Tribalism - noun

1. the customs and beliefs of tribal life and society.
2. strong loyalty to one's own tribe, party, or group.

Which brings me to Roy Moore. 

This is a guy who has been kicked off of the Alabama supreme court twice...once for refusing to take down a monument to the 10 commandments, and the other for refusing to enforce SCOTUS rulings. A guy who has stated that the muslims should not be able to hold political office. A guy who bought fully into the Obama birther horse shit. A guy who believes that there are American communities living under Sharia law. A guy who intimated that the 9/11 attacks were a result of America falling out of favor with God. A guy who has claimed that consensual adult homosexuality is tantamount to child abuse. A guy who has publicly stated that the constitution is about preserving CHRISTIAN rights, and not so much those of folks from other religions. And now this is a guy that has been accused of having a proclivity for sex with girls as young as 14...by the people that endured his amorous attentions.

Doesn't sound like the type of person that you'd want to elect to public office does it? Especially not to the highest legislative body in the land. Surely common sense and cooler heads would prevail if this man were presented as a candidate for any position higher than jizz mopper at the local porn outlet.

You would think.

But that's when that tribalism thing kicks in.

You see, we're not a society of cool heads and common sense these days. We're a mob that is easily swayed by emotion. We are individuals desperately protective of our own opinions and those who share those opinions. In this country, critical thinking and sound judgement have been replaced by howling red eyed anger and rhetoric. We are tribes, and we are at war with each other.

Nowhere is that more evident than in our political discourse. Our politics have become the very definition of tribalism. 

So, when the accusations against Moore were published by the Washington Post, the right wing echo chamber, and conservatives at large swung into to action to circle the wagons and defend one their own.

They have attacked the Washington Post as being part of the biased liberal media. They have questioned whether it is really all that bad for Moore to have pursued teen aged girls when he was at least a dozen years older than they were. They have stated that only one of Moores relationships with these young girls relationship was “problematic.” Sean Hannity, that arbiter of non partisan commentary, suggested that Moore’s sexual interactions with a 14-year-old were “consensual.” Rush Limbaugh attacked one of the accusers as a “wacky,” “self-admitted mess of a woman.” Hell, an Alabama state auditor claimed the relationships were tantamount to the biblical relationship between Joseph and Mary.

You get the idea.

They are going to back this guy regardless of anything.

Even if he himself can't keep his damn story straight.

During an interview with Hannity, Moore stated unequivicollay that the had never met the 14 year old in question, then followed that up with the statement that he did not remember if he dated any girls in their teens back then, but he never dated any young girls without their mothers permission.

Think about that.

Moore is damn sure that he never met that 14 year old girl.
But he doesn't remember if he actually dated teen agers back then.

But the kicker is that a man in his 30's was asking multiple mothers for permission to date their daughters.

Who the hell does that?

Maybe guys who actively seek relations with teen age girls? 

We have become so damn divided, so ensconced in our own bull shit that some of us cannot even seem to accept the notion that they may very well be getting ready to elect a dyed in the wool edged ass hole to legislate at the highest level. And in truth, it really does't matter to many of those that will vote for Moore, as long as they stick it to the democrats, the liberals, the elites, and the snowflakes. 

Maybe it's time to stop playing at politics as if it were a zero sum game where there are winners and losers. 

When the Roy Moore's of this country, and those of his ilk, rise to positions of great power, we all lose.

Want proof?

Just look at the Oval Office.