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mcar

(42,307 posts)
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 04:47 PM Sep 2017

Pierce: Im Out of Empathy. Im Out of Pity. Im Out of Patience.

...Any report about Roy Moore that doesn’t specifically refer to him as a right-wing extremist is not worth your time. No more “firebrand.” No more impotent yap about his “controversial views.” Roy Moore is an extremist or the word no longer has meaning. If, as appears likely, he gets elected to the Senate from Alabama, then a majority of Alabama voters are extremists, too. If he gets elected, then the Republican Party ever more should be referred to as an extremist party. That, of course, is if we’re being honest about what’s really going on in this country in 2017.

And, no, when it comes to the people who voted for Moore, I don’t have to “respect their beliefs.” I don’t have to “understand where they’re coming from.” I don’t have to “see it from their side.” These people are preparing to make a lawless theocratic lunatic one of 100 United States Senators, and that means these people are about to inflict him and his medievalism on me, too. If you think that Roy Moore belongs in the Senate, then you are a half-bright goober whose understanding of American government and basic civics probably stops at the left side of your AM radio dial. You have no concept of the national interest and very little concept of your own, unless, as I suspect, you’ve made your own fears, and hating people and hawking loogies in all directions, the sum total of your involvement in self-government. You are killing democracy and you don’t know it or care. If you had any real Christian charity in your hearts, you’d keep Roy Moore in the locked ward of your local politics and not loose him on a nation that deserves so much better than him....

Because he’s a lawless theocratic lunatic, that’s how. Because you voted for him specifically because he was a lawless theocratic lunatic. It was the basis of his campaign, no matter how many times Steve Bannon tells you you’re part of a bold populist crusade. He very likely doesn’t know enough about tax policy to throw to the cat, so he’ll go along on that as long as they let him make his floor speeches about how Cecile Richards is an imp from hell. (Condom: The Devil’s Party Hat.) And you’ll cheer him so loudly that you won’t even notice that your pocket’s being picked again by someone with a solid-gold Rolex on his wrist.

I’m out of empathy for this stuff. I’m out of pity. I’m out of patience. And, not for nothing, but Moore’s opponent is a guy named Douglas Jones. In 2001, Jones convicted two men for the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963, one of the iconic white supremacist terrorist acts of that period. One of those bastards already died in prison and the other keeps getting denied parole. If you’d rather be represented in the Senate by a lawless theocratic lunatic, rather than a guy that finally got justice for four murdered little girls, well, you deserve anything that goddamn happens to you.

