I believed Anita Hill, Desiree Washington, Dr. Ford, and R. Kelly's accusers-and I think OJ did it.

[EffieBlack]

But not one of those conclusions did I reach within days of first learning of the allegations nor did I decide what I thought based only on an accusation unaccompanied by any corroboration or other evidence.

I don't have enough facts right now to decide whether to believe that Justin Fairfax is a rapist or if Dr. Tyson has made a false accusation against him, or something somewhere in the middle. I do know that I have no reason to think she's lying. Just as I have no reason to think he's a sexual predator.

I don't believe that my commitment to the #MeToo movement means I must immediately believe every single woman's accusation of assault just because she said so any more than my commitment to Black Lives Matter requires me to believe that every black man accused of a crime is innocent.

We may learn more facts about this case and, if and when we do, I'll assess them and may decide whether to accept Dr. Tyson's version of events or Lt. Gov. Fairfax's - or maybe I'll accept neither. But I'm not going to be bullied into allowing my support for women to lead me assume this man committed a crime any more than I will allow myself to be shamed into assuming this woman falsely cried rape.

So, anyone who wishes to infer that a willingness to wait for more facts to come out before passing judgment is somehow a betrayal of my gender or a betrayal of my black brothers (although I've been repeatedly and often nastily accused on this board of the former but not of the latter) can please go take a seat. I'm not having it.

[UniteFightBack]

1. Yeah ! nt

[Cha]

2. That's partly where I am.. and you

say it eloquently... Thank You, Effie

This part..

I don't have enough facts right now to decide whether to believe that Justin Fairfax is a rapist or if Dr. Tyson has made a false accusation against him, or something somewhere in the middle. I do know that I have no reason to think she's lying. Just as I have no reason to think he's a sexual predator.

[Empowerer]

3. Hear hear!

[milwaukeelib33]

4. Why didn't you give Northam the same courtesy? nt

[crazytown]

5. Hint: Moonwalk nt.

[radical noodle]

6. I'm not Effie but..

I suspect it may have been because there's a freaking photo of it. That was my reason, anyway.

[pnwmom]

8. He acknowledged putting shoe polish on his face to do his MJ dance. His school says he

was the one who submitted the photo for the yearbook. His main hesitation didn't seem to be about whether he had ever worn blackface -- the only question was how many times.

And then there was the Coonman nickname at VMI, which he also submitted but can't seem to explain.

[Cha]

13. Wow.. I hadn't heard that he

submitted the photo!

So that seems to knock out that thing he said about not buying his year book, so he didn't know it was in there.

[EffieBlack]

10. Because the two situations aren't even remotely similar

Northam admitted to being one of the men in a photo of a man in blackface grinning next to a man in a KKK robe, referring to it as “a photograph of me from my 1984 medical school yearbook in a costume that is clearly racist and offensive.”

And then he committed to putting in the “time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused.” At that point, what “courtesy” was I supposed to extend him? What did I owe him after he admitted to engaging in racist and offensive behavior and promised to put in the time and effort to make amends for that admitted behavior? Once he admitted the conduct and vowed to take steps to heal the damage, why do you think it was inappropriate for me or anyone else to express our opinion about what those remedial steps should be?

He himself has stated he must do something to make amends. I agree. We just disagree on what those amends should be.

How do you equate a difference of opinion over what consequences Northam should face as a result of his admitted racist and offensive conduct with reserving judgment either way in a matter in which a woman has accused a man of sexual assault, which he denies where there is yet no corroboration for either of their claims?

[arthritisR_US]

20. Photograph and his excuse then non

excuse. Be real, these are not one sand the same situations.

[treestar]

23. There is a photo

And it was on his yearbook page. So it is not just a matter of he said/he said not. He admitted it immediately.

[Dorian Gray]

24. BC There is

photo evidence. Next.

[brush]

30. Try the photos and admitted other blackface incident.

There is no evidence in the Fairfax incident, nor other accusers before and after.

Not rocket science.

