There have been many cruel epithets thrown Judge Roy Moore's way leading to his convincing victory in the GOP runoff for a U.S. Senate seat in the state of Alabama.
The media have been out with the long knives – far preferring an establishment Republican candidate to Moore.
I'm not even going to repeat any of the vindictive slurs cast his way.
I'd rather tell you about the Judge Roy Moore I know.
I first met him decades ago when he spoke in a Sacramento-area church. I didn't know what to expect, but what I found was a man devoted to God and the Constitution of the United States. His knowledge of U.S. history and the founding documents was amazing. He spoke without notes and quoted the founders flawlessly.
It occurred to me upon that first encounter that if Moore were not a solid, principled conservative, he would be hailed as a constitutional scholar. Of course, we know he went on to become the chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, only to see the Justice Department of an establishment Republican president misuse federal law and federal power to oust him from the duly elected state position because of his spirited defense of the First Amendment.
He also quoted Scripture extensively – again, without the aid of notes.
What I concluded that weeknight decades ago, while I was still laboring in the euphemistically called "mainstream media," was that this was truly a statesman, someone who understood and revered the principles upon which the nation was founded, including its Judeo-Christian roots and inspirations.
Over the years, I got to know Moore better. I was privileged to publish his aptly titled autobiography, "So Help Me God."
You won't find a more decent man in the entire country.
I did what I could to help him get elected governor of Alabama, but he was never good at one thing – being a politician, which involved asking people for money, lots of money. If that's a fault, Moore is guilty. Politicians are people who compromise. Judge Roy Moore doesn't. Politicians are people who put their careers before the will of the people. Judge Moore doesn't. He will never duck a hard question. He will never tell you what you want to hear if it is anything other than what he believes.
And that's why he's an extraordinary human being in the 21st century. He has never run for judicial or political office for himself, for his ego, for the power. He has done it for his state and his country. And that's no joke.
He's faced some rough times over the years. He's been challenged and seemingly broken. But, I believe, God had it mind for him to serve in the U.S. Senate for a time such as this.
I only wish Donald Trump understood Roy Moore like I do. He would never have opposed him in the runoff election, even if he thought he had been the underdog in the race rather than the odds-on favorite to win.
But that's water under the bridge.
Trump will get to know and admire him soon enough – assuming the good judge prevails over his Democratic opponent Dec. 12. The president's doubtful to find anyone in the U.S. Senate who will support his agenda more courageously and forcefully and consistently than Judge Roy Moore.
And, do you know what? That's what we need right now in the Senate, someone to challenge the status quo establishmentarians and help Trump fulfill his mission to drain the bipartisan swamp that has usurped the rule of law, overthrown the principle of constitutionally limited government, resisted the will of the people and treated the federal government like it was a prestigious millionaires' country club rather than the servant of the public.