Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Proof that we need a blogger ethics panel.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

I really should read my own blog.

The revolution will be supervised.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

“Everybody’s entitled to be an idiot.”

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

I did not have this on my fuck 2022 bingo card.

The republican caucus is already covering themselves with something, and it’s not glory.

Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Republicans in disarray!

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

You are here: Home / Hey little girl, is your daddy home

Hey little girl, is your daddy home

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What a sicko Roy Moore is:

Leigh Corfman says she was 14 years old when an older man approached her outside a courtroom in Etowah County, Ala. She was sitting on a wooden bench with her mother, they both recall, when the man introduced himself as Roy Moore.

[….]

Alone with Corfman, Moore chatted with her and asked for her phone number, she says. Days later, she says, he picked her up around the corner from her house in Gadsden, drove her about 30 minutes to his home in the woods, told her how pretty she was and kissed her. On a second visit, she says, he took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underpants, she says, and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear.

[….]

Aside from Corfman, three other women interviewed by The Washington Post in recent weeks say Moore pursued them when they were between the ages of 16 and 18 and he was in his early 30s, episodes they say they found flattering at the time, but troubling as they got older. None of the women say that Moore forced them into any sort of relationship or sexual contact.

The Senate race in Alabama just got that much more winnable for Democrats. You can give money to Doug Jones here.

Goal Thermometer

Reader Interactions

192Comments

  1. 1.

    Chyron HR

    Sure, he’s a child molester, but at least he knows what “NFL” really stands for. That’s why Our Revolution is jumping into the AL race to endorse Roy Moore, champion of the White Working Class*!

    * Sarcasm.

  3. 3.

    LAO

    And yet, I bet Moore still wins, You can’t believe anything printed in the Washington Post. FAKE NEWS!

  6. 6.

    PaulWartenberg

    What.
    the.
    Fucking.
    Hell.
    Is.
    Wrong
    With.
    Guys?

    What Moore is accused of doing here is pure Statutory Rape (in Alabama, age of consent is 16 but if you’re over 19 you really really shouldn’t be doing this shit). Even as a terrible lawyer AND judge, the SOB should have known that.

    Every so-called Christian who publicly yearns for piety and purity in our legal system should be stoning this creep. But because Roy Moore’s primary objective is to piss off libruls, they’ll hug him with eyes closed and souls tainted.

  7. 7.

    Major Major Major Major

    Ew. Good for them for coming forward, I hope everybody who’s done stuff like this gets outed.

    Yeah, throw that race into the toss-up column.

    @Jeffro: It’s been a busy day at balloon-juice HQ, I guess! Which I can’t help but think means that it’s not a busy day at the front-pagers’ various workplaces.

  9. 9.

    PaulWartenberg

    How many times have Roy Moore attacked others for their “sexual impropriety” and deviancy?

    The greatest sin of the modern American Christian movement remains HYPOCRISY.

  13. 13.

    Yarrow

    I posted this in the previous thread, but more relevant here. There’s a culture issue at play here as well.

    Debbie Wesson Gibson says that she was 17 in the spring of 1981 when Moore spoke to her Etowah High School civics class about serving as the assistant district attorney. She says that when he asked her out, she asked her mother what she would say if she wanted to date a 34-year-old man. Gibson says her mother asked her who the man was, and when Gibson said “Roy Moore,” her mother said, “I’d say you were the luckiest girl in the world.”

    Among locals in Gadsden, a town of about 47,000 back then, Moore “had this godlike, almost deity status — he was a hometown boy made good,” Gibson says, “West Point and so forth.”

    Another girl’s mother thought it was okay for her to date him because he was “husband material.”

  14. 14.

    LAO

    @PaulWartenberg:

    What Moore is accused of doing here is pure Statutory Rape (in Alabama, age of consent is 16 but if you’re over 19 you really really shouldn’t be doing this shit). Even as a terrible lawyer AND judge, the SOB should have known that

    I’m no expert in fundamentalist evangelical practices — but doesn’t Moore’s actions reflect that bullshit. I remember that skeevy guy from Duck Dynasty say something about marrying young. I don’t now. I find them all creepy.

    ETA: The minimum age of consent to Marry in Alabama was 14 years old until 2003, when it was changed to 16 years old.

  16. 16.

    patrick II

    How not surprising is this? The man just reeks of public religious rigidity trying to keep his inner devils from being seen.

