think Nancy Pelosi and the other "old" Democrats know it, too, but they can't call the deplorables "deplorable" out loud any more than Hillary could. 62,979,879 deplorables voted for Donald Trump, and a pile of them are Alabamans.
Trial by media is not the correct option. If these women were assaulted the correct forum is the Courts since the accused denies the assertions. That omnipresent lawyer seen in so many of these interviews surely knows this.
2
He can sue any time and have his day in court.
Not gonna happen.
1
Considering that McConnell and Trump led the opposition against Moore in the primary, does anyone really thing he'll pay attention to their pleas for him to step down now?!? Also, Moore has no reason to resign -- he has enduring support from the part of the base that believes these charges are a liberal fabrication.
And frankly, believing that is not as irrational as it sounds. These victims were teenagers when Moore molested them, but they were adult women when he was twice elected Chief Judge of the state. His supporters are wondering why these women were perfectly OK with the idea of a child molester being a judge and also running for the Senate nomination, but then suddenly had pangs to come clean when he actually won the nomination and was in the final race, a month before the election.
This recent New Yorker article says that Moore was well known for dating teenage girls, and he may have been banned from a local mall for pestering them. Again, it's surprising no one brought this up until a month before the election, and some voters will think it's bogus. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/locals-were-troubled-by-roy-moo...
I'm not a Moore supporter and am delighted this is happening, but it's quite understandable why his supporters are suspicious about all this, and I don't think ANY amount of stories in the "liberal media" will change their minds. So why should he withdraw?
Two words. Harvey Weinstein. The floodgates have opened and women finally feel like they can tell their stories without automatically being called liars and sluts. That is what is different and why women are now coming forward.
1
Nightmare scenario. Trump will coerce Jeff Sessions to resign as attorney general and run as a write-in for his old seat, then appoint a new AG not bound to recuse himself from the Russia investigation.
7
Yep. Jeff will make it even easier by resigning.
“Judge” Moore is no friend of mine and indeed if his accusers are telling the truth he should ultimately be held accountable in a court of law. Instead under presen circumstances the question of his guilt is instantaneously and summarily being determined by the media which s immediately pronounced as GUILTY just by the mere number of accusers, the number of tears shed by each accuser and upon the fact that an accuser is conveniently accompanied at a press announcement by high powered lawyer such as Gloria Allred and that suffices that Moore is guilty as charged. Then Mitch McConnell pronounces his opinion of guilt and suggests that the sanction requires that this senatorial candidate remove himself from his campaign for the US Senate. And then other Senators join a chorus of “ even if elected “ this new Senator” deserves to be removed from office as unfit to serve. Has the country gone mad? Whatever became of the accused’s presumption of innocence, his right to a jury trial, his right to confront his accusers in a court of law and the constitutional guarantee that a conviction for such conduct requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt determined by a jury of his peers? This environment whipped up by the press and its fury to convict by mere accusations in the media is no different than the Salem Witch Trials. Our system of criminal justice in the US is seriously broken and WE THE PEOPLE are the losers.
What people are saying is that when credible serious accusations such as this are made that a decent (and as a gay basher pseudo-Christian he isn’t) innocent person would not run for Office until it was resolved. You “the people” are already the losers when you don’t see human decency as something worth caring about. Hence you elected Trump.
No. The country has not gone mad. The country--most of it, anyway--believes that a JUDGE who was held in contempt of court, dismissed from the bench by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, and now faces multiple accusations of sexual assault of teenage girls, doesn't deserve to be anywhere near the United States Senate. Circumstantial evidence is still evidence, and enough of it will convict in a court of law. www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/11/14/roy_moore_reportedly_known_to...
1
Sorry ladies but the in thing seems to be to accuse someone now of sexual misconduct or assault that happened 30-40 years ago and it's getting a little hard to believe. It's getting to the point that sexual harassment or assault accusations are going the way of the term "racist" which has been worn out by the liberal left accusing anyone that doesn't agree with them on social issues of being a racist. As a result the truthfulness of some of these accusations are suspect.
1
The pervasiveness of sexual assault is the actual problem. The pervasiveness of racial injustice is the actual problem. You are worn out just hearing about them?
It is not the burden of the victimized to comfort the bystander.
6
If a person was murdered 30-40 years ago, does the crime diminish with time or is the person still dead?
2
Um, as of yesterday, at least two of them explicitly stated that they voted for Trump and that this had nothing to do with politics. It is often the case--quite often--that in these cases, it takes one or two brave women to come forward for the others to have the courage to do so. The fifth accuser said so yesterday--that she would have taken this "to her grave" but for the first four having the courage to say it out loud. What do you think the possibly have to gain by thrusting themselves into the national spotlight like this, knowing full well that people like you will call them liars and teenage sluts?
If the Senate is threatening to expel an elected official for alleged crimes that may have occurred more than 30 years ago, they should be consistent and expel all past criminals, such as those that admited illegal drug use.
It should be enough for the Senate to expel him "just" for being held in contempt for refusing to accept a ruling of the United States Supreme Court to the degree that the Alabama Court of the Judiciary had to dismiss him from the bench. If the voters in the State of Alabama want to condone that behavior, the Senate itself should correct that collective mistake. And all of that was BEFORE we discovered that he is very likely a predator. www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/11/14/roy_moore_reportedly_known_to...
It is worth recalling that many women came forward, at the time, to testify that Anita Hill had told them contemporaneously about being sexually harassed. None of those women ever testified. The reason is sobering and reminds us that when Republicans want to fight, they fight dirty, and when they do, Democrats buckle. A little research will tell you which Democrats were there and how fast they buckled. @Loretta Marjorie Chardin reminds us that the head of the committee was Joe Biden.
4
If Roy Moore wins the race and right want to expel him they need support of the Democrats. Three quarters of the senate has to vote to not seat a senator. If the left knew how to go for the throat they would let process drag out. The embarrassment to the right would be poison and the left would have a chance of taking back both houses. Boy I wish my party knew how to fight and stop the right from taking our lunch money all of the time.
2
The name Bill Clinton is raised every day. Of all the dreadful things Clinton did or was accused of doing, he was not confronted by five women accusing him of touching them inappropriately when they were 14 and 16 and 18 years old. The fact that Moore's supporters don't see the difference says everything that needs to be said about their Christian values. The snark from @George Heiner and the obfuscation of what's at stake are evidence of an illness spreading across this country in which the truth, as in war, is the first casualty. This, too, is a war, a war between ideology and the truth, and sadly we can see who's winning.
6
The nature of this attack is truly disturbing. It was violent and threatening, an abuse of social and sexual power by Mr. Roy Moore. The account was entirely believable, and most of what Mr. Moore says is not. Moore represents a very narrow-minded agenda that will be a poison pill for the Senate, the GOP, and the nation.
4
While I agree that there appears to be hypocrisy in McConnell's judgement on Moore's accusers but no equivalent judgement on Trump, there is, as I understand it, one glaring difference, which is that one of Moore's accusers was a child at the time of the alleged incident. Despicable as abuse of women is, abuse of a child is inexcusable no matter how long ago it was. And as for 'why now'? I can easily understand how suppressed anger and shame could be unleashed when someone sees an abuser all over the media acting as though some paragon of Christian virtue.
1
Living in Georgia, news of Roy Moore in his elected positions has made the papers for decades. While I view Roy Moore as more than whacky bordering on dangerous, voters in Alabama are apparently single minded in their perception Moore represents their values.
While I do not share these values (I find them anti-democratic and much like the authoritarian Old South), it is apparent many in Alabama have let their anger overcome decency with recent revelations regarding Moore’s sexual predations. Yet, it is the voters of AL who should decide who represents them in Congress.
The fact Moore refuses to stand down does not mean he is innocent of the allegations. It means Moore is acting as he has for decades, a bit insane and god-like. He has demonstrated a total disrespect for the rule of law in the past and, by staying in the race, demonstrates no respect for the voters of Alabama.
1
"Moore Faces Fifth Accuser; McConnell Asks Him to Quit"
This seems to be a mistake. Moore has not "faced" any of his accusers yet.
2
I grew up at the age of 14 in the 70s. There was no term of "sexual harassment" then. Women were made fun of if they accused men of rape, and dismissed by many police and courts if they dared bring accusations.
It was very hard back then, and I grew up in a liberal suburb in the Northeast.
These women have nothing to gain. They are not suing, they can't bring their complaints to court, and they are not being paid by newspapers.
They simply want to say that this man is not nice. Or terrible.
3
2 issues with the article - 1) Moore was not barred from the mall for "bothering young women." He was barred for bothering young girls. 2) Other articles have said Jones is not raising a lot of outside money. It's better for him that way. Fastest way for Moore to win is if Alabamians think the outside is trying to interfere. I don't understand why the NY Times would try to hurt Jones' case by stating something like that.
1
Louis C.K. got dropped by HBO, Netflix, his management and publicist in about 48 hours. Now, these guys say they may need "months" to talk about a political leader in a far worse scenario?
7
This would be a good time for Democrats to clean their own house, very quietly.
2
How many more women will come out before election night?
I suspect he harassed girls during his marriage. Maybe as his wife aged, he went to look for younger girls. You would expect him to be like Harvey Weinstein -sexual predator never stops. If you listen to the Hannity interview with Moore, Moore is sure another article will come out about him. He blames Washington Post is trying to defame him, but the issue I have with his statement is that he used the word 'sure'. Usually when you are innocent, and you worry people make up lies, the keyword to use is "could", "they could say". Also, there were various statements Moore made in the interview that was self-inflected - a confession of guilt. Moore couldn't deny unequivocally he dated young girls to Hannity.
So.... I am expecting a lot more to come out in the coming days.
From my perspective Moore’s behavior has been deplorable. But from what I read it’s actually quite common for older men to seek young teens in the Southern evangelical culture he comes from. That’s what I find truly shocking.
And then, there’s the defense offered by Alabama State Auditor Jim Ziegler: “Mary was a teenager and Joseph was an adult carpenter. They became parents of Jesus.” At least he has conceded the fiction that God begat Jesus through the Virgin Mary. I had hoped we had advanced as a civilization, but apparently there are many who remain stuck in an ancient past that was rife with cruelty, depravity, and sheer ignorance. I can only shudder.
I will gladly join a boycott of Alabama should they elect this self righteous degenerate. I’d favor letting the entire South secede. Let Texas go it’s own way too, and take Oklahoma and Kansas with it. Then at least the more enlightened states on the west coast can continue forging the better future we have pioneered, free from those impediments. California is already by far the strongest state in the union, and San Francisco has been the most important city in the world during the past 50 years. Consider the profound social changes initiated here, from technology to social media to basic shifts in how we work, live, and think across the globe. Name one positive thing that has come out of Alabama since the Civil War that didn’t come from black people. Good riddance, I say.
4
Color me suspicious...........I have never liked Moore or O'Connell or most of the other players in this silly farce. However, I AM doubtful about who possesses the most innate intelligence required to construct and conduct the so-called drama which should be called a "dope-opera". Now, bear with me folks......I believe Bannon is the brains of the game. Hopefully, we will find out one day............
Wow! Some of the comments from people defending this rat are completely unhinged and off the wall. Why did thes ladies wait until now? Because as the rat DA told them "no one will believe you". You're young and scared and an older man in a place of power tells you this and perhaps even that you'll be the one disgraced and in jail, so what do you do? You bury it. I have many women friends ( yes I'm a man and I have women who are friends) who have told me similar tales and guess what? I've also been in the locker room listening to guys brag about stuff like this. As a father I'd like to slam their heads into the lockers. Remember, please, regardless of the age of consent in Alabama, that these women were children when this happened ( 16 yrs old is a child to my way of thinking) we're living in a climate now where women are no longer ashamed to speak up. Sure the rat needs due process but an election is not a court it's a popularity contest
5
Surely the bullying on line of victims is one more reason to regulate Facebook and Twitter. These platforms are filled with vile comments and little more. Regulation now! Start by investigating every "member;" then kick anyone off who makes disparaging comments about any other user. Trust me Facebook will be dead in 6 months.
1
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO): “… the Senate should vote to expel Mr. [Roy ] Moore… “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the… Senate.”
If Mr. Gardner’s test were applied to every Republican Senator then Democrats would be the majority party in Congress. Lying is unethical and immoral. The Republicans repeatedly justify their legislative agenda as benefiting all Americans knowing full well that corporations and the wealthy benefit the most at the expense of the rest of us (repealing ACA, promoting tax cuts by espousing the benefits of the now debunked Trickle-Down theory; Vouchers replacing Soc. Security and school choice).
There is no need to elaborate on Trump’s alternate facts- a euphemism for his outright lies.
7
So Bannon has dispatched two Breitbart operatives to take on Washington Post before Beverly Young Nelson came out against Roy Moore. So now what is Bannon going to do now?
There is little doubt the whole Republican party, including Trump, are trying to dump Moore. Bannon's attempt will be a real test of his insurgency. But Moore's fate rests in the hands of the Alabama's voters.
To distract this intraparty slugfest, Sessions decides to bring up The Clinton Foundation. Fun!
7
Roy Moore, bible thumping anti-abortion crusader engaged in *exactly* the kind of behavior that forces 16 year old girls to choose between aborting a child, and aborting all their hopes and dreams for the future.
It's entirely fitting, if just once this behavior forced the man to give up his hopes and dreams (for the senate).
Roy Moore, it's long past time for you to shut up and sit down!
87
And go to jail. Otherwise there is no justice. This man is clearly a criminal.
2
What about Professor Anita Hill who said Clarence Thomas sexually harassed her and the committee (headed by Joe Biden!) didn't believe her and cleared him to be a Supreme Court Justice! Let's review this travesty of justice again, please!
69
Ahh, the old "whatabout" defense. We're not talking about Joe Biden. We can, but it has nothing to do with Moore.
3
Agree
And same with Bill Clinton
Let's nor lie, Orin hatch did not believe her, but Biden and Kennedy did and tried blocking Thomas but were overpower by Christians
i haven't read Moore's book, but another article cited that - per his book - after these alleged incidents (when Moore was around 32 in Gadsden, AL) he took a hiatus studying kickboxing in Texas and then a year in Australia as a cattle wrangler. Habits die hard. who wants to bet that he carried his fascination with teenage girls to Texas and Australia? this should be looked into
21
5 Women came out and spoke about this disgraceful man and here we have McConnell telling him to quit. Where was McConnell's outrage when 12 women came out against Trump? Both are despicable and both should quit/resign. Worse part, we have one guy on tape boasting about grabbing them by their private parts and the GOP conveniently forgets about these 12 women and cheer and worship their new "hero". Disgusting bunch of so called "leaders". We really need to clean house of these worms starting from the top.
90
Trump did not "boast."
Did you vote for Hillary, who defended her husband, who was accused of rape by Juanita Broaddrick, and serious sexual predator action by multiple women? That Hillary, who told us to our faces on television that the Monica story was just a vast right wing conspiracy action? The Hillary who headed the "bimbo eruption unit" in 1991-1992 to fend off and silence women accusers of Bill?
As for these charges against Moore...I have no idea of the validity. But the evidence behind each seems quite scarce, and there are stories of
Washington Post "news"people offering money to women to testify against Moore..the man who defeated Mitch McConnell's chosen candidate in the primary.
So the Moore accusers have determined, without any good fact finding, that Moore is guilty (no chance to prove innocence) as opposed to innocent until proven guilty. Senators should know the law...but the RINOs want to keep Moore out.
It's time to elect some great politicians like Bill Clinton again. That way, the press won't have to try to make the news until after the Oval Office sees a new sex scandal. Atheist liberals are allowed a perpetual get-out-of-jail card, are they not?
When I see this news, it reads, "been there, seen that". To say the press is disingenuous in its treatment of Moore is to understate the present reality by a universe of thought.
Moore denies what he is accused to have done. His best defense may not be a good offense but it certainly is not capitulation to the masses of inveterate sexual hypocrites from Manhattan and Washington. Out here in what remains of Christian flyover territory, we're on to you.
If it turns out he is hiding the truth, then the truth will out, will it not? So why all the moaning and complaining before the truth is determined?
Please don't think you are doing all this for my sake or for the sensibilities of other "caring Christians" like myself. Far from it. Unlike the rabble that wants to lynch Moore tomorrow morn, I am happy to see how it shakes out after the election. Bill Maher and his atheist ilk will just have to wait and stew in their juices.
The fourth estate does not make the news, and as of now, there is none to make, other than what happens after the election.
6
This is not a Christian vs. atheist issue. It’s an issue only in that one needs to decide whether to believe the women who have come forward to accuse Mr. Moore. And I, for one, do.
2
Actually Moore = Clinton
That your hated of the left allows you to somehow give this man a pass, at least for now, is incredible and a reminder of how dug in some folks are politically. Your anything-but-left mentality is what allows people like him to thrive.
Roy Moore is a lousy human and a career politician m, who lacks the compassion and decency that we should expect of leaders and public representatives, yet you'll happily take his word over women with little to gain so long as it gives your "team" a win. After all he is a God fearing, homophobe, who pushes conspiracies and thrives on division amongst those he's at times sworn to serve.
You should be ashamed but I️ of course know you're not.
2
WHERE was this outrage when ConDon was candidate for president?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Trump_sexual_misconduct_allegations
His DEPLORABLE actions set the stage for this HOUSE OF CARDS to come tumbling down...
32
If you believe the women who accuse Moore then believe the women who accuse Trump and, for God's sake, believe the women who accuse Bill Clinton.
It sickens me that a woman's credibility depends on whose party has the most to lose.
35
Agreed! It’s not a Dem/Rep thing, it’s a violent man thing. Let the chips fall, and fall hard.
I agree with all of that. Just don't ask me to make the illogical leap that therefore Hillary Clinton shouldn't have been president. (Hint: Hillary isn't Bill.)
4
Misconduct?! She is accusing him of violent assault. Assault is the word that should be in the headline.
60
Thank you for that comment. Perhaps someone from the Times can explain why the word assault wasn't used. Perhaps they can explain why the Times now reports "facts" every day that come from the White House, and every day doesn't point out that they're not facts at all. It is saddening to say that the Times has gone beyond normalizing the abnormal. There are too many examples to count.
2
Interesting how McConnell speaks out against Moore but never against Trump for his sexual behavior when he blatantly bragged about it on camera.
I am not defending Moore, his sexual behavior is only one of the reasons why he's not fit to be in government. However I find it comical that McConnell makes issue of this behavior only because it affects him personally. It has more to do with Bannon going after McConnell and not a lack of integrity on Moores behavior. Hey Mitch, it's time to take a stand against trump… Something you should've done along time ago!
30
Question, why are these women coming out, decades after the abuse? No wonder Roy Moore is still leading in the poll and may even be elected.
9
Because sexual assault is a traumatic event. One does not want to believe it happened, because then one has to feel like a victim. One has to feel the pain, anger, fear, powerlessness, shame if one admits what happened. At the time of the alleged actions by Moore even more than now, women were not believed. In at least one case he allegedly threatened the victim. That’s just a few reasons why not then. Why now? Maybe they feel safer in a time when thousands of women are saying #metoo and some serial predators are actually seeing consequences. Maybe they feel a duty to stop a wholly terrible person from shaping national policy. Maybe they just aren’t afraid anymore.
In response to your remark about Moore leading, I take that as a dismissal of the women’s claims. Maybe go Google some real life stories of sexual assault survivors, read them, and then try to grow some empathy.
They are speaking out now because:
A.) they were identified and interviewed by a team of investigative journalists who was looking into Roy Moore's past, and were following up on reports that he may have been a serial child molester.
B.) since Moore chose to run for national office, in a high profile race, the media is doing its due diligence to investigate the candidates, and this is why the began their investigation
C.) after the waves of women who have come forward to detail sexual assault revelations about Trump/Weinstein/Cosby etc over the past few years, many women finally, for the first time, feel empowered and emboldened enough to talk about being assaulted in the past
D.) read the women's accounts. It will become obvious why they didn't feel safe sharing their experiences earlier
This attitude that we sre allowed to blame the victims for not coming out earlier, how they are telling their story, why they are telling the story etc. is beside the point. The question is only: Is it true? Victims never choose to be violated against. We have no right to demand a certain reaction from them. Spend some time with somebody who has been sexually abused and you might be surprised (and schocked) to learn how incredibly painful, shameful and devastating such an experience can be. To try to ignore and "forget" might seem like the best option short term, especially if this happens at a young age when it's difficult to even know how to go about it. But it's funny how life goes... The truth often still somehow needs to come out - and yes, sometimes it takes decades. If it's true it's true, and nothing is wrong about telling it whenever it seems right to the victim.
3
Nelson's yearbook is a obvious forgery. It couldn't even been her's since she would be in her first year of HS and because yearbooks are published at the end of the school year, not at Christmas. She is clearly lying, probably for money or some other hidden motive or disorder that required her to read a manufactured event from a script.
