Ever since I was young, I would watch Saturday Night Live. One of my favorite memories of that show is the infamous Tina Fey as Sarah Palin line, “I can see Russia from my house.” SNL is great at parodying politicians from both sides of the aisle, even though their leanings clearly run left. This is why I feel desperately bad for them that actual Republicans have said actual things that are too absurd for SNL. What am I talking about? The fact that an accused child molester, or at the very least a creepy man, is running for one of Alabama’s Senate seats.
Growing up in the Northeast, it was commonplace to look down upon the South. For the longest time, I only knew it as the place of the slaveholders and segregationists. So, to my 10-year-old self, a man who claims homosexuality should be illegal and who has consistently broken the law for his religious beliefs (last I checked there was still a separation between church and state), would be a standard Alabaman senator. Then again, Attorney General Jeff Sessions hails from Alabama.
But seriously, a child molester? Let’s run through the facts. Multiple women who were contacted by journalists, not the other way around, accused Roy Moore of having an intimate relationship with them when he was in his thirties and they were in their teens, with one being only 14 years old. It doesn’t matter even that the age of consent is 16 years old, it’s still wildly disturbing that this supposedly Christian man would “entertain” such young people.
However, what’s almost as equally disturbing is the conservative media that has defended an alleged child molester. This isn’t about the Republican politician who equated Roy Moore to Jesus — which was probably the worst comparison anyone has ever made in the history of the universe. This is about, for the most part, Mr. Sean Hannity. Hannity is facing fierce backlash for an interview he did with the alleged child molester — Roy Moore. To his credit, Hannity did ask some tough questions. The most important one being whether Moore engaged in relationships with minors in his thirties. Moore’s response? “Not generally, no.” There are two appropriate responses to that question — the first one being “never,” and the second one being “not of my own free will.”
After Moore’s interview ended, Hannity brushed aside the whole Roy Moore incident. Instead, he decided to interview White House counselor Kellyanne Conway about how great Donald Trump is and how fantastic he is and how he is doing such a great job. If that sounded repetitive, please treat yourself to any Conway interview. Hannity made a point of saying that he did not want to bring Conway into the muck of these accusations. Well sir, if you don’t want to get in the muck, don’t treat an alleged child molester like some typical politician.
What is encouraging is all of the corporations boycotting Hannity’s show. According to USA Today, “Keurig, Realtor.com, 23 and Me, Eloquii and Nature’s Bounty all pulled their ads from the television show, in response to Fox host Sean Hannity’s coverage of the sexual misconduct allegations against Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore.” While I understand that business is business, and these corporations can’t always take political positions, it is fair to argue that child molestation is, at the very least, a good place to start.
I also would like to address the idea of innocent until proven guilty. But instead of arguing my specific point, I would like to quote Mitt Romney. “Innocent until proven guilty is for criminal convictions, not elections,” tweeted Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and 2012 GOP presidential nominee. “I believe Leigh Corfman. Her account is too serious to ignore. Moore is unfit for office and should step aside.”
That’s a Republican worth voting for. Not, for the millionth time, an alleged child molester.
Forget the alleged, let’s stick with the real thing here: maybe if elected Moore could fill his Senate staff with some pedophile priests that got booted from me Catholic Church and thus sort of round out his bent toward sexual molestation from counter girls to alter boys. This broader reaching out to touch someone may be just the right Tide of how folks in Alabama want everyone to think of them.