  17. 17.

    JPL

    @Chyron HR: Definitely agree.
    They supported him in spite of his white supremacists views. They supported him even though he’s homophobic. They supported him even though he hid his income from a charity. They supported him even though he receives money from neo nazis. Just because he’s attracted to little girls will not cause them to blink an eye.

  18. 18.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Major Major Major Major:

    I hate to say it, but they should have come forward during his damned Ten Commandments Monuments crusading and his disbarments (TWICE) from the judicial system. I know it takes courage to do this when you fear the retaliation of the Moore-backing mob, but during those scandals in Moore’s dark career they could have been the nails in his long overdue career coffin.

  20. 20.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I won’t say I knew he was a perv when I saw that cowboy get up, but it did set off my that-boy-ain’t-right-dar.

  23. 23.

    PaulWartenberg

    @Yarrow:

    Dear moms:

    DO NOT LET 30-SOMETHING CREEPS DATE YOUR TEENAGE DAUGHTERS.

    If your “hometown hero” has a hard-on for high school hotties, that should be a DAMN CLUE YOUR HOMETOWN HERO IS A PERVERT.

    Find better heroes, Alabama.

  25. 25.

    bemused

    I always wait for the perversion shoe to drop with people so insanely far right conservative. It’s just a matter of time. I’m never shocked, not anymore, when they get outed.

  26. 26.

    A Ghost To Most

    Meh, it didn’t involve two wet suits and a dildo.

    Alabama Ruspublicans won’t care.

  27. 27.

    Ian G.

    I always laughed (bitterly) at the idea that Catholic Church was the only religious organization full of sexual deviants who want to touch children. It’s only because of the size and reach of the church that it got the attention, sort of like how accounting fraud by Enron makes global headlines when fraud by your local family owned hardware store doesn’t.

    No, I’m sure that Evangelical ministers, Haredi rabbis, Imams, etc. are all touching children too. The more of a religious loon you are, the more likely I am to tell my children never to walk past your house.

  28. 28.

    Yarrow

    Every one of these women says when they asked him to take them home he did. He didn’t rape them. I expect that will be the talking point for pushing back on this. “Boys will be boys” kind of thing. He didn’t do anything wrong. Etc. Maybe the cultural moment with so many women coming forward about sexual harassment will mean it doesn’t get ignored this time.

  32. 32.

    jonas

    @bemused: Given how over-the-top trans/homophobic he is, I’m sure there are probably some boys out there with Roy Moore stories as well. Give it time.

  33. 33.

    PaulWartenberg

    @MattF:

    There are Commandments against bearing false witness (I am willing to bet Moore has lied about these affairs before).

    If he continued any of these affairs after his marriage in 1986, that would definitely be adultery.

    In the meanwhile, we also answer to Secular (Man’s) Law, and that law says he’s a goddamn child stalker.

  34. 34.

    TenguPhule

    @Yarrow:

    Every one of these women says when they asked him to take them home he did. He didn’t rape them.

    So far.

    Which raises the question, what about the rest of the women who are not coming forward?

  40. 40.

    Mary G

    I hope you’re right, but they re-elected him as judge, didn’t they? I read that the national Dems aren’t going in because it will make the national Republican party throw in which seems dumb. The Mercers and Kochs will send him money no matter what. Getting African-American turnout maxed is crucial. They showed up in Virginia and I imagine Trump and Moore are a big help.

  41. 41.

    rikyrah

    IF Democrats can’t fully support the man who put the Klan in jail…then, why are we Democrats?
    I don’t care if it is Alabama.

  42. 42.

    JPL

    The rumors have been around for decades and that hasn’t stopped people from calling him a good christian man.

  44. 44.

    Cermet

    This would only be a crime if he were a democrat – period. AS a thug, especially in the south, it will have almost no effect – not because they don’t believe he is guilty but because he offers what they want (stick it to liberals, anti-choice, speaker for god, etc) they will simply, like they did for the orange fart cloud, ignore this news.

  46. 46.

    Archon

    Wait, are people telling me Roy Moore is…a Christian hypocrite and deviant to boot?

    Shut the barn door!

  47. 47.

    No Drought No More

    I’ve never been to Alabama (or North Korea), but it would not surprise me at all if this guarantees Judge Moore a landslide victory. Moreover, news of that forthcoming, disgraceful, and un-American act of counter (1776)- revolution will no more surprise me than tomorrows bad news from the Korean peninsula. Appall me, yes; surprise me, no.