3
A yearbook can be signed any time. And if she was 16, she'd likely be a sophomore. Though we are not told the exact date of the assault in relation to the yearbook signing. You are grasping at straws to discredit an assault victim.
4
It's not an obvious forgery. Nelson was 16, likely a junior. The handwriting matches. There are many reasons she could have had her yearbook at that time. Please never sit on a jury.
3
Read her statement:
"I turned 16 on November 14, 1977. About a month later I received my yearbook from Southside high school where I had spent my freshman and sophomore years."
3
What will it take before the people of Alabama realize that they can't elect this sleaze to the US Senate. Politics may be debased in the age of Trump but surely these allegations of child sexual abuse should be enough to convince anyone with a conscience that the man is unfit for any office.
12
A politician here in Oneida County, New York should be looking over his shoulder for his inappropriate and criminal behavior to little boys. Time and silence are NO defense. Everyone here has known/heard the rumors for over 40 years too. See something, say something. Me too.
19
Jeff Sessions will take back his seat in the Senate and Roy Moore will be appointed the acting AG. For the GOP, that's a plan!
2
It was terrible what happened to her and the other ladies when they were young girls. It turns my stomach. I'm also surprised to see they all said they voted for Trump. Did they cheer when he called his accusers liars? Did they laugh when he said they were too ugly for him to assault? Did they say if its true, then he should step away from the campaign? Seems like they said, even if it is true...
14
The woman today did not say she voted for Trump. She said she and her husband had supported Trump.
1
So sorry, but I can't believe Mr. McConnell would do anything 'ethical' (blows my mind), such as asking Moore to step-down from the election unless it benefits him or the party. I believe McConnell is asking Moore to drop his request to become senator because he knows that Jeffrey Beauregard Sessions will be unemployed very shortly as Attorney General. And, that Mitch and company know that they can depend upon Sessions to vote exactly the same way as they vote, so they would rather have him as a team member.
12
What a horrible experience for Beverly Young Nelson to endure as a 16 year old girl.
I admire Ms. Nelson’s courage in coming forward, and am certain that she is helping others by telling her story.
Kudos, Ms. Nelson. I believe you. I hope that the outpouring of support that you are receiving helps you heal.
28
The one new thing that stands out in this article--and explains McConnell's sudden and uncharacteristic "decency," is the swap: the plan that, If Moore drops out, Sessions goes to the Senate, i.e., back to Alabama. That means Mueller will be fired by Trump, and the investigation into Trump and Family's treasonous actions with Russia won't be completed.
17
Stop congratulating McConnell for saying the right thing. I do understand those who are pleasantly surprised by it. But let’s remember: He doesn’t believe the women who assert their right to control their own bodies and has voted anti-choice since he joined the Senate. He doesn’t believe the women who need equal and fair access to health care, including birth control, and did his level best to destroy the ACA. He doesn’t believe women should be paid equally, he voted against the Equal Pay Act and the Lily Ledbetter Act. He didn’t believe families, most often women, need to care for their loved ones and have a job to come back to, he voted against FMLA. He didn’t believe all the women who accused Trump of sexual misconduct or assault and did not withdraw support even after the Access Hollywood tape. Remember his blatant sexism in silencing Elizabeth Warren? “Nevertheless, she persisted” - yes, that was McConnell.
This is not a statement of true belief, or a demonstration of ethics or morals - he happened to say the right thing because it is politically expedient. That’s it. McConnell is a lifetime enemy of women, don’t forget it.
36
Just because, for once, the interests of the GOP and the country are aligned doesn't mean McConnell actually cares about the country. But Sessions stepping back into the role would probably be supported by Trump - no need to fire Sessions now.
15
Democrats had Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer. Republicans have Roy Moore, David Vitter, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Larry Craig, Mark Foley, Rudy Giuliani, Henry Hyde, Bob Packwood & Dennis Hastert.
Democrats eject, Republicans elect.
33
On the Democratic side, let’s not forget Edward Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, John Kennedy, etc. it’s not a partisan issue.
Sexual perversion exists among every group. But yes, GOP has a long history of legitimizing and defending rape and molestation. They read about it in the Bible and think it's OK.
Please stop claiming the moral high ground. Writing such nonsense is pure hypocrisy. People like you want to disavow Bill Clinton. A man who held the highest office in the nation and has led a shameful life abusing women.
With Gloria Allred at her side I cannot help but wonder if those aren’t crocodile tears. Haven’t we seen this play call time and time again. I’m no fan of Moore but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Mitch McConnell respond so quickly to anything.
Meanwhile over at the Justice Department......
Hey Jeff did you hear that you are on your way out?
Jeff Sessions: what did the Clintons do again?
What a disgrace. How long are the Clintons going to be a political punching bag? At some point you CONservatives are going to be weeded out for the phonies that you all are. Do not get comfortable. A change is coming.
22
Stop, stop, stop, hypocritical republicans. You elected a confessed harasser into the White House, and continue to cuddle and support him. Roy Moore fits right into your mould. Spare the nation from this charade.
24
Whatever are the RNC Politburo members (e.g., McCain, Romney, and Graham) going to do when Moore shows up in the Senate--call for "more" trashing by SNL, "more" Atlantic Monthly trashing, "more" WP DNC propaganda?
Perhaps the WP needs a couple more dozen women telling their sordid tales of nastiness in dark streets and alleys fifty years ago.
But let's remember, if an accused rapist--Bill Clinton--can be president for eight years, anything can happen.
Seems the Alabama voters are gonna stand by their man.
Hello, Hillary, are you listening or are the Pink Ear on too tight?
4
Judge Roy Moore should remain in the Senate race. The GOP needs a true Trumpian he-man in the Senate, a man who waves a tiny gun, wears cowboy costumes and accosts under age women. The similarities are stunning. Next, the GOP can appoint Emperor Trump's horse to the SCOTUS. . .a fitting approach as the make the once stalwart to democracy into a pitiful image of excess, greed and depravity.
9
Hey, Roy.
If there is nothing immoral about an adult man being attracted to and groping (against their will) adolescent girls ...
Why wait 30+ years to share such a respectable penchant?
2
What’s really sickening is that this Moore creep asked the mothers of these teens if he could take them out, then he assaulted these girls. This sicko is a walking schizo, a psychopath who uses his power and position, lacks any respect for others, or any feeling for the damage and insult he inflicts. He sought out gratifying dominance over young defenseless, manipulated girls.
This sicko also imposed fundamentalist extremist religious views on the citizens, contradicting American principles. The tax payers shouldn’t be supporting him as senator, but instead as an inmate in prison.
This sicko was removed from the State Supreme Court twice. Astounding article in CNN:
“ For the unanimous members of the Alabama Court of Judiciary that ousted him from the bench -- twice -- it was not Moore's substantive views but his sheer lack of integrity and impartiality.
In a 50-page final judgment against him, phrases like "grossly inconsistent with his duties" and "incomplete, misleading and manipulative" leap out.”
Why do people who are a menace to society become judges, senators, and a president of the US? Maybe Trump will give Moore a job in the cabinet.
19
What was once suspected after Milo's fall is now confirmed by McConnell's remarks. Apparently there *is* a line Republicans won't cross: pedophilia and the sexual assault of minors. If victims of sexual assault are over the age of consent, who cares. It's probably their fault anyway, right? But teens (if they're white)--that's a whole other story.
That's a pretty low bar for acceptable behavior. But every little bit helps, I suppose.
12
Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself hath said:
"This is my night; this is my chance....."
Recently, the NYT made clear SCOTUS holds a scientifically unsupported position that pedophiles are arch-recidivists https://nyti.ms/2xY8jl8
The stereotypical pedophilial [1] behavior in popular culture-per NYT-the out of control serial offender, is based on junk social science that became black letter law.
The movement to understand pedophilia as a sexual orientation http://jaapl.org/content/42/4/404.full#sec-2 Like homosexuality before it (no one wanted to believe homosexuals weren’t degenerate criminals & now they are proudly getting married, even with announcements in the NYT) things could be getting better for pedophiles.
On one hand, the NYT wants the public to be sensitized to the plight of those who simply have an atypical orientation (like being gay) & who are being punished because of stereotypical beliefs & bad science. On the other hand, with Moore, no punishment is harsh enough merely for being accused of having, perhaps, an atypical sexual orientation.
Is junk science & bias good enough to convict Moore in the court of public opinion?
[1]Based on the accusations against Moore the accusers are alleging behavior of “ephebophiles (from ephebos, meaning “one arrived at puberty” in Greek), who are mostly attracted to 15- to 16-year-olds; [or] teleiophiles (from teleios, meaning, “full grown” in Greek), who prefer those 17 years of age or older)” https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/bering-in-mind/pedophiles-hebephile...
1
Oh gods, this is just so horrifying. We had a case in my community where a police officer raped a woman in the process of responding to her 911 call. This gives me the same stomach-plummeting sense of betrayal and horror. Moore did this while he was the district attorney?! That's a pretty mind boggling betrayal of public trust. I hope the cases that he presided over as a judge are revisited by a non-criminal judge. I have crossed paths with a number of losers and perverts, but now I can't see a man on the street anymore without wondering if he is a sex criminal. I'm so repulsed.
10
You are so correct. Our gender is riddled with them. There is a urology shortage.
2
Five women have come forward with complaints of harassment against Roy Moore? I see a bright political future for him in the Republican party. Heck! Maybe he can even run for President someday!
21
Such fun! Whatever happens RNC loses. Alabama stands exposed and retains bragging rights as being the worst state in the nation. Morning Joe likes Alabama. How does he justify this Mika?
7
I would like to know every woman's party of choice. For me, the Dems are and will do ANYTHING Wrong, believing their ends justify their means.
1
Your answer is in every article, basically. They are Trump supporters who did not volunteer to come forward, and who do not know one another.
I bet those facts don't change your mind about voting for a pedophile, right?
Roy Moore was one of those endlessly and mindlessly libeling our last President by bearing false witness about Obama was born somewhere else. That is a dishonest man.
Let's hope they investigate his Foundation for Moral Something or Other that his wife runs and has had some lapses in taxes.
Let's figure Roy out.
12
Let it go, Mitch McConnell. It's a new Republican Party, it's a new world, and you're too old to manipulate it anymore.
2
Judging by the comments, a lot of people aren’t clicking on the link to read her full statement that details how over the years since this happened she told first her sister, then her soon-to-be husband, and then her mother.
NYT, you need to put these corroborating facts in the main part of the story. They are critically important and shouldn’t be confined to a link that many people will overlook.
21
Facts? So, you think that she did that without any proof? There hasn't even been a trial to confirm anything.
2
Steve Bannon who some think has some good ideas should be embarrassed for sticking with this candidate Roy Moore. The voters of Alabama who back Mr. Moore have to answer to the rest of America for there intractable indifference to allegations of now 5 women who have come forward. If this guy does not drop out he is as immature and uncaring with the use of his perceived power now as he was then. Where is this guy coming from ?
6
Isn't it interesting that he's been elected to the Alabama supreme court 2 times, and just this moment, a few weeks before the election, all of these women just decided to say something..
1
And thrown off it twice!
'“Apparently Mitch McConnell and the establishment G.O.P. would rather elect a radical pro-abortion Democrat than a conservative Christian,” he added.'
So they finally got something right.
5
Would love to learn that Alabama is not Trump territory redux. Anyone holding their breath?
2
After hearing for the fifth or sixth time today evalangicals stating into a microphone 'They are attacking Judge Moore because of his Christian values' the light went on. There is a segment of evangelicals that think it's okay for men to abuse minor women. God help them and us.
31
I just saw this lady crying on TV with her testimony. I really feel for her. Imagine carrying this memory around for years, seeing her molester's career unfold, and now watching current coverage of other women and undergoing such stress---asking herself, should she come forward.
The story gets more repellent every day. Moore is a danger to our politics, an example of religious fundamentalists' hypocrisy. He's a sociopathic criminal, and should be housed in jail at taxpayers' expense, not installed in the senate at taxpayers expense.
The Gop is so appalling in all things, that the Dems look great by contrast. This is the hoax played on the public, and it's been working. The worse the Gop gets, the better the Dems look. But let's keep our heads and objectivity.
The rights and needs of We the People will take 2nd place if we just exalt the Dems for being not as loathsome as the Gop snakes.
5
Really? The Dems look great by contrast? Follow the liberal scandals much?
4
Nope--the child molesters pretty much lean right. Priests, Dennis Hastert, Jerry Sandusky, Joe Patierno, Mark Foley, and now Roy Moore.
Funny how those so willing to condemn the choices of others make such icky choices themselves.
1
He had to be removed from office twice and now five women have accused him of sexual assault. That he still has support tells you all you need to know about Evangelical Christians and the people of Alabama.
21
Yes, let's malign all evangelicals and an entire state. Can we then do the same with New Yorkers about Anthony Weiner and Bill Clinton?
3
Yes, because they clearly were supportive of Weiner...not! When it comes to pedophiles, Democrats eject while Republicans elect. The difference is quite clear. You don't have a leg to stand on.
2
Well, Weiner's in jail for text messages and Bill Clinton didn't mess with children, so yeah, we can.
There was a time (not so long ago) that providing credible evidence that a politician was a child molester was the end of his political career. Now it is "an alternate fact", that can be handled with the Clarence Thomas / Donald Trump defense: Deny, Deny, Deny and attack the victim(s). It worked for them, and it will probably work for Moore.
7
It depends on what 'work' means. It may work to harden his support but it''s not going to work for the women of the country outside of the base.
Moving beyond this #metoo moment "as soon as possible" can never be the goal. Sustaining it as long as necessary should. As long as these abuses occur -- and no rational person can believe this outcry will end this shameful part of American life -- victims will continue to require everyone's attention.
Such civil rights movements as those for blacks, women and homosexuals have persisted for decades, and no freedom-loving person is saying those persecuted should speak now or forever hold their peace. Why should targets of sexual predation, after generations of muffled exploitation, be silenced when this movement is just now finding its voice?
5
One has to wonder how the Watergate investigation would have been received had it occurred in the political culture of today. Scary.....
7
“because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”...
If this were the truth, then about 3/4 of Congress should be gone.
7
Good point.
2
Moore's conduct has been lost in the shuffle. As a man in his thirties he openly pursued teenage girls. The relationships he struck up with them and his sexual advances were not unlike that of a teenage boy. For whatever reason, he eschewed normal relationships. And whatever the girls may have thought at the time, they came to understand that this was creepy.
The first word that comes to mind in describing Moore is "pathetic." Maybe he was obsessed, maybe he was compensating for a gross lack of confidence, maybe it was something else. But his victims don't say he forced himself upon them or that he engaged in adult sexual behavior. There was already a good deal of evidence that Moore was plenty strange based on his conduct as a judge. His bizarre interest in teenagers merely puts him over the top.
Moore is not a fraudster or a violent criminal. You can take the high ground and declare him unfit based on his past relationships and his bizrre attitute toward women. But most folks, including me, will simply say that voting for him is out of the question because he's a weirdo.
6
Read or watch the account of the woman who came forth today who claimed he violated her trust of him and forced himself on her. That is what I would call violence and criminal violence. He was not a harmless eccentric.
4
Sorry for her experience as a teen (and Moore should step down) but hearing that Ms. Nelson voted for trump after his Access Hollywood comments about his own sexual assault behavior makes her one colossal hypocrite.
10
She did not say she voted for him. She said that she and her husband (from whom she is now separated) supported Trump. She didn't vote at all, according to voter rolls.
Roy Moore may well be a creep and his politics is abhorrent but there is such a thing as due process. If he is forced to withdraw based solely on 40 year old allegations then there will be a price to pay. Not every female in America is honest. Find a few right wingers to concoct a story and any Democratic politician ahead in the polls can be taken out. We may all get a sugar high seeing Roy Moore cut down to size but very soon it could be an innocent man.
2
Due process is for the justice system. All are free to form their opinions based on the information available. The growing stack of corroborating details against Moore is more than enough for many.
8
So true. However, we would have thought that having a gunman barge into a church service with a semi-automatic rifle and slay 26 congregants would also prompt good people everywhere to tear down the gun-worshipping GOP. I don't see that happening. Therefore, optimism that Moore's election would make the difference seems likely misplaced at this point. Which leads us to ponder, How much worse do things have to get before the left gets stronger and the right goes running? Apparently, worse than we would ever have imagined.
10
How could this woman, whose statement's impact relies on its believability by the public, support Donald Trump? I strain to reconcile the disconnect required to support a man who was accused by over a dozen women of being victimized in a fashion similar to her own experience.
5
I don't have any trouble with this at all. People do this all the time. She did not necessarily connect her experience at 16 years old with Roy Moore with voting for Donald Trump for President. As she said in the news conference, for her it has nothing to do with Republicans or Democrats. Apparently what moved her to speak publicly was learning what other women had said about their experiences with Roy Moore.
5
I believe this woman.
I believe the other four women.
And I always believed Anita Hill.
Me too.
20
That hearing is why I've never been able to quite forgive Joe Biden. And like these women, Professor Hill did not volunteer her statement; she was sought out.
1
Yes, Kim.
I wasn't a Pollyanna before the Clarence Thomas hearings, but it was blood-chilling that he was confirmed.
I have never viewed the Supreme Court the same.
I never needed "Citizen's" or "Hobby Lobby" to understand that there is/was no "mistake". The Thomas Hearing laid it out, cold and deliberate: "Abuse women at will and we will never pass a law to stop you".
After the Gorsuch Theft the 3 women on that Court should all have resigned.
There's "rigged"... and then there is just plain old nasty.
2
Think about this scenario. McConnell has Sessions named as a write in candidate for Alabama Senate, as stated in article, he wins, he’s out of the White House as attorney general. He is replaced by another AG who is not recused from the russsian investigation, and he shuts it down. Trump and McConnell then get on with destroying our country.
7
Give them all polygraph tests and see what happens. If they decline, which they have the right to do, it could be just as telling.
3
I believe most victims and their (sometimes from long-ago) stories of sexual harassment as I myself encountered, and witnessed, this behaviour in the workplace, things I rarely spoke of until the recent "metoo" campaign.
I find myself wondering why some will out-of-hand "denounce" victims, often citing a long passage of time or there being no "corroboration" as basis for disbelief .
Could it be that there is something troubling in their own past? Just a thought.
5
This is the tip of the iceberg if the article in The New Yorker is true that Moore was banned from the mall and YMCA in early 80's for bothering teenage girls. And there are plenty of townspeople who remember.
I feel for these Roy Moore accusers and all the women who have told their stories in the last few months. I am 63 now but was assaulted several times, the earliest at 12 and was a victim of workplace harassment over the years. It is only when you have looked back threw older eyes that you realize the lasting harm both the assaults and workplace harassment caused. They devastate your confidence and self esteem. I was very surprised to find myself weeping after 40 years, when the Access Hollywood tape was released and I remembered the insult and humiliation of having a man like Trump, Moore and all the rest, feel like they could just help themselves. The worst being when you thought the attention paid was because you were interesting and talented but then realized you were a sexual opportunity. The trauma doesn't go away, we just wrap it up and carry on. Then every so often, unwrap it and spend some time with it before wrapping it up again.
Beverly Nelson, you are not alone in Etowah County, Alabama. You are all of us.
23
Yes, to your wrapping metaphor. So true and eloquently expressed.
3
I think the Alabama GOP will come up with a replacement candidate before the election. Since it is too late to remove Roy Moore from the December ballot, and a write-in candidacy is very hard to pull off, they will not risk splitting the Republican vote. Instead they will urge their voters to vote for Moore, with the understanding that the Senate will refuse to seat him. When the Senate rejects Moore, Governor Ivey appoints the replacement candidate. Moore supporters will vote for Moore in any, and anti-Moore Republicans can "vote for him" knowing that he will not be seated. It is really the only way they can avoid losing the seat to the Democratic party.
A perfect example of Republicanethics.
3
We'll know in about a month whether or not the "good people" of Alabama decide to choose a pedophile over a Democrat. I predict the pedophile wins because many of the supposed Christians in the state are some of the least Christ-like people on Earth.
Like their candidate, they don't believe in the Constitution. They believe the Bible should be the supreme over the Constitution. That Christians are supreme over other religions. And that whites are supreme over blacks.
14
Come on, Roy.
Take a lie detector test with a neutral third party.
Prove you aren't a pedophile and a liar.
6
Inadmissable. Would prove nothing.
...or prove it otherwise?? and be done with it.
Doesn't speak well for conservatives and evangelicals to be supporting a pedophile.
6
I could go through the several reasons why this woman is a liar. Here's the most damning reason. "The yearbook was signed in 1977 with D.A. (for district attorney). He graduated law school in 1977 - he was not a D.A. then." God is going to get you liars. May you fall into the pits you've dug for others! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Moore
Why don't you rely on Moore's own website. It says "During his legal career, Judge Moore became the first full-time Deputy District Attorney in Etowah County, Alabama, and served in this position from 1977 until 1982."
