Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 107, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 2017 Page: 9 of 19
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OPINION
10A
Friday, November 17, 2017
Denton Record-Chronicle
Denton Record-Chronicle
Sean Hannity
Breitbart make
villains out of
abused women
masques
7
Dinner is!
Served-
Published by Denton Publishing Co.,
a subsidiary of A.H. Belo Corporation
X
Founded from weekly newspapers,
the Denton Chronicle, established in 1882,
and the Denton Record, established in 1897.
Published daily as the Denton
Record-Chronicle since Aug. 3,1903.
V
1
1
*\cw
MEDIA COMPANY
c
EDITORIAL BOARD
Bill Patterson
Publisher and CEO
Scott K. Parks
Managing Editor
Mark Finley
City Editor
Mariel Tarn-Ray
News Editor
PAST PUBLISHERS
William C. “Will” Edwards
1903-1927
Robert J. “Bob” Edwards
1927-1945
Riley Cross
1945-1970
Vivian Cross
1970-1986
Fred Patterson
1986-1999
wm
eigh Corfinan mustered her courage.
Although reluctant to go public
with what she says happened to her at
age 14, at the hands of Roy Moore, she decid-
ed it was important to tell her story.
“I have prayed over this,” Corfinan told
The Washington Post. “All I know is that I
can’t sit back and let this continue, let him
continue without the
mask being removed.”
She and three other
women decided that
the voters of Alabama
had a right to know
about the former Ala-
bama Supreme Court
judge who, after win-
L
MIPPLE
CLASS
• Vi
Editorials published in the Denton Record-Chronicle
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What to my wondering
ears did he say?
i
i
ning the Republican MfirCIcirGt
primary, appeared to _
be headed for a U.S. SlllllV3I1
Senate seat.
Their reward for this public-spirited
bravery?
■ To be smeared as liars.
■ To be the objects of vicious criticism
about their private lives — their marriages,
divorces, and bankruptcies.
■ And to be described as political tools of
the Democratic Party. (Corfinan says she vot-
ed for Republican candidates in the last
three presidential elections.)
This incident happened almost 40 years
ago, goes the outraged refrain. Why are these
women only coming forward now? Here’s a
better question: Why would any other wom-
an, seeing what’s happened recently, ever
come forward again?
“This is exactly why women wait 40
years,” said Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox
News host who sued her longtime boss, Rog-
er Ailes, for sexual harassment.
Carlson was responding not just to what
Moore himself had said — that the Post story
was full of scurrilous lies — but to what Breit-
bart News had done: Send reporters to Ala-
bama to discredit The Post’s story.
“It’s weaponizing the fear and shame of
sexual-assault victims against themselves,”
wrote Seth Mandel, an opinion editor at the
conservative New York Post. Even for Breit-
bart, he said, “this is some low stuff”
Breitbart also gleefully claimed recently
that it “outscooped” The Post by publishing
Moore’s denial before the story itself was
published. It doesn’t take an investigative re-
porting team to figure out who tipped them,
given that Moore had been asked by The Post
for his response to its reporting so that it
could be included in their story.
What did the Breitbart reporters find in
Alabama? Virtually nothing, but that didn’t
keep the media company (headed by former
Trump strategist, perpetual bombthrower
and Moore-booster Stephen Bannon) from
publishing screaming headlines, like this
one: “Mother of Roy Moore Accuser: Wash-
ington Post Reporter Convinced My Daugh-
ter to Go Public.”
“She did not go to them — they called her,”
Corftnan’s mother, Nancy Wells, told Breit-
bart.
supporters don’t care if he is guilty. As in:
That was a long time ago and that’s not the
Roy Moore we know. Both scenarios could
be true, though having lived in Alabama, I
lean toward the latter scenario.
In a state where Moore achieved hero sta-
tus in some quarters for refusing a federal
judge’s order to remove a Ten Command-
ments monument from his court building
and where good ol’ boys look out for each
other — it’s much easier to blame the media’s
“fake news” for Moore’s troubles than to be
bedeviled by women with their cursed agen-
ASHINGTON - Without nearly
enough fanfare, Senate Majority
Leader Mitch McConnell made
history this week with a scant four words: “I
believe the women.”
