The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff Reports

Posted: Sunday, January 21, 2018 07:23 PM

OUR VIEW: May The Truth Prevail In Both Roy Moore And Al Franken's Case

That is not going to happen of course because one is a conservative Christian and the other is a liberal Democrat but it's worth hoping for I guess.

It is clear in the minds of the media and most in the John Q public that one of these two men right now is guilty until proven innocent and the other is innocent until proven guiltier than what he has already admitted. In the media’s eyes and most in Congress, while all the allegations are basically yet unproven, anything relating to Roy Moore is ALL about the culture produced by President Trump and the GOP.

When it concerns Al Franken's confessed guilt, NONE of that is about anything associated with Democrats or those in power in Washington D.C.

Let me make one quick aside here. Fox News Host Laura Ingram has been reporting for the past two nights of a Congressional hush fund that has paid out nearly $15M to settle sexual harassment claims made against members of Congress. That's not Roy Moore's doing!

That's the culture of corruption in Washington D.C.

Let's talk about Roy Moore first, then we will deal with Franken.

On a personal level, I have felt deeply troubled from the beginning about this entire situation surrounding Moore but not for reasons you may think.

Here is what we know. Four women have charged that Moore made sexual advances when he was thirty-plus and they were teenagers. One was only 14 when, she claims, Moore undressed and fondled her in his car and tried to force her into a sex act. A fifth woman, Beverly Young Nelson, charged Moore with assault and attempted rape when she was 16.

Young-Nelson's step son came forth Thursday and said this was all bogus and his step mom was broke and out for money.

Another accuser was recently arrested for writing bad checks and fraud but let's not remotely suggest this is about money or the sort for in doing so we're being insensitive to the "victims" of Roy Moore's sexual predatory actions 40 years ago.

There aren’t too many options here to go on when it comes to who we believe. Either the women are lying as part of a well-executed conspiracy against the judge, or Moore did what the women accuse him of doing. Both scenarios are ugly and present the reason why I feel so troubled.

Let's face it. Lies aren’t unheard of in political campaigns. Smears happen. Politicians plot, especially in high-stakes elections.

Moore's problems have been headline news each day on the national news wires and opinions have varied a bit depending on which side you wish to believe. Most have convicted him in their minds despite no real evidence other than a signed yearbook that many experts are questioning as to the validity of Moore's signature and writing.

Even Young's attorney Gloria Alred could not 100% confirm Moore wrote the greeting in the yearbook that is alleged.

Today during the White House press briefing, 15 questions came from the press regarding Roy Moore, one was asked about Al Franken. Surprising. (Eye roll)

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said today that Franken's situation is different because in his case, Franken admitted he actually did something wrong. Moore has strongly denied the allegations against him.

The fact is that the swamp in D.C. is deep and full of poisonous characters who would love to see Roy Moore's demise, so pardon me if I'm not one of those who quickly comes to the side of Moore's accusers and feel that all of this is 100% on the up and up while supposedly unveiling some sexual predator 40 years after the fact.

It’s not impossible here to sense something is wrong with what is being done to a man who has served in public office for nearly 30 years with absolutely NOTHING remotely ever being said about this type of behavior from Moore.

I put the question about the allegations against Moore and Franken out on Facebook today and got an interesting cauldron of responses. Here is a sampling:

"I personally don’t think you should have a platform to serve the American people on either side if you are accused of harassing women. Just step down"

"I think accusations need to be proven! What is the agenda of letting so much time pass and then deciding to destroy someone's life. Seems to be the new trend. If something bothered you so bad you should address it at that moment. Not let the statute of limitations expire. I just think it is hilarious that the libs are sabotaging themselves with this mess right now."

"It probably never happened," said another responder.

"40 years ago... Really! Wasn't worth reporting then but now it is! I'm 56 years old, so when I was just a kid getting my drivers license this incident SUPPOSEDLY happened with Roy Moore. It WASN'T important enough to report then but it SOMEHOW is NOW.

"Drain the swamp!"

"Innocent till Proven Guilty! And pictures are worth a thousand words!"

"If it was worth bringing up it should have been brought up the same day," another said.
 

The sentiment among most who were asked is that Moore is being offered up as a sacrificial lamb by the Washington D.C. establishment that has never been a fan of his. They were not a fan of his even when he was standing up for the Ten Commandments and the Sanctity of Marriage, two things that got him booted from the Alabama Supreme Court.

I believe deep down that all people want is the truth! Not Roy Moore's version of the truth. Not his accusers' version of the truth, but THE 100% TRUTH as to what actually happened and if these things did happen as being alleged why didn't these things come out years prior instead of two weeks before one of Alabama's very important choices to replace Attorney General Jeff Session and represent them in Congress.

Sadly, Alabama voters don’t have the luxury of waiting too long for real proof these allegations are true or not before they vote December 12.

Their judgment of Moore may be based more on speculation and accusation, not complete full-proof evidence he did anything wrong. The narrative right now however is Moore is guilty plain and simple so hang him out to dry.

The truth is that neither Moore can prove his innocence against these claims, nor can the women accusing him totally prove his guilt!

I grieve over that the most. The voters in Alabama deserve better.

If I were the governor of that state I at the very least would postpone the election till after the first of the year to let the air clear a bit and see what is best for the people of Alabama no matter what the end result is for Judge Moore.

