You wondered why accusations would come out now, The Onion headline very accurately articulates a reason for that:
"Roy Moore On Pedophilia Accusers: ‘These Women Are Only Discrediting Me Now Because Shifting Sociocultural Norms Have Created An Environment In Which Assault Allegations Are Taken Seriously’"
Sure, that is one explanation. Another explanation is that these people are trying to blow up any persons career who has an (R) next to their name, or they want 15 minutes of fame. How do you determine what is the truth and what isn't in a he-said-she-said story from 30 years ago?
1) Some of the accusers are Republicans and voted for Trump. They probably are ideologically aligned with Moore in many ways.
2) It's not a he-said-she-said story. It's 9 accusers, whose stories were corroborated by others (who were told 30 years ago). One accuser can describe the inside of Moore's house in detail. Another has a yearbook signed from him referencing the restaurant he claims to have never visited. Still others from the community note that he was banned from the mall for being creepy with teenagers. And finally, Moore himself cannot offer a full throated denial that he has pursued teenagers in the past. Just not these particular women.
3) Claiming these women want "15 minutes of fame" is naive. No one is getting "famous" off of this. The victims are opening old wounds and getting new ones in the form of death threats and attacks on their character. It's not fun for anyone coming forward.
The same way I would in any other difficult circumstance, by weighing the evidence and making the best guess I can. This seems to be affecting people across the political spectrum, across industries, and across local culture. What seems to be consistent is that more of the harassment comes from men, and that people in powerful positions often exploit their privileged position to get easy sex.
Maybe you've never had to deal with this in your own life or in the life of someone who was close to you. Congratulations, you've been lucky.
I could similarly say: Maybe you've never had to deal with a false rape accusation in your own life or in the life of someone who was close to you. Congratulations, you've been lucky.
> Maybe you've never had to deal with a false rape accusation in your own life or in the life of someone who was close to you.
False rape accusations are a little more rare than men abusing their position of power over women. The later is endemic. Avoiding a false rape accusation isn't luck. But ask your wife, your mother, your daughter, your sister. I bet they all have stories of unwanted sexual attention from men. This kind of stuff happens daily for them. For women, it's like a constant background drone of men leering at them. Sometimes it's whistling. Sometimes it's stalking. Sometime's it's groping, and yes, sometimes it's rape. But it's a minefield, and it really is luck if they are never confronted with such indecency.
Further, if you've been paying attention, you'll notice the people being accused are serial offenders. In one case, more than a dozen women came forward. Unless you're willing to claim that women are engaged in a widespread conspiracy to take down men in positions of power, it's pretty hard to dismiss any of this as "false" accusations.
> False rape accusations are a little more rare than men abusing their position of power over women. The later is endemic
Okay, but that doesn't tell you anything about the truthiness of this specific event. Black people commit way more murders per capita than asian people in America - would you use that factoid as a hunch that between two suspects in a murder(one asian, one black), that the black one is more likely guilty?
> Unless you're willing to claim that women are engaged in a widespread conspiracy to take down men in positions of power, it's pretty hard to dismiss any of this as "false" accusations.
Is that the only possibility you see? It's either a massive conspiracy among women in general, or the accusations are true?
> Okay, but that doesn't tell you anything about the truthiness of this specific event.
That wasn't really a comment about the truthiness of this specific event, but about your comment about being lucky for avoiding a false rape accusation. That's like saying you're lucky that you didn't get struck by lightning. Well, okay I guess, but it's not a frequent occurrence to begin with.
> Black people commit way more murders per capita than asian people in America
In Moore's case, I'm not coming to any conclusion by looking at frequency of occurrence alone, as I wouldn't in a murder case. However, I probably wouldn't elect either man accused of murder to the Senate. Regardless, I think you're still not appreciating how widespread an issue this is for women. It happens on the sidewalk walking down the street, on the bus, at work, at a restaurant, on the train, at church, at school, at the hospital. Men are sleazes, and I'm pretty sure the sleaze frequency in men is much higher than the murder frequency in blacks. Much higher. Like, 60-80% high. And the worst part is, there is zero awareness of this by sleazy men.
> Unless you're willing to claim that women are engaged in a widespread conspiracy to take down men in positions of power, it's pretty hard to dismiss any of this as "false" accusations.
Is that the only possibility you see? It's either a massive conspiracy among women in general, or the accusations are true?
Yeah, pretty much. Although, I'm willing to hear a scenario that could account for all of the accusations, the corroborating facts, the mall ban, and Roy Moore not being able to definitively say he didn't pursue teenage girls.
"Roy Moore On Pedophilia Accusers: ‘These Women Are Only Discrediting Me Now Because Shifting Sociocultural Norms Have Created An Environment In Which Assault Allegations Are Taken Seriously’"