All across America, forks dropped, glass-
es shattered and knees wobbled as women
turned to each other in astonishment. Wait.
What? Did he say what I think he said?
Suddenly, McConnell, whose character-
istic solemnity inspires
envy in statues, sud-
denly became irresist-
ibly magnetic. Admit
it: You wanted to hug
him. Wmrf***
W
Editorial: Our View
Manson may soon
receive just reward
e bring you some good news this morning.
Charles Manson, age 83, is reported to be
near death in a California hospital. Soon, the
taxpayers of California will no longer be feeding, clothing
and housing one of the most notorious mass murderers
in American history.
Everyone has heard of Charles Manson, but younger
readers may not be familiar with exactly what crimes he
committed to join the likes of John Wayne Gacy and Ted
Bundy in the Infamous Killers Hall of Fame.
In the late 1960s, Manson was a sociopathic ex-convict
drifting from place to place. He landed in Los Angeles
and created a cult of personality around himself, exploit-
ing and manipulating young hippies with psychedelic
drugs and sex. He also wrote songs and played the guitar.
The so-called Manson Family formed on a ramshackle
ranch outside Los Angeles in 1969. Manson convinced his
followers that the Beatles song, “Helter Skelter,” foretold a
coming race war in America. So, Manson directed them
to butcher seven people in Los Angeles and stage the
crime scenes to make it look like black radicals commit-
ted the murders.
Sharon Tate, an aspiring actress and wife of film direc-
tor Roman Polanski, was among the stabbing victims.
She was pregnant at the time.
Manson was convicted of capital murder and has been
imprisoned since 197L While in prison, he carved a swas-
tika on his forehead and dealt drugs to fellow inmates. He
knew how to promote himself and became a highly desir-
able “get” for professional interviewers such as Charlie
Rose. Manson had crazy eyes that made for good televi-
sion.
W
das.
Moore is threatening to sue The Wash-
ington Post, which broke the story after a
month-long investigation that included cor-
roborating interviews with at least 30 peo-
ple. On Monday, a fifth woman, Beverly
Young Nelson, came forward with a detailed
accusation of how Moore attempted to rape
her in his car when she was 16. She claims
Moore choked her and dumped her, crying,
onto the pavement. He allegedly ordered her
to keep quiet since no one would believe
“just a child.”
Moore refutes ever knowing Nelson,
though this seems demonstrably false. Nel-
son produced her 1977high school yearbook
featuring an inscription by Moore. Appar-
ently smitten by his inner muse, he wrote:
“To a sweeter, more beautiful girl, I could not
say Merry Christmas.”
Moore’s pearls seem rather personal for
someone unremembered. Then again,
would-be poets in the South, especially those
who favor themselves ‘ladies’ men,” have
been known to indulge in inflated flattery.
Had Moore been elderly at the time, one
might have thought him merely dotty — a
harmless hybrid of Don Juan and Don Qui-
xote, tilting at maidens in a trance of roman-
tic chivalry.
But Moore wasn’t elderly or dotty. And
five women who didn’t know each other
have shared similarly sickening memories.
The Post stands by its exhaustively re-
searched story. And anyone with common
sense stands next to McConnell, whose
words must have fallen like musical notes on
the ears of the silenced.
We’ll never know with certainty what
happened some 40 years ago. But in the fu-
ture, McConnell’s stand surely will make a
difference for other women who fear they
will not be believed in similar circumstances.
In the meantime, here’s an inscription for
Moore’s yearbook: I have two words for you,
and they’re not Merry Christmas.
KATHLEEN PARKERS column is
distributed by Washington Post Writers
Group.
The Senate leader
was responding to a re-
porter’s question about I I
the alleged sexual mis-
conduct of Roy Moore, Kathle *n
the erstwhile “Ten
Commandments”
judge and aspiring U.S.
senator from Alabama. Moore, as you surely
know, has been accused of sexual miscon-
duct by five women who claim that he
groped, attempted to rape or otherwise
made overtures when they were teens and
he was in his 30s in the 1970s.
