Roy Moore at campaign event at the Botanical Garden

After being forced from the bench Roy Moore ran for governor. Now he has every reason to try again.

(Dave Dieter)

We've been here before.

On Wednesday, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore goes on trial before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for thumbing his nose at the federal courts.

Last time, as I'm guessing we all remember, it was over the Ten Commandments. A federal judge ordered Moore to remove from the judicial building in Montgomery a blatantly religious display (which he copyrighted, by the way, and also he will autograph a Bible or a copy of the U.S. Constitution, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about that man). When Moore refused, the Court of the Judiciary removed him from office.

But that removal wasn't permanent, and in 2012 Alabama voters put Moore right back on the court, because disregarding the supremacy of the federal court system is considered a plus by most Alabama voters, not a negative, Constitution be damned, no matter if Moore has autographed it or not.

So here we are again, this time because, according to the Judicial Inquiry Commission, Moore ordered Alabama probate judges to disregard the United States Supreme Court's ruling on same-sex marriage.

Moore says that's nonsense.

"The (January) Order neither instructed the probate judges to defy a parallel federal court order nor to ignore the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges," his attorneys wrote in a brief to the court earlier this year. "The JIC (Judicial Inquiry Commission), desperate to justify its complaint, creates a false depiction of the Administrative Order because a truthful reading of that order utterly defeats its case."

Supporters of suspended Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore held a rally Saturday, May 21, 2016, at the state judicial building in Montgomery. (Mike Cason/mcason@al.com)

So it's not an order. Got it? Not an order. Maybe something along the lines of a friendly suggestion.

But here's the thing -- the actual thing ... the document. You can take a look at it for yourself. There at the top, it says ...

"ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER OF THE CHIEF JUSTICE OF THE ALABAMA SUPREME COURT."

I'm not trying to shout at you with the all-caps. That's how the Chief Justice puts titles on his administrative orders ... Sorry, I mean, administrative friendly suggestions.

And look, too, at the bottom where it says ...

"IT IS ORDERED AND DIRECTED THAT: Until further decision by the Alabama Supreme Court, the existing orders of the Alabama Supreme Court that Alabama probate judges have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary to the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment or the Alabama Marriage Protection Act remain in full force and effect."

To buy Moore's argument that this was not an order to defy the United States Supreme Court, you have to ignore not just how all but a handful of lawyers say the Constitution works, but also that his non-order says "order" at the top and at the bottom.

It would seem that Moore is toast.

But maybe that's part of the plan.

We've been here before, and last time Moore bounced back, although not quite the way he'd hoped.

After being removed from the bench in 2003, Moore ran an unsuccessful primary challenge against then-Gov. Bob Riley. Despite having taken a political beating while pushing an unsuccessful tax reform plan, Riley still had the charisma and confidence to brush Moore aside.

Only later did Moore run again for chief justice. The office he holds now was his backup plan.

And if he wanted the governor's office then, what's to say he doesn't want it now?

We've been here before, but that doesn't mean this ends the same way.

In some ways, he has more reason to make that move now than then. Even if Moore hangs onto his job after the trial Wednesday, age restrictions in Alabama law prohibit him from running for the state's high court again. In 2018, he won't have a Republican incumbent to deal with. Aside from Attorney General Luther Strange, there are few other candidates who could beat him in a primary.

The only ways a dark horse like the oft-mentioned Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox wins against Moore is if Nick Saban introduces him at the campaign kickoff.

This isn't Roy Moore's last act.

It's not even his second last act.

It's his second-to-last act.

And what comes next might be scariest of all.