So in December of 1977 ( Christmastime which he refers to) he most definitely was the DA
31
Wrong, reread Wikipedia. He was Assistant D.A. In 1977. He was working the job!
2
I graduated from law school in 1982 and was an assistant DA in 1982. What's your point?
1
If he wins the senate won't seat him because why again ? What about the lion of the senate who allowed a woman to slowly drown when he ran off , Ted Kennedy ? That drunk was in the senate for years . He groped more women than Harvey Weinstein .. And what about his buddy senator Dodd ? Senator Menendez was purchasing underage hookers . What about him. What about senator Byrd ? The KKK guy. Or senator LBJ who was a notorious womanizer .. there isn't any moral code in the US senate .. that is the problem .. the whole bunch of them are lying thieves .
4
Philandering with women, or buying women for sex, is disgusting, but it is rather different than sexually assaulting teenage girls. And trying to pretend that something is ok because somebody else also did it is pretty sick.
14
I guess it's ok then.
So.
Now it's the Steve Bannon vs. Mitch McConnell sideshow, regarding Moore's despicable behavior. Bannon, the alt-right super-spokesman vs. Mitch, the molested women's champion. The same Bannon - the supporter of neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, VA. - vs. Senator McConnell, who voted to confirm Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court despite Anita Hill's damning testimony in 1992.
This is what we call leadership?
12
A significant percentage of our citizenry is rationalizing pedophilia. Many words come to mind, "great" is not one of them.
12
You forgot the Platter's " The Great Pretender".
No one is accusing Moore of being a pedophile.
Um, yes we are. Fourteen is a child.
I don't know why all the news outlets are referring to Roy Moore dating teen girls. Soliciting sex from underage girls isn't "dating," it's pedophilia. Please use the correct terminology.
30
Moore is a repulsive, un-American ( because he doesn't respect the law), hate-filled individual who sexually assaulted a minor. But if you're really going to use technically correct terms ( rather than colloquial ones) it's not pedophilla which refers to a sexual interest in pre-pubescent children. Most 14year old girls are not prepubescent. That doesn't mean they can legally consent or that what moore did isn't a crime.
3
Real Christians do not condone child molestation. To Alabama Republicans I would say: Lenin said "The end justifies the means." Christ said "For what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his soul?"
9
Did Bill Clinton resign when he was accused of sexual assault and rape? No. His numbers went up. Stay the course. This too shall pass.
4
I have never heard it suggested that Clinton was ever guilty of rape or sexual assault. His involvement with consenting adult women may be disgusting but it is still several levels above sexually assaulting teenage girls. And yes he should have resigned for taking advantage of an intern. But how does that in any way make Moore less guilty?
9
Ah, but Clinton wasn't a Bible-thumping holier-than-thou "Christian" espousing family values and making millions from his "charity." No, this will not pass.
14
@Steve: I am appalled that you drew a comparison to Clinton. Clinton was never accused of sex with a child.
10
I see Trump is trying to use the Justice Dept to sic Jeff Sessions on Hillary Clinton again now that Junior and Roy Moore are in headlines, taking up all the oxygen. Quelle Surprise. Maybe someday Donald and Bill can compare notes on their impeachments.
10
His supporters know full well that he did everything he was accused of and probably more. What is upsetting is that they think child molesters are better than Democrats as long as they are properly xeno/homophobic. Say what you want about the “fake” media, but they have no trouble going after their own sexual predators, unlike Fox News.
21
For those asking for Moore to take a lie detector test, they are a scam. Only psychopaths can reliably pass one as the test simply relies on biological measures of stress and anxiety that aren' correlated with lying. Psychopaths by definition do not react to stress inducing situations like normal people. Us courts do not allow polygraph results as evidence.
4
This latest woman seems credible and sympathetic -- except for one thing: Just a year ago, she voted to put a sexual predator in the White House. How could a woman so clearly hurt by Moore's predation vote for a man like Trump?
7
They're used to abuse. It's a way of life for many women.
5
I watched this latest accuser perform with Gloria Allred. She sure is an excellent crier. She can turn on tears 40 years after the alleged event.
I despised Moore before any of the these accusations of distant history. He is despicable for his political behavior and positions. But this orchestrated piling-on of mere accusations only makes me despise the tactics of the accusing women, the feminists, and the media. Not one shred of corroborating evidence. Not even a single corroborating witness. Absolutely nothing but mere naked accusation. And the media rushes to publicize mere accusation.
The feminists are succeeding in their agenda to destroy the due process protections of the Constitution's Bill of Rights, the 5th Amendment, and the 14th Amendment. Mere accusation will be all that is necessary for conviction and imprisonment of men when women are the accusers. The elimination of corroborating evidence or witnesses will result in an immense increase in accusations and convictions, regardless whether the accusations are true, or exaggerated, or false. That is what the feminists want and the media and the politicians are determined to assure that they get it.
8
Wow! I'm thrilled that we feminists are about to achieve our long-term hidden goals. That was a great meeting when we formulated that plan.
15
This level of paranoia about feminism never ceases to astound me. It's like you live in an alternate reality from me. I'm an old-school, card-carrying feminist. I'm happily married to a man and the mother of a young adult son, both of whom I love very much. I have no problem whatsoever with men, and have always had male friends, worked with men, etc. As I posted earlier, I was raped at knifepoint in 1984. There is absolutely no way I or any other feminist I know has the vaguest interest in falsely accusing a man of anything. You really just need to BELIEVE us when we tell you the things that have happened to us, the things that man have done to us, because those things are true. Most of the time, the man gets away with it, as did my attacker. Violence against women is an ongoing social reality. An individual man, however, is not likely to find himself falsely accused of something for any of the bizarre, hysterical reasons you list. Feminists are not trying to destroy the constitution, any of its amendments, take away your rights, eliminate corroborating evidence, etc. This is absurd paranoia. We tend to believe women who speak out about their abuse at the hands of powerful men because we we've been there.
25
While corroboration is desirable, these are crimes that are structured to be committed in circumstances that preclude corroboration. Your comments are similar to extreme Islamic societies that require rape to have 4 independent, male witnesses or it is merely adultery. Sometimes a repetitive pattern of behavior is a corroboration surrogate.
14
If this lady's emotional appeal on TV wasn't a tipping point for the GOP- then I give up! And I only wonder if forever "Frat Boy" Paul Ryan isn't shivering in his shorts somewhere hoping and praying some girl from his frat party days isn't going to step forward and accuse him of something. A guy that clean has got to be dirty! #MeToo
10
We should have done something about the GOP after the McCarthy years. It should be outlawed. They are a far greater danger than the Communist Party.
11
Why are the Clinton's always being brought into the mix? Could be it is a smoke screen to cover-up GOP failures.
Our Republic needs help.
15
Where was the outrage when Mary Jo kopehne died due to, at the very least, teddy kennedys negligence. Nonexistent. Massachusetts voters urged him to remain in office and returned him to office in the next election with 62 percent of the vote. No calls to expel teddy from the senate. And yet, teddy was partying with young single women while married. Then with complete cowardice and indifference he did nothing to save her and didn't report his accident for almost 12 hours. According to testimony, if teddy had reported the accident immediately, she could have been saved as there was an air pocket in the car.
Irrelevant you say? That incident occurred in 1969' just a few short years before Moore's alleged misdeeds. And teddy's deeds weren't alleged, it was simply a matter of whether he was a drunk adulterer who through his cowardly negligence allowed a young woman to die, or something more sinister?
And yet he became known as the lion of the senate, at least among his democratic colleagues. Now the left and establishment republicans want to destroy Moore over unverifiable accusations?
5
Nonexistent? The outrage has been ongoing for decades.
5
Nothing about Ted Kennedy's failings excuses Moore's alleged actions. If to your mind Kennedy was not held accountable for his actions, is the appropriate response to excuse subsequent misbehavior of persons seeking political office? If one suspected murderer escapes prosecution, should all criminals be allowed to escape prosecution as well?
I don't know if Moore did what he's accusers says he did, it's all just allegations at this point, but you shouldn't brush it aside simply because another guy in the other party was just as bad.
9
Nice whataboutism. Instead of bringing up random other unrelated events, focus on the subject at hand: Roy Moore has 3 dozen witnesses corroborating a pattern of inappropriate behavior with underage girls.
Personally I thought Mooore was a piece of human garbage even before this.
8
Did Lincoln make a mistake is allowing the South to stay in the union?
15
Yes. I've written this repeatedly. But there was no way to know at the time. We'd be much better off without the Confederate States of America. They have prevailed.
5
Through no fault of my own (kid in college) I spent quite a bit of time in SC a couple of years ago.
The Civil War has never ended there; in the middle of Charleston is an actual slave market. It's included in historical tours. I saw bumper stickers reading, "Lee surrendered, I didn't."
Alabama is last in everything, except for the bad things it's first in--child mortality, maternal mortality, etc. Sixty percent of the state deny evolution and believe that President Obama is Muslim. Clearly a whole bunch of them think that grown men hanging out with and coming on to teenager is just dandy.
I understand that a lot of the coast will be underwater in a couple of decades. Luckily, that will take out much of the South.
I believe the women speaking about their experiences with Moore. I just wish women in need of defense would stay away from Allred as she is a bit of an opportunist and makes women look a bit less credible somehow. Anyone but Allred.
4
The sad truth is that many Alabama voters will choose to ignore this latest heartbreaking disclosure by one of Moore's victims, willing to elect a sexual predator if he better suits their politics. This is the same dynamic, of course, that took place in November of 2016 in the presidential election. People like these have never understood the karmic reality that if you make a deal with the devil, you always lose your soul, and they are responsible for sacrificing the future of our country for their own self-interest.
7
Being unqualified isn't enough to disqualify him? That by itself should be enough. But in the Trump era, apparently it is not not. Being a total creeper who goes after teenage girls, Trump's OTHER Achilles' heel, might possibly do the trick. Let's hope so.
You know, even Moore's VERY conservative Christian Professor from law school doesn't support him!
5
Let the lecher run. If all the abusers of women in Washington decided to quit, there would be hardly anyone left to conduct business.
5
Let the alt-right and the corporate Republicans beat each other up over this.
Have at it, boys.
Pass the popcorn.
4
The good news is, Jeff Sessions will be taking his set back. Yep, front page of Drudge. The other good news is, this means we will now have someone as AG who has not recused himself of everything.
Uh, Moore has to win first. Good luck with that.
1
This simply could not be true. The self appointed PC police assured us that men and women are not different. If a woman made a pass at man who was not interested he would reject it like Nelson rejected Moore's pass. But the man would go on with life and not make a big deal out this - sobbing and crying because someone found him sexually attractive and made a pass.
Besides why did Nelson not report it at the time? If her neck was black and blue like she claims that would be pretty good proof. This smells like fake news. Remember it's from the Wash Post the paper that won a Pulitzer prize for a series of articles about a heroin addict that later turned out to be made up.
3
Exposed Nixon and will expose the Trump team. Glory be to ...
2
She is not accusing him of making a "pass" at her as you put it, she said he assaulted her and she feared he was going to rape her. I cannot believe you don't see a difference. She described criminal behavior, not merely a spurned suitor.
2
Your definition of a man "making a pass" at a women is:
sexual assault, physical assault and intimidation
by a 32 year old man in a position of power, towards 14-17 year old girls.
Yes, transfer Sessions to another position since he is going to be fired soon anyway. Seriously, the Alabama voters will decide. Alabama culture is not the same as NY and I think that a multiculturalism course is in order here.
3
Dominating the airwaves with allegations and rumors of past misdeeds. Putting down women and putting the GOP on the spot at the same time. By certain dubious standards, winning bigly.
Jesus never cruised the mall looking for young girls to date. He never asked any out, either, with or without "their mother's permission," as Mr. Moore has stated in regard to his own methods.
With this in mind, the situation Mr. Moore faces bears no resemblance to what Jesus reportedly had running against him. Therefore his brother's declaration that Mr. Moore is being persecuted akin to Jesus holds no water.
Now, it is possible, as we've heard from other supporters of Mr. Moore, that a certain slice of Bible-banging Alabamans have somehow rationalized that Joseph was making moves on Jesus' mom, Mary, when she was 12.
This may explain why Mr. Moore was a frequent visitor to the local chock full 'o young girls mall when he was a prosecutor. He was simply looking for his "Mary" so that he could be closer to God.
Why not?
We've heard just about every denial and bizarre story and rationalization in this matter so far. This one is as good or better than the others.
What is amazing is, up to this point, Mitch McConnel seems to be the only person who has come up with a potentially logical counter narrative:
He believes the women!
Amen to that one.
4
I bet that "Thou shalt not bear false witness" one is really eating at him now.
2
"Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, the head of the Senate Republican campaign arm, said that the Senate should vote to expel the former State Supreme Court judge if he wins “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.” Hearing you have an ethics problem from a US Senator is like hearing you have a substance abuse problem from Keith Richards. It's probably more serious than you realize.
17
This has become standard political practice: smear the guy winning the election.
NOBODY WHO MATTERS WILL CARE!
2
That he's a criminal sexual abuser doesn't concern you? Do you have daughters? Sisters?
11
Watch Sessions resign and run on a write in vote. Question is does Sessions lying to the Senate about Russia contacts disqualify him too? I can only imagine who Trump will pick for AG. Probably one of his personal attorneys.
3
I urge Moore to reconsider and to immediately resign from his position. Nothing good can or will come out of this for him or for the Republican Party.
6
That's why he should persist. Anything to destroy those leaches..
3
The Alabama Supreme Court Case; " HIGDON v. STATE of Alabama should clear up any confusion of Roy Moore's inability to comprehend the concept of force and sexual assault. As the lone dissenting justice- he simply could not bring himself to view the superior position of a 17 year old assaulter's "station in life" against that of a 4 year old toddler when it came to the victim's ability to refuse or articulate (in some manner of a 4 year old) he feared for his life- [liberty or pursuit of happiness; my interpretation]...
Apparently, this Judicial view-- in 2014 was cemented by his own deeds now coming home to roost.
14
Judge Roy Moore is not a quitter. He will run in the Dec 12th election and probably win as the alternative would be to allow a Democrat to win office by default...unthinkable!
3
I’m fascinated by how obsessive you people arr about not having a Democrat win an election. Your partisanship goes a long way towards explaining how and why you embrace(d) segregation. You people are so angry...it’s astonishing.
7
Yup, not a quitter but he does have a little girl problem...
The Democrat won't win by default; he'll win by votes.
The South ain't gonna rise again, dude.
Women need to stand arm to arm against this type of behavior. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your daughters and granddaughters. Call these men out. Sorry to say that so many of evangelicals believe anything Moore and Trump tell them or what is worse they "forgive" them, as if they were the ones who had the right to say that. Their hypocrisy is mind boggling.
9
Why did 53% of women vote for Trump?
2
@ Merlin It was 53 % of white women. White ones.
1
Why now? Why has this woman waited so long? More she said he said. I support the Judge. Thank you.
2
So Roy Moore claims to be a "conservative Christian." What part of the Bible--New or Old Testament--incorporates his apparent behavior into its teachings? He's just another dog that can't be kept under the porch. Reminds me of Swaggert and the rest of his ilk. How can anyone with a conscience and a sense of morality vote for him? Time for Alabamians to show what they are made of.
15
FINALLY- some members of the GOP are disgusted enough to speak. I'm so glad. The GOP should not belong to the alt-right.
3
It is somewhat ironic what the Republican Party faces today. It is of their own creation mostly.
They started criticizing Hillary Clinton since she began the move to expand health care to Americans. They continued with President Bill Clinton during his term. They unleashed former Congressman Dick Armey to create what ended up to be the Tea Party movement which has morphed into the current right wing of the Republican Party. They opposed most of President Obama's agenda for eight years feigning to the current president's birther movement agenda and have been trying to undue the ACA they voted for. They got what they wanted. Stupid is as stupid does!
8
It is a welcome sign to see many GOP senators lining up behind Mitch McConnell unconditionally asking for Roy Moore to step down and raising the sceptre of expulsion if elected. The move is of course belated and a political ploy since Mitch McConnell has never liked Roy Moore. The sad learning from this sordid political drama is that GOP politicians forget that these events have to do with the lives of at least six women and that when they were in their teens. Does it matter that the news broke a few weeks before the election? It has taken over a week for GOP politicians to begin to believe these women's narratives. At other times their deeply hidden pain may have been dismissed or ignored. The fact that nothing happened from Roy Moore's 32 nd to 70 th year that we presently know of is no excuse for his reprehensible behaviour at age 32 with vulnerable women half his age. Roy Moore should go!
3
Vote against Moore on his political views and promises. That is WAY enough!
And all healing to the many women he has hurt!
That is all.
3
I want to echo Mitt Romney's comment (while stipulating that I was never a Mitt supporter) that "innocent until proven guilty is the standard for criminal court, but it is not a standard for elections." (not a direct quote!)
Something for all voters to think about!
2
I'm a hard core, Christian conservative and Trump supporter and I do not believe Moore for one minute after I heard him on Hannity. It wasn't the women who convinced me, it was his own words.
15
Why did you vote for Trump
who did the same?
6
What did he lie about? Clinton lies more than ANYONE, not to mention who she is married to.
Sadly, it looks as if the women making the accusations against Roy Moore haven't convinced many hard core Christian conservatives. Hence, he still has a sizable support base.
1
Let's not be too quick to praise McConnell. The latest polls point to Moore losing, and McConnell losing a Republican seat in the Senate. Isn't that all he really cares about?
4
He knows he's going to lose the seat. Apparently he cares about something else a little more.
1
Moore is a menace, but wouldn't it serve Trump and McConnell's agenda if Sessions were to take the Senate seat and free Trump up to appoint a new Attorney General since he is no fan of Sessions'. This is a way for McConnell to protect the Alabama Senate seat for a Republican AND curry favor with Trump.
5
I don't want Moore to quit. I want him to lose decisively at the ballot.
17
"Mr. Moore, a judge who was twice removed from the state’s high court, first for refusing to remove the Ten Commandments from the Supreme Court grounds, then for refusing to accept gay marriage"
He was not removed for either of those two things. He was removed each time for ignoring the Supremacy clause of the Constitution (Article VI Paragraph 2) and in doing so violating the oath he took, and all public officials in United States are required to take by Article VI Paragraph 3, that bound him "to support this Constitution". It is odd that violating oaths is not considered a bad thing by many Republicans. When an four-star announces that Robert E. Lee, who had sworn at least six times not only that he would support he Constitution but also that he would obey the orders of the President of the United States decided instead to make war on the United States it was the action of "an honorable man" something is very, very wrong.
14
Thank you. You saved me from writing the same thing.
Ms. Nelson is willing to testify under oath. Is Roy Moore? I'd like to see a criminal investigation into whether Mr. Moore, then in his 30's, assaulted a 16-year-old and then threatened to use the power of his office to discredit her if she told anyone about what he had done.
10
Let's be clear. McConnell is speaking out on this because he wants Moore out of the way to lessen the chances of a Republican defeat in the election. It is the height of hypocrisy since he has said nothing about the egregious sexual harassment perpetrated by his boss, the President.
12
Thankfully we have the case of Herman Cain to show us how the injustices of sexual assault can be made right. After the accusers made their statements and Cain's future was torpedoed, what did the accusers do to bring his actions to justice - nothing. They went back into obscurity. They filled their role as political pawn for the Democrats and disappeared. Sexual assault charges were ignored. Perhaps that's intended goal - not the prosecution of sexual assault charges but to torpedo someone's future.
You obviously have no idea what it is to experience sexual harassment or assault. No clue at all. What do you think these women get? Let me tell you: unwanted international recognition and never having privacy again, harassment, doxxing, stalking, hate mail, etc. If you think all those women are doing this for fun and profit, you are delusional. Maybe research a little, maybe even grow some empathy, before spewing wild accusations.
10
Every woman who comes out to finally tell the truth of abuse should be applauded. Everyone mentions guilt, the shame, the fear of not being believed as reasons for not speaking up sooner. But there are other reasons for keeping silent.
I am a 61 year old woman, and have suffered for depression for almost 50 years. Despite going for therapy on and off for many years, It was not until two years ago that I was able to recall the painful memories of being molested as a child. The "recollection" of the event happened by accident, as I was a passenger in a car. A traumatic incident had unfolded, and my son began screaming, " Your mother was a good mother, no matter what you say". It felt like a lightning bolt had hit me, as I responded, screaming, " You have NO right to tell me how good my mother was. She allowed me to be molested and did not protect her own child from that abuse.
It is hard to believe that I had been able to repress this awful memory for nearly half a century, but I did. Maybe it was the only way I could continue to go on. But tears and depression kept the secret intact. Looking back, it's clear no one would have believed me. My mother was too emotionally damaged to care for her own children. The male cousin who did this to me was older. I knew I had to keep quiet if I wanted to survive. No one deserves to be abused in this way. Lastly, once a person decides to tell their story, they deserve to be listened to, without being shamed further.