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a12484953/who-is-roy-moore/

63 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Pierce: Im Out of Empathy. Im Out of Pity. Im Out of Patience. (Original Post) mcar Sep 2017 OP
Love the writing of Charles Pierce Moral Compass Sep 2017 #1
One more piece of the white supremacist puzzle thegoose Sep 2017 #2
Trump's endorsement of Strange was ... Whiskeytide Sep 2017 #42
K&R murielm99 Sep 2017 #3
I don't know how Moore could be sworn in mnhtnbb Sep 2017 #4
Remember the first "Indiana Jones" when the swastika on the crate containing the Ark burnt off? Girard442 Sep 2017 #24
Same way trump could. volstork Sep 2017 #34
"Neither of them give a shit about the Constitution" FiveGoodMen Sep 2017 #61
Standing ovation!! brer cat Sep 2017 #5
When Roy Moore picks up a Bible Zorro Sep 2017 #6
People who vote for him are beyond the reach of Democrats ehrnst Sep 2017 #7
People who vote for him are beyond the reach of sanity and decency. nt hvn_nbr_2 Sep 2017 #12
Yes! mcar Sep 2017 #17
K&R gademocrat7 Sep 2017 #8
K&R ismnotwasm Sep 2017 #9
k and r Achilleaze Sep 2017 #10
K& Fucking R. n/t rzemanfl Sep 2017 #11
I just wish the people he's addressing could read it NastyRiffraff Sep 2017 #13
Hit it; hit it hard; hit it repeatedly gratuitous Sep 2017 #14
EXCELLENT Duppers Sep 2017 #15
Damn Right! Leith Sep 2017 #16
Irishman Bannon isn't really a Christian Teddy Rattlesnake Sep 2017 #18
Sigh.... Marcuse Sep 2017 #19
That is a great toon mcar Sep 2017 #20
Great toon! burrowowl Sep 2017 #35
nice one Angry Dragon Sep 2017 #58
K&R smirkymonkey Sep 2017 #21
YES! He isn't a "firebrand" or "controversial". He is a BIGOT, a law-breaker, and a crackpot. nt Maven Sep 2017 #22
Yup. concreteblue Sep 2017 #23
How I wish I could rec this at least 62-million times. calimary Sep 2017 #25
Oh, I understand where they are coming from all to well. Ligyron Sep 2017 #46
There's also a very strong possibility that they yearn for him to wipe "that" out of the history calimary Sep 2017 #63
Fuck Roy Moore!!!!!!! Initech Sep 2017 #26
It's a cheap media market we can start to saturate sending even $20 to doug jones stuffmatters Sep 2017 #27
As usual, Charlie Pierce speaks for me. Paladin Sep 2017 #28
American Taliban Martin Eden Sep 2017 #29
You beat me to it. mjvpi Sep 2017 #31
I have many Iranian friends. I know how they feel when they tell me about home. mjvpi Sep 2017 #30
Trump's base desparately want white hierarchy Juliusseizure Sep 2017 #32
Not just "an extremist." He's an extremist religious fundamentalist, extremist racist, extremist Nitram Sep 2017 #33
Hats off to Chaz Pierce, once again Hekate Sep 2017 #36
30% of the country is irrational, uninformed, spiteful and stubborn beyond reason. King_Klonopin Sep 2017 #37
The ghost of Jefferson Davis is really riled up. So to hell with him. VOX Sep 2017 #38
A liberal writer from the northeast calling Alabamans "half-bright goobers" oberliner Sep 2017 #39
Not all Alabamans, El Mimbreno Sep 2017 #41
All the white people who live in Alabama oberliner Sep 2017 #45
When talking about a state or a country, we smoetimes refer to the majority as "all" louis c Sep 2017 #47
The vast majority of white people in Alabama oberliner Sep 2017 #48
It's a slur orangecrush Sep 2017 #50
The phrase is thruthful, when phrased like that louis c Sep 2017 #54
That is not relevant to the point that I am making oberliner Sep 2017 #55
Moore can wave the bible around as much as he wants DFW Sep 2017 #40
K&R... spanone Sep 2017 #43
K&R nt ProudProgressiveNow Sep 2017 #44
K&R orangecrush Sep 2017 #49
Roy Moore - poster boy for Murika's Christian Sharia Party (fka GOP) bigbrother05 Sep 2017 #51
The earth is flat & how did they get 2 Tyrannosaurus rex on the ark? Motley13 Sep 2017 #52
Agree treestar Sep 2017 #53
I never had any to begin with. 58Sunliner Sep 2017 #56
Moore is nothing more than SATAN Angry Dragon Sep 2017 #57
His voters believe he's a Godly man because he defends religious crap lunatica Sep 2017 #59
K&R UCmeNdc Sep 2017 #60
And, apparently, out of Dark n Stormy Knight Sep 2017 #62
 

thegoose

(3,115 posts)
2. One more piece of the white supremacist puzzle
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 05:03 PM
Sep 2017

Bannon slithers out from under the gin bottle to support this bastard. Dump has no problem and switches allegiances to this bastard.

Anyone else spot a theme?

Whiskeytide

(4,461 posts)
42. Trump's endorsement of Strange was ...
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 10:20 AM
Sep 2017

... not enthusiastic. He stated they were both good people, and that he'd support Moore if Moore won the primary. He said these things at a Strange campaign rally. That was all voters needed to tell them Trump was ok with Moore. McConnell and the R establishment know what he did. They are pissed about it, but of course cannot call him out on it.

