Roughly 146 years ago, on January 26, 1861, “the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled,” struck the words "Constitution of the United States” from the oath of office. They also absolved “all officers in this State … from the oath to support the Constitution of the United States.” With no appreciation of the incongruity, they also declared their intention to set up “a permanent Government upon the principles of the Constitution of the United States.”
Against all evidence and logic, “the people of the State of Alabama in Convention assembled,” seemed to believe one such principle was that citizenship pertained only to “every free white person” who had been born to a father or mother who was a citizen of Alabama. They also conferred citizenship on every person “who, by birth or naturalization, was a citizen of the United States of America, or of any slaveholding State.” People born “in a non-slaveholding State, were equivalent to people born in a foreign country. Finally, the “the people of the State of Alabama” explicitly provided that “in no case shall citizenship extend to any person who is not a free white person.”
At a campaign event earlier this year, an audience member asked Moore for his opinion on when the last time America was "great." Moore responded: "I think it was great at the time when families were united—even though we had slavery—they cared for one another…Our families were strong, our country had a direction." Moore essentially said that it’s possible to overlook America’s original sin. The time of slavery was the time of, in Moore's view, great things — at least in America’s culture, even though that culture included slavery — and that’s apparently his ideal to which the country should aspire.
It is vital to remember that during this time Black Americans had no families or even the possibility of family. Slave masters regularly tore Black families apart — and tortured Blacks — at the time. Slaves usually could not marry, because their marriages were legally considered void. This is why the practice of “jumping the broom” came to be.
So, Moore is echoing the outlook conveyed by the January 1861 Ordinance of Secession. By what twisted logic, can this flamboyant Neoconfederate be considered suited for office in the United States Senate? How can he claim to be a Constitutionalist when he had twice explicitly acted contrary to constitutional order and sympathizes with a document that “absolved “all officers in this State … from the oath to support the Constitution of the United States?”
Given that in August 2017 Moore has slammed: “America as a “focus of evil” and sympathized with Vladimir Putin in newly surfaced comments from a Guardian interview, saying of the Russian leader: “Maybe he’s more akin to me than I know,” how can he credibly contend he is patriotic? Moore is echoing Trump, who formally endorsed him. But he also repeats a deeper strain of pro-Russian sentiment in the socially conservative world. Pat Buchanan, for example, has argued that Putin is a natural ally of social conservatives in the United States due to his deep hostility toward homosexuality.
When one factors in that Moore faces credible accusations of pursuing and assaulting 14- to 18-year-old women while he was in his 30s, and sexually assaulting a 28-year-old woman, [Moore aggressively denied that accusation], how can any Alabaman of good will and genuine patriotism vote for this man? Moore and his supporters including the Pussy Grabber in-Chief have slandered his opponent. But epithets are not evidence, insults are not information, and attacks are not arguments.
12 December 2017 will be another time that tries American souls. Will the voters of Alabama stand our country? Will they vote for America’s high, though imperfectly realized, ideals, or will they prove to be “summer soldiers and sunshine patriots?” Will they honor the pledge they repeatedly made as children of allegiance to one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? Or will they vote for a person who thinks the last time America was great is when slavery was in full force and sees America now as a ‘focus of evil?’ Never has the patriotic and principled choice been more apparent. America – where are you now?
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