20
The guy is going to win , all politics are local, three weeks before the election ? Would of worked in the past . Today, not so much.
2
Seems like Mitch is falling down on the job. He is regarded as one of the leaders of the Republican Party. As such, I would think that he would feel obligated to support the "predator wing" of the Republican Party as part of his duties. Instead he is hounding poor old Roy Moore and is likely to get a Democrat elected.
2
I wish I could say it surprises me of the Republicans. But this seems to be just one more such incident of a lack of morals in the Republican party at large. While in this case I may agree with Senator McConnell, he is no saint.
2
We need to know, so we can judge for ourselves, what was that - and others - "sexual misconducts".
Were they contemporaneous with 'sexual mores' of the period?
Were they 'playing flirting' ?
Or were they using physical force ?
Lacking info we might be developing a political tool based on an emotional/personal/hindsight interpretation.
1
Yes, McConnell should believe the women and it's welcome to hear him take such a position. I hope this is principle, but also wonder whether there may be some fallback plan that this will somehow lead to a maneuvering to give Sessions a soft landing back in the Senate while removing the recused Attorney General so Mueller can be better managed or fired. It is a sad commentary on American political divisions that I can envision such machinations.
1
Congresspeople are NOT demanding that Moore be expunged, merely that he - on his own volition - discontinue his candidacy race. Is it too much to ask that our representatives be free and clear of sordid suspicions ? If Moore was in the running for a position as a school superintendent, chief medical officer, or a partner in a law firm, these accusations would render him unsuitable for jobs of this importance. Our government has become a magnet for those who can't make it in the real world where integrity and self-awareness are requirements for success.
7
I'm waiting for Moore to double down with the Clinton approach. Has he lied and denied? Now he needs to follow the Clinton example and have someone explain how his accusers are "trailer park trash" and these are just "bimbo eruptions." Disgusting, but seemed to work for Bill Clinton and his defenders.
4
Can you give a cogent argument for voting for Mr. Moore that does not involve a mention of either Clinton. I mean is that possible? Sheesh!
9
It's not okay for the right and it's not okay for the left. It's just disgusting.
5
Clinton was impeached. That argument didn’t ‘work’ nor should it have. Enough with the Clinton’s for God’s sake.
5
But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea." Matthew 18:6
Sexual assaults against children, teens, adults or any person are indefensible crimes. The willfully ignorant are equally as indefensible. Roy Moore is a sexual psychopath. Roy Moore is a pedophile. Roy Moore is a serial sexual predator. No decent person with an IQ could reason otherwise. The hypocrisy of the born again quackadoodles remains as bogus as ever. A sexual psychpath is their cult leader. Roy Moore, the non repentant CRIMINAL has these nitwits drinking his Kool Aid. Perhaps, they should pay a visit to their local library. Read up on Rev. Jim Jones, who had a nearly identical hypnotized following guxxlinhg down his God loving Kool Aid. Theirs was not a pretty ending. They were so wistfully fooled that they murdered their own children to please a psychopathic sociopath. Keep drinking . . . at your own risk. But, spare the children. They do not deserve your fate. In the meantime, Roy Moore, is accountable for his crimes. He is being held responsible by decent and law abiding citizens. Roy Moore is perpetuating a perversion of justice that will NOT stand in the eyes of his God. On the other hand, Roy Moore has not a drop of God fearing in his soul. And, all those who fail to condemn Roy Moore are far more reprehensible in the eyes of God.
29
I wish Republicans could debate tax policies or healthcare with the same nuance they put into debating the merits of pedophilia and sexual assault.
38
Moore's creepy signing of this woman's yearbook is a smoking gun, I'd say.
30
Complete with his DA title, the better to intimidate her.
8
Listen up...only 2 woman have accused the judge of sexual misconduct and Ms. Beverly Jane Harris Young Nelson is only number 2..... Getting your facts straight.
2
Wow! Only 2. I'm convinced!
6
30 women corroborated the five women's stories because those 30 were told by the victims what had happened to them.
7
The involvement by Gloria Allred makes me seriously doubt these women.
5
Why? Aren’t people allowed legal representation? Get a grip. You’re searching for any possible way to discredit these women. Guess what? You can’t because your man Moore is a child molester, pure and simple. I’m sure you’d recognize that fact if it were Obama in Moore’s shoes.
6
Is the woman we see waving at events his original wife?
1
If Mr. Moore is so innocent as he claims, why
not prove it with a negative lie detector test
9
Never happen!!!
Like Bill & Hillary did?
Gloria Allred, a Hillary delegate at the 2016 convention, cheered when Bill Clinton gave the keynote address in spite of good ole Bill doing the lewd with subordinates in the oval office and beyond and having to pay $850,000 to settle for accusations of assault (while his wife attacked these same women).
PBS News is reporting tonight from local PBS sources in Ala. that this obvious hypocrisy is now causing Moore's support to surge in Alabama, as he is now apparently up by 10% points.
5
Why are we bringing up the Clintons ad nauseum? They are no longer in office. I mean really, who cares? We can't change the past but we have an opportunity the determine the future of this great nation. Let's move forward together to create a country that provides opportunity for all of us. Let's come together to create a country where our daughters are safe from sexual harrassment and abuse.
7
Because the feminists who have suddenly become damsels-in-distress pearl-clutchers with selective morality over a 40+ year-old accusation just a month before a race when they wholeheartedly supported the corrupt wife of the predator-in-chief who was proven to do what he was accused of and more then sicced his wife to destroy the reputations on his victims. I am amused by the selective outrage.
If McConnell's #upset, this MUST be taken seriously...finally?
3
The latest woman to accuse Roy Moore of sexual abuse does not seem convincing. Her tears are of crocodile nature and she is a poor actress. She wants her 15 minutes of fame and is being coaxed by the celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred. Ms. Allred is an opportunist and is using this woman to promote her own cause. She loves the spotlight and is using this woman for her own gain. She should be ashamed and is an embarrassment to the law profession.
4
You think this is for 15 minutes of fame? What a disgusting and callous dismissal of someone’s sexual assault story. All those women are going to be harassed, doxxed, stalked, etc. by Trump’s internet militia for their statements. Believe what you want - for now it’s a free country for those who want to be horrible excuses for humans.
4
Nine senators — John Boozman, Richard M. Burr, Thad Cochran, Tom Cotton, Michael D. Crapo, Deb Fischer, Johnny Isakson, John Kennedy and Rand Paul — have not responded publicly to the allegations.
16
Also, rumors Roy Moore was banned from the Gadsden Mall because he was hitting on teenaged girls. https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/locals-were-troubled-by-roy-moo...
16
It sounds to me like this man illegally physically assaulted this 16 year-old girl. Unsolicited sexual advances to a 14- and 16-year old girl sounds like a pedophile to me and a lying one at that.
25
Unsolicited or solicited.
Liberals don't do sanctimony well--they come across as howling hypocrites suffering from selective indignation syndrome. Pray tell, where was your groundswell for the removal of Anthony Weiner even after photos were made public? Where was your outcry when known sexual predator Bill Clinton associated with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein? For that matter, when will liberals cease their unceasing adulation for Camelot when it has been widely revealed that JFK went after his interns, besides being a womanizer? Oh, and pray tell, where was the rebuke of self-described feminist Hillary Clinton for enabling her husband all these decades? And how can we forget the many decades of depraved collusion between Democratic Party leaders and Hollywood moguls, most recently Louis CK and Harvey Weinstein? Think the effort to rehabilitate the image of Roman Polanski or Woody Allen. And let's not even talk about Bill Cosby. I mean, really? Last I checked a slew of Republican Party leaders have come forward within the last week to condemn Roy Moore and to contemplate extraordinary measures to remove him from office should he win? So if we want to take this sordid walk down nightmare memory lane, the body count will rise on both sides, but no doubt far more on the Left.
6
You’re painting with a rather broad brush Ricardo. “Liberals” do this, “liberals” do that. Really? I’m a “liberal” and I’ve expressed a good deal of outrage at the behavior of the “liberal” celebrities and public figures you mention and so have many other “liberals”.
Anthony Weiner (since you mention him) was forced to resign his seat in the House as a result of outrage coming from, among others, many of the “liberals” who elected him. He is now in federal prison — and, unlike Roy Moore who physically assaulted underage girls, then threatened them — Weiner just texted them!
The behavior of the likes of Cosby, Weinstein and Louis C.K. was unknown to me and most other people till it was revealed by the “liberal” media. And, after all, we couldn’t very well have been outraged about it till we knew about it, now could we.
Ricardo, Mr. Moore is a truly sorry excuse for a human being — and he’s no Christian. Can we just agree about that and move on please without the attacks on “liberals”.
14
> Ricardo
Weiner? We unloaded him in 2011. He was replaced by Republican, Bob Turner. That was a lot of groundswell.
3
You are using a massive whataboutism treatise to assert that all liberals unequivocally support all the people you named. I could name a long list of Republican sex offenders, many of whom are still active and suffered no criminal repercussions, and assert that all Republicans still support them - but that would be as lazy and shallow argument as you have made here.
1
If Moore really believed the biblical verse "The truth will set you free" then he would offer to take a polygraph to prove it.
8
check this out....http://beta.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-brightbill-roy-moore-evangel... for evangelicals to date much younger women...
3
Low on the list of infractions but another factor impeaching Moore's credibility? The yearbook signing. I can fathom no reasonable explanation for a D.A. to inscribe a statement in a teen girl's yearbook in which he comments on her incomparable beauty and closes it, "Love." It's downright creepy. And it's not done.
21
"I believe the women." That's the gob-smacking part.
5
As far as McConnel goes I would surmise that his wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, got to him.
6
In the event that Moore does not serve as a senator, he will immediately be hired by Fox News to help push the conspiracy theories of Hannity, Bannon, Jones and all the other delusional players in the bucket of slime. He will be very well paid to dream the stuff up.
On the other hand, I wonder what the Statute of Limitations (Criminal) is on sexual assault in Alabama?
13
Watching this video is unbearable. I'm sorry, but how is this even a partisan issue? I also believe Harvey Weinstein and Louis CK accusers; they are democrats. Moore says his "faith is under attack." What faith? Come forward and admit what you've done if you have faith, my god. I have my own faith; I have faith that Alabama will see through this lying pervert.
22
FINALLY. The Republicans are reaping what they've sown. Their vile appetite for slander, lying, character assasination, false moral posturing, is finally catching up with them.
Serves them well.
14
There might be some non-public polls I do not know about. Why would Mitch McConnel and other GOP leaders ask Moore to step down? After ALL, the GOP supported Trump having him on tape bragging about how he grabs women body parts and after "textbook racism". Pleassssse.
Will Mitch have the same morals when Trump fires Muller? This is Mickey Mouse talk. Sorry, Mickey.
2
According to Moore, these allegations are witch hunt. According to Trump investigatuon of Russian meddling of elections is witch hunt.
What is common here? This entire administration is rotting swamp, full of crocodiles
9
I would look forward to a reporter going into rural Alabama and report on what is found. Particularly an analysis of, say, Moore’s church, his Pastor, Primitive Baptists, other branches of Christian practices there would be useful. As the flyover folk tell the hips of America, ( and we Canadian hipsters) try to understand us. Alabama might be a place to try.
4
Can someone find a photo of Roy Moore when he was 32 years old? Would really like to see this. Surprised there are not some photoshopped pics of him and a fourteen year old bride.
4
"Ethical and moral standards of the United States Senate"--he's joking, right?
5
I was feeling sorry for Kayla Moore...
Then I realized that, when in her twenties, she married someone almost old enough to be her father.
What did she expect?
She has had a good run...
Now comes the humiliation payback...
7
Reality cehck why didnt any women complain after the fact. 99 percent proven person is set on fact the accuser files complaint soon after the crime. In these cases only show oppruntunist in action nothing money cant fix for right price,
Because they were young teens and he was a district attorney. Duh.
6
Uh huh. Pulling statistics from your rectum is not a persuasive argument.
As someone who works with survivors of rape and sexual assault, I can tell you that the majority of sexual assaults go unreported. Mostly because of the trauma of having to retell the assault and the possibility of it not being believed.
6
Let them elect this bum--it will be electoral gold for Democrats in 18 and 20. A wave of revulsion is sweeping the country that can only be further reinforced by such hypocrisy.
11
After nearly fifty years, and control of the Senate in play -- why does this suddenly come out now? Fifty years later?????
1
It's only come onto the national stage now because he is running for the Federal Senate. A little reading around and you will see that his behaviour was either known about or suspected for decades locally. Each of these women told other people about their experience years ago. However, Moore was too powerful to challenge.
What I find really sick is that there are/were people in Alabama who knew exactly what he was, but still supported him and facilitated his rise.
11
The women are all Trump voting Republicans. Why didn’t they speak sooner? Offer your opinion after you’ve been sexually molested. Until that time, don’t judge. It’s repugnant
5
Forty years actually. In any case, the motives of the newspapers that are reporting this story are irrelevant. There’s only one question: is it true?
Read the original WAPO story carefully— then tell me that it’s not true.
2
Be assured that there not be any lawsuit instigated by the Moore camp against WaPo or any of his accusers. Moore's righteous indignation - oink! and strident (and otherwise unconvincing) denials are the only cards he has to play.
Like any sexual predator worth his salt, the misogynist playbook is lie, deny and go on the attack. Looking forward to what the Breitbart character assassination squad will come up with.
Would love to see a prominent lawyer funded by someone on the billionaire left take Moore's most compelling accuser and file suit against HIM. Though the moment has passed, would've liked to have seen the same strategy employed against President Barnum.
Finally, I hope that Moore stays in the race to the bitter end. Four weeks is a long time in the context of this particular scandal. Looking forward to seeing what the voters of Alabama make of all this on 12 December.
7
I'm sure the judge didn't treat these girls any differently than he did his mother and sister . . . !
3
To Alabama,
Help to lift us (Americans) up. Territorial/regional indignation against Moore's victims does nothing to make us a better people.
It is insulting to the Moore's victims that they should have to come forward. They've suffered/shouldered enough.
Moore and his kind of males should not be expelled from society, but should be compelled to become a productive member of society ... even if such compulsion results in societal (public) punishment.
4
I've looked everywhere. Under the desk. Under the bed. Has anyone seen or heard from Paul Ryan?
23
Waiting for the polls to tell him which side to suck up to.
2
Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, said that Mr. Moore "... does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
Apparently the bar to being a Republican senator is higher than that for a Republican president.
15
Gardner has been a faithful Trump enabler from day 1.
1
I think Mr. Moore should fight this "grave injustice" tooth and nail. Yes, rally his supporters, enlist his church, attack the craven GOP leadership in Washington! Leave no stone unturned to maintain his righteous claim to the nomination.
And I, for one, will pass the peanuts and enjoy the spectacle of the GOP tearing into one another like a helicopter that's thrown a blade (had a rotor detach in flight). I declare...it will be a tumultuous performance.
Go Mitch, GO! GO, Roy, GO!
9
"[Mitch McConnel] believes the women who have accused Mr. Moore of sexual misconduct"
But NOT the women who accused Trump...
You can't have it both ways, and this is yet another reason why Trump should not be in office.
14
My heart is with these women.They were traumatized as teenagers years ago, had to live all these years watching this guy rise in power.Now to come out publicly.They all have so much courage.
17
To all those folks asking why are these women coming forward now. You really don't understand what it's like to be traumatized from rape, harassment or sexual assault. Many women block out those memories, only to have them resurface decades later when they are able to psychologically handle it. Blocking out the memory is a form of self-preservation. Also, in the 1970's there was little to no awareness about sexual harassment. Who do you go to? These things were not openly discussed. You were told it's was your fault & to keep it hush hush. If you're in your teens, you probably don't have coping skills in place to face such a monumental task of reporting it to the police. No one would believe you. You get blamed, re-victimized and shamed all over again. Just like we do to women today.
47
Why would Alabama voters should be any different than rest of America? It elected Donald Trump.
7
Hmm, I don't know anything about Moore. What I do know is that the Democrats will stop at nothing to win any race. They did the same thing with Hermain Cain. Not to mention all the dirty DNC and the Hillary campaign. There was a time in this country were people were innocent until proven guilty. Ok wait that is only if your a Democrat
And where exactly is our highest-ranking Evangelical, President-to-be Vice President Pence on this? Leading the charge, one way or the other?
What moral leadership!
Wow.
Disqualifying.
22
The less discussed story here is the abhorrent reaction of the evangelicals. I'm will to grant that this is a he said/she said story, and that accusation and guilt are not the same. Still, many professed "Evangelical Christians" have come forward with the "even if it's true, so what?" defence. Alabama's state auditor being the most brazen example. Really, even of true so what? I consider myself a Christian, and have grow jaded at the hypocrisy of the Evangelicals. The wealth gospel of Joel Osteen. The "all bets are off" so long as your a Conservative of almost every other Evangelical (in Alabama at least). It makes me ashamed to share even the name of my faith with such people. They're worse than any of the countless people at whom they openly point figures and cast stones and bigotry. Their vile hatred and hypocrisy would make any other religion collapse from within owing to such rottenness.
5
[“I believe the women, yes,” Mr. McConnell said at a news conference in Louisville.]
Mitch is only saying this because he knows Moore is more of a political liability if he is elected to the Senate. Mitch wasn't bothered over the fact that Moore is a homophobe, been fired twice from his job as judge for failure to follow the rule of law, and other sordid details. His recent statements are nothing more than a cold political calculation.
15
A number of commenters have remarked on the timing of the accusations against Moore, asking why these women didn't come forward sooner. Think about the Catholic Church sexual misconduct scandals and how many decades it took before the victims were able to speak out loud about something so unspeakable.
1. When one is a child or even a young adult, one doesn't yet have the ego strength to challenge authority, especially when that authority has used its power to abuse you.
2. There's always the fear that you won't be believed, especially when your abuser is an honorable figure in the eyes of the community. Moore knew that when he told that teenaged waitress that no one would believe her.
3. There is always the fear that you will be blamed for what happened. You must have done something to cause it and you got what you deserved.
4. There is always the feeling those who believe #3 are right because why else would an otherwise nice person do this to you? It must be your fault.
The person with the greater power is always the one responsible, even if the encounter appears consensual. Unless there is parity between the participants, it is NOT consensual. And there is NOT parity between a thirty plus year old man and a teenage girl. Up until very recent times, our society has been "rigged" to prevent these dark doings from ever seeing the light of day. Instead of asking "Why now?" let's be grateful that we're beginning to see the curtain torn down, and ask ,"Why NOT now?"
22
This is news because of the implied morality which accompanies elected public office and the apparent lack of even the most basic morality by this candidate. This also speaks to the difficulty of women in having anyone believe that they have been abused in any way. It speaks to the tacit acceptance of abuse by men of all ages, but especially powerful men. Would anyone believe these women years ago? Are we an equal society when 1 in 4 females of all ages have been victims? Are we an equal society when so many believe that this is not only OK, but their rights as men? Republicans can talk the walk, but I have yet to see any walk the walk. That would take legislation which protects the rights of all human beings, not just the few who have big enough pockets to support candidates for office. Things like health care for women, fair taxes, schooling, jobs are disposable, and this leads to poverty, which in truth, is abusive. Think of the hypocrisy of McConnell and his cronies! Remember that Moore was a Republican darling only weeks ago. How the McConnell wing has changed with the wind, but only for one, and not for others within their ranks!
9
This entire situation is like the Salem Witchcraft Trials, proving we've learned absolutely nothing in almost 400 years, which is VERY scary. With absolutely no proof, the man is judged as guilty simply because he is accused. If I said I saw him fly through the sky and into a building, would everyone believe me simply because I appear to be a credible person?
I think many of the claims against various men are from women expecting a lawsuit payout, and it is also difficult to tell who is telling the truth, embellishing the truth, or copying the truth.
I also think that no one is the same person they were 30 years ago. I certainly do not hold many of the views I held prior to college, prior to marriage, prior to children, etc.
As another reader said, I do not know if they are lying, but I don't know if they are telling the truth, and I don't think someone's life should be ruined through nothing more than accusation. Or, we could put him on the ground, and then load stones on it until he confesses or the weight of the stones crushes his chest and he dies. If we are going to repeat the episode, we might as well go all the way.
1
No proof? Last I checked, the testimony of these women and 35 corroborating witnesses is proof. That is the opposite of "no proof."
Funny, you should mention the Salem Witch Trials. I've always been a fan of the crucible. The brilliance of that play is that no one - no one - is pure. Proctor, the putative hero, refuses to give up his honor, but he is the middle aged (30 some) year old man who had relations with a teenager under his protection, in his house, under his wife's nose. She, Abigail, vindictively points fingers at Proctor's wife as a witch, but she was a teenager, her family murdered by native americans, and led by Proctor to believe that she was worthy of love and being loved.
Proctor, an older and wiser and married man, uses the girl in his house.