But I think this is good evidence of the REAL plan.

I suspect pushing Moore over the top was Bannon's goal all along, and Trump was playing along while sticking a thumb in McConnell's eye. This is Trump/Bannon's idea of political strategy. They are knifing the R establishment in the back every chance they get because that creates fear, and they believe fear encourages loyalty.

I think Bannon - and therefore Trump - is actually quite pleased with the dysfunction in the republican congress because it fuels Bannon's "burn it all down" fantasy. Chaos is all part of the plan in Bannon's twisted little mind.

mnhtnbb

(31,384 posts)
4. I don't know how Moore could be sworn in
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 05:06 PM
Sep 2017

If elected. He obviously doesn't support the Constitution of the United States.

Girard442

(6,070 posts)
24. Remember the first "Indiana Jones" when the swastika on the crate containing the Ark burnt off?
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 07:27 PM
Sep 2017

That was just a movie. That won't happen when Moore puts his hand on the Bible to take the oath of office.

It won't, but it should.

volstork

(5,400 posts)
34. Same way trump could.
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 10:28 PM
Sep 2017

Neither of them give a shit about the Constitution or the American people, but that didn't stop it from happening.

We are in a death spiral and we are all to stupid or numb to see it...

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
61. "Neither of them give a shit about the Constitution"
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 03:41 PM
Sep 2017

True for the entire GOP and all of their supporters.

(Not counting the 2nd Amendment, of course)

 

ehrnst

(32,640 posts)
7. People who vote for him are beyond the reach of Democrats
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 05:19 PM
Sep 2017

And we should not be fucking fooled into thinking we can appeal to them with some sort of economic plan that involves the government they hate so much, they will vote in an imbecile to "shake it all up."

NastyRiffraff

(12,448 posts)
13. I just wish the people he's addressing could read it
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 05:57 PM
Sep 2017

or could read at all. I know there are good people in Alabama (just heading off the inevitable but...buts from certain people on DU). I know not everybody in that state voted for Moore. I ALSO know that a majority of those voting in that primary DID vote for him, and I have to assume they did so because they agree with him until there's evidence to the contrary.

I agree with Pierce. I have no pity or understanding left for these people.

gratuitous

(82,849 posts)
14. Hit it; hit it hard; hit it repeatedly
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 05:58 PM
Sep 2017

Doug Jones is a man who believes in the United States and its Constitution; Roy Moore is not. It's that stark. It's that simple. I hope Jones spends the next 10 weeks criss-crossing Alabama with that message. Get people registered. Get them to the polls. Ignore the bullshit the Republicans will be slinging, and concentrate on Jones and his record. Ignore people who say he can't possibly win. This is a short campaign season, and Alabama's a cheap media market. It won't take big pots of money to run an effective campaign. What it will take is an indefatigable candidate who will speak to any assembly of three or more voters all over the state, and a small army of volunteers.. Talk to every media outlet from the major network affiliates to the Weekly Screamer in East Podunk, without the Fox filter.

Let's see what happens, shall we?

Leith

(7,809 posts)
16. Damn Right!
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 06:13 PM
Sep 2017

These idiots keep voting for the worst of the worst. They deserve any and all insults flying their way.

 
18. Irishman Bannon isn't really a Christian
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 06:26 PM
Sep 2017

In Roy Moore's eyes because he's a Catholic. But many Southern Baptists like Moore don't consider anyone else who isn't a SB to be a Christian either. Moore will be the Todd Aiken of 2018.

Maven

(10,533 posts)
22. YES! He isn't a "firebrand" or "controversial". He is a BIGOT, a law-breaker, and a crackpot. nt
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 07:05 PM
Sep 2017

calimary

(81,238 posts)
25. How I wish I could rec this at least 62-million times.
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 07:28 PM
Sep 2017

For every last one of the Deplorables/Despicables who fell for trump/pence/moore. And who vote for this theocratic, Christofascist crap.

