Roy Moore calls out the hypocrisy of Congressman Brian Mast who joked about underage sex and rape
Judge Roy Moore released a scathing statement today regarding South Florida Congressman Brian Mast. Mast has admitted to posting inappropriate comments about rape and underage girls in 2009 and 2011. According to the SunSentinel, one of the comments happened on February 23, 2009. Mast commented on a picture posted by Rocco LeDonni, taken during a vacation in South Africa. Mast commented, “im so proud of you… i hope you hook up with at least fifteen 15 year olds over there…. its legel there right.” Two years later, LeDonni asked in a post, “Anyone have any good pick up lines for this weekend considering according to the crazy christian radio guy the world may end on sunday?” Mast responded, “How about don’t turn this rape into a murder.” LeDonni is now Mast’s campaign manager. Moore’s comment was posted by his wife, Kayla Moore, on her Facebook page. Roy Moore stated, “When “false and malicious” sexual allegations over 40 years old were made against me in a hotly contested Senate race in Alabama in 2017, Rep Brian Mast called upon me to drop out of the race without ever trying to find out the truth. Now by his own admission, he has joked about inappropriate sexual relationships with “15-year-olds.” Congress does not deserve such hypocrisy! Mast should drop out of the race by his own judgment lest he help elect another Democrat to Congress.” In a TCPalm story in 2017, Mast didn’t support Moore when he was accused of inappropriate sexual behavior towards five women when they were minors. Mast stated, “Pedophiles should have no place in the United States Congress.” With that statement, many other members of Congress expressed the same sentiment. At the time, Moore was running against Luther Strange. Others are also calling for Mast’s resignation, including former SEAL Team Six member Craig Sawyer and Roger Stone, a longtime Trump ally. Palm Beach County Commissioner Melissa McKinlay and Senator Lauren Book have also called for Mast to resign. Book remarked that Mast “demonstrated a complete lack of respect for women and questionable moral character unbecoming of a Congressman.” After the SunSentinel article broke, Mast made a statement. “A decade ago when I was in the Army, and following my injury, I made disgusting and inappropriate jokes that I am embarrassed to have associated with my name today. I am sorry about that part of who I was, and I strive every day to be a better example for my kids.” On Saturday, protestors gathered outside of his office, demanding his resignation. Some protestors stated they accepted his apology but didn’t believe he should not represent them on Capitol Hill. Lucy Angelo-Walker, a protestor who spoke to WPTV, said, “He has a daughter (who) will be 15 one day, and I would hate to think that there was someone out there (who) was given advice like he gave to a friend who would then be a predator in the situation that his daughter is in.” Mast currently represents the district that includes northern Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast. He has frequently voted in favor of Trump’s agenda in Congress. In 2016 he beat Randy Perkins, and in 2018 he defeated Lauren Baer with 54% of the vote. He is currently in a re-election battle with Democrat Pam Keith.
Will Ainsworth: Military Stability Commission is protecting Alabama’s long tradition of defense presence
We must be mindful that Alabama’s military tradition and defense presence did not come naturally and without much hard work and influence.
Nick Saban, Alabama players hold protest march on campus
The group marched the short distance Monday on the school’s campus from the Mal M. Moore Athletic Facility to Foster Auditorium.
Barry Moore draws criticism over meme about Wisconsin shooting
Moore later deleted the post and apologized for its graphic nature.
Americans divided over armed civilians who flock to protests
Americans are turning out more often and more visibly with guns, a sign of the tension engulfing the country.
