Difference between revisions of "Roy Moore"

Revision as of 03:05, December 14, 2017

Roy Moore
Former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (second term) From: January 15, 2013 – April 26, 2017
Predecessor	Chuck Malone
Successor	Lyn Stuart
Former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court (first term) From: January 15, 2001 – November 13, 2003
Predecessor	Perry O. Hooper, Sr.
Successor	J. Gorman Houston, Jr.
Former Circuit Judge of the Sixteenth Alabama Circuit From: 1992 – 2000
Predecessor	William Millican
Successor	Julius Swann
Information
Party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kayla
Religion	Christianity (Baptist)
Military Service
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	U.S. Army
Service Years	1969–1974
Rank	Captain
Unit	504th Military Police Battalion
Battles/wars	Vietnam War

Roy Stewart Moore (born February 11, 1947)^[1] was the conservative candidate for the United States Senate from Alabama. He also served as the elected chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, having served two nonconsecutive terms on that court. Prior to that, he served as a circuit judge and an assistant district attorney. Moore is a Vietnam War veteran.

Moore is a Christian best known for refusing to cave into the secular agenda of federal judicial supremacy in regards to the display of the Ten Commandments on public ground and the issuing of "marriage licenses" to homosexual couples and instead choosing to stand by Alabama state law on the matters, acts which caused him to be improperly suspended from his position twice. The mainstream media has noted Moore's history of bouncing back to an equal or greater position after suffering defeat.^[2]

Moore has been harshly attacked on multiple occasions by both liberals and establishment Republicans for his Christian, conservative, and anti-establishment views.

Early life and education

Moore was born in 1947 in Gadsden, Alabama.^[1] He graduated from West Point in 1969,^[3] and according to his classmates, he was disciplined and had an honorable character.^[4] Moore served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam as a military police company commander, and after his service finished he earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1977.^[3][5]

Legal career

Moore served as deputy district attorney in Etowah County, Alabama, from 1977 to 1982.^[3] In 1984, he began a private law practice, but in 1992, he became a judge of the Sixteenth Judicial Circuit of Alabama, a position which he held until 2000, when he was elected to the Alabama Supreme Court.^[3]

Supreme Court of Alabama

Ten Commandments

On August 1, 2001, Moore installed a 5,280-pound monument of the Ten Commandments in the Alabama judicial building.^[6] His action caused an uproar, particularly among liberals, who claimed the monument violated the separation of church and state, and in October three attorneys supported by the leftist organizations SPLC, ACLU, and AUSCS sued Moore.^[6]

On November 18, 2002, a U.S. district judge ruled against Moore, and later the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta also ruled against him.^[6] Moore rejected the orders to remove the monument, and was suspended and eventually removed from office on November 13, 2003.^[6][7] Moore unsuccessfully appealed his removal to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2004.^[8]

Re-election

Moore was re-elected as chief justice in November 2012 with about 52 percent of the vote.^[5][9]

Homosexual "marriage"

Moore presided as Chief Justice the same time as homosexual "marriage" was being "legalized" across the nation via judicial fiat and corruption. A federal judge had illegally ruled Alabama's gay marriage ban "unconstitutional", and its "legalization" was set to take effect on February 9, 2015. The day before, Moore ordered the state's probate judges and their employees to continue to enforce Alabama law, disregarding the court ruling.^[10] After the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges ruling, on January 6, 2016, Moore ordered the probate courts to stop issuing same-sex "marriage licenses".^[11]

On May 7, 2016, Moore was illegally^[12] suspended from the bench by the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission for continuing to uphold Alabama law—which, despite the illegal claims otherwise by the five liberal judges of the United States Supreme Court, outlaws same-sex "marriage" and is still in effect. His suspension was based upon the filing of frivolous complaints filed by leftist hate group and terrorism-enabler the Southern Poverty Law Center and a number of other homosexual agenda-supporting groups and individuals who support the illegal imposition of same-sex "marriage" by the US Supreme Court—via the unconstitutional Obergefell v. Hodges ruling in 2015—and other corrupt federal judges.^[13] Supporters of same-sex "marriage" and the illegal^[12] suspension of Moore have taken to making childish and immature attacks and false allegations against Moore and his character at the Facebook pages of both the SPLC and the fellow leftist "Human Rights" Campaign in response.^[14][15]

