Hot take coming, folks!

By “hot,” I mean steaming, like the freshest of elephant droppings in the early hours of the day.

Partisan loudmouth, Rush Limbaugh chimed in on the Roy Moore saga, slamming Republicans for not circling the wagons around Moore in his time of need.

Moore has been losing endorsements from formerly supportive GOP lawmakers, in the wake of reports from five women that as a man in his 30s, he pursued relationships with teen girls. Two of the women have claimed that he took it beyond just pursuing a relationship, but actually engaged in highly inappropriate (and unwelcome) touching.

To be clear, nothing has been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt, and Moore may be completely innocent, but this isn’t a simple case of past corruption or otherwise unsavory shenanigans.

No, this is taking sexual liberties with what amounts to children. The two main accusers were 14 and 16 years old when they allegedly had their encounters with Moore.

This is far too explosive, too uncomfortable for any reasonable politician to ever want their name to be associated with it.

Another area that should be made clear: This isn’t pedophilia, as I’ve seen it tossed around (and I’ve probably said it, a time or two, myself). Pedophiles tend to be attracted to prepubescent children, generally 13 years old or younger (and it’s sickening to even consider).

The claims against Roy Moore are that he liked high school girls. Still, many of those whose support he’s now losing have or had 14 and 16 year old children, and the thought of a 30-something year old man making the moves on them is repugnant.

Even Sean Hannity is getting uncomfortable with the association and has given Moore until today to give a more convincing defense against the charges.

That Limbaugh, though, he’s charging through, no matter how insane and desperate the defense.

So what was his defense of Moore?

Well, when these things happened, Moore was a Democrat.

Let that one sink in for a moment.

Said Limbaugh:

“Did you know that before 1992, when a lot of this was going on, that Judge Moore was a Democrat?” Limbaugh said on his radio show. “Nobody said a word.” “When he supposedly was attracted to inappropriately-aged girls — he was a Democrat,” Limbaugh added.

My first question, however, is was he actually Roy Moore when all that happened?

Seriously, a political party didn’t do these things (allegedly). A person did. Limbaugh may not be outright suggesting that Moore should get a pass, simply because he’s now a Republican, but he’s not far from that.

As for nobody saying a word, every report coming out now is that Moore’s predilection for young girls was common knowledge around the community, at the time. For that matter, every office he ran for, before now, kept him confined to the dealings of Alabama. Now he’s attempting to break out on the national level, so the scrutiny is more intense.

“No matter what the real stories are here, and no matter what the evidence is, these guys, these people on the Republican side, are making it clear they are going to prevent this guy from ever being seated in the United States Senate,” Limbaugh said.

Maybe. They have certainly signaled that they have no desire to be saddled with the liability, including what other skeletons may eventually fall out of Moore’s closet, at this point.

There’s no clear, clean exit out of this situation. Either Moore is the victim of a well-orchestrated hit job, the stench of which he may never be able to wash from his reputation, OR he’s the kind of man who, at least at one point in his life, was willing to victimize kids.

Unless he drops out, the people of Alabama will decide if they want to send Moore to the Senate to represent them. What happens after that remains to be seen.

Making this a partisan issue, however, is the worst possible take. It’s an issue of character, and that is not determined by party affiliation.