[Empowerer]

31. By "courtesy", I assume you mean

why didn't she give him a pass for the behavior we saw pictures of him doing and that he admitted to?

When you frame the question the correct way, it answers itself doesn't it?

[Awsi Dooger]

7. O.J. should be more than think

The other situations carry favoritism but odds that could be applied to market conditions, with some balance and back and forth.

O.J. Simpson's guilt would have every sharp bettor in the country tapping out at virtually any number, if marketed and truth revealed toward payout.

[EffieBlack]

12. Don't understand a word that you wrote here

[Cha]

14. lol, me neither.

[fleur-de-lisa]

34. Me either. WTH?

[kag]

16. Huh?

Speak English much?

[JHB]

21. I suspect it's from a land down under...

...with a little too much Aussie slang for us Americans to readily "get".

Fer'instance, I'm not sure whether it's about taking an easy bet, or passing on it because it's too easy and going the wrong way.

[betsuni]

9. I agree, not enough facts yet.

I can't have an opinion without more information so don't have one.

[pnwmom]

11. Thank you -- and I agree with everything you said. So I'm STILL reserving judgment. n/t

[Fuzzpope]

15. OJ totally did it.

[kag]

17. I will admit...

I desperately want Dr. Tyson's allegation to be untrue. However, from what I have read so far, she seems extremely smart, very convincing, and very credible. My heart, in this case, is being torn in half because whatever the truth turns out to be, someone of whom I have a very high opinion will be badly hurt.

My head, on the other hand, agrees precisely with you, Effie. We simply don't have enough information yet. I believe the truth will come out if we are patient.

[pnwmom]

22. But he is also smart, convincing , and very credible. That's the problem. n/t

[kag]

36. Exactly. n/t

[MH1]

32. She may genuinely believe every word she wrote, and at the same time,

all the important parts of it could be completely false.

Brain and memory can work in strange ways. Particularly when there is a related trauma as there was in her case.

[Hortensis]

18. +1. The only decent and responsible position

when one knows little to nothing is to withhold judgment about guilt. Discussion of political events need not include joining one fractious mob or another.

[912gdm]

19. Hopefully we all take this opportunity to show restraint and wait for the facts to come out.

Last edited Thu Feb 7, 2019, 06:13 AM - Edit history (1)

I remember a few weeks ago some very nasty feelings where people wanted to "dox" the sneering high school brat from Covington Catholic and 'ruin his life and future'. and I remember a lot of people here with the pitch fork attitude of burn em.

[Squinch]

27. Well, he was just a little shit. We had proof of what he did, and though there is a lot

of gaslighting going on around it and blaming of the black guys across the street, we all know what our eyes saw.

[Takket]

25. K&R!!!! Great post!!!

[Squinch]

26. We need a mechanism where the Democratic party can investigate claims, decide if they are

credible or not - which means corroborated or proof is offered - and come to a consensus about whether the party will continue to support the person or not going forward.

We probably need such a mechanism at the state, local and federal level.

These accusations are not going to stop. We need to protect the accusers and we need to protect candidates against politically motivated false accusations.

[underpants]

28. I'm in the same situation.

[allgood33]

29. Dr. Ford had people she told right after the event and long before Kavanaugh became judge, yet

he sits on the SCOTUS. Most everyone, even Thomas's supporters believed Anita Hill..mainly because you just don't make shit up like this and she had other witnesses to Thomas's behavior, yet he sits on the SCOTUS. I too will be waiting for more information about this and at least some level of corroboration.

[Honeycombe8]

33. He's a state elected official. It's up to that state to handle its own affairs.

Politicians in other states need to butt out. It's outrageous to think they can reach their hands into a state's election process and change the results...doing it for "Virginia's own good."

Virginia is capable of handling its own elected official scandals.

[fleur-de-lisa]

35. K&R

[oasis]

37. K and R.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

38. Yeah that's kind of the delima I find myself in

They both come off as credible people

[ehrnst]

39. K&R.