Enter Governor Kirk Cox?

Enter Governor Kirk Cox?
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 6, 2019

OK, it may be a bit premature, but judging by Democrat “principles,” and “standards,” Commonwealth of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, and Attorney General Mark Herring - all Democrats - should be exiting stage left - far left, any day now, for their various alleged peccadillos and indiscretions.

Apparently Virginia is for Losers, to change the phrase from “Virginia is for Lovers,” used since 1969. Let’s review. Both Northam, 59, and Herring, 57, have been found red-faced for their public displays in black face in 1984 and 1980 respectively, while Fairfax is accused of the more egregious charge of sexual assault in 2004. 

Ironically, Northam’s picture, found in his Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook, prompted Herring to call for the governor’s resignation. Days later, Herring admitted he too took a turn in black face as a 19 year old attending the University of Virginia. He has since called it “the greatest shame I ever felt.” Democrats nationwide have been apoplectically falling all over themselves calling for Northam’s ouster, but that was prior to learning about Fairfax’s troubles.

Quite frankly, this is sleight of hand perpetrated by the Democrats as they are trying to deflect from Northam’s damning comments in support of infanticide just a day prior to his yearbook picture being made public. https://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2019/01/infanticide-new-morality.html  Why the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Ed Gillespie couldn’t unearth this photo in 2017 is inexplicable; it’s not like it was hiding under aunt Martha’s mattress. 

Initially, the chorus of demands for Northam’s resignation was palpable. It seems to have quieted somewhat in light of Herring’s duplicate offense, but more so because of the accusations against Fairfax. Yet, the Democrats must continue the full court press against both Northam and Herring, otherwise they lose the supposed moral high ground and the right to continue to call President Donald Trump a racist, albeit incorrectly so.

Fairfax, turning 40 on February 17, may actually be in legal hot water, not just facing moral indignation. He has been accused of sexual assault by Dr. Vanessa Tyson during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, held in Boston.

“What began as consensual kissing, turned into a sexual assault,” said Tyson, an associate professor of politics currently on leave from Scripps College in Claremont, CA. “Mr. Fairfax put his hand behind my neck and forcefully pushed my head towards his crotch. Only then did I realize he had unbuckled his belt, unzipped his pants. As I cried and gagged, Mr. Fairfax forced me to perform oral sex on him,” Tyson continued.

“At no time did she express to me any discomfort or concern about our interactions, neither during that encounter, nor during the months that followed it when she stayed in touch with me, nor the past 15 years,” said Fairfax.

“Mr. Fairfax has tried to brand me as a liar to a national audience in service to his political ambitions, and has threatened litigation. Given his false assertions, I’m compelled to make clear what happened,” added Tyson. The statements made by Tyson and Fairfax appeared on Fox News.

Now the Democrats find themselves in a quandary. Either they throw one of their own under the bus, by adhering to their so called principles, or they are hypocrites. These so called principles are to believe the female accuser regardless of bona fide proof, as evidenced by the recent Supreme Court hearings of current Justice Brett Kavanaugh. With little specific memory of events, Democrat senators firmly stood behind Kavanaugh accuser Christine Blasey Ford.

“Not only do women like Dr. Ford, who bravely comes forward, need to be heard, but they need to be believed. They must be believed,” said Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI) in defense of Ford then, while saying nothing to support Tyson now.

“I believe her because she’s telling the truth,” said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), using circular logic in support of Ford, yet the 2020 presidential aspirant had no words of support for Tyson.

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said he believed Ford, calling her “the survivor,” adding, “she has provided the country with an amazing teaching moment.” Blumenthal himself is on shaky ground where the truth is concerned, having lied about his alleged military service in country during the war in Vietnam. He has had nothing to say in support of Tyson.

Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) called Ford “heroic” for coming forward. It was during the Kavanaugh hearings that Booker had his awkward “I am Spartacus” moment. Booker should be called hypocritical because he admitted to inappropriate sexual groping as a teenager, and has been silent on Tyson. The Democrats seemed to have ignored that aspect of Booker’s past, while welcoming him to the ranks of 2020 presidential hopefuls.