4
Or we could just not elect him to the U.S. Senate.
4
Did you read the yearbook inscription ?
2
Sorry but no benefit of doubt? Is there a way to listen to both sides and find out the truth. I do not care what Mitch says or not but there’s got to be a vetting of the truth.
1
Since when? You’ve really got to be kidding!
There is an aspect of this here that I'd like to address. I just saw Newshour segment about Roy Moore in which the man speaking said the State Republican chair tells him there is a surge of support for Mr Moore. It set me to thinking about how they are "fighting for what they believe".
Which reminded me that this is one of the false premise that reagan used so effectively to undermine our system it is still working today. You have the right to believe as you please but you do not have the right to impose those beliefs on others. Tolerating and accommodating those who are different is not an imposition. Refusing to do so is unAmerican and against the very premise of the nations existence.
Your duty as a Citizen and as a politician is to fight for that which is right/best. It is not a matter of between evil and good but what it best for society. Beliefs rarely come up in discussion of what is right in politics unless someone with mistaken beliefs or avarice driven desire for political authority asserts that their beliefs should be paramount. And then appeals to the ignorant among us to follow him or her down that very wrong path.
To paraphrase someone who had this mistaken idea about beliefs: Extremism in defense of false liberty is only vice. Moderation in efforts to stop that defense of false liberty is no virtue.
2
So many people misunderstand how our laws work! Of course there is due process, the presumption of innocence, and the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt -- when a defendant is facing a criminal charge in court. These standards do not apply to public opinion and rational thought. We as humans are free to form personal judgments based on what we hear, see, read and experience, and as a society we have to make sound collective judgments based on our cultural values and norms. Thankfully there is no rule requiring a criminal conviction to ask someone to leave public office -- our good sense is sufficient!
12
This woman, herself being a victim of sexual abuse, voted for Trump amid an avalanche of last year's allegations of sexual abuse committed by Trump against other women. Why is it still so easy for some women to side with a politician like Trump, even when they can relate first-hand to the plight of the victims?
32
Their husbands stand over them as they vote.
Remember The Treasonous Trump standing watch over Melania. He looked over her shoulder while she voted.
Also, these women identify as victims, and continue to be fodder for a bully like Trump. And for their husbands. Many women have stated that their husbands would deny them their allowances. Yet another reason for every female to attain an excellent education so that she is truly free from threats of poverty.
5
Addicted to abuse. A way of life. They know nothing else. Poor self image. Deserves punishment type thinking . Needs cult rescue type intervention. The serial abuser must bebimprisoned. Plenty of sex in prison
Roy Moore is not going quietly and he should not back down until there is sufficient evidence of his guilt. His supporters are still with him and they believe this is a witch hunt. The Republicans forcing him to step down are cowards. They should be standing behind him instead of condemning him. Maybe Mitch McConnell should step down. He has not been too successful himself lately.
1
This idea that Trump represents any kind of "populism" is just so glaringly false. He has more Wall st insiders and billionaires working for him then any previous President. The populism canard flew a long time ago, and anyone championing him now as some sort of boat - rocker on behalf of the people is utterly brainwashed. He can't have done more to show the opposite. He practically screams entitled establishment pro-corporation, pro-lobbyist conservative with zero compassion. Wonder how those Bernie and Jill voters who thought he was the less evil choice are feeling about now.
10
About a year ago, a much seedier character than Moore was elected president. Moore will be elected. The Republicans will keep him at arm's length until then, and afterwards he'll be welcomed with open arms. You may recall how Trump treated the Republican party and the things people like Cruz said about him; now they lick his boots.
I think readers of this paper (including myself for sure) tend to be disconnected from what people who don't read the mainline press are thinking. When they say that Joseph was a lot older than Mary, and if it was good for them, it should be good for Roy Moore, that's not a joke; they are deadly serious.
But beyond that, supporters of Trump and Moore and people like them see that kind of activity as a feature, not a bug, as they say in software. It's a poke in your eye and mine, and they're all for it. Why do they think that way? It's a long story and plenty has been written about it, but if you read The Bell Curve that will take you some distance towards understanding the real source of the problem.
17
Readers seemed focused on the politics. Not that they aren't important, but the treatment of girls and women in Christian "culture" (biblical patriarchy, quiverfull, etc.) is self-serving for middle-aged white men and damaging to everyone else involved.
It is important to note that these "cultures" did not exist at the time of Moore's alleged activities. These "cultures" came later, what he was doing at that point in time would have been wrong and he would have been well aware of his sin.
Bravo to the women who are speaking out.
People in Alabama are probably upset at everyone else in the country making fun of them, but really there is no excuse for homeschooling all of these girls so that they are ignorant as to controlling their own lives. The argument that their ignorance makes a divine helpmate is a fallacy, it just makes it easier for men to rob the cradle and dominate (abuse) their teenage brides.
15
That isn't Christian culture. Nor is it prescribed in the Bible. Only someone that doesn't know anything of Christianity would much such a statement.
It’s a free country, the voters should decide who and what is best for them. Let Moore run if he’s eligible to, Mitch. If people can’t respect that notion they should get out of America. Until now we seemed to think that that only applied to foreigners. Forgiveness is a hard notion to accept for many when it’s expected to be extended to other people besides themselves as well. Bring Moore up on criminal charges if they still apply. Laws that are only selectively applied reduces them to meaninglessness.
1
Forgiveness for Roy Moore isn’t for you or me to grant, Iver. Only those poor, powerless girls — or rather, the women they’ve since become — have the right to do that.
As for the voters deciding for “themselves“, they’re going to do that anyway. But, is there any reason why they shouldn’t inform themselves first?
4
As crazy as it sounds, returning Sessions to his former Senate seat may be a possible scenario. It would take care of two problems at once for Trump:
3
He may not meet the ethical standards based on his failure to be honest in 3 public hearings in front of the Senate. It is very possible he will be up on charges soon. Not a good idea.
4
Can Sessions go back to his senate seat if Trump fires him?
It's looking like Roy Moore was banned from the local Mall in the late 70s and early 80s due to his behavior around teenage girls.
12
Moore should be expelled “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
And that's such a low bar.
19
There will be more accusers. But the Alabama Republicans don't care. It seems they will elect a sexual predator under the excuse: "Even if it's true I don't believe it."
Unbelievable. These voters are totally off the deep end. Sadly, the more he is attacked, the more adamant his supporters become.
14
Given how many high profile celebrities have had their careers cut short, full stop, with the allegations of misconduct that have surfaced recently, I can't understand why this politician should be expecting an alternate outcome and why this discussion has dragged on as long as it has?
8
Didn't stop Bill Clinton.... Where is the outrage over that?
Although it did go to an impeachment trial, a jury of his peers (aka other politicians on both sides of the house) let him walk because they couldn't get the mandatory 2/3 votes for impeachment. Probably struck too close to home for many of them. I'd say that's outrageous.
So far, it's all about what these women said. But where is the hard evidence? Sure you can say you BELIEVE Moore was guilty. But beliefs are not necessarily facts. We need to have some adults here. We don't want to smear someone based on our beliefs. That's not how this country was built upon.
1
Ya gotta wonder: "Why now?"
But it all begs the question about the hypocrisy of our elected-political officials as the outflow from The (D.C.) Swamp.
1) Where were their cries for expulsion when the late-Sen. Ted Kennedy ran off that bridge?
2) Why did the consent to Justice Clarence Thomas after it became known that the FBI had interviewed Anita Hill, and after she testified?
3) Why did they give 'Dollar' Bill a pass after his DNA was found on the formerly-lost blue dress?
4) And not to mention the host of others who were a significant financial part of the House Banking debacle.
The tenured Ruling Class inside the Beltway along with the national media, is apparently not going to stop at anything in order for them to retain power - and due process is not a part of their modus operandi...
2
This just breaks my heart.
Many women have faced the same issue ... finding themselves the prey of a pig. But most of us, thank God, did not have to also deal with the pig being an older and powerful man.
Be free now, Ms. Nelson.
You are not alone.
It wasn't your fault.
It was his.
11
Can we add a Commandment just in case Roy is elected? "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbors' kids"?
16
For those commenters suspicious about why these allegations are coming up now, just before the local election. It so happened that the Weinstein affair broke this whole problem wide open quite recently , encouraging more women to come out and tell their story. Before the Weinstein affair, abused women were afraid/ashamed to come out because powerful men were the abusers and the conseqences of speaking out would surely end badly for them. Witness Moore's response to the woman who cam forward - "No one would believe you". He's is disgusting and so are his defenders, including that incredible fool Ziegler who came up with the Joseph/Mary/Jesus analogy.
14
Read the original WaPo story. The reporters "heard" while doing regular coverage of his campaign that he had "dated" teenagers when he was a DA in his 30's.
Since they are serious and good reporters I'm pretty sure it was not salacious gossip that got them to go looking for the original 4 women. I'm betting someone within 2 or 3 degrees of separation from Moore himself told them about it. Then they went looking and found 4 women who did not know each other who had very similar stories and corroborative contemporaneous witnesses who verified they were told at the time.
4
Perhaps women voters will finally put the Republcan Party where it belongs. RIP
11
from your keyboard to God's ears!
1
Some may deserve execution, but surely most of them deserve jail.
Can we replace Alabama with Puerto Rico?
23
In spite of the facts there actually are good and decent normal people there. We don't hear much about them because normal does not stand out.
1
He's toast. The party wont give him a penny now, and they may not even seat him if AL is dumb enough to vote him in.
2
...And yet, many incumbent Republicans were glad enough to endorse Mr. Moore when he was 'just' a bigoted gun-displaying homophobe who refused to separate church and state.
Sadly, even moderate Sen. Collins was part of the 'if this is true' posse as recently as yesterday.
It's one thing to generally disagree with another political party. It's quite another to despise them for selling their souls for a Senate seat.
1
The current Juggernaut, which cannot be denied, is the charges of females against male conduct in the competition for sexual partners.
Would suggest we are in a veritable Golden Age in the West, ready to fall into the depths of moral discussions about the relationships among the sexes, because no greater issue is at stake.
The Nation is not threatened; Capitalism is not threatened; now the only threat is the Women against Male Dominance and the libido of the most aggressive males who dominate corporate, military and most household experiences in America.
The only contrary power is Amazon (the ancient Greek tribe against the dominance of Men over Everything).
But notice, there have always been female dominated societies (which in Africa sold off low performing males to Belgian slave traders, who ended up American slaves) and Polynesian cultures in which the males primped themselves to please their female mates, who chose them over other males.
Note the Orient is now dominating the Occident, which has long had non-genderized archetypes as deities.
Nobody with a 1/2 a brain would vote for Moore. I mean he did it and won't deny it. I mean signing HS yearbooks to 16 y/o girls with love gosh...
Most if the folks who voted for him before will vote for him again. The President will stay on the fence as he pretty much has the same MO.
I'd bet a weeks pay that he wins. I'd bet a months pay that he will not drop out.
Oh Alabama
The devil fools
with the best laid plan.
Swing low Alabama
You got spare change
You got to feel strange
And now the moment
is all that it meant.
5
It's likely Mr. Moore abused these young women. Even if not proven, it's extremely inappropriate, creepy for a mid 30 year old man to be pursuing, dating teenagers. Violation of moral turpitude common law disqualifies Mr. Moore from public office. Hopefully, he will be indicted, if found guilty, serve significant jail time. Entire episode kind of nauseates one, doesn't it.?
8
Why did the women not come forward? Given the repressive legal and social atmosphere in Alabama at the time, and perhaps now, they would have been buried alive by the judicial system and the fundamentalists.
12
This latest woman to come forward waited 40 years before reporting the sexual abuse to the authorities. Why and what took her so long to come forward? She does not seem convincing in the video and is not to be believed. Something does not seem right about this story. Her facts must be carefully reviewed and investigated. It seems awfully suspicious.
1
The woman has effectively ruined her life by coming forward like this. Anyone who cannot appreciate how brave this was is unemapthetic and blinded by partisanship.
The attack on her by her fellow Alabamans is only just beginning. She deserves support, not suspicion.
14
you must be male, or you would understand exactly why she could not and would not say a word before
12
Probably because people like you still question their trauma no matter what.
14
We owe a debt of gratitude to The NYT for enabling a change in our society starting with the Weinstein story, but it is also a big responsibility to ensure it is not becoming a kind of National Inquisitor; because accusations are all that's necessary to ruin lives here. I can't see any other way of this all happening though, so let it be said we've never needed to trust their integrity more.
2
With 5 women stepping forward to offer independent accounts of Mr. Moore's actions, Sen. McConnell is right; Moore should step aside for the good of the Republican Party and the nation.
16 women have stepped forward with independent accounts of President Trump's sexual assaults and harrassment. How long before Sen. McConnell asks for Trump to step aside?
12
This matter involving the openly religious and self-righteous Roy Moore involves pedophilia. As for the victims, they couldn’t be more different, except in age.
I still believe in innocent until proven guilty, but it seems there is at least a good case of probable cause. We can’t put someone like Roy Moore anywhere close to the Senate. That it appears there was a robed pig sitting on the Supreme Court of Alabama is sickening enough.
In short, for the good of the country , Roy Moore must step down and face his accusers. Ironic that someone who would so easily take rights away from others, in the end, is still protected by our Constitution. This is way more than a coincidence.and Alabama and the country deserve better.
6
Has anyone considered the possibility this is a Bannon scheme to get Sessions to step down from his AG position in order to interfere with the investigation of Russian interference.
It's already in play: Scott Jennings, a former McConnell aide, wrote a column published Monday endorsing a highly unusual proposal that has generated chatter among Republicans: Jeff Sessions should step down as attorney general and run for the seat, which he vacated to join the Trump administration earlier this year.
Sessions has name recognition, and from what I have head in Alabama could have had that seat for life.
This is playing out like House of Cards and ironically Bannon put in time at Hollywood. It's a brilliant strategy.
1
innocent until proven guilty applies in a court of law, not in politics.
In Seattle we recently lost our mayor to similar charges of sexual misconduct. First one accuser who may have been politically motivated, then another, then several more. Eventually the preponderance of evidence was very much against Mayor Murray, though he denies the charges to this day. Though I liked him as mayor, he did the right thing in resigning.
If this were one accuser, it would be her word against his, and I'd agree that he should be given the benefit of the doubt. But it's 5 now. Republican women and Trump voters at that (at least some of them). I'd say the preponderance of evidence is against Moore. He should step aside, he must step aside.
As for McConnell -- yep, he's only interested in the Republican party. And as for my opinion of Moore, I'm glad he is in trouble. I only wish he were in trouble for his politics.
10
I've spent enough time in Alabama to be totally unsurprised. The state is near dead last, according to U.S. News and World Report, in Education, Health Care, Economic Opportunity; Employment, Business Environment, etc., and believe me they know it. The net result is an inferiority complex that breeds a "circle the wagons" mentality and distrust of outsiders which makes it easy for otherwise good people to ignore what is in front of their faces.
10
"Otherwise good people" my foot. "Good people" is meaningless when it's only ever used to say, "well, apart from the bad things they do to others, they are good people."
4
Times readers know that the newspaper strongly favors the restoration of rights to ex-felons provided they have paid their price to society. A number of editorials have called for restoration of the right of ex-felons to participate in democracy.
Mr. Moore should be out of the race this year and in prison. But once he is released, provided he has renounced his prior conduct, the Times would be obliged to defend his right to run for office. When you advocate a policy, you need to promote it across the board.
At the heart of the matter here is the belief that felony conduct does not stain the man forever. Sexual offenders, like other offenders, should be able to redeem themselves. Those who call for a permanent deprivation of rights go too far. That is a law and order view typical of right wing Republicans, including Trump.
1
As troubling as these revelations are, even more troubling to me is that I was willing to give President Clinton the benefit of doubt years ago.
Now I’m torn, once again, by the thought that swiftboating will rule the day forever.
Partisan feelings cannot serve as an excuse.
Where is RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel during all this? Her silence is an appalling stab in the back for conservative women. While Mitch McConnell clarifies where conservatives fall on the scale from decency to degeneracy and the National Republican Senatorial Committee controlled by Senator Cory Gardner has finally severed funding Roy Moore's campaign, party Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel has remained silent on her support for Moore and has not stopped funding his campaign, preferring to defer to Donald Trump (of all people) to make that decision. She bears primary responsibility for recruiting a poorly vetted candidate to the race and failing to lead the party.
4
Children and young teens who encounter sexual assault are among the most vulnerable among us. Shame alone, and threats, can easily force them into years of not just hiding, but suffering horrible and damaging shame.
Other than their ages, there are no common bonds between these women. If Moore’s wife is right and the left is paying people to do this - it will either be true and easy to be proven (unlikely), or will collapse as most conspiracy theories do.
Mr. Moore is entitled to face his accusers, and he needs to deal with this and drop out of the race. This is not about politics. A Republican will end up in that seat no matter. It is about doing right by all involved, even this low-life ex-judge who defiles Christianity along with teenage girls. Shame on him. We need to learn the truth about this.
3
I can't help thinking that at a time when the careers of powerful men are being destroyed every day by accusations of sexual harassment in the media, that sitting Senators don't want that kind of scrutiny turned on them. If Roy Moore were seated among them it would be and some of them might find their careers in ruins.
1
I've been paying attention to quite a few anti-North anti-Yankee comments being made by too many of Moore's supporters. So it was the Yankee paper the Washington Post that broke this story for example? Perhaps it is time for the South to secede with the blessings of the North. Let the union be the coast from California to Washington, and every state along the Canadian border - and then all of New England down the coast to Virginia. I'll bet Florida and many others will want to stay. Once gone, these welfare states will flounder even more, and America can get back to being progressive again.
16
Bannon jumped the shark with Roy Moore, who is at best a creep and likely much worse.
A single allegation of minor impropriety might be one thing. But five accusations of serious impropriety? There is a high probability that he's guilty of something - perhaps not enough to convict him, but plenty to keep him from being a senator.
Judge Moore should end his U.S. Senate run. He is lucky that his past didn't catch up with him much sooner.
3
Whoever coined the phrase "You can't make this stuff up" MUST have seen this in a vision of the future.
2
Let me see if I have this correct. He claims, falsely, that Sharia law exists in the Midwest, he denigrates gays by calling them "detestable" and believes in the criminalization of their very being, he's been removed twice from the bench for disobeying constitutional law and this is what pushed Republicans over the edge? At this point, he could admit he's a cannibal and he'd still win the Alabama election.
6
I cannot believe that I have to say #me too...I was a 12 yr old girl. No one believed me, I felt I must have something to... Now I'm 67 and when I heard the Moore story and felt the pain of the 14 yr. old girl, I finally remembered all the details I had buried. The worst night of my life, a horrible week. The new woman who came out today reminds me of Fri this wk when I sat in my husband's office early and told him about when I was 12. That woman's tears are not fake. No MOORE
18
As Bannon and Donald say Roy's just a Good Old Boy, spokesthingie KellyAnne says Tut-tut, He should withdraw, while Coulter will say He's a good old boy, while Fox will say He might withdraw. This is not "confusion" or contradiction; it's gaslighting. We must accept that this regime is not going to be responsible for anything it says, because it rests in the fog of war. I wish the media would call it the Gaslight Regime.
3
I believe the women. Sad their community dismisses sexual assault, and blames women. I hope Mr. Moore loses the race. He is not worthy.
6
They are ignorant and do not want to know the facts. A lot of people are like this because it will cause re-evaluation of prior actions and friendships and questions they do not want to deal with. These sorts of people like to believe in a finite sort of human social existence where nothing new ever comes up.
I assure you none of those who still support Moore read the original article or if they did they did not comprehend the nuance and depth of what they read.
1
Pure evil. As they say, God works in mysterious ways.
2
While the 'good' people of Alabama defend Moore because they wonder why these allegations would take so long to appear - after all they cry, he has been in public life for decades! I cant help but wonder what their thoughts are on the accusers of Weinstein , Cosby, Spacey et al
Somehow I think they believe those women.
HRC was correct they are indeed : Deplorables
11
You may deplore them as long as you realize that makes you one of them.
1
It will be interesting to see which Republicans continue to support Moore, and make excuses for him (the comparison to Joseph and Mary was particularly nauseating). It really makes one wonder whether Moore is only one of many hypocritical, Bible-thumping sexual predators. The sad thing is how many "Christians" fail to see the big picture. Whether one is for or against abortion, surely it is a non-partisan, non-religious issue when it comes to child molestation?!
10
Moore, McConnell, and Allred are all stains on humanity. It's hard to root for anyone in this scenario. The consensus seems to be, at least currently, that the poorly-educated but well-meaning people of Alabama will send this duplicitous miscreant to the Senate, perhaps in an act of defiance. If so, the only winners here are the people who never have to set foot in the state.
2
Can't believe some of the commenters are equivacating about child molestation . It is a false moral equivalency to invoke Clinton; we are talking about children and minors.
