One wonders how such a dramatic transformation could have occurred. How could the Party of Abraham Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt turned into the Party of Richard Nixon, Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, and Roy Moore? What was once the Party of social change, civil rights, trust-busters, progressivism, and environmentalism, became the Party of racism, white supremacy, plutocracy, big business, regression, and environmental degradation. From “Honest Abe” as a Republican occupying the presidency, America has Donald Trump as his Republican successor- Deceitful Don.
From Lincoln, a man who was the essence of truthfulness and probity, the Republicans gave America a president who lies constantly and bragged about his immoral actions with women and in business dealings. His motivation was to always be seen as a winner, an unabashed, self-aggrandized narcissist. But first there was Richard Nixon and Watergate, another paragon of dishonesty with criminal behavior thrown in. Then there was Gingrich with his three marriages and frequent affairs, including when his wife was in bed with cancer.
And Jeff Sessions, Trump’s Attorney General and upholder of the law has lied in testimony before Congress about his meetings with Russian operatives on behalf of the Trump campaign. Recently however, he seems to have lost his memory for events that could be seen in a bad light, frequently being unable to recall various meetings with Russians or what had been discussed. Should this man be Attorney General with such a poor memory?
The latest Republican icon is Roy Moore running for the Senate from Alabama carrying a backpack of smut and lies along with him. The GOP appears to be split in terms of supporting him, but the president is backing him, taking his word over nine women who accused him. The Republicans who support him in Alabama and Washington feel it is okay to take an accused pedophile with multiple victims into the Senate rather than a Democrat. How low can the Republican Party and the country go?
Politicians have been thought of as dirty and lacking morals for some time. But now religious Christians and church pastors are offering excuses for Roy Moore and offering him support. Some say it is a liberal plot against him and how can you believe anything that was exposed in the Washington Post. Some say even though he went out with young girls, it was okay because he asked their mother’s permission, though how that could have happened when he was trolling the mall and calling the schools is unclear. It was also okay because he had been away at war and the available women of his age had been taken by the time he came home. And he liked young women and girls because they were pure.
The fact that religious figures and Evangelicals are supporting him is disgusting and hypocritical. Our tribal society has deteriorated to such a degree that pedophilia is no longer considered a major offense by the so-called religious leaders of the Republican tribe. And a man’s denial is considered truthful over the accusations of nine women. Is there no shame among Moore’s supporters? How could the pastors who back him teach moral behavior to their flocks from the pulpits in their churches which have been defiled by their presence.
Trump’s support of Moore is more understandable than the pastors since his morality has been in the gutter for decades: a sexual predator, accused by multiple women of sexual acts which he denied. However, the Hollywood Access Tapes are very clear about his behavior. If he had said Moore’s accusers should be believed, how could one not believe Trump’s own accusers?
Both political parties have their share of sexual harassers and predators. How they deal with these men is the question. And excusing pedophilia for the sake of political advantage by Trump and many Republicans is beyond the boundaries of civilized, moral behavior.
Resurrecting Democracy
www.robertlevinebooks.com
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Political junkie, Vietnam vet, neurologist- three books on aging and dementia. Book on health care reform in 2009- Shock Therapy for the American Health Care System. Book on the need for a centrist third party- Resurrecting Democracy- A Citizen’s Call for a Centrist Third Party published in 2011. Aging Wisely, published in August 2014 by Rowman and Littlefield. Latest book- The Uninformed Voter published May 2020