Open mouth, insert....

I wrote this, then shelved it.  The premise is that the allegations against Roy Moore were being accepted as fact, but the facts weren't all that bad.  Most of the Alabama GOP has argued there are no facts, but if there are, it's like Mary and Joseph, or Zechariah and Elizabeth (which has as much grounding in the gospels as the names and number of the wise men, hem-hem.)  But then Ann Coulter weighed in:

“Yes, he dated girls who were 17, 19 when he was 30,” Coulter said. “We might find that a little creepy today, but this was nearly 50 years ago. The one serious allegation is a woman—or at the time she was 14 years old who claims actual molestation. But—And who knows. I’d like to see what his response is. But, you can’t help thinking about the timing here, Laura.”

Now, she's conveniently picking the least salacious stories and scandalous ages (she rejects the story of the then-14 year old, even though other witnesses confirm it), but taking those as true and, again, saying:  no harm, no foul!  The only problem is, if the Senate takes those stories as true, Moore might not be allowed a seat in that august body.  Despite excuses from the Alabama GOP and Coulter and Breitbart, this is what the Senate leadership understands:

“My daughter is 14-years-old, she’s a little girl,” [Donnie Deutsch] explained. “You have to picture it. If you know 14-year-old, picture that. Now visually picture this 32-year-old slimebag attorney actually coddling up to her, just play that movie out in your head.”

Yup.  Lots of fathers of daughters playing that tape right now.  This story is national, and all the defense of the Alabama GOP doesn't change that.  Lots of fathers probably also considering what it would be like for their daughters to come forward with allegations like this:

“If they believe this man is predatory, they are guilty of allowing him to exist for 40 years,” [Republican Alabama Representative Ed] Henry fumed. “I think someone should prosecute and go after them. You can’t be a victim 40 years later, in my opinion.”

It's my understanding that there is a criminal statute in Alabama that Moore could have violated; and that there is no statute of limitations on that law.  So maybe Alabama needs to change that law?  And, as Josh Marshall noted, Sean Hannity has decided this is all about money, although what money these women are in line for is not yet clear.

So this is very much of our times, and the backlash is very much of our times, too.  Either these women are all opportunistic liars, or they are all gold-diggers, because if there's money to be made, it means we aren't getting any and they're getting money for nothing, and that ain't fair!

It's money that matters.  Although what money the accusers of Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey or Louis C.K. or any of the other accused and accusers, will make is unclear to me.  Frankly, I don't see any money in it for them at all.  But as the father of a daughter, I'd certainly want her to put herself in this spotlight in order to get that sweet easy cash.

Sure, because, you know, she's just my daughter.

The GOP in the Senate is a bit less sanguine about this, and quite a bit more defensive.  John McCain calls the allegations disqualifying; Alabama's other senator, Richard Shelby, says Moore should not be seated if the allegations are true, as does Mitch McConnell.  So now they're faced with Pilate's question:  what is truth?  Alabama may decide this guy should be in the Senate, but the Senate is made up of representatives of the rest of the nation, and the rest of the nation may not want Roy Moore in their Senate.

One of my students this morning, in reference to these controversies, told us the military taught him explicitly that "perception is reality."  Certainly that's how Donald Trump rose to public office:  the perception that he was "tough" and could "make deals." He's singularly failed at the latter, and was fawning over the Chinese leadership this week, proving he's not the former, either.  But perception is reality, and what you perceive matters more than what the rest of us perceive.

But the GOP is perceiving the clamor over sexual harassment and assault, the "disappearing" of Kevin Spacey from a movie set to release in December, of Louis C.K.'s connections to HBO, and they know  the Senate is not immune to that rising tsunami.  If Moore has a few more defenders like this, or Breitbart (as discussed below), he may find he wins the electoral battle only to lose the war.

First Breitbart defended Roy Moore by saying the alleged relationships with four women some 40 years ago were all "romantic."  No, you can't make this stuff up.  Which sounded an awful lot like admitting the women's stories were true, but it still ain't that bad; all while Moore is denying the stories entirely (so far).