  48. 48.

    hitless

    Trump got elected. I expect Moore will too. I don’t think this allegation or the ones about financial impropriety at his charity will dent his appeal. He has just has to hate the right people to win.

    Although I absolutely agree that Democrats should contest the race. Maybe Moore will be uncovered as having had an e-mail server in his basement or something really nefarious like that.

  49. 49.

    jonas

    @Yarrow: No, its not rape, but — as the story notes — rubbing your hands over a 14 year-old girl’s crotch and breasts is, in fact, sexual battery. Being polite enough to leave her virginity intact afterwards doesn’t really get you off the hook for that.

    Moore’s hardcore supporters aren’t going to be fazed by this — it’s just more librul Fake News and besides, nice girls wouldn’t be out “driving” with strange men anyway. Slutty cockteases. But having this out there may discourage the (few remaining) non-Talibangecal Republicans and independents to either stay home in disgust or maybe even very quietly pull the lever for Doug Jones on election day.

  51. 51.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Ohio Mom: SD reported in one of the morning threads that she’d spoken to the Mrs, and that efg had been moved from the hospital to rehab, and that if that was on schedule, he might be home this weekend.

  52. 52.

    Villago Delenda Est

    The race still will be close, because at least Roy Moore was preying on girls, not boys, and besides, he’s for putting the ni*CLANG*s back in their place.

  53. 53.

    debit

    Moore is denying all the allegations, right? If it’s nothing of consequence, why would he deny it? I dunno, maybe this is the thing that will actually be a bridge too far.

  54. 54.

    The Moar You Know

    Been thinking it over about Roy Moore. Totally understandable. He showed us all his tiny gun a few weeks ago, remember? He just wanted to find a woman that didn’t know it was so small.

  55. 55.

    D58826

    None of the women say that Moore forced them into any sort of relationship or sexual contact.

    Maybe then could just run faster than he could so it never got to the point of forcing an actual relationship

  56. 56.

    Lee

    Remember this is Alabama.

    He will win and the evangelicals will support him in record numbers. The result won’t even be close.

    It is Alabama

  58. 58.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Ohio Mom:

    I posted this in the morning thread:

    Have we heard anything further from efgoldman?

    When I talked to mrs efg last week, she said that he had just been transferred from hospital to a rehab center/nursing home for another week or so. If all has gone well he should be going home today or tomorrow and hopefully can again start tossing little “fuckem”s around with merry abandon.

  60. 60.

    H.E.Wolf

    @PaulWartenberg:

    I hate to say it, but they should have come forward during his damned Ten Commandments Monuments crusading and his disbarments (TWICE) from the judicial system. I know it takes courage to do this when you fear the retaliation of the Moore-backing mob, but during those scandals in Moore’s dark career they could have been the nails in his long overdue career coffin.

    No. “Should”-ing teenage girls for failing to speak out against an older man in a position of power who was idolized by other adults, in a time when there was even less willingness than now to listen to women who were sexually molested, and in a part of the country where young women were/are often socialized not to be assertive, is straight-up victim blaming. For shame.

  62. 62.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @PaulWartenberg: These people are followers of Mammon, not Jesus. They don’t give a flying fuck about the prohibition of bearing false witness. These are people Jesus would have driven out of the temple.

  64. 64.

    TenguPhule

    IRS chief departs, blasting Congress for budget cuts threatening tax agency

    “It’s clearly a matter of fault,” Koskinen said, off script but on message. “That’s my point here, as I leave town. I want people to understand that there are ramifications to, in fact, underfunding the agency. If the agency fails and people are looking for fault, it will be the fault of the Congress. … I am blaming Congress.”

    Koskinen had repeatedly warned Congress about the dangers of shortchanging the agency that collects more than 90 percent of the government’s money. But Republicans were intent on penalizing the IRS because they said it had improperly scrutinized right-leaning organizations. It turns out that left-leaning groups also were targeted by that scrutiny, but for much of that controversy the focus was on conservatives.

    Congressional retribution meant taxpayer service suffered, or, too often, it simply failed. Because of staffing shortages, there were long telephone wait times for taxpayers, when calls were answered at all. Koskinen outlined two risks that continue to threaten tax administration, saying “this is not a question of ‘whether,’ but of ‘when,’ ” if the budget continues to be cut.

