I have three men in my life who are important to me above everyone else. My husband, my son and my father. These men mean everything to me. Watching Roy Moore go through the current media circus has made me fear for the future of these men whom I love. The idea that someone can lose a career, his reputation, and the public trust over accusations of events that happened decades ago — that no one was witness to, saw, heard, reported, or acknowledged in any significant way— is terrifying. Let me remind you of something that Americans hold sacred: the presumption of innocence.

Many people think that the reason why the American experiment existed was a result of religious persecution, but it wasn’t the only abuse suffered. Another major reason people fled England was the unfair court system that put the burden of proof on the accused. If you were charged with a crime, you were guilty unless you could prove you were innocent. This led to many false imprisonments. The concept of innocence until proven guilty did not come into being in England until the 1800s. Until then, the law heavily favored the wealthy, who could produce the required number of witnesses (usually 12) to absolve them of a crime. The poor were most times unable to do so. The presumption of innocence was essential in the minds of our forefathers.

It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, “whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,” and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever. ~John Adams, On Innocence, The Portable John Adams

It should disquiet you that this tenet of our belief system is being overwhelmed by Gloria Allred and her gaggle of female accusers that she drags out every election cycle. We’ve all heard the term “trial by public opinion,” but until now that still didn’t trump the actual trial in a courtroom. What’s happening to Roy Moore is now becoming commonplace in American politics. A man is being destroyed based on rumors and accusations. There is no judge, no jury, and no justice.

How many husbands out there have had “closed door meetings” with women they work with because of sensitive topics like performance reviews or otherwise? If any one of those women decides she doesn’t like the notes on her job performance, what’s stopping them from leveling accusations against him that can’t be proven, like Moore’s accusers? What will stop them from destroying your family next? We used to be a country that demanded proof. Hearsay is not proof.

At the same time, others who have been accused credibly of a pattern of predatory sexual behavior over many years are not hounded out of office: Bill Clinton, Ted Kennedy, and Chris Dodd among others. Why? Is it because they are Democrats? We have long played a part in allowing one set of rules for Democrats who like to sandwich waitresses during lunch or expose themselves to aides or play gross games with cigars to get away with it because they were “lions,” popular, or seen as “for women’s rights.” But we bring out the guillotine for anyone on the right side of the aisle who is accused of much less. One need only recall Herman Cain, whose accuser, Sharon Bialek, lived in the same building as smarmy Obama fixer David Axelrod. She was also represented by the predatory Gloria Allred and then disappeared and never pressed charges after Cain dropped out of the race. Her claims conveniently never ended up in court, where allegations must be proven. The accusations didn’t even include sex, just that he took her out to dinner and tried to kiss her or something. It was all quite unbelievable. But obliterate his aspirations, she did.

Finding desperate women to pay off to sling mud at political candidates is the oldest trick in the Democrat playbook. Bialek was described by people who knew her as a “gold digger” and had filed for bankruptcy twice. We needed James Carville to talk about dragging $100 through a trailer park when it came to her. Carville’s famous insult about Paula Jones after she accused Bill Clinton of exposing his nether regions to her hinted at a lot more than a quick wit. It was a confession that political fixers pay women for dirt and everyone knows it. Several people have claimed that they received phone calls claiming to be from The Washington Post offering money for dirt on Moore. The Post, of course, denies it, but what’s stopping a political operative from claiming to be a reporter for cover?

https://twitter.com/passionchica/status/930686325199720448

The message is clear. Your husbands and sons are not safe from Gloria Allred and her attack squads should they rise too high. She can and will destroy them with a bevy of trailer park hounds just looking for their next payday. No one cares about the men involved or what the accusations will do to their families and lives as long as Gloria Allred and the Democrats come out on top. Is this really the future we want for the men in our lives? If not, it’s time to insist that we revert to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law. If Moore accusers want justice, then they should press charges and go to court. I would support them 100 percent in that effort. But accusing people on camera with no legal recourse for the accused ought to be illegal.