Here is the sequence of what should happen in VA

[scheming daemons]

1. AG Herring resigns.
2. Gov Northam appoints a replacement AG.
3. LG Fairfax resigns.
4. Gov Northam appoints a replacement LG.
5. Gov Northam resigns.
6. New LG from step #4 becomes Governor.
7. New Governor appoints a new LG.

If the people chosen in steps 2, 4, and 7 are women... or even better, women of color... it is the best of all worlds.

The GOP's attempted ratfucking of Virginia will have backfired, resulting in Democratic women in all of the top spots in VA government.... and the Dems would have improved everything in VA and shown we are not hypocrites when one (or three) of our own need to resign.


Disclosure: I am a 51 year old straight white guy. I just happen to think it is time for people who look like me to let others have a chance to lead.

[treestar]

1. vet replacements

including the yearbook and all college applications and the like. At this rate, the replacements will have issues too.

[rogue emissary]

51. +1

[theboss]

2. You keep using that word "ratfucking" when you don't know what it means

Stop using that word until you know what it means.

[scheming daemons]

3. I "keep" using it? When did I use it before?

Secondly... thats what this is.

Especially the Fairfax one.

[theboss]

5. It's a generalized "you"

I'm seeing it a lot.

So, you know that the accusation was made up by political opponents? How do you know this?

Because that's what ratfucking would be. A dirty trick.

[Blue_Tires]

9. Please... The timing of this alone screams "ratfucking"

Of course I'll still wait and see how it plays out but it's never a good sign when the accuser still hasn't produced any evidence...

[theboss]

10. So a decorated clearly liberal college professor . . . .

Decided to team up with Republicans to bring down a lt governor three months after an election by making an accusation that would ruin her life if it were revealed to be made out of wholecloth.

It's diabolical.

[Blue_Tires]

21. Our election was in 2017, big guy...

Oh, and pay no attention to the fact that the accusation first appeared on a far-right ratfucker's website.

And her coming forward at this curious conjunction of events after saying Jack Fuckin' Shit for 15 years isn't the least bit suspicious at all, is it? Just because you're halfway unfamiliar with how ratfucking works, don't assume the same about the rest of us.

But like I said, I'll wait for it to play out and I'm more than happy to hear her full story and see what proof she has...

So are we done here, or do you want to take another run?

[theboss]

24. Do you get mad at all sexual assault victims who don't say jack fuckin shit?

Her statement is out. So is his.

I don't know what proof she could possibly have.

The question I have is did she go undercover to the DNC in 2004 in order to trap a fellow attendee in case that dude had a chance to be governor a decade and a half later?

[Blue_Tires]

34. Way to misread my post... Bravo

1. While I know there are reasons why some women choose to do so, I am a bit curious why she didn't notify the police or file some kind of report because 14 years is a long time to sit on this and it's not like the whole "He was too famous and powerful and could have ruined my life with a phone call!" -justification applies here.

2. She's going to need a hell of a lot more than he said/she said to make this stick. (And she isn't helped by the fact that at no time in her statement does she say "NO!" despite not being drugged/drunk). Like Cosby, she'd better hope to god that a line of women making the same accusation and who are willing to press charges magically appear.

3. To answer your question, NO the GOP did NOT make some deal with her to ruin the career of a completely unknown staffer 14 years before he decided to run for Governor. I did not say that and I don't think anyone else in this thread said that. DO NOT put fucking words in my mouth, thank you. The ratfucking comes from waiting all this time to come out and only when there is talk about Northam resigning is she shopping her story to a far-right blogger (A story that the Washington Post didn't find credible, by the way).

Are we done? Any more questions? I don't know why all these accounts I never see on a regular basis insist on fucking with me, but here we are...

[theboss]

35. When did she "shop" this to a far right blogger?

You are the first person I've seen make that accusation.

Also, isn't the entire point of METOO that we don't judge women who don't report an assault immediately? Or do you think that's bullshit?

[Blue_Tires]

47. Bro, if you don't even know who broke the story

and you're not a Virginian, and you still have the gall call me out on the spot like you know me, I'm clearly wasting my time...

I bid you adieu.

[theboss]

48. I know who broke it. That doesn't mean she went to them

She went to the Washington Post, and apparently many others knew the story. Any of them could have tipped off the blogger.