And then this:

The 16-year-old and 18-year-old girls, Pollack said, were legally at the age of consent in Alabama when 32-year-old Moore attempted to have sex with them, encounters which Pollack described as “legitimate relationships.”

“When you read the article, there are several cases mentioned and of those cases, only one would be legally problematic,” said Pollack. “All of the others were legal relationships with women who were of age at the time when Roy Moore was single.”

Well, except for the 14 year old, so I guess that means that story is false and the others are true because nothing to see here, move along people!  Except, of course, a 32 year old man coming on to teenage girls is icky no matter what the age of consent is (and that's really just to keep teenagers from committing rape, not to give 32 year old men a pass).  So if there's no harm, no foul, doesn't that mean the stories are true?  Or might as well be?

Isn't Moore supposed to be a pillar of rectitude and righteousness?  Is his best defense really that it was legal?  Maybe he'll tell us the 14 year old looked 16.  And by the way, why so much interest in this story from Breitbart?  Glad you asked that:

Moore issued a formal denial of the impending story to Breitbart News, in which he said the story was concocted by the Democratic Party to defeat his senatorial campaign.

“These allegations are completely false and are a desperate political attack by the National Democrat Party and the Washington Post on this campaign,” Moore tells Breitbart.

Except Breitbart seems to think the stories might as well be true.  Ann Coulter takes them as true.  Even the Alabama state auditor who compared these alleged relationships to Joseph and Mary, is making an argument that assumes the stories are true.  And what is truth?  Evidence in a courtroom?  Well, if this involves criminal charges, that's necessary; but aside from the 14 year old, it doesn't appear that Moore committed any crime.  The stories themselves are supported by witnesses; must they be cross-examined?  HBO and Sony Pictures and Netflix don't need any more information to cut ties with people who have made money for them.  Silent on those allegations, the White House now says the claims against more are a "mere allegation," but still agreeing he should "step aside if they re true."  And what is truth?  "Mere allegations" alone have driven Kevin Spacey and Louis C.K. from public view and contractual obligations.  Do GOP Senators want to assert any defense of Roy Moore?  Do they need hearings and depositions and oaths to decide the allegations against Roy Moore have merit?  By what standard will they decide these stories are true, or not?  Do they really want to stand that firmly behind this man?

And to Roy Moore, the question:  Who needs enemies when you have friends like this?*

*and what is truth?  Well, this:

“There is no glory in this for a woman,” [Nicolle] Wallace began. “I mean it is — it is reliving the most humiliating, the most debasing moments, days or hours of a woman’s life. To put this in the newspaper attached to her name, and as Heidi says, the story is in exquisite piece of journalism, because these interviewers got these women to understand not just the the risks they were taking to their own reputations, but the risk they were taking that they wouldn’t be believed.”

“I think to re-traumatize the women, is to say, ‘if true.’ To re-traumatize the women is to say, ‘if this costs him the election.’ I mean, yes, it’s true, because no woman lies about being sexually molested as 14-year-old, or being taken advantage of.”

“These women are coming from small communities,” GOP consultant Susan Del Percio jumped in to add. “They’re not movie stars. These are women going to the supermarket every day. Some of their children are in school, there’s real risks they’re putting out.”

“Not to take anything away, the actresses that came out were brave and brilliant and they are our heroes. But Gwyneth Paltrow has an Oscar, a job, a career and a lot of wealth,” Wallace stated. “The victims in this story, and I’m sure she would agree and most famous women who went out and did this and took great risk. It is harder when you have nothing to gain, everything to lose. To see people on television say, ‘oh, if it’s true.’ It’s true!”

(I would make a distinction between allegations and criminal allegations, but that isn't generally the issue here, and criminal charges are rightly subject to investigation.  In the case of Roy Moore this is a question of fitness for office, and the Senate gets the final word in that case.  "If it's true" is going to be a very interesting decision point.)