Daniel Dale, a Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, attempted to call several of Alabama’s GOP county chairmen. Of the eight he managed to get on the phone, not a single one denounced Moore’s alleged behavior.
Two of those county chairmen — Bibb County’s Jerry Pow and Covington County’s William Blocker — actually told Dale that they’d vote for Moore over Doug Jones even if they had hard evidence that Moore committed sexual assault.
Even. If. They. Had. Proof.
Mixed among the replies were various instances of these guys excusing away sexual assault of minors. Marion County’s David Hall actually said there was “nothing wrong” with a 30-year-old dating a 16-year-old.
What’s it going to take, Alabama voter?
What’s it going to take before you realize that your family values, my-sin-is-better-than-your-sin, conservative voting approach has produced a state government filled with lying, cheating, sexually assaulting, money-grubbing criminals who have embarrassed us countless times, and on top of everything, mismanaged the hell out of this place?
It looks like Alabama Senate Republican candidate Roy Moore is very afraid to stand in front of his possible future-constituents and answer questions about his policy positions.
WHNT News in Alabama offered to host/moderate a debate between Moore and his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, but Moore’s campaign came back with a flat “no.”
WHNT News 19 in conjunction with our partners at Reckon by AL.com invited both of Alabama’s US Senate candidates to participate in what would have been a live, commercial-free debate. The Doug Jones campaign accepted, but the Roy Moore campaign has declined.
We at WHNT News 19 believe that public debates give voters a chance to carefully consider who represents them. A seat in the US Senate comes with immense power. It should also come with immense accountability.
Every politician, no matter their stances, party or position, should be open to conversations and challenges, even from those who might disagree.
We hope, even in a fiercely divided political climate, that candidates will remain willing to engage with the issues and each other.
As such, we went to great lengths to make our offer to both campaigns appealing.
We did not specify a format, allowing room to work with both campaigns on a mutually agreeable style. We intended to integrate questions from audience members and people following along digitally.
We offered six different date possibilities between November 27th and December 7th.
However, it was not enough to convince Roy Moore to meet Doug Jones in a public forum.
Moore campaign chair Bill Armistead offered this response:
While we appreciate the invitation from WHNT, the differences between the two candidates are crystal clear. Judge Roy Moore believes in cutting taxes. Doug Jones wants to raise your taxes. Judge Moore believes we should cut spending and balance the budget. Doug Jones believes in putting America in more debt. Judge Moore wants Obamacare repealed. Doug Jones wants to expand it. Judge Moore wants to rebuild the military. Doug Jones supported an administration that slashed our defense spending and put American security at risk. Judge Moore wants to secure our borders. Doug Jones wants open borders and supports amnesty. Judge Moore wants to protect our most vulnerable like our seniors and the unborn, but Doug Jones has spent his career defending violent criminals and he supports partial-birth abortion. There has never been a clearer choice: one candidate will stand up for Alabama and the other candidate will expand federal tyranny. Judge Moore will continue to take his message directly to the voters of Alabama.
The Jone campaign issued this statement:
Roy Moore has been hiding from the voters, from the media and from his record for weeks and now refuses to take the same stage with Doug in a debate. Doug has said repeatedly he was willing to debate Roy Moore anytime, anywhere, about Moore’s lack of support for Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program and about the more than $1 million Moore took from his foundation.
Roy Moore: 1. Hiding from voters. 2. Hiding from the media. 3. Refuses to answer questions about the 1 million he took from his foundation. 4. Even refuses to answer if he supports Medicaid/Medicare or CHIP’s.
Roy Moore, currently the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Alabama, told the audience of Here I Stand podcast last year that the Supreme Court Obergefell ruling that legalized same-sex marriage was “even worse” than the hideous 1857 Dred Scott ruling that upheld slavery.
“In 1857 the United States Supreme Court did rule that black people were property. Of course, that contradicted the Constitution, and it took a civil war to overturn it.
“But this ruling in Obergefell is even worse in a sense because it forces not only people to recognize marriage other than the institution ordained of God and recognized by nearly every state in the union, it says that you now must do away with the definition of marriage and make it between two persons of the same gender or leading on, as one of the dissenting justices said, to polygamy, to multi-partner marriages.”
Bolding is mine.
Moore has been removed from the position of chief justice of the Alabama state Supreme Court twice for failing to follow the law.
Once, for refusing to remove a monument of the ten commandments he had placed on courthouse grounds; and the second time for instructing probate judges in Alabama to ignore the Obergefell ruling in 2015.
Real Clear Politics shows Moore an average of 6 points ahead of his Democratic opponent, Doug Jones.
