by Pa Rock
Citizen Journalist
In today's world it sometimes seems easy, or at least convenient, to blame one political party or the other for most of the sexual and racial outrages that make it into America's headlines, but the truth is that both political parties harbor more than their share of racists and rapists. Last year my state of Missouri stayed in the news for several months as state lawmakers and a diligent press corps tried to bring about the resignation or removal from office of our Republican governor, Eric Greitens, a man whose proclivity for sexual bondage made it out of the basement and into the national press. Greitens eventually resigned and was replaced in office by Lt. Governor Mike Parson, a former county sheriff who was undoubtedly also familiar with the use of handcuffs.
Missouri has settled down, and now the national focus has shifted to Virginia where the state's top three elected officials (excluding U.S. Senators) have all become embroiled in scandals. Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, initially admitted posing in a photo in his Medical School yearbook in which he was either wearing "blackface" or dressed in a Klan costume. (Neither person was recognizable.) As outrage began erupting over the photo, Northam withdrew his admission and said that he was not in the photo. He later adjusted his testimony and said that although he was not in that photo, he had been photographed in blackface on another occasion.
Justin Fairfax, Virginia's Democratic lieutenant governor who happens to be black, did not have much time to begin planning a move into the governor's mansion before he was accused a sexual assault of a young woman at a party several years earlier. The lady, now a professor, had made the allegation before, claiming that Fairfax had forced her to perform oral sex on him, but the Washington Post which had the information declined to print it because all the newspaper said it has was her word against his - a she said-he said situation. Fairfax again denied the old story, but a day or two later another sexual allegation was made by another woman - this time alleging that she had been raped by Fairfax.
The third person in line to become governor of Virginia is the state's Democratic attorney general - Mark Herring. As the other two scandals were exploding onto the scene, Herring went before the press and admitted that he, too, had been photographed at a college party wearing blackface.
The next person in line to be governor - should Northam, Fairfax, and Herring all resign, is Kirk Cox, the Republican Speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates - a person who was not brought into office through a statewide vote.
Not surprisingly, members of the Republican Party, both in Virginia as well as nationally, are suddenly united in their sanctimony regarding the awfulness of racism and sexual assault. It is good to see that they have suddenly put Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh behind them and are now focused on two of the more important moral issues of our times.
Here's hoping they can maintain that righteous outrage when the next Mark Foley, Larry Craig, or Denny Hastert comes along.
Yes, the Virginia slate needs to be wiped clean, and that is a very sad state of affairs for the good folks of the Commonwealth who voted to keep Republicans away from the levers of power. But stuff happens, and when it does it needs to be fixed. Northam, Fairfax, and Herring should all resign - and the Republicans should maintain their newly found sense of morality and not be bashful about exercising it the next time one of their own politicians strays beyond the norms of descent society.
And perhaps they shouldn't howl too loudly when some members of the new Congress begin talking about investigating the sexual abuse allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. Sleaze does ooze across party lines, and so should justice.
Citizen Journalist
In today's world it sometimes seems easy, or at least convenient, to blame one political party or the other for most of the sexual and racial outrages that make it into America's headlines, but the truth is that both political parties harbor more than their share of racists and rapists. Last year my state of Missouri stayed in the news for several months as state lawmakers and a diligent press corps tried to bring about the resignation or removal from office of our Republican governor, Eric Greitens, a man whose proclivity for sexual bondage made it out of the basement and into the national press. Greitens eventually resigned and was replaced in office by Lt. Governor Mike Parson, a former county sheriff who was undoubtedly also familiar with the use of handcuffs.
Missouri has settled down, and now the national focus has shifted to Virginia where the state's top three elected officials (excluding U.S. Senators) have all become embroiled in scandals. Governor Ralph Northam, a Democrat, initially admitted posing in a photo in his Medical School yearbook in which he was either wearing "blackface" or dressed in a Klan costume. (Neither person was recognizable.) As outrage began erupting over the photo, Northam withdrew his admission and said that he was not in the photo. He later adjusted his testimony and said that although he was not in that photo, he had been photographed in blackface on another occasion.
Justin Fairfax, Virginia's Democratic lieutenant governor who happens to be black, did not have much time to begin planning a move into the governor's mansion before he was accused a sexual assault of a young woman at a party several years earlier. The lady, now a professor, had made the allegation before, claiming that Fairfax had forced her to perform oral sex on him, but the Washington Post which had the information declined to print it because all the newspaper said it has was her word against his - a she said-he said situation. Fairfax again denied the old story, but a day or two later another sexual allegation was made by another woman - this time alleging that she had been raped by Fairfax.
The third person in line to become governor of Virginia is the state's Democratic attorney general - Mark Herring. As the other two scandals were exploding onto the scene, Herring went before the press and admitted that he, too, had been photographed at a college party wearing blackface.
The next person in line to be governor - should Northam, Fairfax, and Herring all resign, is Kirk Cox, the Republican Speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates - a person who was not brought into office through a statewide vote.
Not surprisingly, members of the Republican Party, both in Virginia as well as nationally, are suddenly united in their sanctimony regarding the awfulness of racism and sexual assault. It is good to see that they have suddenly put Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh behind them and are now focused on two of the more important moral issues of our times.
Here's hoping they can maintain that righteous outrage when the next Mark Foley, Larry Craig, or Denny Hastert comes along.
Yes, the Virginia slate needs to be wiped clean, and that is a very sad state of affairs for the good folks of the Commonwealth who voted to keep Republicans away from the levers of power. But stuff happens, and when it does it needs to be fixed. Northam, Fairfax, and Herring should all resign - and the Republicans should maintain their newly found sense of morality and not be bashful about exercising it the next time one of their own politicians strays beyond the norms of descent society.
And perhaps they shouldn't howl too loudly when some members of the new Congress begin talking about investigating the sexual abuse allegations against Brett Kavanaugh. Sleaze does ooze across party lines, and so should justice.
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