Virginia megathread

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

The Reps and Dems should make a deal that both Fairfax and Kavanaugh will resign on the same day. That would be fair.

Dumbest solution imaginable.

[Alabama_Indy10]

Still no photo of Herring and the days almost up, so I'm guessing it may not exist at all.

Maybe he should sue for libel too.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Here is a solution,

The VA legislature should just request that he testify under oath about these allegations to them.

[henster]

Here is a solution,

The VA legislature should just request that he testify under oath about these allegations to them.

Well the General Assembly is about to adjourn in a couple of weeks until 2020 and only the Gov can call a special session.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Unless one of the two sides presents some kind of evidence I don't see how anyone can claim to know what the truth is.

Everything Fairfax has done suggests he did what he’s been accused of.  Fairfax needs to go even if it means Republicans pick up all three statewide offices.

Behavior isn't concrete proof. Can you at least wait for other women to come out and make similar allegations before you convict the guy.

This isn’t a criminal proceeding.  I find Dr. Tyson’s allegations more credible than Fairfax’s denial and as such see no reason why he shouldn’t resign immediately.  And we both know you’d be humming a different tune if these were allegations against Mike Pence by a conservative activist from the 2012 RNC and Donald Trump has just been impeached.  Fairfax shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves just b/c he’s a Democrat.

I'm just wary in this case because the media couldn't corroborate her story OR find any pattern of similar behavior from Fairfax.
If every politician is forced to resign when a single woman accuses him without proof then we open the door to blackmail and other unpleasant stuff. Remember that many people here had the same attitude with Cisneros and the guy was eventually innocent. This isn't like Kihuen or Conyers where the evidence was overwhelming.

Just my two cents.   

[henster]

Unless one of the two sides presents some kind of evidence I don't see how anyone can claim to know what the truth is.

Everything Fairfax has done suggests he did what he’s been accused of.  Fairfax needs to go even if it means Republicans pick up all three statewide offices.

Behavior isn't concrete proof. Can you at least wait for other women to come out and make similar allegations before you convict the guy.

This isn’t a criminal proceeding.  I find Dr. Tyson’s allegations more credible than Fairfax’s denial and as such see no reason why he shouldn’t resign immediately.  And we both know you’d be humming a different tune if these were allegations against Mike Pence by a conservative activist from the 2012 RNC and Donald Trump has just been impeached.  Fairfax shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves just b/c he’s a Democrat.

I'm just wary in this case because the media couldn't corroborate her story OR find any pattern of similar behavior from Fairfax.
If every politician is forced to resign when a single woman accuses him without proof then we open the door to blackmail and other unpleasant stuff. Remember that many people here had the same attitude with Cisneros and the guy was eventually innocent. This isn't like Kihuen or Conyers where the evidence was overwhelming.

Just my two cents.   

Don’t think it’s fair to judge Fairfax’s behavior because Tyson has only given a written statement so far. Never seen her on video to make any clear judgement on her, she may present herself as erratic as Fairfax has been. And the fact that she’s refusing to do any interviews doesn’t really help her case and it’s unfair to Fairfax. From the cryptic private FB post shared around and posted to RW media and now just a written statement, don’t like how she’s chosen to go about this.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Unless one of the two sides presents some kind of evidence I don't see how anyone can claim to know what the truth is.

Everything Fairfax has done suggests he did what he’s been accused of.  Fairfax needs to go even if it means Republicans pick up all three statewide offices.

Behavior isn't concrete proof. Can you at least wait for other women to come out and make similar allegations before you convict the guy.

This isn’t a criminal proceeding.  I find Dr. Tyson’s allegations more credible than Fairfax’s denial and as such see no reason why he shouldn’t resign immediately.  And we both know you’d be humming a different tune if these were allegations against Mike Pence by a conservative activist from the 2012 RNC and Donald Trump has just been impeached.  Fairfax shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves just b/c he’s a Democrat.

I'm just wary in this case because the media couldn't corroborate her story OR find any pattern of similar behavior from Fairfax.
If every politician is forced to resign when a single woman accuses him without proof then we open the door to blackmail and other unpleasant stuff. Remember that many people here had the same attitude with Cisneros and the guy was eventually innocent. This isn't like Kihuen or Conyers where the evidence was overwhelming.

Just my two cents.   

Don’t think it’s fair to judge Fairfax’s behavior because Tyson has only given a written statement so far. Never seen her on video to make any clear judgement on her, she may present herself as erratic as Fairfax has been. And the fact that she’s refusing to do any interviews doesn’t really help her case and it’s unfair to Fairfax. From the cryptic private FB post shared around and posted to RW media and now just a written statement, don’t like how she’s chosen to go about this.

What specifically would it take for you to believe her over Fairfax?

[Bandit3 the Worker]

As I posted in another thread, this seems like something that should matter, but it won't. That's not really how politics works. Big scandals involving top Republicans in other states didn't bring down their parties either (eg Missouri), and that is because voters don't just robotically turn on the entire party for something that involves individuals.

Problem with this is that the media covers Democratic scandals a lot more than Republican scandals.

