Far be it from me to condemn the allegations against Judge Roy Moore, allegations though they be. Moore’s reputation is now in tatters thanks to a media that did the requisite amount of digging and found willing individuals ready to make their cause public.
Set aside for the moment the concept of mere allegations vs. the hard and fast evidence required in a court of law. None of the allegations against Moore were ever proven or demonstrated, and though the court of public opinion is indeed subject to a far lower standard than a court of law, it is somewhat Orwellian to suggest that a person can have their lives literally turned upside down on the basis of a mere allegation.
Or 15 allegations. The press merely has to hold itself to a standard of reporting on allegations (proven or unproven, this doesn’t matter — they are merely reporting on the circus, not mediating it), not exactly determining the veracity of the claims.
In an alternative universe, Democratic Senator-elect Doug Jones could be facing 15 “allegations” of his own with a media frothing and snarking at every ill-placed word or turn until Jones — reputation in tatters — submits to the wheel.
Of course, there is a braying mob who is applauding the suicide of Kentucky State Representative Dan Johnson — whose wife is apparently now running both to replace him in the legislature and vindicate his reputation in the public square.
High-tech lynchings. Half truths. Mob justice.
Of course, the Republicans are by no means suffering the lions share of these recriminations, if for no other reason than it is the Democrats who are vastly outnumbering the Republicans in claims of sexual assault. Conyers, Franken, Weinstein, Weiner… the list of Democratic offenders is longer than one’s arm at this rate.
So why aren’t the Democrats struggling with this in the same way that Republicans are? Or at least, why are Democrats rallying around the standard trying to salvage a desperate situation only to ditch the defenses when they become too hot, while Republicans seem truly gripped with overhauling the entire process on Capitol Hill and elsewhere?
It’s a narrative I would like to believe… at least, until we rally to the ramparts headed up by Roy Moore.
This is the problem writ large. For years since the Clinton Administration, the Democrats were able to hold Republicans up to an invisible standard, one that they only honored in the breach while Republicans attempted to consistently defend themselves as the party of “family values” and so forth — even if the exceptions dominated the rule in today’s media driven frenzy.
This is part of the magic of Trump. Accuse him of sexual assault? He doesn’t care. Accuse him of being crude and direct? Go perform an anatomically impossible act. Accuse him of being unrealistic? The wall just got ten feet taller…
Leftists spin themselves into a rage at such antics, but have in no way remedied this problem within their own camp. At least now, conservatives can understand why liberals were so obsessed with sexual assault cases — if for no other reason than the plague predominated within and among the left, as if being pro-abortion and pro-gay made sexual assault acceptable?
Cal Thomas, the renowned conservative columnist, wrote just before the Alabama Senate election:
By cleaning house (and the Senate) of their own bad boys, many Democrats think they will gain a previously hidden moral authority to win back the House and impeach President Trump for his alleged past (and they believe more recent) misdeeds.
The Democrats’ agenda might be true, but for evangelical Christians should either argument matter more than the King and Kingdom they are supposed to serve?
It’s a worthwhile piece, but the core of his question? Is political victory really worth one’s soul?
For too long we have asked ourselves to “stay true to principles” and reject the idea of nuance. What we forgot in the trade is that principles that are not informed by values are worthless, as people will do the most horrible things to others in the name of rank principle. Principle objectifies, principle cheapens, principles look great on the shelf but are worthless unless they are applied, experience work, and are utilized by those who know how to handle them. Then they don’t look so rigid anymore.
We can do better than mere principle; rather, we can exhibit some character. We can do better than nationalism; we can be patriots instead — and fight to defend the democracy our fathers and grandfathers gave us. Rather than rolling over to a bunch of betas and trolls, we can exhibit a bit of testicular fortitude and stomp these clowns out for a change.
That’s where conscience comes to play. Republicans are beginning to see the fruition of a three year forfeiture of conscience in exchange for temporal victory — and the consciences of those conservatives who remain in the party are starting to tickle a little bit.
Meanwhile, our friends on the left are so desperate for a moral victory after having bankrupted themselves of conscience, they have to drag their opposition to the level of pedophiles in order to beat Republicans in the public square.
Give that a thought.
Republican fortunes aren’t as dire as the media or the Democratic Party would hope them to be. Instinctively, we know this… we just have to fight for it, is all.
What will be required, of course, is a repudiation of the ghost that has brought the Democrats to their sorry state today. That will require conservatives in high places to choose to make a stand — even at the cost of career — and defend conservative values in the public square.
The alternative of a lost career? Is a lost conscience.