The special election to replace Jeff Sessions, who resigned to become U.S. Attorney General, is on December 12.
• Ignacio Pérez Rey (above) ain’t afraid of no Hump Day.
• A disbarred former anti-LGBT Michigan assistant attorney general who terrorized an openly gay student at the University of Michigan says he wants his law license back because this is now Trump Nation: “With Donald Trump now in the White House, conservative Christians like me will no longer tolerate being railroaded by the liberal elite.”
• Democrat Doug Jones has (barely) taken the lead in the upcoming special election race for U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ former U.S. Senate seat. Fox News puts the Dem one point ahead of anti-LGBT GOP candidate Roy Moore 46%-45%.
• The Defense Department has issued orders that no green card holders may enlist in the Army effective immediately. This is contrary to federal law which states any “alien who is lawfully admitted for permanent residence” may be enlisted in “any armed force.” #ThingsThatMakeYouGoHmm
• According to a new Morning Consult/Politico poll, 46% of those surveyed agree with Donald Trump that the mainstream media makes up “fake news” about Donald Trump. I disagree – I know many major news reporters and producers and they care about their reputations as professionals too much to lie just for a quick click.
• Watch below as Kellogg characters Tony the Tiger, Ernie Keebler and more share an important tomorrow’s Spirit Day message, encouraging everyone to speak out against bullying.
• The nation’s first and only openly bisexual member of Congress, Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, has announced she will seek the Democratic nomination in a bid to replace vulnerable GOP Sen. Jeff Flake in 2018.
• In a new Opinion Savvy poll, virulently anti-LGBT Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore leads his Democratic opponent Doug Jones by only 5 points in deep red state Alabama.
• With Macklemore as the announced entertainment at Australia’s National Rugby League grand final, anti-marriage equality folks started screaming when they realized the hip-hop artist would be performing his huge pro-LGBT hit “Same Love.” All that angst backfired though as “Same Love,” released in 2012, shot to the #1 spot on Australia’s iTunes chart again.
A good reason to enjoy the video again. Watch below.
As predicted, virulently ultra-conservative, anti-LGBT Roy Moore won the U.S. Senate run-off in Alabama last night over incumbent Sen. Luther Strange.
It’s worth noting that Moore is quite open about his utter disdain for LGBTs. He’s publicly stated, “Homosexual conduct should be illegal. It is immoral. It is defined by the law as detestable.”
Strange was appointed to the Senate seat after Jeff Sessions resigned to become U.S. Attorney General.
Donald Trump supported Strange and upon learning the results last night became enraged that he had backed the losing candidate.
Returning from a high-dollar fundraiser in Manhattan on Tuesday evening, an infuriated President Donald Trump watched aboard Air Force One as Fox News called the Alabama Senate primary for Roy Moore against Trump’s favored candidate, Luther Strange.
What ensued was a barrage of angry venting at his political team and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who had consolidated establishment GOP support behind Strange. Trump, officials and informal advisers say, felt misled by McConnell and his political team, who encouraged him to endorse and campaign for Strange.
He went to bed “embarrassed and pissed” following the election loss, according to a person familiar with his mindset. Trump, multiple sources said, is furious with McConnell, and feels outdone by his former aide Bannon. It is only the latest in growing list of reasons Trump is furious at McConnell.
Inside the White House, fingers are being pointed at Ward Baker, a McConnell strategist, and Nick Ayers, the vice president’s chief of staff, both of whom were involved in pushing Trump to back Strange, according to sources.
Probably making the loss even worse to swallow was the fact that Moore had the support of former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon.
Trump was so embarrassed by the loss he began deleting tweets posted over the past couple of weeks showing his support of Strange.
• I’m calling for #TouchTuesdays. Do you ever think about how much you touch (or don’t touch) your spouse/significant other/family/friends? If not, give that a ponder. Human contact literally connects us. I was holding hot hubby Michael’s hand through the streets of NYC this week and remembered how much I like it 🙂
• Have you heard the one about the gay Republican who has spent time on Twitter asking why he should pay for health insurance since he’s young and in perfect shape? The same guy who was in a car accident and realized his hospital bill could be enormous? The same guy who, opposing “free healthcare” set up a GoFundMe campaign so others could pay his bills? I kid you not. #Karma
• Frances Abbott, daughter of former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, has made a video for the “Vote Yes” campaign regarding the current vote-by-mail survey on same-sex marriage down under. Her father has famously opposed legalizing marriage equality even though his own sister is openly lesbian.
