Parker: Mitch McConnell on right side against Roy Moore

McConnell — who fought Moore’s candidacy 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 loyalists shrug at the charges, saying they’re “politically motivated.” Shocking. As Bill Clinton 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 Republicans keep the seat, he opted to do the right thing. It’s a shame we have to be surprised when this happens.

Candidate unrepentant

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 forgiven for past transgressions, especially if they’ve led exemplary lives in the interim. But forgiveness first requires that one confess and repent — and Moore has done neither.

His denial and steadfast refusal to step aside may be viewed in one of two ways. Either he’s innocent, or he’s confident that his supporters don’t care if he is guilty.

Moore is threatening to sue The Washington Post, which broke the story after a month-long investigation that included corroborating interviews with at least 30 people. 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.

Moore refutes ever knowing Nelson, though this seems demonstrably false. Nelson produced her 1977 high school yearbook featuring an inscription by Moore. Apparently smitten by his inner muse, he wrote: “To a sweeter, more beautiful girl, I could not say Merry Christmas.” Could you maybe have said, “Congratulations and best of luck in the future”?

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 Quixote, tilting at maidens in a trance of romantic 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 researched 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 future, 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.