Official: Gov. Northam Tells Staff He's Staying

[appalachiablue]

Source: AP

15 mins. ago. RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam told top staff Friday that he is not going to resign over a racist photo as another sexual assault accusation was leveled at his lieutenant governor, who would succeed him if he stepped down.

Northam called an afternoon Cabinet meeting to announce his intention to stay, a senior official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Also Friday, a second woman came forward to accuse Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault. The woman said in a statement that the attack took place when she and Fairfax were students at Duke University. The Associated Press is not reporting details of the allegation because it has not been corroborated.

"I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false. I have never forced myself on anyone ever," Fairfax said in a statement after the accusation was made public Friday.


Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/official-gov-northam-tells-staff-hes-staying/ar-BBTlSEp?ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

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On Saturday pressure on Northam peaked as practically the full Virginia Democratic establishment and nearly every Democratic presidential hopeful called for his resignation. The Northam issue has lessened in the face of new scandals involving Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and Atty. Gen. Mark Herring which have shaken the Old Dominion.

[democratisphere]

1. Northam claims he is not in racist KKK photo.

If true as he claims, Northam has no reason or cause to resign.

[Shemp Howard]

5. That's only half the problem.

This is no small issue. I'd also like to know how that picture got on his yearbook page in the first place.

[democratisphere]

6. Your last comment absolutely needs to be flushed out by

investigative journalists. Who is in the pic? Why did the editor and publisher of the yearbook include this photo?

[Honeycombe8]

15. The editor already gave a statement. He doesn't remember.

That was 35 years ago. He said students usually or often designated their own pics for their own pages (I've never heard of having one's own page in a yearbook, so I'm not sure what that means), but he can't say for sure they all did that, or if someone else gave him the pic.

Northam didn't take the pic, obviously, so it wasn't his, but someone could have given it to him. Or given it to the editor to include.

It's up to Virginians, who voted him in, whether to keep him in office or not, IMO. If the national Dem Party doesn't want Northam in it, he has said he'd consider serving as an Independent.

I think he made the right decision, for now. Let the furor subside and see where things are. Let the voters of that state decide what they want to do.

Joy Behar has now admitted that she dressed up as a famous black celebrity (I forget who), for something. The View showed the picture. She didn't wear blackface, but wore regular makeup that was a bit darker than her own skin. So I guess some people didn't think it was wrong to dress up as black celebrities for special occasions? Northam said he remembers dressed up as Michael Jackson for a dance content. He looks sort of like Jackson in that photo.

Fairfax may be toast. But again, that's for Virginians to decide. He's their elected official. Those are very serious allegations.

It's suspicious that these things are coming out on BOTH of them, now that they've won. And the AG, third in line to governorship, too. Fourth in line is a Republican. Very suspicious.

[democratisphere]

17. Agree on both the Govenor and Lt. Governor.

[alp227]

36. Although governors cannot run for re-election in Virginia,

Voters can petition to hold a recall trial in a state court. It's not the same as the recall elections that sent a certain action movie star to the governor's office in California over 15 years ago.

[COL Mustard]

38. If Fairfax Raped,

Then it's up to the prosecutors to decide his fate, not us regular people. But I absolutely agree with you that the timing of all of this is beyond coincidence.

[ChiTownDenny]

9. +1

[mjvpi]

19. Your comment points out that

this was the culture of the whole school that he went to if that made it into the yearbook. That doesn’t make it any less damning, but does set a baseline for personal growth. Unfortunately, that opportunity blew right past the governor. I had heard good things about him. Not a progressive visionary, but a conservative guy who thought things through and believed hat government can solve problems. But he has serious foot in mouth disease.

[Shemp Howard]

20. Nice turn of the phrase there!

"set a baseline for personal growth"

Well said. If Gov. Northam had been honest from the get-go, this indeed could have turned out well. Just say: Here's what happened. Here's why it was wrong. And here's what I have learned from it.

But instead all we've gotten from the governor is a series of shifting stories. And one of those stories Northam put out is that he has never seen his own yearbook page! Really? I feel like the public has been lied to. That's nothing new. But I'm not very happy with it.

[spooky3]

29. Have you seen your college or grad school yearbook?

I don’t even know if my university had one. I saw my HS yearbook, but that is all.

Please folks outside VA, look up info about Northam’s record in office (he was a pediatrician in the southeastern part of VA before entering public life). He’s not a slick politician and what precipitated this revelation by a right wing rag was his attempt to protect pro choice rights. He might be considered “conservative” by AOC district standards, but not by standards in VA or most other parts of the country. He screwed up horribly (if he was involved in the photo) and that’s what he needs to figure out and address.

[Shemp Howard]

34. Certainly!

Last edited Sat Feb 9, 2019, 10:41 AM - Edit history (1)

When I got my high school yearbook, the first thing I did was go to my page. Same with my college yearbook. It's the egotism of youth, I suspect.

Maybe it's possible Northam never once saw his own yearbook page. And maybe no one ever once mentioned it to him. Maybe. But that's very unlikely. It's so unlikely that I have to wonder if Northam is being honest with us.

But I do agree with your last statement. Northam should just figure out what happened, and tell us the truth. Then we should all move on.

Should Northam resign? I think so.