McConnell — who fought Moore’s candi-
dacy even before the accusations — has now
joined several other Republicans in urging
Moore to step aside before Alabama’s Dec. 12
special election, saying he is unfit to serve.
Anyone who knows Moore will tell you
that he won’t quit, while skeptics and loyal-
ists shrug at the charges, saying they’re “po-
litically motivated.” Shocking. As Bill Clin-
ton can attest, ugly things tend to surface
when people aspire to high places. Sadly,
they’re often also true things, though it
seems these days that one’s moral compass
follows the needle of political affiliation.
This is why McConnell’s words were so
stunning. Rather than try to ensure that Re-
publicans keep the seat, he opted to do the
right thing. It’s a shame we have to be sur-
prised when this happens, but rare is the pol-
itician who is also a statesman.
In fairness, one observes that the man
Moore allegedly was in those days may not
be the same man today. As a society, we tend
to believe that people can change and be for-
given for past transgressions, especially if
they’ve led exemplary lives in the interim.
But forgiveness first requires that one con-
fess and repent — and Moore has done nei-
ther.
Parker
Fascination with Manson’s evil didn’t end there. Over
the years, bands thought it would be cool to cover his
songs. One “artist” took the stage name Marilyn Manson
— a combo of Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson — to
generate his 15 minutes of fame back in the 1990s.
Most thinking people have a love/hate relationship
with the death penalty. No one wants to see an innocent
man or woman strapped to a gurney and killed. And that
has happened too often.
Unfortunately, legal technicalities kept Manson out of
the death house. He now serves a life sentence with possi-
bility of parole — something no sane parole board would
ever grant.
Manson deserves a special place in hell. Prison was not
punishment enough. In life, he worked hard to be known
as the personification of evil. We hope his death brings a
measure of relief to the friends and families of those he
tormented and murdered.
We were meant to recoil in horror, I
guess, at how Post journalists committed
treasonous acts of journalism. Yes, they per-
suaded their sources to go on the record,
sometimes by making the case that there is a
greater good to be served.
Portraying this as an expose was especial-
ly absurd because The Post’s first story last
week made clear that none of the women ap-
proached the reporters.
It’s worth revisiting that passage in full:
“Neither Corfinan nor any of the other
women sought out The Post. While reporting
a story in Alabama about supporters of
Moore’s Senate campaign, a Post reporter
heard that Moore allegedly had sought rela-
tionships with teenage girls. Over the ensu-
ing three weeks, two Post reporters contact-
ed and interviewed the four women. All were
initially reluctant to speak publicly but chose
to do so after multiple interviews, saying they
thought it was important for people to know
about their interactions with Moore. The
women say they don’t know one another.”
Nor was Breitbart alone in its eager vic-
tim-blaming. Fox News’ Sean Hannity
brought the network’s legal analyst, Mer-
cedes Colwin, on his show to blast women
who accuse powerful men, saying that they
mostly do it for the money.
“There are victims of predators,” Hannity
allowed, having given Moore’s denials plenty
of airtime and emphasizing their supposedly
consensual nature.
“Very few and far between,” Colwin re-
torted.
His denial and steadfast refusal to step
aside may be viewed in one of two ways. Ei-
ther he’s innocent, or he’s confident that his
Letters to the editor
On-the-mark column
Some of us appreciate and look forward
to reading Leonard Pitts’ columns in our lo-
cal paper. We find him nuanced and on-the-
mark when it comes to expressing our sor-
rows and disdain for the hypocrisies ram-
pant in our society.
That’s the job of talented and profession-
al columnists.
Perhaps if there were more constant
journalistic iterations of our losses due to po-
litical spinelessness, we would not be con-
fronting our shame and embarrassment
over our political incompetence.
There are some of us who consider our
inability to put the country’s well-being be-
fore party politics a tragic horror.
When the power of special interests ma-
nipulates us into impulsively believing that
the value of cost/benefit allows for money to
trump lives, that there are no social con-
tracts, then we need loud voices to proclaim
SUBMISSIONS
This day in history: November 17
Letters for publication must include the writer’s
name, address and telephone number.
