Republican leaders such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are softening their tone on accused pedophile and former judge Roy Moore as Tuesday’s U.S. Senate election in Alabama approaches. And now so is Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Yuma).
Gardner maintains that the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), which he helms for the 2018 cycle, will absolutely not support Moore’s candidacy. Of that, Gardner has been fairly consistent…but now he’s starting to backpedal on what happens if Moore wins on Tuesday.
Here’s the exact exchange between Gardner and Fox 31 reporter Joe St. George, as reported today:
JSG: “If Roy Moore wins, should he be seated?”
GARDNER: “Again, that’s a question…that’s a Constitutional question to the Supreme Court.”
New: @SenCoryGardner on Roy Moore…I asked if he wins should he be seated. Gardner says that is a constitutional issue #roymoore #ALSenate pic.twitter.com/wNpCiZoxqq
— Joe St. George (@JoeStGeorge) December 8, 2017
This is a considerably different answer than the one Gardner gave on November 13. As the Denver Post reported at the time:
“I believe the individuals speaking out against Roy Moore spoke with courage and truth, proving he is unfit to serve in the United States Senate and he should not run for office,” Gardner said in a statement. “If he refuses to withdraw and wins, the Senate should vote to expel him, because he does not meet the ethical and moral requirements of the United States Senate.”
President Trump, the latter of whom is doubling-down on his support of Moore. Trump is in Pensacola, Florida today for a rally that is totally not at all about Roy Moore and the fact that Pensacola is in the same television market as Mobile, Alabama.
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your cute image has the wrong second date
I thought Republican male politicians only did that in airport restrooms……
Fucking Corwardly Lyin’ . . .
. . . the man answers fewer direct questions than Moderatus.
I think Cory really meant to say how proud he is we finally got the buffoon we deserve in the White House, and with any luck, the racist pedophile in the Senate to liven things up a bit in that staid old chamber!
I think Willard would describe it as the stained old chamber?
I'm sure Cory is waffling, but this doesn't show it.
Whether Moore should be seated is an entirely different question from whether he should be expelled once he's been seated. Frankly, Cory is right that seating an elected official is a constitutional question to be answered by the Supreme Court. In fact, they have answered it, decades ago in the case of Adam Clayton Powell, and the answer was that Congress can't refuse to seat someone who meets the requirements laid out in the Constitution for office (age, citizenship, residency).
So, asking Cory if Moore should "be seated:" (1) misunderstands how things work, and (2) gives Cory an out to say nonsense like this. A better informed person would ask Cory if he will introduce a measure to expel Moore if Judge "Please show me on this doll where he touched you" is elected.
Things in the Moore race are getting interesting as one of the Moore accusers now says she wrote part of the infamous yearbook statement.
My prediction:
Moore wins the Alabama special election by nearly five times the margain that Gardner won his last election.
He will be seated without an expel challenge from a single Republican.
We will hear that, “the voters of Alabama have spoken”, from sundry GOPer talking heads, and from President Fruit Loops that “the people of Alabama have strongly endorsed the Trump agenda.”
That's an awful prediction to shine your light on Light Bringer. What's that say about the voters in Alabama? What's that say about the American people that Franken needed to resign but Moore winning is vindication? How fucked up is our country when both events are happening simultaneously in our politics. This is just fucked up.
Moore is going to win and McConnell is going to kill any ethics investigation: "The people of Alabama have spoken."
Hey, maybe Trump will get 2 more seats on the Supreme Court. Our Greatest President Ever!
In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't get to decide these questions. The determination of these questions is vested by the U.S. Constitution in the U.S. Senate, who resolves them as a political question which is beyond the jurisdiction of the U.S. Supreme Court.
U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 5, Clauses 1-2.
You can't seriously fault an average man on the street for not knowing an obscure point of constitutional law.
But, if you are a U.S. Senator who has previously made a public statement about the Senate's powers under another part of the same Article and Section of the U.S. Constitution a few days earlier, you should really know better.
No constitutional law points for Cory Gardner.
As I noted above, this is not correct.
Powell v McCormack
The Senate can certainly expel a seated member, and Cory should be put to the test on that, but deciding to seat a member is limited to whether the member has been elected according to the law and the Constitutional criteria of age, citizenship, and residency.
As much as I dislike Roy Moore and the Republican party which is now supporting him, I don't believe he has been accused of being a pederast, which is a man having sexual activities with a boy. As I understand it, Moore's alleged transgressions were entirely heterosexual, albeit sick.
We don't enjoy hearing these words, much less employing them. But you're correct and we've edited.