[spooky3]

35. And I'm saying that, because my experience was

Different from yours, it’s very easy to believe that he did not see the yearbook. I don’t recall anyone I knew talking about a college yearbook —and I would think even fewer would buy and look at a graduate school yearbook. So I’m inclined to believe he either misremembered seeing it or never did, rather than that he deliberately lied about it. But that’s something an investigation would help with.

[at140]

10. Northam has already admitted

He painted black face on another occasion.
If we are going to improve race relations, we must not trivialize painting black faces.
It is a form of disparaging folks who are African-Americans.

[democratisphere]

13. Disagree. When it is part of an MJ costume, it is not racist.

[DRoseDARs]

14. Oh sweet summer child, yes it is still racist. Mein gott. nt

[democratisphere]

18. Sorry, but still disagree.

[videohead5]

21. If he was only trying

Be like MJ it's not racist to him because he was a big fan I doubt a real racist would be of fan of MJ.

[temporary311]

2. Hopefully this shitshow doesn't dampen democratic turnout too much.

This is an election year for the state legislature, no? Albeit one with a less republican favoring gerrymandered map than the last time.

[cstanleytech]

4. Well to counter it somewhat our guys might want to consider using Kavanaugh as well as Trump as

both have a history of mistreating women and yet Repugnants still supported them.

[at140]

16. This might actually bring more democratic voters next time

because the democratic party would set an example that any form of racism is unacceptable, and will not be tolerated in the democratic party.

On the other hand if this is all swept under the rug as no big deal, that will certainly dampen black voters and fair minded white voters in the next election, because republicans will use it mercilessly in campaign Ads.

[Mars and Minerva]

3. i honestly can live with it as long as he apologizes correctly this time and...

dedicates the next four years to promoting a real and effective Rights agenda.
Anyone can change and grow. This is his chance to prove that he can and will. He has a smart wife who should be put in charge of kicking his butt every day on the issues of racial and religious progress.
He should appoint a real, diverse and powerful board to help guide him in a landmark program to shine a light on the history of Jim Crow. If he does it right, it might end up being a mitzvah.

[SunSeeker]

7. +1

[Thekaspervote]

24. Agree.. not to mention this is the repukes doing.

[keithbvadu2]

8. Ralph Northam/Tommy Norment says he is staying, not resigning.

Ralph Northam/Tommy Norment says he is staying, not resigning.

[Duppers]

11. As any prosecuting attorney would examine ....

..when cutting a deal, what is the greater good?

If all 3 of these men leave, an evil will take power that will do whatever they can to undo Civil Rights and women's rights in Virginia.

What is the Greater good?


Why now is this info out? There's ratfucking going on.

[catsudon]

12. strange

wonder why none of these stories came up before the election?

[madville]

22. Northam shouldn't resign now that Fairfax will not be Lt. Gov for much longer

He's the better option to keep around in the current scenario. Virginia Black Caucus is now demanding that Fairfax resign and articles of impeachment will be introduced Monday if he hasn't resigned by then.

[LovingA2andMI]

23. Why Not??

Virginia Politics at this point seem like a dumpster fire at this point, anyway.

[MrGrieves]

25. I still don't get why the school isn't being blasted for publishing this.

I mean WTF? Why do they skate free?

[Sneederbunk]

26. The school did not publish it.

[MrGrieves]

27. The School Yearbook Didn't Need Sign Off From The School?

[spooky3]

30. ?? It is in the public university library. And since this

mess began, there have been investigations of other old university yearbooks, with racist and sexist photos found in them (see a WaPo article about this).

[dem4decades]

28. What a terrible situation. The Lt. Governor appears to have to go.

If Northam goes then the SOS probably had to go. Then a Republican becomes Governor?

If that's the case, Northam should stay. Why replace a racist from 30 years ago that no longer is one with a present day racist?

[spooky3]

31. The AG (Dem.) is next in line behind LG. Then, it's a

Republican.

[dem4decades]

32. Sorry i meant AG. But he also had a black face problem.

What went on down there? I consider Virginia an up and coming blue state, i hope this doesn't spoil that.

[spooky3]

33. It is still the South and these events occurred in the distant past.

They were wrong but imho are not indicative of what these men have done in office recently.

The Repubs are pissed that Northam is fighting to keep pro choice rights. They are aware that they are losing power in an increasingly urban, and hence, bluer state. And if they can get all three Dems to resign, a Republican is next in line. This would enable them to thwart the gerrymandering changes of 2020.

As a VA voter I am pissed that if that were to happen the will of the voters would be overturned. We sent a clear signal in 2017 and in 2018 that should not be ignored.

[onetexan]

37. Agree, all of them should remain in office

This is getting to be ridiculous that a hard fought battleground where Dems now have upper hand in the state government now is forced to crumble. We have trump & Kavanaugh in the highest offices of the country for God's sake. Let's not eat our own and let these good men who've not done anything wrong in office serve out their terms. This is Al Franken all over again .

[spooky3]

39. I think there should be investigations with due process

And a good decision afterward. The accusations against Fairfax are quite serious and these would constitute crimes.

[onetexan]

40. Agree, at least give him the presumption of innocence till his day in court

but don't demand that he resign until it's ruled the allegations are proven true. After all, it was alleged words of a RW-leaning gal that started against Al Franken. But it was Democratic members that took him down by demanding his resignation. Hanging a man before his guilt is proven is the same as it was in the wild west. Where is the justice in that?