All-purpose news and politics thread: Two Steps Beyond!(Part II)

[Kirby101]

Cory Booker is now calling on Lieutenant Governor Fairfax to resign.

https://twitter.com/CoryBooker/statu...05695756886017

With multiple allegations of sexual assault, this is the right call.

And in case anyone asks, this was my standard with Kavanaugh.

https://community.cbr.com/showthread...=1#post3926734

You are saying that Fairfax should resign? But the post you linked said Kavanaugh should be confirmed.
Five women accused Kavanaugh and you said this:

I'm open to the possibility that information will come out that will disqualify Kavanaugh, if there was an accuser or witness who has some corroborating information. There hasn't been the level of material we had about Roy Moore, or Al Franken.

and BTW the Kavanaugh accusers were much more serious and verifiable than Franken.

[numberthirty]

Resign? Just like that? Without going through due process first? Guilty without the opportunity to be proven innocent? Kill that noise. Fairfax should be afforded the chance to tell his side of the story, and so should his accuser, just like with Kavanaugh and Christine Blasey Ford. And if it turns out Fairfax was a scumbag, THEN he should resign, and not before.

If you intend on being "The Good Guys", you probably ought to be holding yourself to a higher standard.

Shoot, someone posted that you couldn't go back ten years on these sorts of accusations becoming public without The Democratic Party running the person out of the party.

Probably time to walk that walk.

To me, it's not so much the allegations as that this second woman seems to have told someone at the time. If that's the case, the odds that this is some sort of a strictly political play go way down.

[SUPERECWFAN1]

Its clear Kavanaugh and Fairfax are different situations. Because one is a Democrat and the other Republican. Republicans must stomp their feet , cry , and act like all the women are liars. If its a Democrat they are instant guilty , **** em. No evidence is ever needed. Guy was a sex maniac.

[numberthirty]

Its clear Kavanaugh and Fairfax are different situations. Because one is a Democrat and the other Republican. Republicans must stomp their feet , cry , and act like all the women are liars. If its a Democrat they are instant guilty , **** em. No evidence is ever needed. Guy was a sex maniac.

Again, the second woman accusing Fairfax seems to have told someone at the time.

That's not exactly "No" evidence.

Never mind that Fairfax's lawyers are apparently going after the second lady.

[Tendrin]

Fairfax should resign. Kavanaugh should never have been confirmed.

[Mister Mets]

You are saying that Fairfax should resign? But the post you linked said Kavanaugh should be confirmed.
Five women accused Kavanaugh and you said this:


and BTW the Kavanaugh accusers were much more serious and verifiable than Franken.

My view is that one allegation should not typically be enough to disqualify an individual from public office (the exception is an allegation that includes significant enough evidence).

When there are multiple credible allegations, that's a different story, especially when the allegations are unconnected.

There was no credible second allegation against Kavanaugh. Swetnick's allegations of habitual gang rape were kinda nuts, and uncorroborated. Ramirez didn't actually see Kavanaugh do anything and for some time wasn't certain it was him. I don't think she would be allowed to testify against him in a civil trial, since so much of her testimony was hearsay, and no one else came forward who saw anything. Other allegations fell apart.

With the second allegation against Fairfax, I'm making a few assumptions that the press release is accurate in reporting that a college classmate of Fairfax claims he raped her, has evidence that she made this claim prior to the news about the first accuser, and has testimony from friends that she told them she was sexually assaulted at the time.

I'm sure all of this will be scrutinized. If it doesn't hold up to scrutiny, it shouldn't be counted against Fairfax, and some people should be sued, prosecuted and investigated by the bar. Given the specificity of the claims as well as the details of contemporaneous evidence, whether the information holds up should all be determined quickly enough.

[numberthirty]

Fairfax should resign. Kavanaugh should never have been confirmed.

Also looks like the state might impeach him. Not sure how correct what I caught on that was.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Fairfax should have a hearing, just like Kavanaugh had. I’m sick to death of Democrats commiting hari-kari while Republicans get off scot free, just like Judge Kegger.

[Tendrin]

Fairfax should have a hearing, just like Kavanaugh had. I’m sick to death of Democrats commiting hari-kari while Republicans get off scot free, just like Judge Kegger.

I get it. If there's a process he's entitled to, he can go for it. What I will say, however, is that if there's a standard we want enforced, we have to hold ourselves to it even if others won't. There are limits, of course.

[TheDarman]

Fairfax should resign. Kavanaugh should never have been confirmed.

This. Both have credible allegations of sexual assault against them. While we’re at it, Trump should never have ascended as far as he did—ESPECIALLY given his serial sexual predation.

