A party without moorings
If Senate Republicans wish to maintain whatever slim thread of integrity they have remaining, they must immediately pull any and all support from Judge Roy Moore, the party’s nominee in a Alabama special election set for December. Party leaders up to and including President Trump never in the first place should have embraced a man who has said “homosexual conduct should be illegal”; who suggested the Sept. 11 attacks happened “because we’ve distanced ourselves” from God; who said the House of Representatives should refuse to seat an elected Muslim American solely on the basis of his religion.
But they did — until, for many, the kinda sorta breaking point came Thursday, after the Washington Post reported that, as a 32-year-old assistant district attorney 38 years ago, Moore tried to initiate a sexual encounter with a 14-year-old girl.
In a deeply sourced story that was not prompted by any of the women in question but started with a tip Post reporters pursued, Leigh Corfman revealed that Moore met her outside a courtroom during a child custody hearing and exchanged numbers.
They then went out on two occasions. In the second, Moore drove her to his home in the woods and initiated intimate contact with the girl.
As the Post describes Corfman’s recollection: He told her how pretty she was; kissed her; took off her shirt and pants and removed his clothes. He touched her over her bra and underwear and guided her hand to touch him over his underwear.
In addition to the Corfman account, the Post identifies three other women who were between the ages of 16 and 18 when romantically pursued by the thirtysomething Moore.
Of course, Moore dismisses the story as “fake news” and a liberal media plot. Yet on the friendly environs of Sean Hannity’s radio show Friday, Moore couldn’t “generally” recall whether he regularly pursued teen girls as a thirtysomething prosecutor. Hmm.
Believe Corfman, who told friends at the time and stands by her detailed account. If the last month or so of revelations about all types of men abusing their power to prey on women has proven anything, it’s that victims often have powerful incentives to stay silent in shame for years, only to reveal the truth later.
Yet the basic response from most prominent Republicans, President Trump included, is a mealy-mouthed formulation: “If” the allegations are true, Moore must step aside.
(Worse, some Alabama pols are standing by Moore, suggesting his predatory behavior is positively Biblical.)
Notable and noble exceptions: Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney, both of whom understand that there will be no way to objectively establish truth between now and the election — and take the word of women who came forward with nothing to gain and much to lose.
As an assistant DA, Moore used his place of work — a courthouse — as a hunting ground to pick up and later physically prey upon a 14-yearold girl.
This is behavior worse than that of slimeball Anthony Weiner, who never made physical contact with the minor he pursued, but nevertheless (and rightly) wound up in federal prison.
If there’s any decency left, Moore will be toast.