A longtime friend of mine told me recently (when I was mumbling the points expressed in this column to myself, months ago) "but... but... but... you need to UNDERSTAND these people. You really need to UNDERSTAND where they're COMING from... " And even back then, my response was - "THE HELL I do! I don't have to understand SQUAT!!! When THEY start understanding what gullible, naive, misinformed, ignorant, 6th-Century-BC IDIOTS they are, THEN maybe I'll understand!"

Like Charlie Pierce, I too am OUT of empathy for this stuff. I’m out of pity. I’m out of patience.

Ligyron

(7,632 posts)
46. Oh, I understand where they are coming from all to well.
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 11:25 AM
Sep 2017

They support a bigoted authoritarian who believes in a very particular supernatural fantasy which is largely at odds with the instruction book supporting said supernatural fantasy.

calimary

(81,238 posts)
63. There's also a very strong possibility that they yearn for him to wipe "that" out of the history
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 09:22 PM
Sep 2017

books. The fact that, for eight years, there was a black guy in the Oval Office and he wasn't the janitor.

Yet, meantime, this vulgar deceitful orange oaf saying all kinds of vulgar deceitful shit, in public, gets only tsk-tsk'd about it and suffers no serious consequences for it - and in effect, MAKING IT OKAY. Now you CAN say any old offensive nasty sexist racist misogynist thing you feel like saying (that you feel deep down in your heart-of-hearts but never had the nerve to spew out loud in public) and it's okay. He's normalized this shit. So people who feel, and share, that same nasty, selfish, thoughtless, mean-spirited, hateful, and downright un-American but never had the nerve to say so - now have all the encouragement in the world to do so. "Well, the president says that, so why can't I say it?" How many times have YOU heard or read that quote by now? I've heard it and seen it in print quite a lot. It's been normalized, validated, and excused.

stuffmatters

(2,574 posts)
27. It's a cheap media market we can start to saturate sending even $20 to doug jones
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 07:38 PM
Sep 2017

I'm doing this today, pronto.

Paladin

(28,254 posts)
28. As usual, Charlie Pierce speaks for me.
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 07:45 PM
Sep 2017

Roy Moore is a psychotic, theocratic scofflaw who has no business holding public office. If he gets into the Senate, I hope he does maximum damage to whatever remains of the common-sense republican party, and I hope Democrats take maximum advantage of that damage.

mjvpi

(1,388 posts)
30. I have many Iranian friends. I know how they feel when they tell me about home.
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 08:20 PM
Sep 2017

Roy Moore is the American Taliban. I realize that I'm pulling Iran and Afghanistan into the same example. The people who voted for Moore are the descendants of Confedeate cannon fodder. When is the religious fight going to realize that they continually get used by the .1%? Vote with me while I pick your pocket. Like one friend from Iran said, "they are a simple people".

Juliusseizure

(562 posts)
32. Trump's base desparately want white hierarchy
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 08:31 PM
Sep 2017

Generalizing here, but - that base just wants minorities to know their place like it used to be circa 1966 or earlier.

Take a look at YouTube and videos of Trump rallies. It's obvious to me they were holding in race-based rage for 8 years (flipside-fear of losing their perceived identity and hierarchy). Research based articles corroborate, but those videos just scream it.

By far the most passionate audience responses were for his racist and anti Hillary rhetoric. They were unexcited on economic issues. You hear racist catcalls during all of Trump's speeches, when he's alluding to other subjects.

I read these Alabama voters "hate" McConnell and the GOP establishment because they haven't done enough to help Trump's agenda, but more accurately, the racist agenda.

The issue summed up as a question- How could you let all the Mexicans in, invite minorities to share power, acquiesce to democrats on such issues, so that a black man thought he could be president and became president, threatening "our US" existentially? We'll vote for complete nut jobs - like Trump - like whoever - to reverse course.

