Earlier in the week, allegations came out compromising the reputation and polling numbers of Judge Roy Moore in Alabama. Three women came forward and accused the Judge of asking them out when they were in their teens. With all of the allegations of recent misconduct among celebrities and producers, it goes without saying that all of these accusations against Moore must be very recent, and they need to call into question Roy's judgment in current affairs.
Wait, this was all 40 years ago?? AND there was no more than kissing involved?? So why are we talking about this??
The full seriousness of the situation is a bit sickening, but I'm not talking about the what Moore did. The Judge is a good man who's been in the limelight of Georgia politics. He gained fame by wanting to keep the Ten Commandments on the courthouse wall, and was running in polls in double digits above his Democrat Challenger. Then suddenly, this situation came up, and more voters are seriously questioning him, along with many potential Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle. This accusation is nothing new. With Hollywood awash in accusations of sexual harassment and assault that happened recently, it's only natural that they would start coming out of the woodwork on conservatives. The cases have ranged from minor nuisance to near life destroying, but nothing has put anyone in any sort of career jeopardy as of yet. Slate reports that liberal mega-donor Harvey Weinstein has had allegations laid against him as recently as 2015. However, the media seems to be hinting that all of his rapes and assaults were nothing but a mistake, and all will be forgiven once he goes through rehab for sex addiction. But Moore kissed a 16 year old when he was 32, and the liberal left is ready to nail him to the crooked cross over it.
Rationally, can we really look at a dating issue in the late 70s as a measure of someone's capacity to do his job today? This is not a "boys will be boys" argument that the opposition loves to paint us with whenever we try to rationalize the situation. What I am about to say stands on the assumption that all of the allegations are true, which has not been proven yet. American Citizens do enjoy the privilege of being innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but that is a conversation for another time. What's realistic is that any of these accusations happened 40 years ago. I can attest to the mixed mindset of an early 30s male, because that's where I am now. I don't know much about Moore's personal life at the time, but I do know that if he was 30 and still single, especially in the 70s when 18 year olds got married to each other every day, he was going through some weird thoughts. Before I met the wonderful woman who I've spent the last 2 years with, my stomach twisted at the thought that I wasn't in my final relationship with, and this is a time where young marriages are becoming more and more uncommon. Furthermore, this was 40 years ago. I can safely tell you that I'm nowhere close to the same man that I was 10 years ago when I moved back to Wisconsin from Massachusetts. Hell, the transformation in the two years between when I moved there and when I moved back made me almost unrecognizable to even my family. And I am not alone. Millions of people have quit drinking, settled down, raised families, gone back to school, left their retail jobs for careers, fixed their credit, bought cars, started businesses, and found religion in spans ranging from 1 year to 20. Realistically, none of the allegations have included any sort of intercourse, and while a 32 year old going on a date with a 14 year old is just wrong, the law defines the illegality at insertion. Moore may have had some lapses in judgement in his early 30s, but the stories are clear that when he was told to stop, he stopped. And he's had 40 years of experience to shape his judgment and right and wrong since then. I'd personally be more interested in policy decisions that Moore made in 2007 than dating decisions he made back in 1977.
All of this is assuming that any of this even happened in the first place.
If you think that Moore should be crucified for going out with high school girls in the 70s, or if you want to sound your voice in support of him, please comment either below or over on Twitter. That's @edsblogtw1tter. I look forward to seeing a discussion form. Remember if you like what you read, consider hitting that like button, along with that retweet button, or share the link on Facebook or other social media. That would be cool of you. Remember, never take the words of journalists, podcasters, or bloggers as gospel. Gather all the facts, and make your own decisions.
No comments:
Post a Comment