    First are the agency’s information technology systems, which Koskinen said “have long been operating with antiquated hardware and software.” He warned “that the potential for a catastrophic system failure is increasing as our infrastructure continues to age.”

    The second risk involves people, not things.

    The IRS has lost about 20,000 full-time staffers since 2010. That’s a big slice out of workforce that is now about 80,000. About one-third of the compliance staff, those who get taxpayers to pay, was lost. There were twice as many revenue officers in 1954, and there are fewer criminal investigation special agents than at any time since 1971. The number of audited individual tax returns is at its lowest point in 14 years. Criminal investigations are down 11 percent from last year and more than a third below 2010. The number of recommended prosecutions dropped by more than a third from four years ago.

    “What these numbers mean is that, without adequate resources, we don’t have enough people to perform all the audits we think are necessary,” Koskinen said.

    “If people think that many others are not paying their fair share, or that they’re not going to get caught if they cheat, or they’re just frustrated because they can’t get the help they need from us to file their taxes, our voluntary compliance system will be put at risk,” he warned. “A 1 percent drop in the compliance rate translates into a revenue loss of over $30 billion a year.”

    The Republicans are at war with the federal government.

    And they’re winning.

  65. 65.

    Lee

    @Jeffro: On another site (don’t hate) there suggestion this is because he knows if it comes around to impeachment he is the one that has to write up the charges & if he does that he will never win the GOP primary in ’18.

  67. 67.

    Yarrow

    @jonas: What I found interesting is the women now talking about how they felt then–they were flattered by the attention from an older man–and how they felt as they grew up, which is more and more uncomfortable with it, recognizing it was wrong. One mentioned that she had daughters and now realizes dating him was inappropriate due to the age difference.

    I agree there will be some women who read this article and decide they can’t vote for him. They remember something like that happening to them when they were younger or maybe they feel he’s the wrong role model for their daughters. This race will be won on the margins so every Moore voter who changes their vote to Jones or who stays home is a win. This story may help.

  70. 70.

    ruemara

    @JPL: About 14 years younger. Married at 24 to his 38 year old self. I have a friend from the California version of southern-esque backwaterville. His obsession and self-worth issues about not having a 25-30 year old girlfriend in his life at 41 are incredibly repellent to me and a shock when he enunciates them. It’s like the normal person I know turns into a repulsive creep that he’d be actively hunting 20 year olds as if they’re a mandatory thing. I wonder how much of that is that southern type culture.

  71. 71.

    TenguPhule

    @Lee: I have been reliably informed that such defeatist surrender talk has no place on this highly respected blog.

  74. 74.

    drj

    Older man, (much) younger girl is generally not frowned upon in fundie circles.

    Also, he was “respectful.” Different times, you know?

    Besides it never even happened. It was two other blokes and it’s all fake news anyway.

    So I’m not optimistic it is going to hurt him much.

  76. 76.

    Kay

    Well, I guess we’re going to find out just how low standards have fallen. I knew they were lower after Trump but this is sub-basement. Good God.

  78. 78.

    LAO

    The bravery, is breathtaking:

    Sen. John Cornyn says he finds the WaPo story on Moore "deeply disturbing." Asked if he'll withdraw his endorsement, Cornyn said: "I think it's — the next steps are up to the governor and the people of Alabama."— Emma Loop (@LoopEmma) November 9, 2017

    @drj: I don’t think this story will hurt him at all.

  79. 79.

    D58826

    @Jeffro: Man oh man a lot of families that these critters suddenly feel the need to spend time with.

    Cynical question – do they walk away with a better benefit package if they retire vs if they lose an election? Knowing Congress it doesn’t seem likely but then knowing Congress they certainly don’t want to let any loose change slip thru their fingers.

  80. 80.

    TenguPhule

    @Kay:

    I knew they were lower after Trump but this is sub-basement.

    No, when we find out about the boys, that’s sub-basement.

    If there’s chickens involved, we’re at the molten mantle.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    Chisel Man (who I totally just invented ™ me) is gonna be very busy deleting all the commandments Moore busy violating on that stone 10-commandment cube of his.

  84. 84.

    The Moar You Know

    No. “Should”-ing teenage girls for failing to speak out against an older man in a position of power who was idolized by other adults, in a time when there was even less willingness than now to listen to women who were sexually molested, and in a part of the country where young women were/are often socialized not to be assertive, is straight-up victim blaming. For shame.