None of the Ford stalwarts, including senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Kamala Harris (D-CA), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), or Chuck Schumer (D-NY) have come to the defense of Tyson, whose memory of the events of 15 years ago seem clear, as compared to the blurred memories of Ford, attempting to recount events from 36 years ago. It seems Kavanaugh is guilty by association with President Trump, but Fairfax is being given quite a bit of the benefit of the doubt.

Where are the feminists now? Hearing crickets.

Will the Democrats, who pressed so hard in their attempts at keeping Kavanaugh from being seated on the Supreme Court, work equally hard supporting another supposedly victimized female - Dr. Tyson, or give Fairfax a pass in the name of party kinship and hypocrisy?

Should Northam, Fairfax, and Herring all have to fall on their swords, that would leave the door to the Governor’s mansion in Richmond open to the Speaker of the House of Delegates in the line of gubernatorial succession. Enter Governor Kirk Cox (R). Or will the Democrats’ hypocrisy and political zeal cause them to reevaluate their calls for resignations because Cox is a Republican?

Marvin Kirkland Cox, 61, represents the 66th District which includes Richmond suburb Colonial Heights and parts of Chesterfield County. Serving his constituents since 1990, Cox said he has no plans to attempt to seek Northam’s ouster. That statement came before the news that could sink the entire Democrat triumvirate. The stickiness of Virginia’s situation is sad, but what is truly sad, is that it is self-inflicted and could have been avoided.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He lived in Northern Virginia for nearly a dozen years.

Hollywood Hypocrites Harbor Handsy Harvey

Hollywood Hypocrites Harbor Handsy Harvey

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

October 11, 2017

Normally this is not my bailiwick - Hollywood and its machinations, because, quite frankly, I don’t give a rat’s tuchus what happens in the Gomorrah of the 21 Century.

What attracted me to this story, being labeled a scandal across the press, is the hubris with which Hollywood behaves in protecting its own, and in the case of Harvey Weinstein, the feigned outrage over what clearly has been the worst keep secret since Bill Clinton’s marital peccadilloes.

The feigned outrage comes from, for starters, both the Clintons and the Obamas who count Weinstein as dear friend, an individual who contributed many tens thousands of dollars to all of their collective campaigns over the years. It took them more than five days to condemn Weinstein, a financial donor, yet called for increased gun control about five hours following the horrific Las Vegas slaughter of October 1 that claimed the lives of 58 innocents. This is the same Hillary Clinton claiming to be “shocked and appalled” by Weinstein’s actions, yet threatened to destroy the cadre of women her own husband harassed, or worse, for decades.

The entertainment industry, as a whole, has harbored Weinstein, a known serial sexual predator accused of misconduct, molesting, fondling, harassing, and even raping numerous women from within and even outside the vaunted walls of Central Casting.

Only now that the plethora of his dirty deeds has become overtly public, as opposed to the decades-long covertly public with a wink-wink offered at every turn when so-called comedians would reference Weinstein in their award show monologues, are those who became famous under his label speaking up and out. By the way, these comedic lemmings, men, should not be given a pass - implicit by clearly knowing what they knew and for as long as they knew it. When, in ultra-liberal Hollywood did rape jokes, or at the very least, sexual harassment jokes become acceptable? Oh, right, when protecting one of their liberal own - it’s all so incestuous in La La Land - makes my skin crawl.

Apparently it did not make the skin of the Obamas crawl, as their daughter Malia enjoyed an internship under Harvey the Harasser. “Harvey Weinstein is a wonderful human being and a good friend,” said Michelle Obama, only proud of her country since 2008.

