What “Soft on Crime” Means (Read: Vote for the Child Molester)

Donald Trump wants Alabamians to vote for Roy Moore, child molester. Of Doug Jones, Roy Moore’s Democratic opponent, who as of this writing has not been accused of molesting children, Donald Trump can offer this: “I can tell you one thing for sure we don’t need a liberal person, a Democrat, Jones, in that seat.” Among other things, Trump, who self-describes as among America’s most presidenty presidents and who also self-describes as a sexual assaulter, tells us that he’s “looked at (Jones’) record” and finds that Jones is “terrible on crime.”

I know very little about Doug Jones’ policies. What I do know about Doug Jones is that he went out of his way to prosecute racists who murdered four teenage black girls killed in the infamous 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing in Birmingham in 1963.

In an of itself, this does not make Jones qualified to be the next person to represent Alabama in the United States Senate — although it certainly outpaces the qualifications of many sitting U.S. Senators. (See, among many, Johnson, Ron.)

But even for a demonstrably racist person like Donald Trump, the utter mendacity involved in calling Doug Jones “soft on crime” and then pivoting toward tacit endorsement of a child molester is — well, I guess it’s Trumpian. He is who he is — an inveterate opportunist and spineless racist who lacks any semblance of integrity and empathy. And yet the continual exploding of lines that most decent people wouldn’t think to cross sometimes, even now, manages to take someone as jaded as I am aback.