[Bandit3 the Worker]

Still no photo of Herring and the days almost up, so I'm guessing it may not exist at all.

A TV station in Richmond claimed to have photos, but this station is owned by a right-wing company.

[Zaybay]

I do have an update for this case.

Apparently, there is a discrepancy in both Lt. Fairfax's and Dr. Tyson's statements. Fairfax claims that Dr. Tyson and him stayed in contact for many months afterward, while Dr. Tyson claims that that day was the last they had communicated with each other.

This should be verifiable, and it mostly lies on Fairfax to obtain proof of contact.

I dunno, this seems like a step up from the current "She said, He said" dilemma we are in on this case.

[Horus]

Unless one of the two sides presents some kind of evidence I don't see how anyone can claim to know what the truth is.

Everything Fairfax has done suggests he did what he’s been accused of.  Fairfax needs to go even if it means Republicans pick up all three statewide offices.

Behavior isn't concrete proof. Can you at least wait for other women to come out and make similar allegations before you convict the guy.

This isn’t a criminal proceeding.  I find Dr. Tyson’s allegations more credible than Fairfax’s denial and as such see no reason why he shouldn’t resign immediately.  And we both know you’d be humming a different tune if these were allegations against Mike Pence by a conservative activist from the 2012 RNC and Donald Trump has just been impeached.  Fairfax shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves just b/c he’s a Democrat.

I'm just wary in this case because the media couldn't corroborate her story OR find any pattern of similar behavior from Fairfax.
If every politician is forced to resign when a single woman accuses him without proof then we open the door to blackmail and other unpleasant stuff. Remember that many people here had the same attitude with Cisneros and the guy was eventually innocent. This isn't like Kihuen or Conyers where the evidence was overwhelming.

Just my two cents.   

Don’t think it’s fair to judge Fairfax’s behavior because Tyson has only given a written statement so far. Never seen her on video to make any clear judgement on her, she may present herself as erratic as Fairfax has been. And the fact that she’s refusing to do any interviews doesn’t really help her case and it’s unfair to Fairfax. From the cryptic private FB post shared around and posted to RW media and now just a written statement, don’t like how she’s chosen to go about this.

What specifically would it take for you to believe her over Fairfax?

 Maybe he's waiting on actual evidence?

[Sirius_]

Unless one of the two sides presents some kind of evidence I don't see how anyone can claim to know what the truth is.

Everything Fairfax has done suggests he did what he’s been accused of.  Fairfax needs to go even if it means Republicans pick up all three statewide offices.

Behavior isn't concrete proof. Can you at least wait for other women to come out and make similar allegations before you convict the guy.

This isn’t a criminal proceeding.  I find Dr. Tyson’s allegations more credible than Fairfax’s denial and as such see no reason why he shouldn’t resign immediately.  And we both know you’d be humming a different tune if these were allegations against Mike Pence by a conservative activist from the 2012 RNC and Donald Trump has just been impeached.  Fairfax shouldn’t be treated with kid gloves just b/c he’s a Democrat.

I'm just wary in this case because the media couldn't corroborate her story OR find any pattern of similar behavior from Fairfax.
If every politician is forced to resign when a single woman accuses him without proof then we open the door to blackmail and other unpleasant stuff. Remember that many people here had the same attitude with Cisneros and the guy was eventually innocent. This isn't like Kihuen or Conyers where the evidence was overwhelming.

Just my two cents.   

Don’t think it’s fair to judge Fairfax’s behavior because Tyson has only given a written statement so far. Never seen her on video to make any clear judgement on her, she may present herself as erratic as Fairfax has been. And the fact that she’s refusing to do any interviews doesn’t really help her case and it’s unfair to Fairfax. From the cryptic private FB post shared around and posted to RW media and now just a written statement, don’t like how she’s chosen to go about this.

What specifically would it take for you to believe her over Fairfax?

 Maybe he's waiting on actual evidence?

Yeah it's much too early to decide. The behavior thing is a fair assessment at all, you'd probably be nervous too if you were accused of this, true or not. It's like the lie detector, it's a load of garbage because real criminals are usually the calmest. It's perfectly normal for an innocent person to not be all calm and cool.

[Virginiá]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/06/politics/fairfax-kavanaugh-lawyers/index.html

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Fantastic optics, Lt Gov Fairfax!

[RogueBeaver]

https://twitter.com/LarrySabato/status/1093487445713264645

[Gass3268]

https://twitter.com/richardmskinner/status/1093532282978213891

Order of most likely to resign (imo):

1. Fairfax (> 50%)
2. Northam (~33%)
3. Herring (< 15%)

[Pheurton Skeurto]

Hearing around from my non political circles, people who just watch local news... There's a lot of skepticism around the Fairfax stuff. 'Why did she wait so long', 'How can you force oral', 'Why didn't she bite?' Think a lot more people are more nuanced on the MeToo stuff than most people in the media think.

That is just about the worst possible response that one human being could have vis a vis an allegation like this.

[Zaybay]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/06/politics/fairfax-kavanaugh-lawyers/index.html

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Fantastic optics, Lt Gov Fairfax!