    @H.E.Wolf: Agreed. Also want to point out that had these women come forward while Moore was a local instead of a national spectacle, well, their stories would have been absolutely buried by the local press and their lives would have been in fairly serious danger. By waiting for him to “go national”, their stories at least won’t be ignored, and national scrutiny at least insures if they go missing, someone will want to find out what happened.

    Alabama is not all bad, my family hails from there, but damn, years ago I ran out of both ability and desire to defend the place in any way.

  85. 85.

    D58826

    @Villago Delenda Est: I was thinking it was Huey Long from the 1930’s but it still covers it.
    And as far as the fundies are concerned if they can over look King David’s interesting marital history, including the unfortunately short life expectancy of the husbands of his lady loves then they can over look anything.

  86. 86.

    trollhattan

    @TenguPhule:
    Let’s not forget Trump’s likely statutory rape in tandem with that skeevy buddy of his. I still wonder exactly why the accuser backed off during the campaign.

  88. 88.

    D58826

    @Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Using you daughter to ‘trade-up’ the social scale has a long and sordid history across all of human history.
    Today we just pretty it up by saying ‘she married well’.

    Look at Melania. From an occasionally nude model to FLOTUS. NOW that is marrying well

  89. 89.

    Butch

    “Guided her hand to touch him over his underwear” and yet there was no “sexual” contact? Do I not understand the meaning of these words?

  90. 90.

    JMG

    Perhaps I have a conspiratorial bent, but I wonder if Mitch McConnell helped steer the Post to these women. Some of his loyalist Senators (Perdue, Toomey) are calling for Moore to drop his candidacy.

  92. 92.

    Cacti

    I wish I shared your optimism about this.

    This is Alabama we’re talking about.

    I doubt Moore voters will bat an eyelash over this.

  93. 93.

    JPL

    @ruemara: That fits with his fixation on high school students when he was 32. Three republican senators have called for him to step down, if true. Sen. Perdue had previously endorsed him, although Flake and Murkowski haven’t. Now we know why he keeps his bible close by.

  94. 94.

    Adria McDowell

    Yet, the GOP loved talking shit about Anthony Weiner (who I’m not defending in any way!). At least Weiner didn’t actually put his hands on anybody.

    Fuck Anthony Weiner and Roy Moore, tho.

  96. 96.

    LurkerNoLonger

    @LAO:

    The minimum age of consent to Marry in Alabama was 14 years old until 2003, when it was changed to 16 years old.

    14! Fucking backwards cracker ass crackers.

  100. 100.

    Amir Khalid

    @Butch:
    I think the definition of “sexual contact” being used here is the one that says no penetration means the contact wasn’t sexual.

  103. 103.

    Faithful Lurker

    Somebody else may have mentioned the political standard for Southern politicians….don’t get caught with a dead girl or a live boy in your bed. Looking at you, Roy Moore.

  106. 106.

    VeniceRiley

    If I had kids, I wouldn’t even want them to see the titles of the pron movies men watch. I mean, you can block viewing but the titles are there in the cable channels for all eyes to see. A vast number of men like young teen girls.
    It’s gross, but I bet his fan club won’t be dissuaded. I’m hoping for a few points swing from Romneyesque women and a tide of minorities who may have managed to not get mysteriously kicked off the rolls to eeke this jerk(off!) into the loser column.

  110. 110.

    trollhattan

    @TenguPhule:
    Literally what I was afraid of. Gloria Allred is a pitbull but if the client is scared she’s going to do what’s best for the client.

    Trump could have Weinstein/Cosby numbers of potential accusers out there, but has been far better at keeping them at arm’s length.

  111. 111.

    Amaranthine RBG

    Wait, these were white women in Alabama, right?

    Probably Trump voters now.

    These ain’t my people. Let them all OD on Oxy.

  113. 113.

    Major Major Major Major

    Great. Today I learned that it won’t affect an election at all if one of the candidates turns out to be a sexual predator. This coming two days after said candidate’s party got their asses handed to them, to a large degree because of woman voters, especially black woman voters, turning out.

    Nope, won’t have any effect, in a state that’s 25% black. Nothing to see here.

  117. 117.