16
Ray Moore was just ahead of his time. How was he to know 40 years ago that a ticket to prominence in the Republican party- and ascendance to the presidency- could include sexual molestation?
3
McConnell may believe these women, unfortunately the people of Alabama do not.
Interesting to see the effect of real journalism on the people of Alabama... not very impressive. Let their values speak for themselves.
1
I've been a yellow dog Democrat for 45 years, but I'm also a woman. It's time for Democrats to admit that Bill Clinton's behavior should have disqualified him too.
2
Bill Clinton isn't relevant any more. The Republicans impeached him even though they knew the votes weren't there; they just wanted to drag him through the muck, and that they did. N.B.: Monica Lewinsky wasn't 14, either.
you may recall that he was impeached and tried by the Senate
And Clarence Thomas and so many others.
But it was a different time then. Thankfully things are changing and at least sexual predators like Moore, Weinstein and others today are finally getting some measure of the derision they should have received long ago.
1
Can he be prosecuted on any of this? Is there a statute of limitations on pedophilia?
1
No.
Yes. 3 years for Moore's victims
What is described here isn’t just pedophilia, it’s rape.
He won't step aside and he will win. If you don't believe so just little over a year ago who won the presidency
3
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/3/13501364/trump-rape-13... Remember this??
3
How is it when old white man in hollywood do it, it not fake news but when old white man part of the republican party do it, it fake news.
19
At some point will Republicans are going to have to stand up and assert themselves as not this collection of misfits, bigots and the uniformed Trump has morphed it into
3
Couldn't be happening to a nicer, more deserving group of OLD MEN and the GOP ! Remember to VOTE early and often.
5
These accusations lacks credibility with the timing of them coming out one month before an election after not a peep about them for 40 years. Smells of liberals using accusations to condemn a man to achieve a political end.
1
then he should sue for defamation. would love to see him assert his innocence before a jury of his "peers."
1
It's funny when an election is on the line and the democrats are set to lose, ol' Gloria shows up. Just like she did she Met Whitman was about to stomp Jerry Brown into the dirt. Hook Moore up to a polygraph test and see if he is telling the truth. Then hook his accusers up to a test.
1
Hook Moore up to a car battery.
3
McConnell, for the first time on record, believes a woman.
Of course, the believing just so happens to coincide with his power play, but, I'm sure Fox News can overlook that. As can everyone that voted for Trump.
BTW: Since McConnell believes these women, he, by extension, must not believe any of Trumps accusers.
1
I am a 78 year old southern woman, wife & mother of four sons. I have kept to myself terrible things that happened to me 65 years ago. The reasons are the very one many others state: fear, shame, and undeserved guilt.
44
Now if McConnell would just believe Trump's accusers and remove Trump from office. Then we'll believe you, Senator.
5
Too bad they won't debate. The accusers could sit in the front row, a la Comrade Bannon.
2
Senator Cory Gardner of Colorado, speaking in his role as chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that if Mr. Moore wins the special election on Dec. 12, he should be expelled from the Senate, “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
Is this humor, Russian disinformation, parody, ???
This is too rich. Don't know where to begin.
4
Moore should be toast but the capacity of his rabid supporters, like those of Trump, to deny the awful truth is apparently infinite. Hopefully the splitting of the conservative vote results in another democrat in the Senate but I am not holding my breath.
4
The Republican party has lost its way. It is a party in crisis, floundering with no moral compass. It started with the election of the man in the WH. If he had been removed by the party elders, they would not be in this place. There would be no Roy Moores. It is very sad to see that morality is so flexible. McConnell once said he wanted Obama to be a one term President. It was his goal. What do you think now Mr. Senate Majority Leader. How can you stand to see yourself in the mirror? You are a very weak and small man and you deserve Mr. Trump and Roy Moore.
5
There is no proof of the celebrety accusations or Bill Cosby either and that does not seem to bother anyone.
1
McConnell's response is noteworthy. Not that I believe he's suddenly developed a moral compass. I doubt that's the case. I think what we're witnessing here is some of the first decisive moves by Republicans in Congress to distance themselves from Trumpism. I'd bet that many of them are starting to realize that backing Trump and Trumpism is a losing proposition, even more so than the possible loss of votes from Trump's base.
2
Master tactician McConnell has never uttered a spontaneous thing in his career
2
As an observation, conservatives believed every single woman coming out against Bill Clinton during the 1990's, but doubt the word of these brave women claiming this outrageous judge made advances toward them. What hypocrisy!
13
I think this is a difficult case. On the one hand, we need to be careful about doing something that destroys the life and entire future of a person based on what are essentially unproven allegations. But I suspect if people are like me, there is something about this case that absolutely has the ring of truth and we are seeing abused women eventually feeling that they eventually have a platform to challenge powerful men who treat them like dirt.
4
There is nothing unfair about it. He is not somehow owed a U.S. Senate seat. No one is even suggesting prosecuting him as far as I am aware.
6
Let's not forget about the tax proposal travesty moving forward in congress.
4
"I believe the women, yes"
There is a difference between this cynical statement (which, coming from the same person, anxiously viewing the same voters, 5 years ago, would have been very different, and might change as soon as tomorrow) and:
"I neither believe nor disbelieve the women, but am trying to keep an open mind based on the evidence"
I prefer the second statement. It recognizes that the cautious withholding of belief is not the same as the crass imposition of disbelief (and this applies to both accusers and respondents). Every case is unique. Every case should be judged on its merits. We recognize this with other serious crimes (murder, for one). Why can we not recognize it with sexual crimes?
3
The party of family values will never recover from this era of newspeak, hypocrisy and lies. Commence whataboutisms...right GOP?
11
Don't quit, Roy Boy.
Lose the election instead.
13
The hypocrisy of the GOP is on full display here. Imagine if a Democratic candidate for Senate had been accused in similar fashion. The howling for blood from the GOP would drown out every heavy metal rock band in the country and then some.
25
This country is now the most vulgar and being governed by the most incompetent people of my 63 years as a US citizen.
My friends we must get out and vote - the day the majority of Americans step up to their responsibilities as citizens of a democracy vote, not the pathetic 40
% that voted in 2016, we will never see people like this in office again.
38
With ya, Steven, but do know that 55% voted in 2016.
Mid-term elections see typical turnouts of less than 40%.
2
The most disgusting reaction to these revelations has been the people who point out that the alleged abuse too place 40 years ago, as if the passage of time makes them less credible or meaningful.
We know it can take people decades to gain the strength to speak out against an abuser. Google the abuser Dennis Hastert, whose path of destruction started in the 1960s.
This defense of Moore is an actual example of patriarchy...that the women could hardly have been believed in the 70s and the only possible reason they're speaking up now is to derail his "career.'
29
I speak as an abuse victim I find the most disgusting reaction is the hypocrisy--for instance clinton still gets a yawn for far more serious charges, and his victims are still, even now, attacked (eg on The View).
Are you honestly saying that by pure chance, 40 years after the fact but 2 weeks before he is due to be elected - when the damage is highest - the victims came forward?
Yes, the only possible reason is to derail is career. Period.
It is worth noting that in Alabama, the statute of limitations was revised a while ago in this kind of case, to *no limitation*. That doesn't apply to crimes committed before that revision, but it certainly tells us that 40 years no longer matters to the law in Alabama.
1
Thank you. I am disgusted by my fellow Americans.
1
Sorry, but I don't feel all that charitable towards McConnell. I think that his motivations are political. He sees an opportunity to rid the Senate of a serious headache, and at what cost?--standing up to a person who seems to be a harasser and abuser. For him this is a win-win.
7
I hope Southern women will discover that they can stand and speak out with the support of other women and, of course, the support of decent men throughout the U.S. It's a pity and a sorrow those women voted for Trump, and possibly, for other predators like him, despite allegations/settlements other women made public when they saw how far Trump had advanced. They tried to warn Americans of the amoral nature of the GOP candidate then, but nothing came of it, except renewed attacks against them. And this Moore, this alleged child molester, is beneath all. Since so many in the Greedy Old Predators party want to blame victims, sane men and women need to stand up for those brave enough to come forward. Time to exculpate reneged settlement gag orders and free those tongues; time to say, "no more" to such criminal element in our government. There's no place here for perverts, liars, con men and thugs. There is, however, an abundance of good people who would gladly take office, given the opportunity. Think Merrick Garland. Think Doug Jones. Plenty more like them.
16
The dysfunction and factions in the Republican Party are playing out before our eyes. I'm afraid you reap what you sow. Brannon made the bed and now the party needs to lie in it.
12
McConnell says he believes the women and Roy Moore should step aside ...
This raises a good question about McConnell's support for Donald J Trump, someone who's taped talking about sexually assaulting women, and are accused by twelve women of doing exactly that.
26
And the world watches another example of the Trump & the GOP's standard of Greatness.
10
Roy Moore wants to do to the US Constitution what he used to do to 9th graders (and maybe still does).
Time to go donate a few more bucks to Doug Jones.
19
We need a larger analysis of the legitimisation of sexual harassment and abuse---has the problem gotten worse since the election of Trump, or better?
Either his election has sparked a backlash led by women victims, or people now desensitised to it, now that it has been normalised by the US President.
5
I'm no fan of Moore but, there needs to be some evidence presented about these allegations. It's becoming way too easy to take down people you don't like or agree with politically by throwing out the harassment, racist or misogyny accusations. We will reach a point where everyone is attacked on this basis. The ladies need to be respected but they also need to put forward more than just their word.
2
What should the ladies put forward? There are no witnesses because sexual assault is done in secret.
Read this woman's statement then see if she has put enough forward to satisfy you- versus creepy Moore's "No, not generally" non-denial
3
And just what would you expect them to put forward as proof? Women do not come out and expose themselves to the public with this kind of embarrassing information unless it is true. I would say five witnesses saying the same thing is proof.
4
Unfortunately that is usually not going to be possible. What kind of evidence would you expect her to have, regarding something that took place in his car, when he offered to give her a ride home after work, several decades ago? What evidence would she be able to put forth that you would find strengthened her story? One thing that strengthens the story is when other women come forward with similar stories. Yet in many people's eyes those stories become more and more suspicious, not let. There are very, very good reasons these women did not come forward at the time. I am one of thousands of women who could tell you about an attack that I was subjected to that I never reported (though I did tell people about it). There was no point in reporting it because there was no chance the guy would be prosecuted - absolutely none whatsoever. There it is decades later. It doesn't get less true as the decades pass. I have no idea where the guy is or what became of him (I hope he's dead), but I can assure you if I learned he was running for public office I would come forward and tell people what he did to me. (Raped me at knifepoint. 1984.)
1
I heard Mr. Moore's interview with Mr. Hannity. His replies were laden with evasion and obfuscation. "Not my usual ...." etc., etc. Why not a straight and simple "No"?
And who on earth asks the permission of an adult woman's mother to date said woman?
Anyone who watched Ms. Nelson's statement could not doubt the depth of her trauma. If she is lying (and she is obviously not) she should have been an actor; she would be an Oscar winner.
As for not reporting the incident, why should these women bother? At that time, no one would believe or care.
I know.
Someone once tried to attack me (he failed). I never told my parents or police because I instinctively knew it would be useless. The people I did tell made jokes, or in the case of one church member, advised me to forgive the attacker.
As for those who suggest that these incidents occurred so long ago that the women's memories are suspect, trust me. You never forget something like that. Ever.
34
@Juanne Michaud - You said, "And who on earth asks the permission of an adult woman's mother to date said woman?" You know, I was thinking the same thing... that Roy Moore seemed to "justify" dating teenage girls because their mothers said okay. I thought how weird is that? Then I read an Op-Ed yesterday in the Los Angeles Times written by a woman who grew up in that evangelical environment and pointed out that Moore's attitude isn't that uncommon. Eye-opening article called, "Roy Moore's alleged pursuit of a young girl is the system of a larger problem in evangelical circles":
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-brightbill-roy-moore-evangeli...
6
yes! I too was told by my rapist, "I have a lot of power and nobody will believe you." Nobody did. That's what they told teenagers back then and it worked.
5
lying and Christo-fascism seem to be a common theme coming out of Alabama. Confederate Jefferson Beauregard, the man who is supposed to uphold the laws of this great nation, performed himself under oath before Congress and he keeps lying his mouth off.
2
All this talk about presumption of innocence and due process is certainly applicable in a judicial setting: a trial. Here we are involved in a political battle, and you are certainly entitled to your own opinion as to who is telling the truth, and who you wish to vote for.
Moore is a renegade who believes he is a law unto himself. It thus would certainly seem consistent for him to disregard the constraints imposed by law and morality in his dealing with young women to whom he is sexually attracted. After all, who are these women to resist such a powerful dominating male figure?
I believe the women, and urge you NOT TO VOTE FOR MR. MOORE.
16
I would like to believe that Mitch McConnell is speaking out because supporting the women is the right thing to do, however it seems more like "killing two birds with one stone". 1. Get rid of Roy Moore and his problems (plus get back at Steve Bannon), 2. If Moore leaves, there is a better chance of getting the preferred Republican candidate elected without splitting the vote by "write-ins" and therefore less chance of the Democrats winning the election.
8
I suppose the numbers should matter since it's stated in the headline. The degree of the offense remains the same. The louder one shouts has nothing to do with if they're right or not even though some will tell you it does. Gloria has been a very busy lawyer lately.
1
The Republican party is so desperate for power, they are willing to forgive an unrepentant pedophile.
18
Roy and Trump, shoring up the Republicans' women's vote deficit. Expanding that deficit.
7
Moore's supporters remind me of Bill Clinton supporters. They had invested in the guy and had no way out once the bomb dropped.
5
Uh, no.
There were NO laws broken in what happened between Ms. Lewinsky and President Clinton. No complaint was ever filed by any of the parties.
repubs did, however, pay Linda Tripp to cozy up to Ms. Lewinsky and Tripp took advantage of someone 25 years younger than herself. Then Tripp divulged something she was told in confidence by Ms. Lewinsky.
This republican affair is about pedophilia. republicans are supporting a child molester for U.S. Senator.
Try to keep up. And please quit making false analogies.
6
"I believe the women. (This time)."
45
Accusations in a court of law are proven or disproven according to the evidence mustered. In the court of public opinion, however, peoples' statements and opinions matter and the burden of proof is markedly lower for obvious reasons. It is grossly unfair to accusers of predators that hard, tangible proof of abuse and assault is generally fleeting due to the nature of the acts and the trauma they inflict.
This is why the statements of five women with nothing to gain for their troubles and thirty others who were contemporaneously told of the abuse matter greatly and whose voices are overwhelming in the face of Mr. Moore's shrill denials. When his first and sole defence is to attack their character, it is a strong indication he stands on weak ground.
Following the logic of those who bemoan injustice about 'unproven' accusations of predatory and criminal behaviour rewards predators and silences almost all accusations due to nature of sexual assault and is why victims routinely do not come forward. This is not in the public interest in either the courts of law or public opinion and is why predatory behaviour and abuse live fulsome lives. Reprehensible behaviour must be shown the light of day, discussed pointedly in the open and outrage focused intently on those who prey on people weaker than themselves. Otherwise, abuse will continue to thrive in the murky shadows and be endlessly whispered about when it must be railed against.
66
I'm sure if you were accused of something like this you'd want there to be real proof offered. Or would you accept accusations?
1
@James . . . Your point about objective proof of wrong doing isn't lost on me. On the other hand, the nature of abuse and sexual assault doesn't lend itself to limited standards of physical evidence either in criminal or civil matters or public opinion. Physical assault frequently leaves behind observable physical trauma which can be measured, documented and reported. Psychological assault leaves behind broken people whose trauma may be barely observable for many reasons. Moreover, it often leads to economic and social disadvantage which is even more difficult to present.
So, if we are to follow your reasoning, society should ignore accusations of this behaviour because it is difficult to corroborate. I believe that in a case like this where there are several people with similar accusations and multiple people corroborating their stories their 'evidence' can be weighed against the denials of one person and his other public behaviours that demonstrate a lack of credibility to conclude it is likely the accusers are telling the truth. Mr. Moore has chosen to lead a public life and espouse his moral beliefs in a way that affects others. That there are people who have observed his behaviour and conclude it contradicts his own standards, is a serious matter and worthy of public scrutiny. Were you or I, as private citizens not seeking public office nor moralising, accused this way, then I expect public accusations would not be forthcoming nor debated in the news media.
1
These allegations are disturbing. He should do the right thing and step aside.
29
I'm not sure he has a history of doing the "right thing".
7
And what was Senator McConnell's attitude about Trump's many accusers?
Spare us the selective piety. McConnell cares about his majority, period.
77
I don't understand the point of your question. McConnell for being selective about who he condemns or for challenging Moore without "evidence" that satisfies you as to Moore's guilt.
1
Despite claims by Fox News that false accusations of sexual assault are common they are not, and if was easy to gather a group of women to make plausible sounding false claims, then someone would’ve tried it on Obama years ago, and Fox News would’ve happily reported it. Over and over and over.
108
So why did Democrats so loudly defend Bill Clinton against claims of sexual assault, rape and harassment?
You gotta love those moralizing, sanctimonious, conservative family values!
68
Bwahahaha! Them and their followers were born without a gene to detect hypocrisy.
4
It is interesting that the outraged NYT and its readers were very willing to overlook the sexual assaults and predatory sexual behavior of President William Jefferson Clinton. Where was the liberal outrage then? Why did his impeachment fail? Why was he not removed from office?
I remember many liberals in the 1990s dismissing Clinton's numerous female accusers, often with a laugh and a slur.
The moral hypocrisy and the degeneration of American politics starts from that epochal event.
11
There is an enormous difference between affairs between consenting adults, and attacks on young teenagers by a man in his 30s in a position of power.
A more recent and relevant example would be Trump who boasted about sexual assault, who bragged about roaming around dressing rooms where girls as young as 14 were nude, and who has had some 16 women accuse him of sexual assault, including a woman who was 13 at the time.
Moral hypocrisy is entirely the property of the evangelicals and Republicans at this particular moment.
10
Nah. Thomas Jefferson. Get over yourself.
1
There is a big difference between having affairs with adult women and preying on teenage girls. Children cannot legally consent to sex with an adult.
4
Moore is obviously a high-level sociopath, but also an experienced jurist - his comments have been carefully parsed in non-specific legalistic evasions - his accusers have been very direct, extremely detailed and compelling
Will his facade crack?
41
Not his but he may find the ground very shaky.
Time to stick a fork in Roy Moore, Alabama.
41
I hope you didn’t mean this literally.
While I believe that this man is a molester, the timing of his accusors is suspicious. With due regard to the young ladies, what about them made them such easy targets? Were there not parents? Brothers? Sisters? Any older family member to protect them and warn them of the idiocy of getting into a car late at night with a middle-aged man (who was probably a good tipper at the diner)? When molestation occurs within the family circle it is impossible to avoid the molester, but to be victimized by someone who does not have immediate power over you, and whom you can avoid by the simple action of not accepting a ride must mean that there is really bad judgment on the part of the teen who has not been listening to people who care about her /him. Many stories surfacing today about young women and men who have been victimized begin with, "I went to a party and I had too much to drink..." or, "I went to his room for what I thought was a meeting..." The only power these kinds of molestors have over their victims is the power they are freely given when the victims put themselves in harm's way. No, I am not blaming the victim. I am simply saying that these victims either did not recognize the line they were crossing or choose to ignore it and that people who do bad things to young women and men aren't necessarily lurking in the darkness. They are right in front of them, enticing with friendly smiles and fake promises.
I note no one recommends this comment...I wonder why? The girl accepted a ride home from a customer...HE sexually assaulted her..
6
"No, I am not blaming the victim." Yes, you are. If you think it's OK for a district attorney to force a 16-year-old girl's head onto his crotch and then throw her out into the parking lot when she resists because she had "bad judgment" or didn't recognize that she had "crossed a line," then I think you're the one with some extremely poor judgment. No 16-year-old girl "freely gives" herself to sexual violence. You disgust me.
5
What do you think is suspicious about the timing of the revelations? Women have been coming out of the woodwork for a month, and it started with people connected with Hollywood.
Moore is high profile. The women's he attacked and dated while they were teens have seen other women come out about their traumas. They probably don't want to see a child molester elected as senator of Alabama. So of course they are saying something now, as opposed to after he's been elected.
3
There are bad actors in all walks of life and political persuasions, so I'll not try to make political hay condemning an entire class of individual for the actions of some of them. HOWEVER, It does appear to me that the REACTIONS to the revelations certainly seems different between the political parties by and large. To wit, with Weinstein, Weiner, Spacy, et. al. the condemnation was swift and close to unanimous. They have been ostracised, fired, thrown out of prestigious organizations and charges brought against them when overwhelming evidence was presented that something was deeply wrong. Many Conservatives on the other hand seem to dismiss the evidence no matter how extensive and double-down on their support of the individual. This same pattern is of course mirrored in their approach to Climate Change, Evolution, and other matters. This common demonstrated tendency to deny unwelcome truths makes for dangerous leadership IMHO...