A letter to my children’s school: Teach history and diversity without political ideology
Many of my frequent readers may not know this, but I have three children. I have a 4-year-old in 4K, a 7-year-old in 2nd grade, and a toddler who is almost 2-years-old. I didn’t grow up in a civic-minded household. The first time I ever spoke to my parents about voting was when I was 18 and voting for the first time. That’s not the life my children are living in now. We talk about age-appropriate issues regularly. Every time we see a man or woman in uniform, be it military or law enforcement, we thank them for their service. I regularly give to a handful of charities in our community and walk my oldest through what we’re giving, what the need is, and why. She doesn’t understand all of it, of course, but she recognizes that we each have a responsibility to be good neighbors in our cities. My children have all gone with me to vote during every election except this last primary (due to COVID-19). They’ve been to multiple rallies across the nation for topics ranging from school choice to fighting tax increases. As the school year started several weeks ago, I saw parents sharing assignments their children were bringing home in other states, and I grew both curious and concerned. With the national dialogue being what it is and reports that many of those arrested at protests are young teachers, I decided to write the Head of School (aka principal) of my children’s school to verify that the teachers will not be teaching their ideologies on the topic of race relations. I requested that they stick to age-appropriate factual and historical lessons and discussions. The letter I sent on August 17, 2020, is below with a few non-related notes taken out for clarity. I left all substantive points there. What I learned in response is that the teachers are given guidance on non-partisan activities during election years, but no, they have not explicitly covered specific areas for teachers to cover the issue of race relations. This is an important distinction. Since the date of this letter, I’ve had shared with me resources that teachers across the nation are using that are incredibly harmful and partisan. Glenn Beck even did a special titled, “Brainwashed” on the lesson plans being used in NYC. I also share the grave concerns of parents over The 1619 Project and its curriculum. If you’re not familiar with The 1619 project by the New York Times, you’re missing out. In its introduction, they paint our nation as one full of hatred, intolerance, and racism. They suggest that rather than 1776 the year 1619, the year slaves were brought to America is when our country truly was founded. One woman telling her story had this to say, “So when I was young, that flag outside our home never made sense to me. How could this black man, having seen firsthand the way his country abused black Americans, how it refused to treat us as full citizens, proudly fly its banner? I didn’t understand his patriotism. It deeply embarrassed me.” Imagine a world in which the flag and patriotism embarrass you? Well, we don’t have to do that, do we? Athletes and celebrities are falling all over themselves to disrespect our flag and the men and women who gave their lives for our right to fly it and the freedoms that it represents. In this lesson plan, this is said, “Anti-black racism runs in the very DNA of this country.” Further essays go on to decry capitalism (the title of that piece, “In order to understand the brutality of American capitalism, you have to start on the plantation.”), the police, racism as the reason why we don’t have universal healthcare, and public transit (2 different essays), whites in general at the bottom line. One essay contains this gem, “The past 10 years of Republican extremism is emblematic. The Tea Party billed itself as a reaction to debt and spending, but a close look shows it was actually a reaction to an ascendant majority of black people, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and liberal white people.” This is the junk they’re teaching our kids! 100 pages of this. I’ve been to hundreds of tea party events, and I can assure you that it was a reaction to big government and had nothing to do with race. Yet they teach this as though it’s factual and undeniable. Parents, grandparents, friends, we must stop this. We must not let history be rewritten. We must not let today’s story be told by hate-filled liars. Take the letter below and adapt it to your teacher and your principal, and let’s fight this thing together. I’ll be posting a follow up to this, but here’s a starting place. Find out if your children’s schools have guidance. To the Head of School, I hope you’re well and preparing for another great, albeit challenging, new academic year. A parent called me to ask if I had seen the school’s Facebook posts in response to the national discussions on race relations. Ironically, I had already spoken to one parent about them a little over a month ago but got too busy to email you. Understanding diversity and addressing racial inequality is an essential step for our nation and something I believe we all can work on together. I wanted to take a moment to email you directly about it. I want to write to make sure that if/when teachers and staff are addressing this incredibly important and timely subject, they are doing so in a way that’s mindful of the ideological diversity of the school. I’m not sure there’s been an official poll but based on the friendships I’ve forged over the last two years, the school skews progressive, but us conservatives to date haven’t been excluded or alienated in any way. That said, there are different ways of approaching this important topic based on individual families and the diverse backgrounds that make our school great.