    Feathers

    @Ian G.: There was someone with a website keeping track of it all. Definitely much higher numbers than the Catholic Church. They were finding an average of one conviction a week for Protestant ministers convicted of sex offenses. But they are in small towns with no hierarchy to tie it all together.

    Know someone who went to Liberty University. She had horror stories about the rape and abuse. They are so into redemption stories and fights against the devil and temptation, that abusers could just have victim after victim and the focus of the group would be on “saving” the rapist’s “soul”. The Catholic situation is horrible, but the fundigelical stuff is truly next level.

  118. 118.

    The Moar You Know

    14! Fucking backwards cracker ass crackers.

    @LurkerNoLonger: In CA, if your parents consent (and some fundy parents do) you can get married at 12. We have no age limit for marriage here if the parents sign off on it.

  119. 119.

    Mnemosyne

    @PaulWartenberg:

    That also explains why they didn’t come forward earlier, though — their own parents thought it was okay for a man in his 30s to date a high school student.

  124. 124.

    mai naem mobile

    @JMG: that’s what I am thinking. McConnell supposedly didn’t wany a complete nut job who would have to be justified by every GOP Senate reelection candidate. More popcorn please.

  125. 125.

    Ladyraxterinok

    True believers will NOT believe this.

    See, for example, how televangelists like Jim Bakker think anything negative about Trump is demonic. As Bakker frequently quavers ‘Why do they hate our president so? He’s the most attacked president in history.’

    But never fear, Bakker and his platform guests have the answer. It’s because Trump is a ‘man of God’ who surrounds himself with ‘born again Christians’ like…Jim Bakker and ‘his lovely wife Lori,’ Robert Jeffries (pastor of First [Southern] Baptist Church in Dallas), Rodney Howard Browne (the Holy Laughter preacher who posted the picture of Evangelicals laying hands on Trump),etc etc.

  126. 126.

    Aleta

    Violence against women

    President Trump is expected to nominate Penny Nance, an anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion, and anti-feminist activist, to be the “Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues,” a position created under President Obama.

    Since 2010, Nance has led the Concerned Women for America (CWA), a Christian social policy organization that has been listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-LGBTQ hate group. She doesn’t believe that efforts to restrict health coverage for women are part of a “war on women,” but she used that term to describe the Violence Against Women Act. And she claims that legal abortion is worse than the Holocaust.

    -Think Progress

  130. 130.

    catclub

    @D58826: actually no. I think it goes: ‘unless he is found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy, he will be fine.’

    I am of the opinion that the kind of thing that Trump can shrug off, almost nobody else can. This will matter.

  133. 133.

    TenguPhule

    @Aleta:

    And she claims that legal abortion is worse than the Holocaust.

    Handmaid’s Tale, not supposed to be an instructions manual!

  135. 135.

    Jay C

    @cokane:

    i wonder if there’s enough time for republicans to have Moore drop out and replace him?

    Apparently not, from what I’ve read: Alabama law has a time limit for candidates to drop out (or whatever) before an election: that limit, AFAICT, the time is now too short.

  138. 138.

    Mnemosyne

    @Feathers:

    They are so into redemption stories and fights against the devil and temptation, that abusers could just have victim after victim and the focus of the group would be on “saving” the rapist’s “soul”. The Catholic situation is horrible, but the fundigelical stuff is truly next level.

    Yup. And the victims are shunned and undergo huge social pressure to immediately “forgive” their rapist because, see, he says he’s sorry now! Why are you so hard-hearted? Etc.

    ETA: Oh, and the whole part where the perpetrator can be “redeemed” by admitting his sin, but the victim has to admit that she ALSO sinned to get her redemption.

  140. 140.

    The Moar You Know

    I sure hope this is a typo.

    @TenguPhule: Wish it was. It’s not.

    CA has got some odd laws. We have some of the more restrictive gun laws in the US. But knives? Anything, any size, save switchblades. Wanna open carry a sword? Move to CA. Totally fine.

  141. 141.

    D58826

    @catclub: Ah what a man he was. And speaking of great (cough chough ) men NBC is reporting

    BREAKING: @NBCNews reports: Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller told Congress that before the Miss Universe Pageant in 2013, a Russian participant offered to “send five women” to Donald Trump’s hotel room in Moscow

  142. 142.

    catclub

    @D58826:

    Cynical question – do they walk away with a better benefit package if they retire vs if they lose an election?

    I bet the federal benefits package is the same either way.