35
You can bet that Republicans are at this moment looking for a woman to come forward and say that Moore molested her, only to retract it later and say that Democrats paid her to say it. They're that devious, along with plotting to have the Alabama governor either postpone the election or appoint Jeff Sessions to his old Senate seat. That would kill two birds with one stone -- getting Sessions out of the Justice Dept so Trump can appoint someone who will fire Mueller.
15
Someone is thinking a few steps ahead.
Looks like the solution is to call off the election and have Pres. Trump appoint someone to the Senate.
3
Hope you are being facetious.
3
I hope Moore doesn’t withdraw and Alabama votes for a Democratic Senator.
I think Republicans are now calling for his withdrawal because they fear he’ll lose.
Hang in there, Judge. I’d like to hear your consolation speech and see 1 less Republican to vote for just about anything.
27
Just the latest from "The party of family values".....
44
Paul Are you talking about the Clinton's
3
@Don
We are talking about the GOP since that is how they refer to themselves.
3
Which makes the democrats the party of what??
It was about time that Mitch McConnell said something to erase the alleged “ child molester “ Roy Moore .
I don’t praise McConnell , he did what a normal , honest , law respectful human being should have unequivocally done .
Now it’s time for the people of Alabama to show they have the courage to vote this monster out of politics forever .
13
If Moore is considered unfit for the Senate, why don't Republicans consider Trump unfit for the presidency for the same behavior?
50
White men behaving badly. But for the GOP that is ok. They will put you in public office or maybe even the presidency. Not only that, but they will make sure you are not prosecuted because of all the white judges (some with absolutely no experience) Trump is putting to to let these guys off the hook. Justice is crying and the party of family values has sold its so called Christianb soul to the devil for power.
19
I urge everyone to read this amazing piece by Katheryn Brightbill that appeared in the Los Angeles Times about Evangelicals "grooming" underage girls for marriage to older men. It isn't just Roy Moore. It's a whole underground culture. Excerpt:
As a teenager, I attended a lecture on courtship by a home-school speaker who was popular at the time. He praised the idea of “early courtship” so the girl could be molded into the best possible helpmeet for her future husband. The girl’s father was expected to direct her education after the courtship began so she could help her future husband in his work.
In retrospect, I understand what the speaker was really describing: Adult men selecting and grooming girls who were too young to have life experience. Another word for that is “predation.”
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-brightbill-roy-moore-evangeli...
54
Great comment. Thank you.
Thanks for the recommendation! This LA Times story truly deserves wider coverage.
Yes, and yet another word for it is "slavery."
I'm afraid that the election of Trump and the ascendance of the movement he leads has exposed the whole festering underbelly of the christian right neoconservative movement. Modernity didn't leave behind the best.
It left behind the anti-science, anti-progress, anti-gay, anti-woman, pro-pollution, pro-slavery child predators.
Some of them, I assume, are good people.
The reason that they've been left behind is that they aren't ready for life in this century. Or the last one.
2
See Huff Post 10/18/2017.
“Roy Moore’s Foundation Received A $1,000 Donation From A Nazi Group In 2005”.
"A group “founded by Willis Carto, a white supremacist, Nazi supporter and World War II vet who famously said he regretted fighting for the U.S instead of Germany.” He funded anti-Semitic and racist conspiracy publications and Holocaust deniers. He supported Gov George Wallace’s segregationist presidential campaign in 1968."
And see Talking Points Memo, Oct 6:
”Roy Moore’s Neo-Confederate Sugar Daddy Has Deep Ties To Secessionists.”
"Michael Peroutkahas has given Moore over a half-million dollars over the past decade-plus. His beliefs make even Moore’s arguably theocratic anti-gay and anti-Muslim views look mainstream by comparison. Says the Christian South needs to secede and form a new Biblical nation."
"His “League of the South was one of the organizers of the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, that ended with the killing of a counter-protester.”
How 'fringe' is this, after the election of this president? As our politics gets more pernicious, how do we start cleaning up this destructive viral infection?
The whole Moore mess exposes ever more gross undercurrents.
29
McConnell may not really want him quit, because then the Democrat maybe elected.
Depending upon the public outcry and the feelings of other Senators, he could move to expel him. If he's expelled the governor would appoint a replacement who would be Republican.
8
Given the right alleged victim, lynch law and spectral evidence are both alive and well in the USA. I am not preemptively defending Moore, but I am not convicting him either. I am a retired attorney who spent 40 years arguing criminal cases (both as a prosecutor and a defense attorney) before the state and federal appellate courts, including the SCOTUS. In that time I seem to recall concepts such as "due process" and "presumption of innocence". Apparently this nation now follows a different standard, harkening back to Salem, Mass. Today, a woman can wait 40 years, and 3 weeks before an election can suddenly "recall " sexual harassment with the help of a Democrat-biased reporter and a little cash. I must wonder if these women would be coming out if the control of the Senate was not involved.
6
SO glad you are retired .
8
Mark...there is no due process! Has he been arrested? Moore is a fake Christian with fake Christian values. Do as I say not as I do.
2
These women voted for Trump despite their own experiences of sexual assault and they have nothing to gain by coming out now and everything to lose. In fact two of them have had to go into hiding due to death threats by rabid Moore followers. There is such a thing as a person wanting to tell their truth at last for sins committed against them. Who do you propose they should have come out to earlier? Should they have climbed up on their rooftops-these women from humble backgrounds? This is their moment—a perfect storm of society finally airing sexual abuses against women by the powerful and renewed national interest in Moore because of his Senate run. The moment of this perfect storm is Moore’s deserved downfall and these women’s liberation. He sinned against young girls for a very long time—now is the time for this so-called Christian for him to beg for forgiveness. No wonder he wanted the Ten Commandments mounted in the courthouse. He knew what a wretch he was and how best to dupe people into believing otherwise. Oh, yeah, a great Christian is Roy Moore.
2
So much for his christian values... lying on side of his mouth while defending the 10 commandments. The true definition of a hypocrite and apparently an unpunished criminal on the loose.
6
The death of the Republican party is a case study in karmic justice. Everything Republicans have done, starting with the Southern Strategy, Reagan tax cuts, and culminating in unprincipled, sustained opposition during the Obama presidency, systemic voter suppression of people like me, turning their backs on Merrick Garland and installing a shill, has resulted in the diminution of American society. Giggling to victory behind trump was the last metaphysical straw. They are now hoisted painfully on the petard of their relentless righteousness, and it is up to us to pick up the pieces.
19
Well said!
I have very low confidence the voters in Alabama would elect a Democratic candidate for any office regardless of the character of the GOP candidate.
I submit they would vote for Charles Manson or the devil incarnate as long as he had an "R" next to his name.
It would be wonderful if I was wrong- but based on history- I doubt I am wrong.
16
Welp they did vote for Donald Trump.
1
If Moore gets elected, maybe he can caucus with all those who believe that God gave older men the right to diddle with non-consenting kids.
But I am confused is this southern culture or evangelical culture?
Once again, the Republicans find themselves in a stew because they find some of the most unqualified people to run. Did they not hear the rumors or did they just not care?
15
Maybe Moore did caucus with Bill Clinton. Maybe that's why Moore thought it was ok.
It’s too bad Anita Hill wasn’t believed.
45
Do you think Ms Hill was the only one Mr. Thomas harassed?
1
Us women believed her.
3
It's too bad Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey and Linda Tripp were not believed.
I believe these women, but Gloria Allred needs to understand that her involvement doesn't help her clients. The mere fact Gloria is involved automatically puts the women who hire her into doubt. Gloria is very bad at prepping them for their statements and they whole production looks made up.
6
The woman probably went to Allred because she was the only person she knew of who defended women.
2
Please change the headline (it's too late on your text alert) to make it more accurate. It's an important detail. Only two women have accused him of sexual misconduct. One of the other three women accused him of an impropriety (giving alcohol to a minor). The other women just attested to the fact he showed interested in teens when in his 30s.
1
No, one accused him of attempted statutory rape and another accused him of attempted rape.
Fixed it.
2
The bar of acceptability is dismally low among Republicans, and Moore's acceptance into the Senate would make the chamber hit rock bottom. Consider the delays to fill judges during Obama's last presidential years and the current approval of lifetime appointments with lawyers with little or no experience. Also remember the vote for Secretaries, who lack knowledge about relevant science, education, environment. Worst of all are throwing the Constitution on the rubbish pile and cheating during elections. While McConnell and most other Republicans disgrace the country through extreme partisanship that I would not want him or his senatorial colleagues for my congressional representative, he's needed right now to do the right thing in denying Moore.
7
McConnell is right to believe the women because the Post published a very well sourced story. Why didn't they come forward sooner? Well, the women were reluctant to come forward even NOW after being approached by reporters. I think they finally agreed for several reasons:
1. They each learned they were not alone - there were other victims.
2. Even though they are women of faith and Republican, they felt it was time to expose the hypocrisy of this wolf in sheep's clothing.
3. The Weinstein assaults have emboldened women all over the world to come forward with their stories of powerful men assaulting them.
Although McConnell really does think Moore is poison and doesn't belong in the Senate, he also realizes that if Moore doesn't withdraw, many people will write in Luther Strange, spit the Republican vote and possibly elect a Democrat to the Senate. If Moore does get elected then every Republican running for reelection in 2018 will face questions of why they belong to a party that elects a accused child molester to the Senate.
12
What kind of people, voters, would value a man accused of pedophilia, who had a reputation among his peers for dating "younger" girls and women at the time, over any other alternative of any other political party or no political party at all?
This really must be a common enough practice in the South, the deep South.
If you've experienced anything like this, you understand why it is either never reported or takes years and years to report it, a phenomenon, hopefully, that is being debunked with societal norms today.
There are definitive findings, a "syndrome", if you will that is the aftermath of such an experience: a vulnerable female or male who is overtaken by someone more powerful either in family dynamics, politics, employment, even law enforcement, in any sphere of society. It's time for everyone in this country to be educated about the aftermath of such abuse, the short and long term effects on this kind of victim.
Sen Amy Klobachar has been able to pass with 100% agreement in the Senate over the past weeks, mandate for the entire sitting Congress to attend a seminar on just this "phenomena" of sexual harassment...what it is, how to avoid doing it, et al....and to mandate every new member of Congress attend the same seminar, just as they attend others that tell them how the Congress operates.
These members of Congress must understand it so that they do not engage in it and so they can legislate and make appropriate decisions in cases such as this one.
5
5 accusing Moore is still 7 less than accused Trump, not to mention Trump’s video confession.
And Trump got 53% of the white female vote and of course won the White House.
Moore should hold his ground. If anything Moore set his sites too low and should think about running for President in 2024.
4
The fact that Moore has not followed through with libel or slander charges against his accusers give me the impression that he is guilty.
We may only be seeing the tip of the iceberg. After reading that Mrs. Moore is trying to learn if any of the accusers were paid to come forward. This makes me think that she and or husband may have bought off others with valid complaints in the past. Alabama considers anyone under 19 to be a juvenile unless they are self supporting. My guess is that a confidentially agreement that is signed by them or their parents will not hold water.
4
I hope Moore wins because that would be bad for the republican party, and whatever's bad for the republican party is absolutely great for America.
5
Why are the Republicans and McConnell in such an uproar over this? When the president is the poster boy for this type of past repugnant behavior (though to our knowledge, not with a minor) it's a little late for finger wagging. Also, when does being a "conservative Christian" give anyone the right to rape? The swamp is alive and well and growing.
7
Yes, is five minutes before twelve Roy, precisely. You need to drop the race.. You have been caught. If not, you will be left to wind your way out that dreary, dark labyrinth the best way you can. It will be no easy matter, your lamps have been doused, you can not see a foot before you, your senses have been
stunned, you cannot tell if you are moving or standing still. You don't have to be coy Roy, you need to take a long hike and sooth your guilty conscience.
2
Mr. Moore, would you be willing to take a polygraph test?
4
Trump must be chomping at the bit to have the governor appoint Sessions. Kill two birds with one stone. Cheaters and liars ruling our country!
7
Moore's fall from grace is stunning. Someone should make a movie to rub it in even more deeply. The man is a pig.
12
Actually it isn’t. If you’ve been following his story, he’s been a self serving, hypocrite in the public eye for years. Even the establishment GOP knew he was poison. This is just the icing on the cake.
2
It's interesting to see the juxtaposition of the secular response to sexual misconduct vs. the religious response.
For the last month and counting, “immoral” Hollywood has been ostracizing, firing, and canceling the productions off those who have been guilty of sexual misconduct. Many of these actions have been taken at substantial costs to the studios and networks.
Evangelicals, the supposed bastions of morality, have ‘circled the wagons’ around Mr. Moore, with the usual claim of doing 'spiritual battle against evildoers’ – all in disregard of the victims who insist they were minors at the time of his abuses.
Evangelicals should never ever attempt to claim the moral high ground again.
27
It's all about hatred and subordination of women among evangelicals. Hatred of women who dare enjoy sex, and subordination of girls to the predation of older men. They're happy with whatever as long as women are judged or harmed.
3
Sounds like the less their ages, the Moore Roy "loved" them. He may not get a Senate seat as a registered Republican, but he does get Megan's Seat as a registered sexual offender. Go 'Bama! Reap it.
2
You'd think this would be an easy matter for the party of moral rectitude. They should have certain rock-bottom biblical values (set aside polygamy and slavery for now), and no man is above them. The only problem is the transactional nature of the modern evangelical. They'll accept a self declared sexual predator as president if it gets them a conservative SCOTUS appointment. Welcome to the new age of moral relativism.
15
You right wingers have never had a problem with old allegations when it came to the Clintons so why don’t you just scratch? Moore is probably toast so deal with it.
8
It's Alabama y'all!
He'll be elected in a landslide.
2
These are brave women. To suffer this kind of attack and trauma as a teenager is a difficult story to tell later, particularly when the man involved is a powerful or wealthy one. As instantly happened in this case, even with all the witnesses, the women were personally attacked and their experiences questioned. This kind of behavior does not exist in a vacuum. The Washington Post tracked down rumors. A fellow lawyer said it was known at the time. This woman's attack is consistent with the predatory grooming of the earlier victims such as the 14-year-old's.
Thank you for telling your stories. America believes you, not him. I hope you are able to heal.
16
I'm not at all sure about this one. My question is...
1. Roy Moore has held many public offices for many years. Why are these allegations just now surfacing after almost a half century other than raw dirty politics?
As soon as I saw the name Gloria Allred, I automatically question the veracity of the whole thing. She is the West Coast's version of the Reverend Al Sharpton.
Both Democrats and Republican establishment crooked politicians couldn't give three hoots about these accusers. They are gunning for Moore for his politics, not for his half-century old past. Business as usual.
3
I always had problem with people who hold religious scriptures Bible, Quran, Torah....etc, and claim moral high ground. I can guarantee you he is a liar
15
So much for "innocent until proven guilty." Is that a progressive position?
1
The earlier allegations against Mr. Moore sound pretty believable. Ms. Nelson's does not. This is partly because it does not square with Mr. Moore's alleged behavior in the other incidents, and partly because it just stinks of the caricature that clings to invented accusations.
A couple other recent examples of this type of fakery include, on one hand, far-right tales of how the Sutherland Springs shooter demanded antifa allegiance from his victims before executing them, and on the other hand, fake racist slurs left on whiteboards at the Air Force Academy.
Mr. Moore seems kinda creepy, and I'd welcome his exit from the Alabama senate race, but Ms. Nelson's allegations look for all the world like a political stunt.
5
I disagree with you.
3
Read the Washington Post for more details that back her up. She quit her job after it happened. She told her sister a few years later; she told her fiancé 13 year ago before they got married. And a few year ago she told her mother. You think she made it up and told people preparing for a day when others might accuse him? Makes no sense.
3
Read the Washington Post again and pay closer attention. Everything we know about Ms. Nelson's story came from her own mouth today, in a Gloria Allred-staged press statement. There is currently no independent reporting to back this up.
The Post reports that "Ms. Nelson said..." all the things you mention. The Post does not indicate that it has done anything whatsoever to verify her claims (e.g. ask the restaurant if she really did quit at that time; interview the people she says she told; etc.)
I am happy to amend my impression if this stunt can be built into a strong, independently verifiable account. But as of now, it remains a stunt.
Why would any woman, any person, vote for someone who not only bragged about assaulting women, but also maligned them personally when they came forward? More baffling is why a woman who has experienced sexual harassment/abuse herself would support such a vile predator for high office? Perhaps she felt no connection with any of those women -- until now.
12
Earlier today, I saw an item that he was the sole vote in favor of a guy who molested a 4 year old girl (not himself, but some other guy, but honestly, what is OK with violating a 4 year old?
Some interesting Biblical interpretation here: clearly his religion is about men's power over women, no matter what they do. Shameless, hypocritical, and truly disgusting!
16
I'm just going to throw this out there. Is it possible this is one of those creepy guy things from back in the day where teenage girls were considered more likely to be 'clean' (meaning not having a sexual history) and, therefore, safer for the 'gentleman' in that he is less likely to contract a venereal disease?
I'm old enough to remember older people saying 'there's girls that do, and there's girls that you marry.' I looked up Mr. Moore's date of birth. If he was born in 1947, I think the time frame kind of fits for this narrative.
Eeew. Yuk. But there was this type of thinking.
3
Roy Moore apparently has no morals, ethics or respect for the law. He just does whatever he feels like as evidenced by his being kicked off the judgeships not once but twice. For women to come forward is to face relentless attacks on their character. It is a no win situation for them which is why they stay silent and suffer for years.
12
Cory Gardner is right. So when will the Republican Party start applying similar standards to the current occupant of the White House, Donald Trump?
9
Throughout all of the discussions on Moore (and previously on Trump) there have been cries of "where is the proof"? "Why didn't they speak up sooner?" Moore (and Trump) are getting a "pass" from the GOP for "he said / she said". But with Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and Louis C.K, the GOP is ready to hang them from the highest tree. I don't see the Dem's making excuses for Weinstein, Stacey or Louis. Is it because the women making the accusations on them are for the most part powerful people in their own right, and the women accusing Moore are relatively unknown and less powerful? What a travesty!
I have never been molested, but have endured my share of discrimination and "different" treatment over the years. I know women who have been molested, and I have no problem believing them as their accusations come at a high price, and usually after years of beating themselves up for not fighting.
12
Looking forward to the law suit against WaPo and the evidence that the accusers have been paid. We'll see what happens. Maybe a big announcement next week ...
@Glenn King: You may find yourself waiting far beyond next week. These guys love to bluster about suing, just as Trump does, but they never do, because they know that all of their bad behavior will come out in a trial.
13
More alternative facts. Lol!
1
I would think if you were outraged as Moore claims to be he could have demanded a lawsuit that day. It is not a game or a reality TV show. These were young people at the time up against the DA.
Have a Congressional investigation. Let's hear it.
2
Holy cow. This would-be senator is doomed. Finally. No way can he proceed to the Senate. I can't believe it has gone on this long.
He, in his juvenile cowboy outfit, obstinately holding on.
Assaulting another girl at age 16?
Where there is smoke, there's a raging fire.
And his statement to Fox News' Sean Hannity was sickeningly weak.
It was an admission blanketed in a flimsy denial.
I've worked with victims of sexual abuse and male sexual predators in the field of psychology and dialectical behavior therapy, and feel kind of nuts right now.
4
Susan Collins of Maine vs Roy Moore of Alabama.....hmmmm.....I sort of remember another Maine vs Alabama.....20th Maine Regiment against the 48th Alabama Regiment at Little Round Top, Gettysburg, July 1963. 20th Maine routed the 48th Alabama with a bayonet charge. Maybe Susan should do the same. Metaphorically speaking.....;-))
4
Only Trump and Bannon and the likes can defend this. Even McConnell spoke up.
3
Lots of Democrats defended allegations like this - when women alleged that Bill Clinton was doing the assaulting, raping or harassment.
I hope MSM investigates this claim the way the Washington Post fact-checked the others. His fans would love nothing more than to discover a false accusation -- to the point that they might even try to provide one.
How courageous these women are for telling their terrible stories. Sadly, I have a strong feeling that there will be many more.
12
Perhaps an 11th Commandment should be chiseled into those tablets which once graced that good, green Alabama courthouse lawn. "Thou shalt not abuse thy adolescent Innocents."
