Savannah Guthrie interviewed Leigh Corfman on NBC’s
Today Show this morning. Corfman is
the Alabamian who was the first to speak out about Roy Moore’s victimization of
her during her teenage years. Since then, of course, eight other women have
told similar stories about Moore, and a few people have referred to his being
banned from the Gadsden Mall for his inappropriate interest in adolescent
girls.
Here are what I consider Ms. Corfman’s most
memorable lines:
“It took away a lot of the specialness out of interactions with men. it took some trust away. It took years for me to regain a sense of confidence in myself, and I felt guilty. I felt like I was the one that was to blame. It was decades before I was able to let that go.”
After being shown a picture of herself at 14, Corfman reflected on her teenage self: “She sure did have a lot of promise ahead of her, and she didn’t deserve to have a 32-year-old man prey upon her.”
- - -
I’m sure I’m not the first one to say this, but I
believe you can judge a society’s moral standing by the opportunities it gives
children to find happiness. There are a number of ways in which we Americans
can be said to “need improvement” in this area, but certainly one that the Roy
Moore case emphasizes is our failure to protect children from sexual predators.
This failure speaks poignantly to us from Ms. Corfman’s words and demeanor. The
interview can be seen in its entirety here.
The other side of the Roy Moore story is the
political drama that now surrounds it. Ms. Corfman, like most white Alabamians,
is a Republican, but I gather she won’t be voting for him in his run for the
Senate against his Democratic opponent. In fact, Moore’s shocking behavior may
keep Moore from winning the election in this usually reliably Republican state.
No surprise there. The surprise is that he has a
chance of winning at all; yet the polls are showing a “too close to call”
contest at this point.
Most people would say that pedophilia is a
disqualifier from public office. But some Alabamians have decided not to
believe the nine women who have spoken up about their victimization by Moore even
though their accounts have been corroborated by dozens of others who were told
about the incidents when they occurred.
It's hard to believe anyone could fail to believe
these women who, after all, have paid a price by stepping forward. But too
often people choose to believe that which confirms their prejudices, even when
what they choose to believe is thoroughly refuted by harshly compelling facts.
As Simon and Garfunkle once sang, “…a man hears what he wants to hear and
disregards the rest.”
We’ve come to a point in our partisan landscape
where confessions of the heart that ring painfully true may be disregarded if
they run up against tribal political interests. These poor women who have
suffered once, may find themselves suffering again if Moore actually wins the
December 12 election. Such an outcome would be a validation of his behavior and
a rebuke to their courage. Heaven help us all if our blind partisanship winds
up thrusting us down into that circle of hell.
Ms. Corfman - Courage
(NBC News)