    OTOH: The unspent campaign warchest often turns out to stick to the candidate.
    The prospects for lobbying might be better if you resign rather than lose – but ask Rick Santorum about how bad it is if you lose (by record high margins!).

  144. 144.

    LAO

    @The Moar You Know: Not to be contrary — but because California requires a judicial order before kids under 18 can marry — it’s actually more restrictive than states that allow 16 year olds to marry.

    ed — damn I’m tired and can’t punctuate properly.

  146. 146.

    debit

    I keep waffling about whether or not this is going to make a difference. My sister lives in Alabama. She has a daughter and I know she would sickened at the idea of a 32 year old man initiating sex with a 14 year old girl. But she also watches Fox news. I would ask her but we’ve agreed not to talk politics.

  149. 149.

    Mnemosyne

    @The Moar You Know:

    CA has had a “Stand Your Ground” law for over 100 years. However, unlike the NRA-sponsored one that states like FL have passed, in CA you are not allowed to claim self-defense or that you were in fear of your life if you started the fight.

  150. 150.

    Immanentize

    @catclub: Congress critters get the same retirement/benefits package whether they serve one day or fifty years. This is why it is cool to be named an interim Senator, e.g., even if you don’t run in the upcoming election.

  151. 151.

    TenguPhule

    Is our Democrats finally learning?

    Trump’s voter fraud commission was sued Thursday morning by one of its Democratic members, who alleged that he has been kept in the dark about its operations, rendering his participation “essentially meaningless.”

    Maine Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap said in a complaint filed in federal court that the 11-member panel is in violation of a federal law that requires presidential advisory commissions to be both balanced and transparent in their work.

    “The Commission has, in effect, not been balanced because Secretary Dunlap and the other Democratic commissioners have been excluded from the Commission’s work,” says the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. “The Commission’s operations have not been open and transparent, not even to the commissioners themselves, who have been deprived access to documents prepared by and viewed by other commissioners.”

    Yes, Charlie Brown, there is no football!

  154. 154.

    Doug R

    Gonna be hard to overcome a 6 point deficit, but all this preemptive Eeyore channeling is a bit much, considering the results from Tuesday night.

  155. 155.

    Ladyraxterinok

    @Ian G.: Boz T (one of Billy Graham’s grandsons) says child molestation in Evangelical churches is much worse than in the Catholic church.

    Boz is a lawyer who worked in FL as a prosecutor in child abuse cases. He founded GRACE, an organization that helps religious institutions investigate charges of sex abuse. The group was hired by Bob Jones University; it was abruptly fired when the school decided the group was digging ‘too deep.’

  159. 159.

    lgerard

    @D58826:

    Wasn’t there a saying by a southern pol from LA or Al about it being better to be caught in bed with a dead girl than a live boy

    Louisiana has had a colorful array of politicians over the years. When Earl Long was governor in the 1950’s his wife, who was annoyed by his relationship with stripper Blaze Starr, conspired with some of his enemies and had him committed to a hospital for psychiatric evaluation. Earl eventually fired the head of the state hospital system, replaced him with one of his cronies and was released.

    He then toured the state waving a piece of paper over his head declaring that he was the only politician in the state who had a certificate proving his sanity!

    AJ Leibling’s book The The Earl of Louisiana has quite a few interesting stories.

  164. 164.

    catclub

    @Immanentize:

    Congress critters get the same retirement/benefits package whether they serve one day or fifty years.

    same program, yes, but pension amount is still calculated based on years of service and is 1.7% times number of years multiplied by high three salary.
    higher than the average fed employee but not outrageously so.

  165. 165.

    The Moar You Know

    Well this is fucking infuriating. Trump ends programs pairing rescue dogs with wounded vets. I’m seething.

    @LAO: Not a word about Trump or the admin in that article.

    Wish there was, because whoever did that is an asshole. I’m a volunteer, raise and train service dogs for Guide Dogs for the Blind. To just yank a program like that with zero days of warning is going to have some very bad effects on both the humans and the dogs involved.

  166. 166.

    DHD

    Is it wrong that I find these accusations totally predictable, and the only thing that really sticks in my mind about this whole story is:

    She remembers changing out of her uniform before they went out for dinners at a pizzeria called Mater’s, where she says Moore would order bottles of Mateus Rosé

    Mateus.

    Maybe it’s a coping mechanism to avoid the mental image of Roy Moore in his tighty-whiteys.