7
Four Alabama women say Roy Moore made overtures when they were teens and he was a DA in his 30s. That's pretty close to proof under Sharia law, although admittedly you'd need 4 men to say it. And of course Moore's not in danger of loss of life and liberty, just in danger of not being elected to what was once a respected branch of government so innocent before being proven guilty is inapplicable. Common sense and decency is applicable. How anyone could doubt Ms. Nelson's detailed, heartbreaking statement about being attacked and left lying on the cold ground as Moore sped off is beyond me. That anyone could support this scofflaw judge who used his position to molest teenagers and attack marginalized groups,, who calls himself a CHRISTIAN, asks for prayers and demonizes his opponent demonstrates clearly the upside--down, rabbit hole aspect of the current GOP. In normal times, his opponent, who successfully prosecuted the KKK for the murders of four little blameless girls in a Birmingham church would be hailed as a hero. And hats off to Mitch McConnell. "I believe the women, yes" has a nice ring to it.
4
Remember when Bill Clinton was accused of far worse, and everyone in the New York Times was saying “it’s just sex. It’s his personal life. It has nothing to do with his job performance!” My how it changes with that one letter difference D or R.
3
No, I honestly don't remember Bill Clinton being accused of something "far worse" than child rape. Maybe on some conspiracy nut's website.
11
Clinton's accusers were of legal age. However, rape is raps.
Monica Lewinsky was at least of legal age. Yes it was still morally reprehensible, and Clinton indeed paid a price. Not for the act, but for lying about it. One of these victims was 14 years old. If I read the law correctly this is second degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony, by a sitting district attorney. A DA must indeed be held to even tighter standards than someone not in a position of authority over the victim.
2
I thought that the issue of the time-lag for children speaking out as adults against sexual assaults was settled by the tens of millions of dollars paid as compensation by the Catholic Church. When the Catholic Church had to face its tragic and sordid past, no one blamed the children, now adults. Why are evangelicals defending the child predator in its midst rather than standing up for the victims? I believe the women. Roy Moore should be in jail, not the Senate. There must be no Statute of Limitations for the sexual assault of children.
19
Thanks Mitch McConnell. I heard four women speak but did not know who to believe but now that you have weighed in, I know I should believe the women. There you have it folks, the words of four women are enough to convince a man that sexual assault happened. Next question Mitch, does this same rule apply to all women or only Republican women?
4
Mitch McConnell would gladly throw Joseph and Mary under the bus if he could trade it for backing his tax scheme.
9
Losing the seat in AL means he's not getting his tax scheme. He knows that.
How low can the GOP and its hard core sink? Are we near bottom yet? I've never seen such utter filth in American politics in my (long) life. We have Moore, Trump and George Bush on the right, and Bill Clinton on the left. Maybe we should have a third party and lump them all together.
1
I wish that we had lost the Civil War. It would have been difficult for the blacks enslaved in the south, but we could have helped them move north. That is a bit of a stretch, but keeping these ethical defectives separated from the rest of us would have been a boon. And maybe the ones not in the south could have moved there, freeing up the rest of the country.
Trump would be in the south and I would gladly have agreed to build a wall.
5
I wish the South knew that it lost the Civil War.
2
Hard to know which is more disgusting. The disgusting Moore and his morally challenged supporters in AL and at Fox; or his disgusting party and it weaseling and maneuvering to firstly endorse him and then go through the distancing rituals before finally bolting in panic. The grotesque hypocrisy of the Republican party today has no bottom.
8
OK, so Moore is not fit to serve What I don't get from all these republicans is how is it that Trump is fit to serve?? Similar and worse allegations were made against him and he even bragged about some of his harassment of women! Can SOMEONE in power PLEASE ask this question!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8
Both McConnell and Moore are predatory and dangerous. Mitch and friends just want to line their pockets with donor cash to our disadvantage---now normalized in our politics.
Mitch once told the media that the Citizens United Supreme Court decision that removed limits from corporate megadonors "leveled the playing field" of our democracy. That was a lie rivaling any of Trump's, as it removed rule of law, while pretending to be part of our American 'freedoms.'
To him, the super rich donors had actually been 'disadvantaged' by previous limits on private donations. Thus the political playing field had been unfairly TILTED IN FAVOR of We The People! This is truly warped thinking---sociopathic, like Moore's predatory attitude to women.
Mitch might see political advantage to defending Moore's victims with moral outrage. But he himself sides with those forces assaulting our democracy and the citizen majority(with the Supreme Court's complicity).
With a sense of privilige distorted as some kind of morality, they just redefine money as 'protected free speech', even as corporate influence drowns out the citizen majority. We the People are unprotected vicitms of the McConnells in our congress, who depend on corporate donations that silence them. It’s like a Mafia crime syndicate.
Take this to a grand jury.
2
Does anyone in Alabama, with daughters, please put this shaming to an end. Are we going to stand on the sidelines? Stand up for your brother and support his actions, won't you?
Why doesn't the same standard apply to Trump?
10
Sessions? What!? No doubt Trump would like having a successor attorney general who hadn't recused himself from the Russia investigation.
1
Oh My God. Tax cuts for the rich threatened!
The Republican Party really doesn't care a whit about the accusations, the victims, or anything else. They widely supported the cretin Moore up to now.
It's only when their sponsors ability to further loot the Federal Treasury is threatened that they react. The Republicans are immoral thieves.
5
If anyone else comes forward with additional allegations of sexual harassment in this case, Mitch McConnell will be left with little choice but to promote Moore to Trump as an optimal U.S. Supreme Court candidate.
2
No gays - check!
No separation of church and state - check!
Trying to force oral sex on a 16 year old while a prosecutor - check!
Why would any Trump supporter have a problem with any of this?
(Assuming he's anti-abortion when enacting laws, and indifferent when making personal decisions about it)
8
The gaul of the Republico/Christians is unbelievable. Having already given us a lascivious scoundrel for president, not to mention refilling "the swamp" far beyond imagination with obvious crooks/incompetents all around. But, then, perhaps this is simply the ultimate of the Republican Party's 50 years of lying about just about everything--Obama's birthplace, the "Laugher" curve, voter suppression, and, now, the silly aphorism ".. it these charges are correct." Which means exactly that the WOMEN ARE NEVER TO BE BELIEVED. God (the real one, not the fake one of current Evangelicalism) help us.
4
Moore characterized his situation as an attack by the supporters of a "pro-abortion democrat" versus a "conservative Christian".
He is simply pushing the buttons that were successfully pushed by Trump.
I have never met a "pro-abortion" person in my life, it certainly is no way to begin one's parenting years as a male or female.
I don't understand why "conservative Christians" are so afraid of Roe v. Wade when it protects a woman's right to choose to carry a baby to term as much as it protects her right to not do so. Why can't these voters vigorously support the choice to honor life in their own families and churches? Maybe then they would have energy to consider other policy issues when voting.
There is so much more to pro-life living than voting. I hope some Moore supporters can find it their hearts and minds to consider voting for someone who is pro-choice (and maybe pro-union and pro-veterans' assistance etc.)
3
The question was asked of another Republican more than sixty years ago: "Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" (Joseph N. Welch to Senator Joseph R. McCarthy, June 9, 1954, the 30th day of the Army–McCarthy hearings.)
Now, as then, the answer to that question --- for virtually every Republican office holder across the land (elected or appointed) --- is a resounding, unequivocal and absolute NO.
(The same answer also applies to the Republican "base.")
5
Too many GOP senators are silent. Too many.
4
"Family values" alabama style.
9
The reason I'd like the headline to say 2nd woman accuses Moore of sexual misconduct is that being sloppy plays into his supporters' hands and makes it look like you have an agenda rather than seeking the truth.
"Judge" Moore should offer to walk on red-hot coals to prove once for all his innocence.
2
Of course McConnell believes them. He wants Roy to lose so he won't support Trump. It's sad to see him doing the Dems dirty work for them.
This is a GOP generated problem. If a man has a past he has to deal with it. Especially if he is a religious hypocrite.
Sorry but Moore owns his behavior. Grown ups and Republicans used to understand that concept.
1
Why didn't anyone believe the women who accused Donald Trump. Do you really think they are all liars?
8
Let's look at what is going on here - we are sending a message to young girls and teenagers when assaulted, or sexually molested by a pedophile don't run, go to an adult for help or fight back just get the evidence. What a screwed up message we are sending young girls. But then Trump was elected who attempted to discredit the women he sexually assaulted by threatening to sue them (which has never happened) and having Huckabee-Sanders call them liars at a press briefing. The Republicans really do hate women.
8
This has moved from the ridiculous to the absurd. Too many accusations to be believed. The first accuser worked for the Hillary campaign and also is a DNC activist. 30 days before the election and she comes out with an outlandish claim with no proof or witnesses. Now there are several more. Also now comes out that onw woman was offered $1000.00 dollars to accuse Moore of some kind of sexual event. 40 years has passed since the alledged encounter with a 14 year old. Moore has been in the employ of the state all that time and was supreme court justice 2 times and none of this ever came up. Why now? I know why, Moore is likely going to be the next senator from Alabama and he is a staunch conservative, the rhinos and top Dems cannot allow that. This is a smear campaign to derail Moore's campaign perpetrated by the Dems.
2
Allen, the reason these women are coming forward now is simple: When one I
What are yall listening to in Oklahoma- Sesame Street News?
The accuser is a Trump voter.
One can be "a staunch conservative" in one's own mind and still be a pedophile. Many conservative priests were pedophiles and many decades went by before they were addressed.
3
Where do you get your news from? I read that she was a Trump voter and a Repub. I wonder if it's possible that this $1000.00 dollars (wow, you can buy a fair amount of cat food for that much) you heard about arrived at your eyes or ears via Sean Hannity?
The conclusion that Roy Moore cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired may not be entirely correct. Here are two material factors that may serve to delay the start date for tolling the statutory time restriction: 1) An instance where the potential destructive power of the accused perpetrator against the safety of the victim causes sufficient fear in the victim to prevent a complaint until such fear can be sufficiently overcome; 2) An instance where the crime is not discovered until after it has occurred: psychiatry has ample case-studies where childhood sex crime-victims are psychologically unable to realize that they have been wronged because they often feel that they, themselves, are to blame. In such a circumstance Justice demands that tolling not begin until the childhood victim is mature enough to realize that a crime has been committed against her. Both of these instances are relevant to the sex-crimes for which Mr. Moore has been accused. Both would delay the tolling of the statute of limitations sufficiently to expose him to criminal prosecution.
It would be helpful for authentic legal scholars to weigh in on this important issue. An adult District Attorney who bruises a teenager's neck trying to force her to perform oral sex on him belongs in jail, rather than the Senate of the United States.
5
Interestingly, had Luther Strange won the GOP primary, the same women would have come out with the same stories.
3
More alt-right nonsense!
6
Why would they have been talking about Roy Moore?
2
I'm so tired of trying to explain/make any sense of the last two years to my kids.
15
Mitch McConnell is coming against Roy Moore for his self-preservation and the preservation of the Republican establishment. McConnell would rather lose a seat temporarily (whoever wins the 2017 special election will need to dispute an election again in 2020 so this special election does not come with a 6-year term) than empower Stephen Bannon. If Roy Moore wins and gets a seat in the Senate, Bannon will claim victory and support more primary challengers against establishment Republicans next year. In fact, the best outcome for McConnell is that the Democrat Doug Jones wins. McConnell will then blame Bannon and the alt-right for losing a Senate seat in Alabama and use this loss to prevent more establishment Republicans from being primaried from the right. McConnell is an amoral politician who has no interest in defending women from sexual predators or children from pedophiles. He is doing this purely for self-preservation.
6
The fix is in. If Allred is involved this is nothing more than a well organized Democrat/Liberal scam. By the way that suppose Christmas wish card looks like something that someone in his position would send out to any number of admirers. I don't see anything untoward in what's written there.
The next question would be where have all these women accusers been all these years when Roy Moore was running for judicial offices in Alabama? Why now 40 years later on the eve of a Senate election in which he as burying the Democrat candidate in the polls? Can you see another dirty trick? Typical of a DNC and Democrats in general, just look what they did to Bernie Sanders and any other opposition to Hillary.
3
You sound very hurt personally by all this.
Why now? Because now Roy Moore is a national story, facing national media. The Montgomery Beacon intern isn’t on the Roy Moore story anymore.
2
Why now and not then...well, the same reason Roger Ailes, Harvey Weinstein and others have gotten away with sexual predation or alleged sexual predation. Yes, it should the story should be told earlier, but the real question now is to find out if Moore did anything to silence anyone. It really is not complicated...if one thinks without any ideological bias.
2
Faced with the same standards of justice Bill Clinton would have been impeached. Too bad poor Roy isn't a Democrat. Is all he would have to say is "I did not have sex with that woman"
2
So adult women aren't protected now? Fred there were many more victims than Monica.
2
Bill Clinton was impeached! His offence was lying about consensual sex under oath.
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How easily you "forget" the accusations of rape and sexual harassment by women not named Monica. And his lying occurred during a trial for sexual harassment.
"Judge" Roy Moore should waive the statute of limitations for these "allegations" and proceed to trial. Otherwise, he is guilty (he should be disbarred and never again be heard from).
3
So this is the choice for Alabama voters: is it worse to elect to the Senate a child molester or a Democrat?
4
Give Moore the benefit of the doubt? Why? This is a man who has flouted the law all his life. And the "evidence?" Do you think there were hidden cameras in the rooms where Moore allegedly made sexual advances on teens? It was just the two of them; one was trapped inside. Five women: Believe them. They were assaulted.
7
Sessions can't take the seat back and it can't be given to him outside the electoral process. The people have to vote someone to the office. Sessions would have to resign, then encourage people to write him in. Risky.
Moore should be expelled if elected because “because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.” Not that I disagree with the statement itself but that is one "rich" statement coming from a member of a party that seems to have lost all moral bearings itself over the years. The irony of it all!
3
Thank God some Republicans are speaking out against this guy and sympathizing with the young women. The GOP made a big mistake by embracing the alt-right. Fortunately a few Republicans are still decent.
1
To Sec Moore: Now Watergate does not bother me. Does your conscience bother you?
3
for every republican last week who said " if it's true" : shame on you.
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I think the GOP is concerned Moore will lose and they need that GOP Senate vote to put thru their agenda.
The GOP are hypocrites.
They tolerated Trump who has advocated putting his hands up a woman's skirt and feeling her private parts and has walked in on undressed beauty contestants.
Why is that behavior on Trump's part acceptable to them..
5
I find it peculiar that people are asking for evidence, evidence, evidence. Did you read the Washington Post article. These women were sought out by the Post not the other way around after the Post reporters had heard rumors. One of these girls was approached by Moore while waiting outside a court room, the date of the hearing for the girls mother was confirmed. Many of these women shared what happened with their mothers or friends close in time to the events, those corroborating witnesses (so to speak) were also interviewed. Moore himself basically admitted it, saying it didn't matter because it happened 40 years ago. Moore's friends and colleagues have indicated that Moore frequently pursued and dated much younger women.
What kind of evidence are you looking for? Video tape, police report? Come on, its utterly ridiculous that women are scorned for reporting this behavior when it happens or scorned when they report it years later, we simply can't win.
12
Moore should stay in the race. Give the good people of Alabama a choice between a Democrat and a child molester. I for one would like to see which they chose. Indeed I hope he wins so the country can see what populates and motivates the Republican party. McConnell just wants to get off the hook. If Moore is elected the Republicans will do nothing to prevent him from serving and holding on to their two vote majority.
12
The bigger picture here is the troubling influence of conservative Christians in our sectarian politics. After VP Pence, Moore is one of the most prominent christianists mixing politics and religion. And certainly Alabama’s under-educated electorate is fertile ground for people like Moore to exploit politically in the name of their god.
6
This is not just about one Senate candidate in Alabama. McConnell says "I believe her". Where were these Senators when Clarence Thomas was confirmed years ago (Sen. Byrd being the exception). There has been a continual assault on the separation of Church and State as well as on women by these right wing Republicans. It affects all judicial nominees as well, and this continues. Just look at who Senate Republicans have now put forward in Alabama.
3
I would suggest that every male member of congress ask their wives or girlfriends if they were ever molested.
If they’re like my wife, sadly, for some the answer would be yes.
Then ask them if they pressed charges, most likely no, and why not.
Maybe if they hear stories from someone they love and trust, they might understand how a person could bottle it inside and never discuss what happened, and not run right to suthorities to press charges.
11
Senator Gardner must explain why it is that he and the rest of the Senate are not holding Donald Trump to the same "moral and ethical" standards?
Trump has admitted to and boasted about the very same type of assault on women.
Several women including Summer Zervos, Temple Taggart and Jessica Leeds have filed suits against Trump for sexual assault. Has the Senate forgotten them? https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/01/us/politics/trumps-female-accusers-fe....
It is time to expel Trump from the White House, now.
14
Many beauty contestants in dressing rooms Trump barged into were minors too.
11
Overall, the women who have stepped forward with the reports of abuse/assault at the hands of prominent men have hopefully increased awareness of this pervasive and ever existent problem. The cycle must be broken and this will be the start.
But what boggles my mind beyond words is that Ms. Nelson supported Trump in the last election. As a woman, had I experienced what she has shared in this article and in hearing Trump's boasting in the Access Hollywood tapes, I would have had a moral objection of ever supporting anyone of this ilk.
8
But you're not Mrs. Nelson.
One detail in this article stuck out as out of place to me. It says Moore signed the yearbook of a girl he is accused of sexually assaulting. I wondered why Ms. Nelson would let him do that.
There are many more details being explained on Alabama news site AL.com. That is where I learned that Moore made affectionate overtures to the girl when he signed her yearbook shortly before he attacked her. Here is a quote that puts this piece of the story into perspective:
"Nelson said the alleged attack happened just days after Moore signed her yearbook on Dec. 22, 1977. Nelson said she had been flattered when Moore asked to sign her Gadsden High School yearbook. The book, which was shown at the press conference by Allred, includes this message in the back: "To a sweeter more beautiful girl, I could not say Merry Christmas." Allred says it's signed by Roy Moore, of the Etowah County District Attorney's Office."
5
I just saw this lady crying on TV giving her testimony. Utterly heart rending. This story gets more repellent every day.
Moore personifies religious fundamentalists' hypocrisy. If our taxes are going to be used to support him, he should be installed in prison, not in the senate.
Much cheaper and more just.
2
One sign of lying is when someone deflects a question by answering a slightly different one. Thus when asked about sexual assault one might say that he is a conservative and a Christian. We are then supposed to think that such a person would not commit sexual assault, but it is not a direct answer. It's a very common tactic and one used by professionals to detect lying.
The fact that someone thinks being a Christian somehow clears him of wrongdoing and qualifies him for public office is, of course, a whole other can of worms.
1
Odd how they waited until just now to say anything. Could it be that they saw the damage that unfounded accusations were doing in Hollywood and found that it could be used to bring down political figures you don't agree with? I do believe they did figure that out.
He will get elected. And one day when women really get molested, people will ignore their claims and another "wolf cry." They are damaging the future welfare of women by making unfounded accusations and not providing any proof. And it will blow up in their faces in time and set women's right back a century.
2
Well if people will be going back a century you will be right there to greet them.
Your post is tone deaf at the very best and hopelessly misinformed at worst.
2
First the Republicans give us a sexual predator in the White House, now they have one running for the Senate. The GOP, Gang Of Predators.
5
I recall that there was a lawsuit by a women alleging that Trump had raped her when she was 13 years old. The case was dismissed. What if this story is also true? There were a number of women who also came forward who claimed Trump was aggressive and assaulted them. It's shameful that the GOP is withdrawing their support for Moore, yet continuing to support Trump.
8
These are all fake accusations.
And you know this because you were present? I think not.
1
Why is Gloria Allred necessary to this equation? Why couldn't Ms. Nelson just contact the Post?
1
She wanted counsel? That's not a hard question.
2
Perhaps at this point she felt she needed a lawyer. Not uncommon these days.
2
Roy Moore a real life Elmer Gantry, on with teens.
How many 30 year old men can't remember if they dated young teenage girls or if they did they know they asked the mother's permission?
How creepy is that?
9
One has to ask the question, "Just how pathetic are the members of the Alabama press?" Apparently this information was pretty easy to discover, but despite that, nobody in the Alabama press must have cared. Are they all inept or just corrupt? I'm sure it makes knuckle draggers in Alabama nuts to have Yankees finding their scandals and airing them out for the world, yet they then wonder why decent people hold Alabama in such contempt. It's just the unfortunate facts that bury them.
5
As more abuse stories become public, I hope that people begin to make the connection between sexual assault and scarcity of female leadership everywhere in the world. There is a direct link.
4
What happened to the girls Mr. Moore did have sex with? Somebody needs to start digging around his current and/or former properties.
3
Some Moore supporters are telling us that these accusations belong in a court of law and we shouldn't be judging poor Mr. Moore.
Were these same people calling for an objective investigation when the crowd was chanting LOCK HER UP? What about during the pizza parlor fiasco?
Of course not. It's all about winning, and no depth of abominable behavior is too low if your candidate blows dog whistles at your favorite frequency. Truth is irrelevant, good policies are irrelevant, the national welfare is irrelevant. Because...email. Gays. Wimmin. Walls. Because...winning.
7