# Alabama election hypothetical **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 17, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713 "2017-12-17T14:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/21 "2017-12-17T20:06:10Z")
From CNN headline page… _**Doug Jones: I may vote with GOP on some issues  Jones: Trump shouldn’t resign over allegations **_ The “D” by his name, is it like a D-- now? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/22 "2017-12-17T20:12:17Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > From CNN headline page… > _**Doug Jones: I may vote with GOP on some issues  > Jones: Trump shouldn’t resign over allegations **_ > > The “D” by his name, is it like a D-- now? Already running for re-election 2 years from now. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/23 "2017-12-17T21:13:54Z")
> [@bobot](#): > > You mentioned that you used to admire him. What was it that you found admirable? Two things. One, (hypocrite though he is), he realizes that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of morality. Two, he wants that knowledge to be spread widely. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/24 "2017-12-17T21:26:52Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Two things. One, (hypocrite though he is), he realizes that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of morality. Two, he wants that knowledge to be spread widely. He tells you what you want to hear, and you are willing to ignore his actions and hate towards others. How can you say he is hypocritical about the Ten Commandments and also say he is promoting them? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/25 "2017-12-17T21:58:31Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Two things. One, (hypocrite though he is), he realizes that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of morality. Two, he wants that knowledge to be spread widely. OK, to each his own. To me he’s a racist pig who was never admirable, regardless of the listed rules he needed to form his moral judgement. I would more likely admire someone who was a moral person because he believed in being a good person, and didn’t require being told what was right and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/26 "2017-12-17T22:24:17Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > He tells you what you want to hear, and you are willing to ignore his actions and hate towards others. How can you say he is hypocritical about the Ten Commandments and also say he is promoting them? As evidenced in another thread, in his own hand, **Flyer** , at the very minimum, embraces Moore’s bigotry towards others. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/27 "2017-12-17T23:20:24Z")
But, but, **Flyer** …those clunky gray tablets are a total PIA, what with how unwieldy they are, as congresscritters sometimes leave them on their desk, marring the nice wood finish, or if they’re brandishing them at each other on the floor. Really, the _last_ the thing a session needs are more Townshend-on-Hoffman-at-Woodstock debacles going on. And ya had to bloody go and put an excessively long-bearded Chuck Heston in my mind, asshole. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/28 "2017-12-18T00:58:50Z")
1. “That’s a good start, sir, just one question: did you go to those you aggrieved and asked forgiveness?” 2. Not in the least. His actual policies are abhorrent to me. (Plus, oh please, the Ten Commandments are not THE foundation of morality and law. Societies that do not have them in their religio/sociological heritage have morality and law too.) ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/29 "2017-12-18T01:17:57Z")
I am not surprised at all the **Flyer** admired Roy Moore. **Flyer** thinks women wearing pants are cross-dressers among others things. > [@making america great again](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/making-america-great-again/794585/14): > > Going along with that, many people today think of the 1950s as being the last period when America was “good.” Now certainly, there were many problems; racism was very widespread, even among people who (falsely) claimed to be Christians. But there were standards of decorum, and standards of at least outward morality, that have been almost totally abandoned in the last 40 years. Premarital sex was still considered shameful, instead of being celebrated in the name of “love.” Most people dressed reasonably modestly back then, instead of thinking that it would be ok to go half naked in public. Women wore skirts and dresses, instead of cross-dressing. Divorce was scandalous. Most people went to church, instead of treating Sunday as merely another day of the week. Even though many people were not actually Christians, there was a degree of religious feeling and religious knowledge that is totally lacking today. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/30 "2017-12-18T07:07:42Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > One, (hypocrite though he is), he realizes that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of morality. This premise alone is contrary to our civil society, as far as the beliefs of public servants go. Moore, the private individual, can believe that as rock-solid Revealed Truth. Moore, the public servant, must believe that the Constitution is the foundation of our legal system, and the canons of his profession are the moral foundations by which he must abide. And I can think of a big-ass piece of rock which says Moore is fundamentally incapable of making that kind of distinction. (As a mostly-irrelevant sidebar, Moore can’t even do it honestly. He could get closer to being in my good books by taking the honest route, advocating the destruction of our Constitution and the government it creates and its replacement with an honest Theocracy, based explicitly on Andy Schlafly’s Conservative Bible, which is closer to what he believes than the KJV could ever be. But he didn’t do that, and instead ignored our system of laws in order to force his lifestyle on the public.) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/31 "2017-12-18T07:40:14Z")