Many in the Fourth Estate are calling Weinstein’s victims brave and heroic for coming forward and speaking out. My question is, what took them so long? Make no mistake, not one of these women should have been victimized, and they are victims, yet they remained silent for years, and even decades for the benefit of lavish Hollywood lifestyles and the roles of a lifetime. More than three dozen women, actresses mostly, have announced their victimhood in recent days, including, but not limited to Rosanna Arquette, Dawn Dunning, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Mira Sorvino.

Some of these women did attempt to come forward and were either silenced or not believed, such as Rose McGowan, for example, declaring Weinstein raped her years ago. Twitter even suspended her account for roughly 12 hours after McGowan posted her accusations. British actress Lysette Anthony also levied the same accusation. Some, like television reporter Lauren Sivan, then a local reporter in New York City, were not even in the industry, and subject to Weinstein’s perversions in ways that decorum prohibits mentioning here.

Yet others covered up Weinstein’s criminal behavior while publicly lauding him, much akin to the accolades heaped upon film director Roman Polanski, accused for years of raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977. Meryl Streep called Weinstein her “god” while pontificating about Hollywood virtues, while condemning President Donald Trump vehemently with vim and vigor. “Hanoi” Jane Fonda, knowing of Weinstein’s criminal history, said she was “ashamed I didn’t say anything.” By the way, where was Fonda’s shame over her traitorous actions toward our troops in Vietnam? At least she is consistently terrible.

Still others prostituted themselves in defense of Weinstein - and in one particular case, literal defense of Weinstein. While in accordance with American jurisprudence, everyone is entitled to a defense, yet taking up for Weinstein has been Lisa Bloom. Bloom, daughter of famed feminist attorney Gloria Allred, is herself a feminist jurist, defending accusers of actor Bill Cosby and former Fox News commentator Bill O’ Reilly. It seems counterintuitive for Bloom to defend Weinstein and his actions, which are damned indefensible, but she herself has been accused of offering hush money to several of Weinstein’s victims. Hypocrisy at its level worst.

Bloom is not the only one to receive a payday from Weinstein. As indicated before, he contributed heavily to both Clintons’ campaigns over the years, including $250,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Hillary Clinton had the audacity to say she contributes 10 percent of her income every year to charity, and that ill-gotten money would be part of it. First of all, money contributed to the Clinton Foundation is neither earned, nor is it part of her income. Additionally, she said the money was spent, so it could neither be returned nor contributed elsewhere. Clinton should keep her word, for once, chisel open her wallet, and after the moths fly out, actually make the charitable donation on her own, and not from the pockets of donors.

Harvey Weinstein is a loathsome, obsequious weasel who preys on underlings who believe they are powerless. We have given Hollywood the power of preening self-importance by putting billions of dollars into the pockets of those living immoral lives preaching one set of values, and then selling yet another set of values on screen. This is not, or it should not just be about Weinstein. He is simply an amalgamation of the pandemic of the unholy culture that is Hollywood hypocrisy.

Another example of that hypocrisy is the preaching of anti-Second Amendment rhetoric, yet surrounding themselves with armed guards and security teams. They have the right to have such security, but should not call for the rest of society to abandon their Second Amendment rights, while simultaneously producing the most gun-laden, violence-themed films possible.

Additionally, Hollywood’s hypocrites are busy condemning President Trump, while knowing all along what kind of predator lurks amongst them in plain sight - see the self-congratulatory award shows and Saturday Night Live skits mocking Weinstein and his blatantly less than secret criminal behavior. Let’s not forget a casting couch so stained with tears and other bodily fluids, if it could talk, would scream volumes. Weinstein claims he needs rehabilitation. What Weinstein needs is a prison cell with other reprobates. If rehab is available behind bars, fine.

Those days are over. Hopefully victims of other abusers and rapists will come forward without fear of retribution, whether Hollywood hopefuls, students, men and women from all walks of life - our mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters who don’t have a public forum from which to seek solace or legal recourse. No one should be forced to live in fear, and no bully should be permitted to impose that fear upon anyone, anywhere.

Sanford D.. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.