Eh, from an optics standpoint, it looks bad, but then again, I dont believe anyone will remember/care a month from now who the law firms on each side are.

From a legal standpoint, its a pretty smart move. I mean, these are the same guys who were able to get Brett to the Supreme Court for a rather similar accusation. If anyone can get Fairfax off the hook, it would be these guys. And, in the end, thats really what matters. Voters will forget about who Fairfax hired, they will remember if he is either convicted or exonerated.

Thats just my opinion, though.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I do have an update for this case.

Apparently, there is a discrepancy in both Lt. Fairfax's and Dr. Tyson's statements. Fairfax claims that Dr. Tyson and him stayed in contact for many months afterward, while Dr. Tyson claims that that day was the last they had communicated with each other.

This should be verifiable, and it mostly lies on Fairfax to obtain proof of contact.

I dunno, this seems like a step up from the current "She said, He said" dilemma we are in on this case.

That's not new. He said that a couple of days ago, and that he regrets he didn't keep any evidence of their contacts.

[RogueBeaver]

https://twitter.com/RTDSchapiro/status/1093548085932933121

[Bandit3 the Worker]

https://twitter.com/RTDSchapiro/status/1093548085932933121

Well, yeah. NBC lied.

[Badger]

The only resolution at this point.

- Fairfax resigns and Northam replaces him with a female POC.

- Northam resigns a month later and the new Lt Gov assumes power.

- New Lt. Gov is picked who should be another female POC and there would be a special election in '19.

- Herring should stay put since if he resigned the GOP would pick his replacement, but his political
  career is over.

What is your obsession with female POCs?

In light of the #MeToo and racism scandals I think it would be best for optics to have them all replaced by female POCs. It at least ensures it won't happen again.

Changing the colour and pair of gonads won't prevent racism or sexual misconduct in the slightest.

Well, in reality, in all likelihood it actually would. While not utterly non-existent, women using their positions of authority 2 sexually harass male subordinates is extremely rare. This hasn't changed even as women are increasingly in positions of power in business and politics. It is a rare rare exception to the rule. I will simply say a lot of this has to do with Biology, and a lot of its societal conditioning that affects even women in positions of power. But the end result though, is that statistically the likelihood of sexual harassment towards subordinates would drastically plummet.

Likewise, it's very rare for men or women of color to discriminate against non-white subordinates. Simply put, outside of small family businesses and rare exceptions like BET, it is almost unheard of for an African American supervisor to not have significant numbers of whites above them to whom they would have to readily answer to if they started unfairly favoring blacks over white employees. While the reverse is often tolerated, again, societal norms make it almost impossible for blacks to discriminate against whites without significant risk of repercussion to themselves. And I believe that carries over even to people of color who obtained very high office in government or business. Simply put, Society won't tolerate blacks favoring blacks over whites nearly as much as it will write off whites favoring whites over blacks as being "merit based" or " not giving in to PC racial hiring quotas" or some such.

Even if that's true, refusing to hire anyone whose not a female POC is no better than refusing to hire a minority due to negative stereotypes or statistics. It's racism/sexism, pure and simple.

Well, yes. But then I never said anything remotely indicating otherwise.

[Badger]

Hearing around from my non political circles, people who just watch local news... There's a lot of skepticism around the Fairfax stuff. 'Why did she wait so long', 'How can you force oral', 'Why didn't she bite?' Think a lot more people are more nuanced on the MeToo stuff than most people in the media think.

This is what rape culture looks like. Congratulations.

[Badger]

Hearing around from my non political circles, people who just watch local news... There's a lot of skepticism around the Fairfax stuff. 'Why did she wait so long', 'How can you force oral', 'Why didn't she bite?' Think a lot more people are more nuanced on the MeToo stuff than most people in the media think.

This is what rape culture looks like. Congratulations.

Im sorry, this has been bothering me. Werent you the poster who was standing by Kavanaugh and proclaiming his innocence? You also had him as your sig for a long time.
Seems a bit hypocritical that you would suddenly flip in a rather similar situation

Of course I am. If Kavanaugh had allegations as heinous as this against him, especially ones that involved such scheming, I would have thrown him to the wolves.

He absolutely did and you should have

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hearing around from my non political circles, people who just watch local news... There's a lot of skepticism around the Fairfax stuff. 'Why did she wait so long', 'How can you force oral', 'Why didn't she bite?' Think a lot more people are more nuanced on the MeToo stuff than most people in the media think.

This is what rape culture looks like. Congratulations.

Im sorry, this has been bothering me. Werent you the poster who was standing by Kavanaugh and proclaiming his innocence? You also had him as your sig for a long time.
Seems a bit hypocritical that you would suddenly flip in a rather similar situation

Of course I am. If Kavanaugh had allegations as heinous as this against him, especially ones that involved such scheming, I would have thrown him to the wolves.

He absolutely did and you should have

[Zaybay]

https://twitter.com/RTDSchapiro/status/1093548085932933121

Either Fairfax is incredibly dumb, or he's innocent on this issue.