    Mateus.

  167. 167.

    J R in WV

    Not a bit surprised that crazed religio-theocratic monster is a pervert. He no doubt read about King David, Lot’s daughters, etc at a young age and got extremely aroused. Has been ever since. His wife is 14 years younger than he, which was a signifier.

    There’s nothing inherently wrong or evil about admiring younger women, most hetero men will glance at a pretty girl. Think cheerleaders at the HS game. Or majorettes in a parade.

    But actually picking them up and taking them home – that’s seriously fucked up in your head, Roy. I once sat on a grand jury that indicted a young man for taking mentally damaged young girls into the woods and having sex with them, they didn’t know what was happening, that badly damaged. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, perhaps? We didn’t see a diagnosis, just heard the town cop describing the girls and what was done to them. Gag!

    Roy was seconds away from being that young man, it appears. One thin layer of white cloth. Or not. Not much gets me like abuse of a powerless person. Roy is obviously an abuser in a big way. Does he have children?

  168. 168.

    Humdog

    Somewhat pertinent to the topic, my congressperson, Jared Huffman has just explicitly come out as non religious. Humanist, not atheist. I have family members who are convinced no one can be a good person unless they fear hell’s fires. I’ll put the good work Huffman has done up against the overtly “Christian” Moore any day of the week and twice onSunday.

  172. 172.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @J R in WV:

    He has four kids, and at least one of the sons has been arrested 10-12 times. Can’t link right now but you can find it by googling.

  173. 173.

    Another Scott

    LOLGOP‏ @LOLGOP 3 minutes ago

    The best is going to be watching Fox News transition from “You must give back all money you’ve received from that sexual predator” to “only by electing this child molester can we save America.”

    0 replies 13 retweets 24 likes

    I think s/he’s on to something there… :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  174. 174.

    SteveKnNKY

    @Walker: Moore is of the majority GOP – Evangelical wing that believes men must make a women submit or the man is beaten down. Plus, they really desire girls over women because women are too uppity by adulthood. Education and seeing the world non-sense.

  175. 175.

    Duane

    @Jay C: McConnell has called for Moore to drop out of the race, if the allegations are true. I’m going with yes on allegations and no on dropping out.

  177. 177.

    catclub

    @trollhattan: I think blaming Trump is stretching it a little. [but if it works to bring down Trump I fully approve] Things will go all quiet here when it comes out this change has been in the works for a year.

  185. 185.

    randy khan

    @Mary G:

    So if I were the Democrats I’d think about how I could provide resources without big ad buys, more or less to make it less clear that it looks like an opportunity. Or at least that’s what I would have been thinking a week ago. Now, I might go all in, and I particularly would if Strange comes back as a write-in candidate.

  186. 186.

    randy khan

    @JPL:

    How old is his wife?
    found it.. one source says 56

    She was 24 and he was 38 when they got married, more or less the same age difference as when he (allegedly) was ogling 17 and 18 year olds at age 32.

  187. 187.

    randy khan

    @Doug R:

    Gonna be hard to overcome a 6 point deficit, but all this preemptive Eeyore channeling is a bit much, considering the results from Tuesday night.

    If this gets traction in Alabama, it won’t be hard to make up 6 points, but the question is whether it gets traction.

  188. 188.

    J R in WV

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Ah yes, jogged my memory. Caleb Moore has been arrested/taken to jail 9 times for violations including DUI, drugs (3 times) hunting over bait (also illegal here in WV), hunting without permission, and trespassing.

    Sounds like he just doesn’t give a shit about no damn laws! Well taught by his legal beagle dad, who also appears to feel above man’s law.

  190. 190.

    Bitter Scribe

    I’ll say one thing for Moore…it takes some stones coming on to an underage girl while she’s sitting next to her mother.

  191. 191.

    Matt

    @LAO: IIRC one of the Ducks suggested that the right thing for 19+ year old men to do when looking for a wife was to cruise *middle schools*.

  192. 192.

    No One You Know

    @H.E.Wolf: Co sign. There’s a reason the age of consent isn’t “14”. At the age these girls were, there’s so much still changing. The teenage brain grows as fast as a baby’s and does do until about 25. What that means is experience is being absorbed faster than is being reflected on. There’s a reason predators like young prey. They don’t know enough to know that they should protect themselves…The threat never looks like what they were warned against. Especially if mom was right there.

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