On September 30, 2016, Alabama's Court of the Judiciary, which also chose to ignore Alabama law like the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission before it, illegally^[12] acted to suspend Moore for the remainder of his term, which ends in 2019, without pay.^[16][17][18] Moore appealed the suspension on October 4, and his lawyer noted that one month prior, the COJ suspended a probate judge merely six months for sexting.^[19]

Attempts by conservative media outlets to get an explanation from J. Michael Joiner, a criminal appeals judge and the head of the Court of the Judiciary panel that imposed the illegal suspension on Moore, were ignored by Joiner's office, clearly indicating that Joiner knew what he and the panel had done was wrong.^[16] Liberty Counsel, which represented Moore in the legal proceedings over the suspension case, accused the COJ of bias, abuse of political power and breaking the law for their actions against Moore, adding that the SPLC's attack on Moore which led to his illegal^[12] suspension was politically motivated (an accusation also leveled against the Judicial Inquiry Commission), based on nothing more than Moore's position on marriage.^[16]

Resignation

Moore resigned from his second term as Chief Justice on April 26, 2017, in order to run for the U.S. Senate.^[20]

2017 special Senate election

In April 2017, Moore announced he would run for U.S. Senate in a special election to be held later that year.^[21] He ran on the right in the GOP primary.^[22] On the eve of the first primary election, Moore was gaining in the polling of Republican voters.^[23] In the Republican primary held on August 15, 2017, Moore won first place with 39 percent of the vote^[24][25] and advanced to the runoff against incumbent interim Senator Luther Strange.^[26][27][28] Moore was six percentage points ahead of Strange despite the fact that he spent 17 times less per vote than Strange.^[29] President Donald Trump congratulated Moore along with Strange, whom he endorsed.^[30][31] Moore was endorsed by Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows^[32] and the Senate Conservatives Fund, among others.^[33] Steve Bannon and Breitbart also supported Moore.^[34][35]

Moore defied the established political correctness in his words,^[36] and, like Donald Trump before him, he was described as breaking "all the rules of modern-day politics."^[37]

Moore overcame Strange in the runoff election,^[38] despite Strange being endorsed by President Trump and supported by the GOP establishment and being massively outspent by Strange.^[39][40] President Trump congratulated Moore for his win.^[41]

Gene Mills, president of the Louisiana Family Forum and a staunch Moore supporter said, "Roy Moore has committed to memory more of the U.S. Constitution than most of his future colleagues combined have recently read! ... To those who know Roy, he is a kind, humble man, committed to the point that he is willing to sacrifice his reputation and public pension for principle. .... He would be a force of Constitutional Reconstructionism in the U.S. Senate! He would also quickly rise above the rancor and political games employed by so many today. Moore's entrance into the U.S. Senate could be likened to the Reformation birthed 500 years ago ... Essential liberty would be well served by Moore's election!"^[42]

Left-wing/MSM attacks

See also: Politics of personal destruction

On November 9, 2017 (1 month and 3 days before the general election), The Washington Post^[43] published an article with allegations of four women claiming that Moore sexually abused them 34 years prior, with three of the accusations not even involving lewd acts done by Moore^[44] – in several aspects besides their authenticity, these accusations mirrored the Access Hollywood recording The Washington Post released 1 month and 2 days prior to Donald Trump's election. A few days later, a woman represented by the prominent left-wing feminist attorney and Democrat Party activist Gloria Allred made additional accusations.^[45] It was found that establishment Republicans were responsible for The Washington Post story.^[46]

Many people across the political spectrum jumped to conclusions almost immediately after the politicized^[47] allegations were revealed. Establishment Republicans tried to force Moore to step down simply upon hearing of the allegations.^[48] RINOs, including Mitch McConnell,^[49][50] Paul Ryan,^[51] John McCain,^[50] Mitt Romney,^[52] Jeb Bush,^[53] John Kasich,^[54] Jeff Flake^[55] (who endorsed the left-wing Democrat candidate^[56] and even donated to him^[57]), Bob Corker,^[58] the Republican National Committee^[59] (although it later reversed and supported Moore^[60]), and the establishment Senate Leadership Fund^[61] (which, despite its stated mission to help elect Republicans, refused to help Moore upon hearing the allegations^[62]), either called outright on Moore to leave the race or attacked those defending Moore. These GOP members did this due to their pre-existing dislike of Moore and his conservative and Christian positions,^[54][63] something seen in the fact that they remained silent about the concurrent sexual misconduct allegations surrounding liberal Republican George H. W. Bush,^[64] as well as the fact that they (including the media) either ignored or even defended (including the Republicans) Democrat Senator Bob Menendez from similar allegations for which he was facing criminal charges.^[65] When Democrat Senator Al Franken was revealed and admitted (at the same time as the incidents surrounding Moore) to have said and done perverse sexual acts against others, the same people who condemned Moore, including Mitch McConnell, were significantly more lenient toward him.^[66]

