As someone who pays attention to national politics, I believe things just keep getting stranger.
It’s reached a point where the president of the United States has endorsed Alabama Republican senate candidate Roy Moore, who has been accused of sexual misconduct with teen girls. The Republican National Committee has also restored funding for Moore, backing the candidate, despite the allegations.
President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that he made his decision to back Moore because of policy, that he needed his fellow Republican’s vote on issues such as stopping crime, illegal immigration, the border wall, military and pro-life.
Maybe I’m wrong here, but it seems like a senate candidate accused of sexual misconduct against teenage girls, including child molestation, would have alienated others from showing support for him, especially the president, rather than prompt a ringing endorsement.
But it shouldn’t really be surprising.
Believe it or not, it was just last week that Trump called Sen. Elizabeth Warren “Pocahontas” at, of all places, a White House ceremony to honor Navajo veterans of World War II, a name he has used as an insult toward Warren in the past. Do you remember that it was only a few days ago? Because I had to look it up.
In the past, these kind of stories would be mind-blowing. Now, since they happen all the time, it almost seems like they are forgotten, as if they’re not nearly as big a deal as they would have been with past presidents. The craziness no longer seems that crazy. It almost seems normal, when it clearly is not. One CNN anchor described it on his program the other night as exhausting.
It makes me wonder if there’s ever going to be a headline that’s so shocking that it doesn’t get forgotten about three days later when something else pops up.
I’ll admit, before this presidential election cycle, I didn’t pay nearly as much attention as I do now to national politics. It can be fascinating and definitely has its entertainment value — late night talk shows and “Saturday Night Live” are funnier — but I’d rather feel at ease like I used to with past presidential administrations, when I didn’t have to be as tuned in.
