The end of Republican moral authority
There was a time when many in the Republican establishment were horrified by their party's Senate nominee in Alabama, particularly by his well-documented sexual relationships with girls as young as 14 years old. Dozens of prominent GOP leaders spoke out about it. "I believe the women, yes," was how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell summarized the feelings within his party. Well, that era of propriety, with conformity to decent standards of behavior and respect for young women, is now a relic of mid-November. Early December, it appears, reveals an entirely different view of Judge Roy Moore, of sexual exploitation of minors and of candidates who then lie about their days trolling the mall for teenage girls when they were in their mid-30s ...
The formal endorsement of Mr. Moore by President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee on Monday was not predicated on any new or exculpatory information regarding Mr. Moore’s distasteful sexual history. He is still the same candidate he was three weeks ago. Indeed, the weight of the evidence to refute his denials has only gotten heavier ...
Remember the political party of two decades ago that got so incensed that a Democrat in the White House had lied about his sexual contact with a 22-year-old that members felt compelled to issue Articles of Impeachment against him and conduct a 21-day trial after which Bill Clinton was acquitted of all charges? It is just as crystal clear that Mr. Moore is lying about a far more distasteful pattern of behavior. Initially, that raised a bit of bile in the mouths of Republicans. Now, it doesn't. One can only hope that when President Trump said, "Go, get 'em, Roy," to Mr. Moore during a call from Air Force One that he was talking about the Dec. 12 election ...
Alabama voters can, of course, elect whomever they choose. Pigasus, a 145-pound hog, was once nominated as president .. so an electoral preference for swine is not wholly unprecedented. But Mr. Trump and the GOP have no business embracing him, let alone accepting him into the Senate, whether he’s the 52nd vote in their caucus or the 99th. With this turnabout, Republicans are essentially broadcasting to the country that they are all-in with President Trump, not just in regards to his politics and his populism, but to his serial lying and his boasts about sexual predation ...
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-1206-moore-gop-20171205-story.html
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