Moore strongly denied the allegations,^[67] stated that McConnell should step down instead,^[68] and, like Trump before him, stayed strong and refused to step down.^[69] Moore's wife of 32 years became his strongest defender from the allegations,^[70] and conservative Christians, with good reason, continued to support Moore.^[71]

In response to the several allegations against him, Moore released a list of 12 women who affirmed the high quality of his character even in the 1970s.^[72]

Republican Party Sabotage

The GOP establishment made an attempt to stop Moore's election when Lee Busby, who attended a fundraiser for Moore's left-wing Democrat challenger,^[73] began a write-in campaign two weeks before the election.^[74] Additionally, they purchased ads against Moore to further undermine his candidacy.^[75][76]

Conservative support

Despite the treatment from the media and the GOP, Moore enjoyed continued support from the conservative base who is increasingly frustrated with the broken promises of the party and the dishonest attacks disguised as news. Conservative Republicans, including Steve Bannon,^[77] Rush Limbaugh,^[78] and Mo Brooks,^[79] continued to stand by Moore due to the suspiciousness of the allegations and attacks, in addition to Moore's consistently conservative positions versus his opponent's left-wing stances. Commentators such as Thomas Wictor, who disagrees with Moore on most political positions, investigated the accusations made against him and found that Moore was innocent of them.^[80]

The Alabama GOP continued to stand with Moore,^[81] and Republican Alabama governor Kay Ivey refused to bow to establishment pressure to move the Senate date in their attempt to end Moore's candidacy.^[82] U.S. President Donald Trump also eventually gave support for Moore, noting the left-wing positions of his opponent,^[83] and he later endorsed Moore outright.^[84]

Results

While Moore gained back some ground, he was not able to fully recover from the media and establishment attacks. Democrat Jones massively outspent Moore in the election,^[85] and President Trump never traveled to Alabama to campaign for Moore. Additionally, the liberal media attacks against Moore were successful at energizing the Democrat base. As a result, Jones narrowly defeated Moore in the general election,^[86] much to the delight of the establishment GOP.^[87][88] President Trump stated that "Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him."^[89]

Controversy over Senate election

Suspicions have already begun, however, that voter fraud may have played a major factor in Jones' victory over Moore, as reports came in of Democrat voters being bussed in, most likely from out-of-state, to vote in the Alabama Senate election.^[90] Reports also came in of felons, who are not legally allowed to vote under Alabama law, being registered to vote in the weeks ahead of the election, as well as African-American voters from other states (including Georgia, Mississippi and Tennessee) being called on via Reddit to come to Alabama to vote in the election.^[91] Suspicious voting surges in Jones' favor late into the ballot count, which enabled Jones to get ahead of Moore, have also spurred accusations of voter fraud in the election.^[92] As a result of the voter fraud allegations, Moore has called for a recount in the election.

Other activities

Moore unsuccessfully ran for Alabama Governor in 2006 and 2010, and he considered running for U.S. president in the 2012 election.^[93] Moore served as the president of the Foundation for Moral Law from 2004^[1][3] until 2013, and since 2013, he has served as President Emeritus of the foundation.^[94] Moore also has ties with the paleoconservative Constitution Party, and CP activists have attempted to recruit Moore to run for president under their party in 2004, 2008, and 2012.^[93][95]

Personal life

Moore "worked as a cattle rancher in the Australian outback"^[96] in the early 1980s.

Moore is married to his wife Kayla, and together they have four children.^[1][3] Moore is a strong Christian, and he attends First Baptist Church in Gallant, Alabama.^[3] Moore has written a book entitled So Help Me God: The Ten Commandments, Judicial Tyranny, and the Battle for Religious Freedom.^[97]

References

External links

• The Foundation for Moral Law
• Profile on Ballotpedia