[theboss]

33. Did you read her statement? Do you think she is a ratfucker still?

She explains why she waited 15 years to say jack fucking shit.

[blueinredohio]

30. Agreed one thousand percent

[Blue_Tires]

50. Hard to believe these two things aren't somehow connected

Link to tweet

And I wonder who else benefits from Richmond dominating the national news?

Link to tweet

[dweller]

4. define the term ...

I'm not seeing any misconstrued statement in OP

✌🏼️

[theboss]

6. It's a dirty political trick

It would be paying someone off to say they raped you.
Or doctoring a tape to have a candidate say, "Grab them by the pussy."
Or doctoring a photo to show someone having dinner alone with a prostitute.

It's not a fair accusation or telling the truth about something bad someone did.

[dweller]

12. doctoring a tape to have a candidate say ... wha?

well do tell ... 😳

😆

✌🏼️

[theboss]

16. If this is ratfucking so is the Access Hollywood tape

But since both are real things that happened, it's not ratfucking.

[Bradshaw3]

18. You are correct

Some don't want to hear it but not every Democratic scandal is repub ratfucking. It may be in these three cases but I doubt it, especially since Herring admitted it and Northam admitted (then yanked that back), and Fairfax's accuser doesn't appear to be someone who would take part in a scheme like that.

[onenote]

7. Your plan fails at step 2.

By law, the governor only fills a vacancy in the AG office if the legislature is not in session at the time the vacancy occurs, and only for a limited time period. The Virginia legislature is currently in session.

§ 24.2-213. Filling vacancy in office of Attorney General.


If a vacancy occurs in the office of Attorney General during the session of the General Assembly, the General Assembly shall fill the vacancy by a majority vote of the total membership. If a vacancy occurs during a recess of the General Assembly, the Governor shall appoint a successor to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term or until the end of thirty days after the commencement of the next session of the General Assembly, whichever happens first. At that next session, the General Assembly shall fill the vacancy by election by a majority vote of the total membership for the unexpired portion of the term.

Code 1950, § 24-153; 1970, c. 462, § 24.1-85; 1993, c. 641.


Also, I don't know that the Governor has the power to appoint someone to serve as Lieutenant Governor. The law is vague on that issue and the in one instance in which I'm aware of the Lieutenant Governor's office becoming vacant, special election was held to fill the position as part of the next general election (which in this case would be November 2019).

[ConnorMarc]

8. We don't know if the allegations of Fairfax are true

Redo your list.

[Empowerer]

13. Thank you

[peggysue2]

15. x1000!

An allegation is just that . . . an allegation that anyone can make. It requires an investigation to sort things out. Thus far, we do not have anyone testifying to the veracity of this young woman's accusation. Let's stop pretending we know what happened.

Or do we want another Al Franken fiasco? You know, that scenario we said we'd never let happen again?

Let's stop doing the Republican's work for them. Unless, of course, we're down with an overturned election.

[Bradshaw3]

20. True, except

If more accusers come out then Fairfax is in trouble too.

[Chemisse]

28. It's not the quantity; it's the quality.

The GOP could pay a dozen accusers to come forward.

They have to be compelling and preferably provide some actual evidence to support their claims.

[Bradshaw3]

31. No, quantity definitely matters

One reason the charges against tRump and Kvanaugh were so believable was the quantity. Of Course Ford gave it quality too, but if you think this accuser has been bought off or doesn't have quality in her charges, I suggest you read her statement that was just posted.

[Chemisse]

38. I did not suggest that at all!

I only said that the number does not prove the case. At least one of the Kavenaugh accusers was not considered to have high validity, so her accusation didn't really add to the case against him.

[Bradshaw3]

40. You didn't suggest it; you actually wrote the words saying that very thing

"It's not the quantity; it's the quality." Your exact words, which is what I responded to.

[Chemisse]

43. I did not suggest this: "if you think this accuser has been bought off or doesn't have quality"

[Bradshaw3]

44. The key word is "if"

And to reiterate, you did write what you claim you didn't. Quantity does matter.

[Chemisse]

45. Looks like you just like to argue. That's not my interest. n/t

[Bradshaw3]

46. Funny how you not owning up to your own words is me "liking to argue"

I guess you are really not interested in rational discussion.

[TexasBushwhacker]

41. I agree

The reason Bill Cosby went down was because of quantity.

The reason Harvey Weinstein went down was because of quantity.

