Americans need to do more not to normalize Roy Moore
The Alabama special election to replace Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat was extremely close. In one corner sat a racist pedophile Republican, in the other was a Democrat who sought and got convictions for Klu Klux Klan members nearly 40 years after they planted a bomb that killed four young girls at a black church.
Doug Jones barely beat Roy Moore by just 1.5 percent. Only 20,715 votes made up that difference. That is a fucking hairline. With a Senate race this controversial, you would think everyone would come out, but they didn’t.
Only 38 percent of voters in Alabama chose to have a say in who their elected official would be for the next three years, which means over half of Alabamians decided they didn’t give a fuck whether a racist pedophile Republican was elected.
Remember, this contest was set to replace the Senate seat previously held by America’s racist great-uncle Jeff (a racist who can never seem to recall how fucking racist he is until he’s being racist, and even after he’s just been extremely racist cannot recall those repugnant thoughts that have thoroughly corroded his tiny Keebler-elf brain).
This was not a quiet race. Trump tweeted Moore had sexual allegations against him and proceeded to back him, because of course he would. Last month, Sen. Mitch McConnell said he believed the women who accused Moore of sexual assault, molestation and harassment. Sens. Cory Gardner and Jeff Flake both discussed Moore’s expulsion from Senate and still the Republican National Committee proceeded to endorse and fund his campaign.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney warned Moore’s presence in Congress would be a stain on Republicans and the country. But we don’t need his presence. We have the RNC’s endorsement. That stain is already on your hands.
Moore’s fond feelings toward slavery-era America
Republicans not only elected Donald Trump, but they were also more than happy to support and promote a man who reminisces about the days America still endorsed slavery. When an African American at one of Moore’s rallies in September 2017 asked Moore what Trump meant by wanting to make America great again, Moore told the individual when he thought America was last great, and the publicly spoken response was atrocious and telling:
“I think it [the United States] was great at the time when families were united—even though we had slavery—they cared for one another,” Moore responded. “Our families were strong, our country had direction.”
In 2011, Moore said eliminating amendments after the 10th would solve many problems, and these amendments “have completely tried to wreck the form of government our forefathers intended.”
Those amendments abolished slavery and gave black people and women the right to vote. He has called First Nations people “reds” and Asian-American people “yellows.”
But fuck it, let’s vote for that fuckin’ guy.
It seems Republicans are testing their limits for what kind of trash they can elect into office. Apparently, you can be a racist or a pedophile, but you might not win if you’re both—and even if you are, you still have a pretty solid fighting chance.
While Democrats have praised a changing tide which enabled them to get elected in the deep red state of Alabama, they are wrong. If it wasn’t for shit-stained candidate Roy Moore’s alleged past pursuing 14-year-olds when he was a district attorney in his thirties and his cringeworthy dance with racism, the seat would have gone to a Republican.
Yes, Jones’ win is a victory for Democrats and the U.S. in general, but Moore’s near victory is more noteworthy than his loss. If states had electoral colleges like U.S. presidential contests, Moore would have won, just like Trump.
The Jake Johnson Experience is an ongoing op-ed column by Jake Johnson.