Roy Moore and Occams Razor (National Review)

[struggle4progress]

by JIM GERAGHTY
November 10, 2017 11:38 AM

... If you believe Moore’s denials, you have to believe that four .. women, with no evidence that they .. ever met .. all decided to lie .. that they all spontaneously made up a story that they were able to recount in detail in multiple retellings .. over a period of weeks, and they all chose to make up similar stories ...

... so far, no one has been able to point to any contradictions, incongruence, or demonstrably false claims within their stories ...

A variation of Occam’s Razor declares that the simplest explanation is the most likely one. You can either believe that Moore behaved in the way the women describe – accounting for any faults of memory in the forty or so years since then – or you can believe that they all chose, spontaneously, to partake in an elaborate conspiracy to destroy his reputation, an effort that they no doubt understood would lead to making enemies. For example, yesterday a state representative called for the criminal prosecution of the women making the claims ...

... How many teenage girls could bring themselves to make such a consequential accusation against a powerful man who can prosecute someone? ... Henry is demonstrating the .. reason .. victims of abuse are hesitant to come forward: the abuser will .. deny it, call the victim a liar, and .. allies of the abuser will .. denounce the accuser. It is not .. surprising that a victim of inappropriate sexual behavior would hesitate to discuss it publicly for .. many years.

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/453629/roy-moore-and-occams-razor

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. I wonder how many more girls/women are out there

that Moore had some kind of inappropriate contact with. It's hard to believe that he stopped going after young girls all of a sudden in his mid-30s.

[Mr. Evil]

13. I wonder if there any others out there that

might request Moore to submit to a DNA verifying paternity test. You never know.

[Iliyah]

2. The establishment GOPs are sorta putting their foots down

SORTA. They still approved an unqualified a-hole judge.

[Dopers_Greed]

7. They are half-assing it

They clearly want him to go away, only because he's damaging their brand.

And they say "If the accusations are true," giving him wiggle room for a denial.

[gibraltar72]

3. Mission accomplished

any women will think more than once about coming forward with more info on Moore. The purpose of this was to make women aware they will pay a price if they come forward. we know it's true by his supporters reaction. Anyone coming forward now is going to have incredible courage.

[brewens]

4. Make up a story when the guy could have been out of town, and be able to prove it if he

was? Or he could easily have some other alibi to exploit a crack in their story if it weren't true. Nope. Not likely. They should be believed. I think many of the republicans know it's true. People in those circles know who the freaks are. They are probably telling each other that stories have been going around about him for years.

[old guy]

5. The rep that is calling for criminal prosecution of these women,

should immediately be investigated. He protests way too much.

[Princess Turandot]

6. Also, according to WaPo, these women didn't contact the paper themselves..

While one of their reporters was in Alabama covering the primary, someone told him that there were stories around about Moore's once-upon-a-time (at the least) 'interest' in young teenage girls. The paper then made an attempt to find them.

It also sounds like there were others who knew something about this, beyond the women themselves. Another check-mark in the truth column.

[TNNurse]

8. Sounds like many in power in the GOP believe it.

The voters in Alabama apparently may not care.

If he were not such a despicable person on most issues..... but he is a truly awful person.

[DFW]

9. Now if only some of them would care and DO something about it

I heard McTurtle actually spoke up, but I don't hear any follow up.

[NastyRiffraff]

10. I wouldn't be at all surprised if more came forward

There are already four, including one who was underaged at the time. A man with that kind of track record usually does it regularly, because he can.

[olegramps]

11. It really makes one wonder. All these so-called religious people who have molested kids.

It seems to be universal, from priests to other religious charlatans and so-called youth leaders. I have always wondered about these goody-goody two shoes youth leaders who what to hang out with a bunch of kids.

[L. Coyote]

12. In Trump's case, the number isn't four, it is at least 14.

And nothing is happening to him!