What amazed me was his own people didnt let him speak very much, because everytime he opened his mouth something stupid came out. His wife and spokesperson didn’t make any sense either. I cannot believe anyone who heard them could come to any conclusion other than how idiotic they were. How, I ask did anyone vote for him? It’s mystifying. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/32 "2017-12-18T08:09:25Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Virtually everybody agrees that Roy Moore is a slimeball. I used to admire him, but his recent behavior has greatly disappointed and saddened me. > > Putting that aside for the moment– > Assume you live in Alabama. When the allegations about Moore became news, assume that he issued a real apology instead of reacting as he did. Maybe something like “Yes, I did all those things, and I apologize for doing wrong. I have repented of those actions, and I have tried to live a better life in recent decades.” He takes full responsibility for his actions. > > 1. Would that make you think better of him as a person? > > 2. Would it make you more likely to vote for him? There’s a concept in rationalist circles called the “[sanity waterline](http://lesswrong.com/lw/1e/raising_the_sanity_waterline/)”. The concept is basically that there’s a certain level of civilizational sanity, and wrong ideas that are just _too_ wrong can fall beneath it and essentially become written off on a near-permanent basis. Things like geocentrism, the flat earth, etc. are all below the sanity waterline by now. Roy Moore as a whole should be below the sanity waterline. The man is a young earth creationist fundamentalist Christian. He’s a birther and a conspiracy theorist (the latest conspiracy theory: he only lost because of voter fraud). He has little to no respect for the rule of law when it violates his personal principles, as shown by the fact that he was thrown out of two previous elected positions (well, the same position twice) for flaunting the rule of law. Even if he had been convicted in a court of law of raping a 5-year-old, that wouldn’t be the thing about this scenario that worries me the most. It is incredibly hard to do as much damage by actively going out and harming people as you can do by being lousy at your job in congress. A child rapist might rape a few dozen people. A shitty congressman can contribute to the deaths of hundreds of thousands. But here’s the reality: we have someone who holds beliefs that are objectively _completely insane_ who nearly got elected to the United States Senate. _And that’s the rule, not the exception_! Electing Roy Moore in any situation should count as a strike against both Alabama as a state and _Democracy as a concept_. But then, so should electing James Inhofe, and Paul Broun, and Tim Walberg. The sanity waterline is dangerously low indeed. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/33 "2017-12-18T12:08:13Z")
All the Ten Commandments kerfuffle proved is that Moore let his religious beliefs interfere with his job as Alabama Chief Justice. His job was to interpret the law in accordance with the constitutions of Alabama and the US, not to promote a particular religion. If you were a non-Christian walking into his courtroom and saw the Ten Commandments there in stone, would you say to yourself “Gee, I’m going to get a fair shake here”? Probably not. If this behavior is admirable to you, I think you have to ask yourself and/or respect freedom of religion. Now if Moore had recognized and apologized his pedophilia, I certainly wouldn’t vote for him. You don’t get cured of pedophilia any more than you get cured of alcoholism. All you can do is continually recover from it. Moore does not deserve the public trust in any office, great or small. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/34 "2017-12-18T14:34:32Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Now if Moore had recognized and apologized his pedophilia, I certainly wouldn’t vote for him. You don’t get cured of pedophilia any more than you get cured of alcoholism. All you can do is continually recover from it. Moore does not deserve the public trust in any office, great or small. This is why I object to the sloppy use of the term “pedophile” to characterize Moore. Like it or not, men are not sick if they feel attracted to teenage girls. We, as a society, frown on men in their 30s acting on that attraction, but it’s not the same as someone who is attracted to pre-pubescent children. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/35 "2017-12-18T16:45:02Z")
[pedant]Ephebophile[/pedant} Happy now? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/36 "2017-12-18T18:40:21Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > Two things. One, (hypocrite though he is), he realizes that the Ten Commandments are the foundation of morality. Two, he wants that knowledge to be spread widely. If he wants to uphold the Ten Commandments, he should seek a career as a minister. As a public official, he’s obligated to uphold the Constitution. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/37 "2017-12-18T20:10:50Z")
Look, it may not be economical in words or have that nice “clinical” ring to it but “the kind of guy who’d feel up a 14-year-old” is a perfectly unambiguous description. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/38 "2017-12-18T20:32:28Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Approximately 48.5% of Alabama voters disagree with the above statement. > > 1. I’d appreciate the gesture, but no, I would not think better of him. > 2. Not on the best day of his miserable life. No, they just thought having a\* slimeball \*as Senator would be better than a Democrat. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/39 "2017-12-18T20:34:19Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > This is why I object to the sloppy use of the term “pedophile” to characterize Moore. Like it or not, men are not sick if they feel attracted to teenage girls. We, as a society, frown on men in their 30s acting on that attraction, but it’s not the same as someone who is attracted to pre-pubescent children. I think that\*\* 14\*\* may be in pedophile territory, John. It’s damn close. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713/40 "2017-12-18T20:36:46Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Way to show everybody who YOU really are. Do not personalize arguments in this fashion. If you feel you must, the BBQ Pit is right around the corner. > [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > I am not surprised at all the **Flyer** admired Roy Moore. **Flyer** thinks women wearing pants are cross-dressers among others things. If you want to bring up past positions or opinions, make sure they are relevant and not simply harassment. Even if this was relevant, same comment as above - do not personalize arguments in this fashion. No warnings for the above two comments. This however: > [@Guest-starring\_Id](#): > > And ya had to bloody go and put an excessively long-bearded Chuck Heston in my mind, asshole. This is a warning for personal insults. If you feel you must, the BBQ Pit is right around the corner. [/moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alabama-election-hypothetical/804713.md?page=3)