[numberthirty]

Fairfax should have a hearing, just like Kavanaugh had. I’m sick to death of Democrats commiting hari-kari while Republicans get off scot free, just like Judge Kegger.

If it's someone where it could be a hit job, maybe there is a case for potentially angering the base by doing so.

For Fairfax?

What looks like this guy is being set up? Every single thing I have seen looks pretty bad. The second woman accusing him doesn't look like her story is about to fall apart. Never mind that his lawyers are already seemingly going after her character.

Why go to bat for this guy?

[Tendrin]

If it's someone where it could be a hit job, maybe there is a case for potentially angering the base by doing so.

For Fairfax?

What looks like this guy is being set up? Every single thing I have seen looks pretty bad. The second woman accusing him doesn't look like her story is about to fall apart. Never mind that his lawyers are already seemingly going after her character.

Why go to bat for this guy?

The understandable frustration that guys like Kavanaugh get to move forward and achieve their policy objectives regardless.

[TheDarman]

Fairfax should have a hearing, just like Kavanaugh had. I’m sick to death of Democrats commiting hari-kari while Republicans get off scot free, just like Judge Kegger.

Sure. But, here’s the thing, if what happens with Fairfax mirrors what happened with Kavanaugh (i.e. the witnesses are incredibly, well, credible), we have to get rid of the guy. That’s our standard. Kavanaugh shouldn’t be on the Supreme Court given his behavior alone (behavior that I understand Fairfax is emulating in private). Fairfax probably needs to go.

[Mister Mets]

On the day he died, John Dingell, the longest serving Congressman in American History, reflected on changes in the United States from when he started serving. It's a nice note of relative optimism from a man who passed away at the age of 92 when he still had his wits, and the awareness that he had the well-deserved respect of the country.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.0a9c66ebc0bd

My personal and political character was formed in a different era that was kinder, if not necessarily gentler. We observed modicums of respect even as we fought, often bitterly and savagely, over issues that were literally life and death to a degree that — fortunately – we see much less of today.

Think about it:

Impoverishment of the elderly because of medical expenses was a common and often accepted occurrence. Opponents of the Medicare program that saved the elderly from that cruel fate called it “socialized medicine.” Remember that slander if there’s a sustained revival of silly red-baiting today.

Not five decades ago, much of the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth — our own Great Lakes — were closed to swimming and fishing and other recreational pursuits because of chemical and bacteriological contamination from untreated industrial and wastewater disposal. Today the Great Lakes are so hospitable to marine life that one of our biggest challenges is controlling the invasive species that have made them their new home.

We regularly used and consumed foods, drugs, chemicals and other things (cigarettes) that were legal, promoted and actively harmful. Hazardous wastes were dumped on empty plots in the dead of night. There were few if any restrictions on industrial emissions. We had only the barest scientific knowledge of the long-term consequences of any of this.

And there was a great stain on America, in the form of our legacy of racial discrimination. There were good people of all colors who banded together, risking and even losing their lives to erase the legal and other barriers that held Americans down. In their time they were often demonized and targeted, much like other vulnerable men and women today.

Please note: All of these challenges were addressed by Congress. Maybe not as fast as we wanted, or as perfectly as hoped. The work is certainly not finished. But we’ve made progress — and in every case, from the passage of Medicare through the passage of civil rights, we did it with the support of Democrats and Republicans who considered themselves first and foremost to be Americans.

I’m immensely proud, and eternally grateful, for having had the opportunity to play a part in all of these efforts during my service in Congress. And it’s simply not possible for me to adequately repay the love that my friends, neighbors and family have given me and shown me during my public service and retirement.

But I would be remiss in not acknowledging the forgiveness and sweetness of the woman who has essentially supported me for almost 40 years: my wife, Deborah. And it is a source of great satisfaction to know that she is among the largest group of women to have ever served in the Congress (as she busily recruits more).

In my life and career I have often heard it said that so-and-so has real power — as in, “the powerful Wile E. Coyote, chairman of the Capture the Road Runner Committee.”

It’s an expression that has always grated on me. In democratic government, elected officials do not have power. They hold power — in trust for the people who elected them. If they misuse or abuse that public trust, it is quite properly revoked (the quicker the better).

[Mister Mets]

Sure. But, here’s the thing, if what happens with Fairfax mirrors what happened with Kavanaugh (i.e. the witnesses are incredibly, well, credible), we have to get rid of the guy. That’s our standard. Kavanaugh shouldn’t be on the Supreme Court given his behavior alone (behavior that I understand Fairfax is emulating in private). Fairfax probably needs to go.

Aside from Christine Blasey Ford (who doesn't know where or when the alleged assault happened and didn't speak about it to anyone for decades), how were the witnesses against Kavanaugh credible?