The Record-Chronicle reserves the right to edit
letters for length. Letters should be typed or
legibly handwritten and be 250 or fewer words.
We prefer email submissions.
Send to: drc@dentonrc.com.
Otherwise, fax to 940-566-6888, or mail to:
Letters to the editor
P.0. Box 369
Denton, TX 76202
Today is Friday, Nov. 17, the
321st day of 2017. There are 44
days left in the year.
On Nov. 17, 1917, French
sculptor Auguste Rodin died in
Meudon at age 77.
In 1558, Elizabeth I acceded
to the English throne upon the
death of her half-sister, Queen
Mary, beginning a 44-year
In1968, NBC outraged foot-
ball fans by cutting away from
the closing minutes of a New
York Jets-Oakland Raiders
game to begin the TV special
Heidi on schedule. (After being
taken off the air, the Raiders
came from behind to beat the
Jets, 43-32.)
In 1973, President Richard
Nixon told Associated Press
managing editors in Orlando,
Florida: “People have got to
know whether or not their presi-
dent is a crook. Well, I’m not a
crook.”
that sad reality.
I certainly don’t agree with all the DRC’s
columnists’ opinions, but I do consider their
points and their world views because they
are legitimate. The views of sensationalists
and provocateurs need no support.
Donna Zelisko,
Denton
reign.
In 1800, Congress held its
first session in the partially com-
pleted U.S. Capitol building.
In 1869, the Suez Canal
opened in Egypt.
In 1889, the Union Pacific
Railroad Co. began direct, daily
railroad service between Chica-
In 1979, Iran’s Ayatollah
Khomeini ordered the release of
13 black and/or female Ameri-
can hostages being held at the
U.S. Embassy in Tehran.
In 1987, a federal jury in
Denver convicted two white su-
it’s not The Post’s credibility that’s really
under attack here. It’s that of the women
themselves, who had the courage to be
named, quoted and shown in photographs.
The vilifying response to Leigh Corfrnan’s
story makes it all the more remarkable —
and a testament to strength in numbers —
that a fifth woman came forward on Mon-
day, saying that Moore sexually assaulted her
when she was 16.
What’s not remarkable in the least is that
it took them so long.
MARGARET SULLIVAN is The Wash-
ington Post’s media columnist. Previ-
ously, she was The New York Times pub-
lic editor, and the chief editor of The
Buffalo News, her hometown paper.
go and Portland, Oregon, as well
as Chicago and San Francisco.
In 1925, actor Rock Hudson
was bom Roy Harold Scherer Jr.
in Winnetka, Illinois.
In 1934, Lyndon Baines
Johnson married Claudia Alta
Taylor, better known as Lady
Bird, in San Antonio.
In 1947, President Harry S.
Truman, in an address to a spe-
cial session of Congress, called
for emergency aid to Austria, It-
aly and France. (The aid was ap-
proved the following month.)
Denton Record-Chronicle mission statement
premacists of civil rights viola-
tions in the 1984 slaying of radio
talk show host Alan Berg. (Both
men later died in prison.)
In 1997, 62 people, most of
them foreign tourists, were
killed when militants opened
fire at the Temple of Hatshepsut
in Luxor, Egypt; the attackers
were killed by police.
We believe a free society, with all its privileges and opportunities, is partially successful because of
a free press that is supported by the community at large.
Our mission every day is to give you unbiased, wide-ranging news of Denton and the larger Denton
County community. We appreciate your subscription or your purchase of this newspaper. By doing
so, you are supporting an independent look at your community, its leaders, its business people, and
its residents.
Without that, we believe that our communities would suffer from a lack of analysis, a lack of in-
formation, and a lack of oversight of taxpayer money. We want to give you something to think
about every day. We hope those ideas lead you to become involved in your community, both with
your commentary and your actions.
— The Associated Press
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Parks, Scott K. Denton Record-Chronicle (Denton, Tex.), Vol. 114, No. 107, Ed. 1 Friday, November 17, 2017, newspaper, November 17, 2017; Denton, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1131850/m1/9/?q=%22%22~1: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; .