When enough women come forward accusing the same man, you just can't ignore it.

Having read Vanessa Tyson's statement, I will say that if it is true, there are probably more victims out there. What she accuses him of usually isn't an isolated incident.

https://www.scribd.com/document/399054978/Statement-of-Dr-Vanessa-Tyson#from_embed

[Bradshaw3]

42. That last sentence is what is worrying

If you read her description of the incident, it doesn't sound like something a man does once in his life. Whether it is true or not i don't know, but to me she seems credible and I'm afraid others are going to come out. I hope that it isn't true, but her credentials and her statement make her charges worrying. Add in that report that he said "Fuck that bitch" in a meeting, and that alone - if true - would get you at least suspended in a lot of ogranizations.

[lame54]

11. Rush to judgement on Fairfax...

But the whole thing is a mess

[Empowerer]

14. +1

[ooky]

17. There is no reason for Fairfax to resign.

[mcar]

19. That works for me

[onenote]

23. Except it doesnt really work under Virginia law

First, as noted above, the governor only gets to fill a vacancy in the Attorney General's office if the General Assembly is not in session when the vacancy occurs. The GA currently is in session and is scheduled to remain in session until February 23 and then reconvene on April 3. So, if Herring was to resign before February 23, his vacancy would be filled by the Republican controlled legislature. And even if he waited until after February 23, he could only serve until shortly after the legislature went back into session on April 3. And that assumes that the Republican controlled legislature cannot and does not decide not to adjourn on February 23, in which case the governor could not appoint a successor to Herring.

Even more problematic is the filling of the Lieutenant Governor's spot. The one time this happened, the vacancy was filled through a special election held at the time of the next general election. My understanding is that the office remained vacant until then (from June until November). But even if the governor could fill the vacancy, it would, under Virginia law, be temporary, with a special election to fill the spot as part of the state's November 2019 general election.

So, basically, leaving aside the AG issue, if Fairfax resigns now, Northam arguably could appoint an LG who, by law, is intended to serve only temporarily (unless he/she is elected in November), and then immediately resign and have that person become Governor, in which case the LG's position might be filled by a different person by the governor, but only until the next general election. Allowing someone to be appointed as LG for a nine month term who then immediately becomes governor when the person who appointed him/her resigns is likely to turn off a lot of voters.

[mcar]

25. Dang!

[Blue_Tires]

22. I prefer #8

which is to fight fire with fire and dig up all the instances of Repubs wearing blackface and demand they resign first...

[onenote]

26. My guess is that there a more than a couple of Virginia republicans feeling a bit uncomfortable now

I grew up in Virginia in the 50s and 60s and attended college in the state in the 70s. At that time, and my guess is for several years thereafter, a significant number of Virginia college students joined fraternities and many of those fraternities were all white. While things began to change by the 1990s, the 1980s probably weren't that different. So, there likely were fraternity parties celebrating the old south at which frat members, some of whom might now be elected repubs in the state, dressed in blackface.

It would be the least surprising development of all of the things that have happened in the past week.

[Blue_Tires]

29. Jesus we needed these folks back when George Allen was running things...

[Blue_Tires]

49. yep

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[k8conant]

32. That's what I support also.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

37. That's nice, but they're Republicans.

So their supporters won't care, the RNC won't care, the line might well be "Yeah, that was me. It was pretty funny at the time.".

Is it a reason for a Republican to resign?

[debsy]

27. Brilliant!

[onenote]

36. See post 23

[Adrahil]

39. Yup.

But I think this is complicated by the need for the appointments to get confirmed, though I do not know Virigina law very well.

[Renew Deal]

52. Why would Herring resign?

[rogue emissary]

53. Kick and recommend

[earthside]

54. Are Northam and Herring racists?

I keep asking ... what are the civil rights record of Northam and Herring for their years in public life?

If they have been progressive on civil rights and race issues, then I just don't see how one photo and a couple of recounting of three decade old behaviors should mean they have to resign now.

[LongtimeAZDem]

55. That would confirm the image of the "corrupt Democratic machine" to everyone

No, the Governor and the Lieutenant Governor should hold a joint press conference and state that they understand the concerns of the people of Virginia, and apologize that their personal lives have impeded their ability to serve, but they will not abdicate their elected responsibilities over these issues.

[Blue_Tires]

56. Your idea is catching on:

Link to tweet