So maybe there's hope for American democracy yet

I don't think I need to continue to harp on the massive shortcomings of Roy Moore as a politician, much less a functional human being. There are plenty of examples of them here and here, but what's gratifying about his special election loss to Doug Jones is that he wasn't put in a position to have a hand in national policy decisions in the US Senate. However, what's equally irritating is that it took a sexual harassment scandal (and if true, a outright pedophilia scandal) to do him in.

Nobody bothered to pay much attention to the fact that he's been living in a squalid alternate reality for decades in which bullhorn-level advocacy of theocracy, racism, homophobia and xenophobia were considered actual virtues instead of reasons to cringe, or that his entire campaign for the Senate - with the likes of Steve Bannon and Louis Gohmert clapping for him like trained seals - was built on that toxic worldview. It's as if being a reject from the most clichéd comedy movie about a trailer park pol was somehow a ticket to beatification. Unfortunately, for some people, it still is.

And the worst thing is that he can always make a run for Richard Shelby's seat when Shelby quits. Shelby is 83, so it's unlikely he'll run again. And although Roy Moore is down and out now, I get the sinking feeling we'll still have him to kick around in a few years' time - just like most other landmines.