From: Steve Schoettmer
Elizabethtown
The Washington Post sent a team of reporters to the state of Alabama and tasked them with the responsibility of looking into Alabama’s Republican senatorial candidate, Roy Moore, and here’s what they did:
They interviewed several women and eventually wrote an article that accuses Roy Moore of pedophilia. These women did not come forward; they were sought out, and The Post found 30 witnesses that confirmed their stories.
It is predicted that Roy Moore will still win his race over a decent Democratic candidate because the Democratic candidate — though he isn’t accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl — had the audacity to register and run as a Democrat (oh, the shame). That is simply a bridge too far for many white conservatives.
I was thinking of writing about how obscene this is, but if you are not part of the subgroup I just mentioned, you already know that, and if you are, there is nothing I could say that would sway you.
But there is hope, and it is called karma.
On Nov. 7, several statewide elections were conducted across this country, and it had the feeling of a Bruce Willis sequel after a cliffhanger ending. The red areas of the states still came out and voted as strong as they ever had, but those that oppose the obscenity that has become Republican politics came out and made their voices heard. They voted.
In Virginia:
- A transgender woman beat the state Republican who wrote the anti-transgender bathroom bill.
- The boyfriend of a shooting victim defeated a super pro-NRA Republican statehouse member.
It is my hope that in Indiana next year, karma will leave its fingerprints here as well. Statehouse and senatorial Republicans need to be held accountable for:
- Killing the gerrymandering legislation in committee, even though there was obvious support for it.
- Siding with the power company monopolies over their own constituents and phasing out consumers receiving net metering for their solar panels.
- Attaching a $150 annual fine on individuals who buy hybrid automobiles.
- Cutting taxes on the rich and then sliding that tax over on the poor by raising the gas tax by 10 cents per gallon.
Our districts are so gerrymandered that these Republican candidates know they are safe, and so they no longer fear their constituents. That is not how it should be. Things are no longer in balance, and that cannot be permitted. But that does not mean their re-election is certain.
To quote one of my favorite movies, “V for Vendetta” — “there are no certainties, only opportunities.”