Now on to Al Franken. He apologized earlier today for alleged misconduct against radio host Leeann Tweeden, in which he is pictured with his hands in proximity to her breasts as she slept in 2006. Tweeden said Franken forced her to kiss him during the same USO trip.

Another woman, journalist Melanie Morgan told reporters Thursday that Franken acted in an "almost obsessive" manner toward her after they appeared together on a Bill Maher television show. Franken joked about "raping [journalist] Lesley Stahl" in 1995 and wrote a satirical Playboy article about what he called a "porn-o-rama."

Franken later apologized while he was seeking the Senate seat in Minnesota, later appeared to go against his apology saying that apologizing for jokes as a comedian would be tantamount to being a "sellout of who I had been my entire life." So maybe we should consider that when listening to Al Franken's apology.

In the name of full disclosure let me be clear. I'm not a big fan of Franken at all. Just last week he was lecturing anyone who would listen about sexual harassment and respect for women. What a difference a week makes. Guess Franken is experiencing a bit of karma for his attempts to impeach President Trump over false allegations. Welcome to the party pal.

Now let me turn to the reaction to both situations which is where the rub of all of this lies.

The same establishment Republicans who have called for Moore to immediately step down without proof of guilt have merely suggested an ethics probe against Franken. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is threatening to expel Moore if he is elected which should be an interesting fight ahead.

Senators John McCain, Jeff Flake, Bob Corker, crucified Moore seconds after the allegations first surfaced but have been deafeningly silent on Franken's admissions. Guess their morality compass changes when it's one of the good old boys in D.C. doing it, not a maverick non-establishment candidate the people chose, not them.

In contrast, the Democrats have been for the most part relatively quite about Roy Moore and extremely hard on Franken. Go figure.

"The allegations brought forth are extremely disturbing," DNC Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement. "Sexual misconduct, harassment, and assault are never acceptable, no matter one’s party or politics. The Senate should immediately begin an ethics investigation into Senator Franken's conduct."

Nancy Pelosi said any "credible allegation" should be subject to an ethics probe, telling Fox News "We are at a watershed moment and now is the time for Congress to overhaul how it deals with the issue of sexual harassment."

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., went a step further, tweeting that she had donated $30,000 in campaign contributions from Franken's Midwest Values PAC to food banks in her home state.
 

Here is the thing. Roy Moore may be 100% guilty and then some of everything these women allege and if he is he needs to drop out and drop out now in disgrace.

These allegations are absolutely horrendous and despicable that a 30-year old man would troll teenagers for sexual contact. If he as a 30-year old man is asking a parent to date their 16-year old daughter something is wrong with him AND the parents for even entertaining that idea.

The truth is however that this may be the biggest political hit job since the Democrats took out Herman Cain in 2012 prior to President Obama's re-election campaign.

Franken's issue is a little different in that, as President Trump tweeted today, "a picture speaks a thousand words." Franken has admitted his guilt and not tried to deny anything.

He "welcomes" an ethics probe he said early Friday. Yea, right. I guess he would if the ones investigating him don't make him resign from his seat. These "probes" take months if not years and it will wind up being a slap on the wrist. Give me a break.

Both men have serious problems right now. I'm simply saying what is good for Roy Moore's future is also good for Al Franken's! If Moore is forced out then Franken must go too.

I tried writing this editorial today to put my head around all of this and maybe feel better about what is happening in our nation with this avalanche of sexual harassment, assault, and misconduct revelations that are coming in torrents on all levels of our society.

Truth is, I still feel troubled in the deepest recesses of my heart. Writing this has done nothing to assuage my inward voice that says something is rotten in Denmark.

But that's my own inward voice, not yours.

Personally, I believe the Moore issue is the left's smoke screen to cover up for the avalanche of hell descending upon their "stars" in Hollywood, Congress, and the media being accused of similarly horrific sexual crimes. If the attention stays on Moore then the attention will not be on them. Sort off like Hillary Clinton hilariously claiming that the Department of Justice investigating her is an "abuse of power" by President Trump and that she still doubts his "legitimacy."

That's what people do and say who are concerned their future wardrobe may be full of orange.

That too is nothing new under the sun when it comes to accusation and allegations coming from the left and not the right.

For those who already believe Moore is guilty as hell of these allegations, take one second to remember this: just because someone alleges something doesn't make it true.

I have talked with individuals just today who are close to relatives of some of the accusers and they are calling BS on the entire scheme to take Moore down.

They are not Moore "fans" but they see what is being done and it just doesn’t make sense. One person told me today that they personally know one of the accusers since the accuser was in his family years ago and they never heard a word about Moore ever doing the things she's accusing him of now.

The truth is that only God and Roy Moore and these women know the REAL truth, not the media's version of it.

Our prayer tonight is simple. May God simply reveal what is false and what is true so we here in the real world KNOW the truth and thus rightly judge former Judge Roy Moore.

May the people of Alabama do the right thing on December 12 above all things and may true justice be served in the end.

If people are lying and destroying this man's character for political reasons, let them be shown to be liars and pay a high price for doing so. If Moore is guilty then let that be fully revealed too and let him go off into oblivion as a shameful disgrace that he would be if he is.

Congress, do the right thing on Franken. What's good for the candidate you hate is also right and good for the candidate that you seem to be protecting. What a mess. But then again this is Washington D.C. and what American society has become. It remains troubling.






 

.

Christopher McDonald, Publisher, Editor in Charge

Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Subscribe To The Great Smoky

Mountain News Network Tube Channel