Say it isn't so, Al

Or Men Behaving Badly

Our dear President had no problem attacking "Al Frankenstein" on twitter, but offered no words of condemnation for his buddy down in Alabama, Roy Moore.   Maybe it is as Trump says, the picture "speaks a thousand words," but so does an audio tape, in which Trump was caught admitting many of the same things to Billy Bush.

Supposedly Al's groping was meant in jest, being a former comedian, but it wasn't taken that way by Leeann Tweeden, nor was the big wet one he planted on her at a USO tour in Afghanistan.  Al immediately apologized after Ms. Tweeden exposed him, something Trump has never really done.  The Artful Dodger minced words back on the campaign trail before trying once again to turn the issue to Bill Clinton's past indiscretions.  I suppose this is why Leeann is forgiving Al, but Trump's accusers are still waiting for their day in court.

Even more interesting is a recent HuffPost/YouGov survey that found that Donald Trump voters are more likely to believe allegations of sexual abuse leveled against Bill Clinton than they are their President.  The gap is staggering -- 84 per cent as opposed to 6.  This despite Trump's numerous admissions to Howard Stern and Billy Bush, among others.  There is a gap among Hillary Clinton voters as well but not as extreme -- 53 to 83.  Trump and Hillary voters are relatively evenly split on Harvey Weinstein.

No wonder Alabama voters appear to be brushing aside the accusations against Roy Moore, at least among Evangelicals, who continue to support Moore by a staggering 73 per cent.  Some would call this hypocrisy, others would call it political expediency.  Evangelicals know how Moore will vote on issues dear to them.  They're not so sure about Doug Jones.  However, Alabamans in general appear to be turning toward Jones in the closing weeks of this brutal campaign, as he at least represents a decency they would like to see projected on their state, not a twice-deposed judge who liked to solicit teenage girls in shopping malls and restaurants.

The charges against Moore are pretty damning.  Although still in question, one woman claimed she was responsible for getting Moore banned from the Gadsden Mall in the late 1970s after numerous solicitations of teenage girls.  The former judge hotly denies this and other allegations, and now claims his missive in a woman's yearbook from the 1970s is forged.  If nothing else, cast doubt on the allegations since there are no pictures to "speak a thousand words."

For his part, Trump is willing to give Moore a pass, in part because he has shown a predilection for teenage girls himself, which also came out on the campaign trail last year.  Trump faced numerous charges of sauntering into the Miss Teen USA dressing room, although he only admitted to peeking in on the Miss USA dressing room to Howard Stern.

"Al Frankenstein" on the other hand is an easy target, because Al has been pretty harsh on Donald, and Trump saw this as an opening to exploit, especially if he could help his buddy Roy out by deflecting sexual abuse charges to another Senator.  I assume Alabamans know that Moore is not running against Franken.

It seems GOP strategists weren't able to get any dirt on Doug Jones, so they decided to expand the territory.  Or, they just figured if they lost the Alabama Senate seat they could get a Democrat ousted in turn.  Franken will go through an ethics probe on his own volition, but it is doubtful he will be expelled.

However if Moore is somehow able to survive this election, how will he be treated in the Senate?  At that point Franken may indeed be the sacrificial Democratic lamb to Moore's predatory wolf.   This in turn will open Congress to further inquiry on the subject, as it is highly doubtful other members haven't groped or solicited women in the halls.  At that point, everyone will be fair game.