I think people like Corker know this.

This will gain momentum as long as Trump's in there, because he's ultimately led by his base. When he saw MAGA hats being burned on his DACA agreement, he got the hint.

Nitram

(22,794 posts)
33. Not just "an extremist." He's an extremist religious fundamentalist, extremist racist, extremist
Wed Sep 27, 2017, 10:05 PM
Sep 2017

anti-constitutionalist, extremist anti-American.

King_Klonopin

(1,306 posts)
37. 30% of the country is irrational, uninformed, spiteful and stubborn beyond reason.
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 02:21 AM
Sep 2017

They are called the Republican Base.

On MSNBC, they interviewed a few folks from Alabama re: the primary --

Only one man said he would consider voting for the Democratic candidate.

All the rest offered variations of this response: "We know Moore
is a batshit-crazy, lunatic-fringe, southern-racist, theocratic asshole...
but the Democrat is worse."

You can't fix stupid of this degree. You can only hope and pray that this
species will become extinct ASAP. I hope that stupid gun goes off in his
pocket and shoots his tiny dick off.

VOX

(22,976 posts)
38. The ghost of Jefferson Davis is really riled up. So to hell with him.
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 05:20 AM
Sep 2017

To hell with all these Confederate yahoos and KKK terrorists.

If they want to live in a fundy-xtian-racist-homophobic-reactionary nation, then they can secede again. Please, secede; you really can go this time, because I do think we have irreconcilable differences.

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
45. All the white people who live in Alabama
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 11:23 AM
Sep 2017

Pretty much voted for Trump.

I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment (i.e. that those who voted for Trump are foolish for doing so) but I do think that this kind of article using this kind of language is not helpful for our side.

 

louis c

(8,652 posts)
47. When talking about a state or a country, we smoetimes refer to the majority as "all"
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 11:30 AM
Sep 2017

when in fact, common sense would tell us differently.

I always try to tell political politicians I work with not use that phrase, "we" when referring to the body that you disagree with.

Example : Hilary said that "We will eliminate coal jobs in America, so we have to have new training programs for these workers". She didn't mean that she was actively closing coal mines. If she said "As America chooses to move into new and innovative methods to fuel our nation, we have to recommit to the employees in those sectors that need our help by increasing training in those new jobs."

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
48. The vast majority of white people in Alabama
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 12:00 PM
Sep 2017

Are being referred to as "half-bright goobers" by this writer.

Tell me how someone being grouped in that category is supposed to respond to that.

orangecrush

(19,546 posts)
50. It's a slur
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 12:42 PM
Sep 2017

Against real "Goobers".


/revision/latest?cb=20140201054843

iirc, "Goober" was a really nice, kind hearted guy without a mean bone in his body.

 

oberliner

(58,724 posts)
55. That is not relevant to the point that I am making
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 01:12 PM
Sep 2017

If your wife asks you how she looks in a dress and you think she looks horrible, it would be truthful to tell her so, but not necessarily the best option.

DFW

(54,370 posts)
40. Moore can wave the bible around as much as he wants
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 06:20 AM
Sep 2017

He has a gun in the other hand. An armadillo is more of a Christian than he is.

Motley13

(3,867 posts)
52. The earth is flat & how did they get 2 Tyrannosaurus rex on the ark?
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 12:49 PM
Sep 2017

And how did Mary convince everyone she was a virgin?

treestar

(82,383 posts)
53. Agree
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 12:50 PM
Sep 2017

And we can help get the vote out - haven't they closed a lot of polling places and made it harder for black people there to vote. What can we do to help them get registered and get to the polls?

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
59. His voters believe he's a Godly man because he defends religious crap
Thu Sep 28, 2017, 02:12 PM
Sep 2017

So, just to hedge their bets with God on death day, they vote for God's best servant.

Very religious people are deep down terrified of God. He's an angry white man who loves to smite people.

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