• Virulently anti-gay Alabama state Rep. Micky Hammon pleads guilty to mail fraud after cashing campaign donation checks and then moving the money into his personal account to pay his bills.
• In Cairo, Egyptian police arrested 7 people for waving an LGBT rainbow flag during a concert by Lebanese indie rock band Mashrou’ Leila, whose lead singer is openly gay.
• Trump voters share why they began to have doubts about voting for Donald Trump:
From cabinet picks to the debate over inaugural crowd size, Trump voters share when they started having regrets https://t.co/qtWJZnqZ6n
Years in the making, the Birmingham City Council has passed a fully inclusive non-discrimination ordinance – the first in the state of Alabama – by a unanimous vote of 7-0.
Mayor William Bell has announced he will sign the ordinance into law immediately.
Via Equality Alabama:
“Today is a monumental victory for everyone who lives and works in Birmingham who are now fully protected from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. Before this ordinance was passed, you could get married on Saturday then on Monday be fired from your job, evicted from your home, or denied service because you’re LGBTQ,” said Alex Smith, executive director of Equality Alabama. “No one should be discriminated against because of who they are or whom they love, and Birmingham took action today to ensure that.”
“Today is a great day to be from Birmingham,” said Fran Hutchins, Deputy Director of Equality Federation. “I’m so proud of Equality Alabama and their partners on the ground to make this important policy possible.”
“Birmingham now joins more than 200 counties and cities in the United States that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Our neighbors in Jackson, MS, passed a fully inclusive non-discrimination ordinance over a year ago. In Alabama, both Huntsville and Mobile have human rights commissions, and Montevallo is poised to pass non-discrimination protections for its LGBTQ citizens.
The Human Rights Campaign issued this statement:
“Today, the City of Birmingham made history in Alabama by taking a crucial step toward ensuring LGBTQ residents are protected from discrimination,” said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign. “In doing so, Birmingham joins Jackson and Magnolia, Mississippi in setting an example for cities across the South to follow. Now, it is time for all southern cities to guarantee the right of LGBTQ people to live their lives free from discrimination.”
Roy Moore, former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court and current U.S. Senate candidate, said in a 2005 interview that “homosexual conduct” should be illegal.
While it doesn’t come as a surprise (Moore was ousted from his position on Alabama’s high court for failing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling which made same-sex marriage the law of the land), this is exchange was Moore’s most direct public response to the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas ruling which struck down anti-sodomy laws.
Moore, a hardline conservative Christian and former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, made the comments in an interview with liberal commentator Bill Press on C-SPAN2’s After Words. Moore appeared on the show to publicize a book he had just written about his expulsion from the court for refusing to take down a monument to the Ten Commandments.
During the interview, Press asked Moore if he believed homosexual conduct should still be illegal after the 2003 landmark Supreme Court decision in Lawrence v. Texas that struck down a state law banning sodomy, rendering similar laws across the country unconstitutional.
“What I think is that it was illegal under the law, that the Supreme Court usurped the role of the legislature and ruled something about our moral law that is improper, and that’s what we’re finding the Supreme Court and the federal district courts are doing daily,” Moore responded. “They’ve usurped the moral prerogative, now, if you want–“
Press cut in, saying, “I don’t understand your answer. I think it’s a yes or no. Do you think that homosexual–homosexuality, or homosexual conduct should be illegal today? That’s a yes or no question.”
“Homosexual conduct should be illegal, yes,” Moore answered.
In that same interview, Moore also compared gay sex to bestiality.
Press asked why the government should ban what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes, Moore compared gay sex to bestiality.
“Just because it’s done behind closed doors, it can still be prohibited by state law. Do you know that bestiality, the relationship between man and beast is prohibited in every state?” Moore asked.
“Did I ask you about having sex with a cow?” Press responded.
“No you didn’t,” Moore said.
“Or a horse, or a dog?” Press asked.
“It’s the same thing,” Moore said.
“No, it’s not. You mean homosexuality is the same thing as bestiality?” Press asked.
“It is a moral precept upon which this country was founded,” Moore said.
CNN also points out similar comments Moore made in a 2015 YouTube interview with user Lone Star Q. During that interview he was asked if he still thought homosexuality should be illegal.
Moore was direct, saying, “I think homosexuality should be illegal,” Moore said. “Sodomy was declared illegal by the United States Supreme Court in 1987, it said there was no right under the constitution to enlarge the fundamental rights of homosexuals.”
Moore currently leads in the polls in Alabama even though Donald Trump is backing Moore’s opponent, place-holder Sen. Luther Strange.
