Moore or Less

I smell a rat. The Washington Post has published a story, probably with the winking assent of Mitch McConnell, John McCain, Mitt Romney  and a phalanx of other establishment Republicans, designed to take down Judge Roy Moore, Republican candidate for the Senate to replace Jeff Sessions in an Alabama special election ... read it here: WaPo Expose. And, in the process, Steve Bannon would also be neutered ... not something that would bring tears to many in the swamp. This late-hour expose of alleged "inappropriate sexual touching" is clearly of malicious intent ... as such ephemeral attacks are favorites of the liberal media in the last days of a campaign ... so that there is no time to counteract the damage done.

Now, malicious intent is but one part of building a libel case against a public official, the other being veracity. And it is very difficult to determine veracity with such a short time left until the election ... more evidence of the insidious nature of this expose. Are these charges true, that Roy Moore touched a 14-year old girl on top of her bra and had her touch him on top of his underpants 39 years ago? John McCain thinks that the seriousness of this charge should disqualify Judge Moore outright. (Ironic since McCain was subject to this same kind of smear by the New York Times in the last minutes of his presidential campaign against Barack Obama.)

Nowhere in its expose does the WaPo equivocate or use the term "alleged" in its accusations. No, it implies, "It is indeed a fact because we say so ... even though these things occurred so very long ago." Could this woman and the other three minor minor accusers be lying?  Might their memories be colored by politics or thoughts of notoriety? You bet your grits.

So, if I were an Alabama voter, what would I do? I think that I, also being a past modest sinner, would ignore the Washington Post likely libelous story. In fact, I might even cast my vote for Judge Moore as a protest against this type of last-minute smear. If a rapist can stay on as president, maybe it's time an almost pederast can be a senator.

And I honestly believe that if our libel laws were stricter, say like they are in England, such political late-game gambits by the media might be somewhat rarer.

Afterward: The Massachusetts state legislature is considering reducing the age of consent here to 14. I suspect this political scandal might delay this piece of insanity.