Virginia Politics and the Death of 'I Believe Her!'

When it comes to logical yoga, nobody ties himself up in knots better than Democrats. The current mess that is Democrat Virginia politics is the most recent case in point. The Democrats have a chance at a win there, but it will require amazing rational contortions and a great deal of hypocrisy to pull it off. They may yet succeed in shaming Ralph Northam, and seating Justin Fairfax in the governor's office, but first they've got to wiggle out of a tight "me too" moment. Virginia governor Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page initially appeared to deliver Democrats a multifaceted political gift, despite the apparent demise of a liberal Democrat governor. Whether that remains the case depends upon how well the Democrats and their helpmates in the media are able to spin the matter.

Northam's remarkably stupid yearbook entry (and what kind of medical school bothers with a yearbook in the first place?) allowed Dems to renew and expand upon their claims that hardcore racism is alive and well in America (never mind that it dates to 1984). Then, by calling for Northam's immediate resignation, Democrats claimed the moral high ground in America's new sport of public shaming, by attempting to scourge one of their own with the career-killing accusation of racism. Finally, Northam's successful removal would put in his place progressive lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax, who just happens to be African-American. All this may still come to pass, but first, Fairfax must extricate himself from an accusation that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2004 during the Democratic Convention in Boston. His accuser, Vanessa Tyson, has a bit in common with Justice Brett Kavanaugh's accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, in that she is a college professor in California and, like Blasey Ford, waited some time (14 years as opposed to 36 years) to report the incident. Unfortunately for Fairfax and Democrats, where Ford and Tyson differ dramatically is credibility. Ford had little or none. By contrast, Tyson's account is of the sort that's sent many men to jail, and that was way before "I believe her" became a liberal mantra. I still see plenty of "I believe her" bumper stickers around, which celebrate Blasey Ford's allegations against Kavanaugh. Those don't mean that a possible sexual assault victim should get a chance to be heard, as some Democrats have been saying in the Fairfax matter. It means that victims must be believed. In the Kavanaugh case, that meant believing Blasey Ford, simply because she was a woman, and despite the following problems: She sat on the allegations for 35 or more years.

She could not identify the date, time, or location of the alleged assault.

There was no evidence she and Kavanaugh knew each other at all or ever met.

There was no independent corroboration of her claims.

All the corroborating witnesses she identified denied the event she described happened.

Blasey Ford is an acknowledged liberal Democrat and opposed the Kavanaugh nomination politically.

She first reported the incident to Democrat politicians, not the police or other authorities.

A version of the story supposedly told to a therapist a few years before differed from the story she publicly came forward with.

She refused to authorize release of the therapist's notes, or of a supposed polygraph examination vouching for her truthfulness.

She lied about a fear of flying in order to delay a hearing on the matter. Oh, one more thing: Kavanaugh denied that he knew Blasey Ford or had any contact with her. But in the Democrat view of things, this last point didn't matter at all. Kavanaugh was presumed to be lying, because he was a man. They believed her. Now, in the Fairfax case, no such issues exist. Fairfax admits to the liaison with Tyson. The only issue in the Fairfax case is consent. To believe her in the Fairfax case means believing what in the Kavanaugh case was taken as an absolute given: that the woman is truthful, and the man is lying. Virginia Democrats are trying to wiggle out of this by saying things like "[a]ll allegations of sexual assault deserve to be taken with profound gravity. We will continue to evaluate the situation regarding Lieutenant Governor Fairfax." Huh? Evaluate what? Fairfax corroborates all of Tyson's allegations except the issue of consent. In the Fairfax case, further evaluation is unnecessary as a matter of law if you believe her. This is a classic date rape case, where quite often there is no additional corroboration, other than that the people involved had some kind of liaison. Corroboration if it exists in such cases mostly is a physical injury to the woman, or to the man if there was a defensive struggle. But many times, there is no demonstrable physical injury, or if the woman delays in making a complaint, evidence of such injuries has healed. Moreover, the crime alleged in the Fairfax matter is far and away more serious than with Kavanaugh. Assuming for the sake of argument that Blasey Ford's allegations were true, Kavanaugh was a 17-year-old juvenile, he was drunk, his "assault" was brief and awkward, and he desisted when she resisted. There was no sexual contact, nor any sex act. Fairfax was a 25-year-old man at the time of the alleged assault. If Tyson is believed, he compelled her to perform oral sex upon him, through threat and physical force. Democrats must demand that Fairfax step down, too, based upon Tyson's allegations, or lose the moral high ground they thought they had in abandoning Northam. That is probably a cost they are willing to pay, hypocrisy being coin of the realm in most segments of the party, if it puts Fairfax in the governor's mansion. Perhaps that is how it will play out. If so, it means that the brief age of "I believe her" is effectively over, at least for anybody with a shred of rationality or logic. Things move fast in the Cultural Revolution.