Garmel, do you believe Juanita Broaddrick? Do you believe Paula Jones? Before "the dress" was made public, did you believe the story about Monica Lewinsky? I did and still do believe all three, even though (1) all three made their accusations under political circumstances; (2) at least two had Republican money (through Richard Mellon Scaife) associated with them; (3) had their stories reinforced and blasted by media figures who were hostile to Clinton (Limbaugh, Matt Drudge, and many others like them), and (4) at least until the dress was produced, all three were swearing matches. Furthermore, Broaddrick had made previous statements denying the rape UNDER OATH. There's nothing that damning against any of Moore's accusers. Hell, if Broaddrick's story is true, then she's a perjurer. Despite all that, I'll bet you believed all three just as I did.
The point is that all the claims you and Brad make about the accusers in the Moore controversies could have been made and were made in the Clinton controversies and with similar (and in the case of Broaddrick greater) claims of legitimacy. They looked like "hit jobs," had "right wing money" involved, and sometimes became public through nefarious means (taped phone conversations, partisan media figures, etc.). Why do I dismiss these claims in the Moore case as I did in the Clinton case? Because (with the exception of Broaddrick's prior inconsistent statement), they didn't reflect on the merits of the accusers' claims. They were attacks on the messengers and the circumstances in which the stories arose rather than substantive evidence that actually weakened the accuser's version of the facts. Most of the time, such attacks are diversions raised because the accused has no real case.
If you're choosing to believe Clinton's accusers but disbelieve Moore's, I think you need to step back and consider whether your real agenda is a concern for the truth or whether it's a concern for politics. It smells a lot more like politics, and by the way, that doesn't make you a bad guy. It makes you like the overwhelming majority of Americans nowadays who do exactly the same thing. That's why the same Democrats who are eulogizing Moore's accusers as saints were slandering Clinton's accusers as a bunch of lying skanks who should be disbelieved.
Last edited: Dec 12, 2017