Topic: WorldNetDaily
An impressive array of WorldNetDaily columnists have already come to the defense of Roy Moore in the aftermath of the revelations of his history of perving on teen girls. The parade hasn't really stopped.
Carl Jackson pretty much summed up his take with the headline of his column, "If you're not an Alabamian, shut up about Roy Moore!" Still, for a guy whose column name is "Making Politics Personal," Jackson is quite put out that people are making the Moore allegations personal:
There are dangerous precedents at stake in the Alabama U.S. Senate race, primarily being imposed by outsiders – a precedent in and of itself. Initially, I was inclined to throw Moore overboard based on the mere “seriousness” of the accusations alleged, though I never bought into the groupthink that Moore isn’t fit for the Senate based on the accusations alone. My concern was and admittedly remains that the seat, not the state, could temporarily go blue. Under that scenario, Republicans would have a slim majority in the Senate of 51-49, making it even more difficult to pass major legislation. Given the GOP Senate leadership’s inability to get anything done with a 52-48 majority, it’s understandable why outsiders would want Moore to step aside. However, what if there’s something larger at stake?
First off, we’re abandoning constitutional federalism by nationalizing state races. Secondly, we’ve politicized sexual assault. Thirdly, if opponents of Roy Moore are wrong about the allegations, it’s not just a Senate seat at stake – they’re complicit in undermining Christianity. Lastly, if conservatives won’t recognize the consequences of freedom, how can we expect Democrats to?
Mychal Massie deflected in a column whose headline also summed up his take: "Members of Congress are the predators, not Roy Moore."
Scott Lively invoked the Bible and "To Kill A Mockingbird" to suggest the women making accusations against Moore were lying, then denied he was doing so:
The point here is not to say that the accusers in any of these many cases are liars or that the men are innocent but that our society has a system for determining what the truth is, and we risk doing great damage, not just to the individuals but to the nation as a whole, if we abandon the rule of law to emotional expedience.
That risk is especially high in the case of pro-life, pro-family stalwart Judge Roy Moore, who is rightly outraged at being tried by the leftist media in the court of public opinion on the eve of an election in which opponents like Mitch McConnell have proven a willingness to stop him at all costs. What is more, his many feminist opponents (and perhaps the accusers themselves) routinely justify the wholesale murder of unborn babies as “women’s rights,” so what’s a little election fraud compared to that?
Yes, that’s a serious charge! Which proves my point about due process. Opinion and unproved accusations cannot be a substitute for facts in public policy!
A pretty funny statement from a guy who's best known for substituting opinion and unproved accusations for facts in public policy.
WND editor Joseph Farah goes on Moore defense patrol again, though without mentioning his name. He wonders if the victims of unwanted sexual advances are maybe a little too sensitive about it, and that maybe it didn't actually happen:
And lastly, and perhaps most importantly, if victims don’t understand what “unwelcome advances” mean, are they really unwelcome? How is anyone to know if the target of the advances doesn’t know? If the target isn’t certain about whether they are unwelcome, how can anyone else make sense of such “offenses”?
And, of course, he blames the Clintons somehow: "And, in retrospect, were all those who excused, overlooked, rationalized and trivialized the outrageous sexual activity of the most powerful man in the world back in the 1990s, including his wife, to blame now that the chickens have come home to roost? Just asking."
Alan Keyes kicked off his Moore-defending column with a rhetorical flourish bordering on the ridiculous:
Because I am standing with Judge Roy Moore I find myself within the circle of malice now focused on him by the forces of evil that are moving inexorably to procure the complete destruction of the Constitution and identity of the people of the United States. Their greatest enemy is God, of course, as He has shared Himself, in Spirit and Truth, in and through Jesus Christ. Their enmity naturally extends (as Christ said it would) to anyone willing faithfully to bear witness to God’s authority over the universe created by and through His Word. This includes, of course, His authority over all the determinations and conceptions that define human existence; the bonds of material, moral and spiritual obligation that allow for human action and choice, according to the Providence by which He makes good the promising nature on which our continued existence depends.
There's more ridiculousness throughout his column, until he finally declares, "We must never contemn [sic] as fools brave and God-believing leaders, like Judge Roy Moore, who are faithful unto civic and even corporeal death."
Jason and David Benham claimed to offer "5 observations on Roy Moore from [a] Christian perspective," none of which were "Perving on teen girls is kinda gross and maybe Moore doesn't deserve to be elected." instead, they huff that "Jesus teaches His followers the proper way to expose sin, which has a specific order found in Matthew 18," and that it's not being followd. Then they move to slut-shaing, claiming that Moore's "first accuser lacks credibility with her three divorces, three bankruptcies and three charges against pastors for the very thing of which she accused Moore."
The Benhams also blame society: "it’s glaringly hypocritical for our society to objectify women through pornography and “sex sells” advertising and then condemn men for objectifying women." But it's not glaringly hypocritical for evangelical Christians like the Benhams to give Moore a pass for failing to live up to his (and their) professed standards on the treatment of women?
Finally, there's Pat Boone, who follows the pattern of attacking Moore's accusers while denying he's doing so:
Let me be very clear. My wife and I raised four beautiful girls in Beverly Hills California. By the time any of them were 12 at most, they knew better than to be alone anywhere with an older man. And, God forbid, if they had reported any incident like the ones Moore is accused of – as furious as I’d have been with the man, I would also have laid part of the blame at the feet of our daughter, who knew better than to be in the situation! I’m not excusing Moore’s alleged action or accusing the women, if the claims can possibly be proven at this late date, but it’s undeniable that if any of the accusing women had told their parents or any authority after it happened, it would have been dealt with, and we wouldn’t have to be sorting it all out, after Moore has been investigated and elected so many times since then!
Boone then moves to the "nobody's perfect, so let's elect the perv" argument:
God didn’t make perfect people. Though He says we’re created “in His image,” that includes free will and the likelihood we’ll make mistakes along the way, probably some serious one with bad consequences. That’s why we need a Savior, one with God’s own divine nature, one who was sorely tempted like we are, yet without sin, and one who is able to take a penitent failure, lift him up and help him become a more admirable person. Someone like even Roy Moore.
That’s the main theme of the whole Bible. God makes man and woman and desires their companionship. But they fail and fall away, forfeiting the relationship. Then the loving God provides a way back into the relationship through His Son, who pays the debt of all our sins.
There's the usual Clinton Equivocation and more attacks on the accusers, but you get the idea.
