An Open Letter to Alabama Voters / Part Two

An Open Letter to Alabama Voters / Part Two
This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. If you need to flag this entry as abusive, send us an email.

First published on Breaking / Bannon.

Insane Clown (Banksy, 2001)

Dear Esteemed Alabamians and Fellow Americans,

This is the second part of my Open Letter to Alabama Voters. You can read Part One here.

Thank you again for taking time to read my "outsider's" perspective on the Alabama Senate election. I know a deluge of election appeals has descended on you.

The Mad Scientist and Roy Moore

My goal in writing this Open Letter is to emphasize how all of us in the U.S., and not simply Alabama residents, have a stake in the outcome. of this election, and how much we are counting on and rooting for Alabama to make an extraordinary, courageous, and healing step forward in our history as a nation.

In Part One, I specifically emphasized the national and global powers and responsibilities of U.S. Senators from every state. Because of the scope of these powers and responsibilities, the choice tomorrow for Alabama is between two individuals, not two political parties.

My argument has been that a vote for Roy Moore simply because he is a Republican ignores who he is as a person, and how entirely unprepared (in any capacity, really) he is to govern on matters that affect everyone on the planet. This insufficiency is probably why Senator Shelby said yesterday, "I couldn't vote for Roy Moore. Alabama deserves better."

Indeed. Imagine, for a moment, if a mad scientist hatched a nefarious scheme to create the least knowledgeable, competent, constructive, and effective U.S. Senator. That evil genius might conjure a person very much like Roy Moore. Please allow me to illustrate below.

I'm going to surf off Senator Shelby's perspective, and not because I want to pander to Alabama Republicans, but because Shelby has served in the Senate for so long (forever, actually), and he understands what allows the Senate to work effectively, and what damage ensues for everyone when the Senate becomes dysfunctional.

Shelby appreciates, in other words, that some things matter far more than specific policy positions and far more than political party loyalty, and on this matter I could not agree more. The long-term health and strength of state and national political institutions simply cannot be held hostage to policy and party.

Richard Shelby and Roy Moore and the Future of Alabama

Alabama is obviously a very conservative state, politically. Richard Shelby is not a renegade, RINO Republican. Shelby marches side-by-side with Roy Moore (and Donald Trump) on issues concerning abortion, immigration, gun ownership, military spending, the "sovereignty" of God, and the Senate filibuster (a foundation of the Senate as a deliberative body). So Shelby's concerns about Roy Moore are certainly not ideological.

They are, rather, concerns about the fitness and temperament of Roy Moore to serve effectively in the Senate, and to move Alabama, and the rest of the nation, forward rather than backwards (or out of time altogether through an end-of-days indifference to temporal matters).

Shelby believes the women who have accused Roy Moore of sexual activity with teenage girls when he was in his 30s. Lesser, "unproven" charges have led to resignations of scores of other politicians and the termination of the employment of men in every business sector. Shelby is saying Roy Moore is not above his accusers on this matter, and that he brings shame upon Alabama and the Senate.

But Shelby's concerns about Moore predate these allegations, and they seem to emerge from knowledge that Moore (whom Shelby knows very well) acts upon personal, messianic instincts that undermine the rule of law itself. "I believe in the rule of law," said Shelby. "I disagree with a lot of court decisions, and even a lot of statutory things I don't like, but still it's the law."

In this sense, it's in no way trivial that Alabama state officials, many of whom presumably agreed with Roy Moore on the policy substance of church-state separation and same-sex marriage matters, twice removed him from high office as the State Supreme Court Chief Justice (perhaps an unprecendented achievement on Roy Moore's part).

Shelby also voices concerns about reputational harm the state of Alabama may experience if Roy Moore is elected, with negative impacts that could undermine economic progress in the state, along with its ability to attract outside investment and business capital. Of course, the economic nationalist and protectionist agenda Moore is likely to enthusiastically favor also threatens to further cut off the United States from the rest of the world, economically and otherwise.

There are other concerns that involve fitness and temperament, the concerns that Roy Moore routinely goes his own way and goes off off half-cocked, not unlike Banksy's Insane Clown. We already know Moore is neither knowledgeable on matters of policy nor worldly or experienced in any manner that might prepare him to deal with the complexity and nuance of national, regional, and global policies and crises. We also can be sure he will bring an unqualified, like-minded staff with him to Washington.

Finally, it is difficult to imagine the toxic and destructive impact of a Trump-Bannon-Moore troika in DC, with all being master bomb-throwers and shit-disturbers, but also entirely uninterested in the "what happens next" questions after dust from their explosions and institutional mayhem settles (not to mention with Moore in DC, the media will entirely lose ther minds, Breitbart wackos and mainstream guys alike). I'm pretty sure none of us, Republicans and "Libtards" alike, really want that.

History's Pivotal Moments

Once again, the question all of Alabama will answer when it votes tomorrow is whether Doug Jones or Roy Moore will better represent the state of Alabama in the U.S. Senate, with skills, knowledge, and temperament suited for the scope and importance of the responsibilites of a U.S. Senator.

There are three other ways to think about this moment in our history. One is simply that this election involves a risk-reward calculation. What is the balance of risk and reward, for Alabama and the United States, if Roy Moore or Doug Jones becomes Senator? What is the balance of risk and reward if Alabama Republicans choose party of state and nation?

Another sobering layer of our awareness is that the United States may be more at risk of self-destructing than at any time in its history since the Civil War. Given the regional differences that still separate us, more than 150 years after Appomattox, it's reasonable to make sure we all do better jobs parsing our local, regional, national, and political identities. We all have far more in common than we sometimes realize in the heat of the moment. We all need each other far more than identities constructed around local or party or racial or religious identity. We all remain Americans, and we all remain part of the broader world. Just something to bear in mind as you vote.

Finally, Roy Moore is simply one old dude! So is Donald Trump. And the roster of politicians leading the nation, both Democrat and Republican, is generally on the geriatric side. No disrespect intended, but we live in a world where the pace of change and the new dimensions of the challenges we face require younger minds and bodies. I'm not comfortable with Roy Moore and Donald Trump as 70-year olds, and am for sure even less excited about dealing with their mess when they are 75 or 76 years old.

Finales and Hosannahs

I would like to send one more email before Tuesday's election. This final email will imagine and assess the impact, for Alabama and the nation, of Doug Jones as the U.S. Senator from Alabama.

Thank you again for your time. Please do vote. You truly will be participating in one of the most meaningful elections in U.S. history.

And please feel free to share this email with anyone who needs an extra nudge to vote. We are counting on Alabama to rise tomorrow and unfurl its highest, most noble, and most courageous version of itself. You won't be able to imagine the hosannah's spilling across our fruited plain.

Sincerely,

Peter SchwartzBreaking / Bannon

Popular in the Community

Close

What's Hot