On Tuesday night, Sean Hannity demanded that Roy Moore either clear up the numerous “inconsistencies” in his response to the allegations of sexual misconduct against him by the following night or get out of the race for the former Senate seat of Jeff Sessions in Alabama. But when the clock ran out, Hannity punted, saying that the people of Alabama could “make the best decision for their state”–and he and others had no right to influence it.
What changed? Well, it turns out that Hannity had fallen in with a line dictated by the de facto leader of the conservative movement, Breitbart News chairman Steve Bannon. That is, whether Moore stays in the race for Sessions’ seat is merely a matter for the people of Alabama.
According to CNN’s Rebecca Berg, Bannon, Moore’s loudest supporter, started laying down the law at some point after Hannity signed off on Tuesday night.
Bannon called Hannity and urged him to dial back the criticism of Roy Moore, @rebeccagberg reports (https://t.co/9ist6IlfgB) pic.twitter.com/ZuNJv7pPxA
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 17, 2017
By Thursday, the White House had picked up this talking point as well. When asked about where Donald Trump stood on the matter, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders repeatedly stated that the White House believed that the final decision ought to rest with the people of Alabama. Watch here.
According to The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman, that statement didn’t come without some prodding from Bannon.
Bannon has also reminded Trump, who is gripped w fear about losing his base, that his base is mostly with Moore https://t.co/uv4eblQpEt
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 17, 2017
But there’s just one problem. What passes for leadership in Alabama has done a very good job of proving that this is not just an Alabama matter–and that we should all be rooting for Doug Jones to keep Moore out of the Senate, even if we aren’t from Alabama.
It’s no secret that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and most of his Republican colleagues really, really don’t want Moore among their number. They’ve even gone as far as sound out the prospect of a write-in candidate. But earlier this week, Alabama Republican Party chairwoman Terry Lathan warned that any Republican who mounts a write-in bid in the special election or supports said bid risks being banned from running under the GOP banner for six years.
That means any Republican mounting a write-in bid risks being denied GOP endorsement until at least 2023. It also means that anyone who would be even remotely credible would have to choose between running against Moore and their future in the GOP.
Do Lathan and those who pass for leadership in the Alabama GOP realize that they face bringing shame and disgrace upon their state if Moore wins and it turns out that the allegations are indeed true? And do they realize that Moore has already disgraced himself and his state by mounting a “defense” that amounts to little more than yelling “FAKE NEWS!” and “politically motivated!” all the time? Apparently, the answer to both questions is “no.” When a state party actively tries to punish those trying to prevent their state from being disgraced, it is no longer merely a state matter.
As it turned out, the state party’s line merely compounds a tack by a number of county Republican chairs. Some of them declared that even if the allegations against Moore were true, they would still vote for him. That disease appeared to spread to the state’s congressional delegation as well. Congressman Bradley Byrne of the 1st District–the Mobile area–bluntly said he was voting for Moore because “I don’t vote for Democrats.”
But for a while, it looked like the nominal leader of the Alabama GOP, Governor Kay Ivey, had some sense of decency. Last week, when asked if she thought the accusers’ word was trustworthy, she replied, “Why wouldn’t it be?”
That hope lasted a week. On Friday afternoon, Ivey said that she would still vote for Moore. Watch here, from Advance Publications’ Alabama Media Group–which owns most of the major newspapers in Alabama.
Ivey said that while she had no reason not to believe the accusers, she still felt “we need to have a Republican in the United States Senate.” Perhaps Ivey was trying to protect her own hide in the Republican primary when she runs for a full term as governor next year. But Ivey forgets that she is the governor of ALL Alabamians, not just Republicans. And this isn’t just a matter of Democrats versus Republicans. This is a matter of right and wrong.
What Ivey, Byrne, and other Republican electeds in Alabama have effectively done is tell the people of Alabama and the nation that party loyalty trumps basic decency. When that happens, it is no longer just a state matter.
If that wasn’t enough, Moore’s supporters have engaged in some patently despicable tactics. People talking to the press about the allegations have been bombarded with threatening calls, texts, and emails. Many people have gotten calls from someone posing as “Bernie Bernstein,” a reporter from The Washington Post offering to pay women to smear Moore.
Chillingly, the Moores themselves have gotten in on the act. Moore’s wife, Kayla, posted the phone number of a Post reporter on Facebook and raised no objections when a commenter posted the reporter’s home address and other details. Moore himself claimed that one of his accusers was lying about not having contact with him during a divorce case in 1999, but court records prove beyond all doubt that there was no contact between the accuser and Moore–something Moore almost certainly knew.
In what world should such pigweed be merely a local matter? Certainly not in any self-respecting democracy. Moore’s failure to disavow such pigweed, and indeed his and his wife’s decision to engage in it, proves that this is most assuredly not a state matter.
The thought of having to say “Senator Roy Moore” sent a chill down the spine of a lot of people both inside and outside of Alabama long before these allegations broke. But in the last few days, Moore has proven beyond any doubt that even if he isn’t a pervert, he is not fit to serve in the Senate. The people of Alabama deserve better. And with Doug Jones, the man who sent the thugs responsible for blowing up the 16th Street Baptist Church, they’ll get better.
(featured image courtesy Moore’s Facebook)
