Over the River and Through the Woods

Not much is happening in Richmond. Northam and Fairfax are standing pat, despite extensive cries for their resignations, and impeachment in Fairfax's case. Apparently there is no procedure for impeachment of the Governor in Virginia, and Northham has nothing to gain from resigning. If he resigns, he's the former governor of Virginia who resigned over racist actions. Maybe he can beat it in the long run.

Northam's apology tour got off to a poor start when, on a CBS interview, he confused slaves and indentured servants. While slaves were generally originally blacks from Africa captured as booty in war, and sold to slave traders as property, indentured servants were generally Europeans, Scots, Irish and lower class English, who voluntarily signed a labor contract of limited duration for a chance to emigrate to the new world. A hard life for both for sure, but hardly the same. Roll digits:



Hey, I understand. Northam was a premed major, and probably, like me, took the bare minimum of non-science courses, and did a minimum amount of studying in the liberal arts like history.

Ace: Governor Northam: Stop Digging! Although, On Second Thought...

Enjoying the schadenfreude with Ace and me is Michael Walsh at PJ Media, In Virginia, Democrats Are Hoist with Their 'Intersectionality' Petard

It's not easy being a Democrat these days. At any moment, some action or character trait that was celebrated just a few years ago suddenly becomes verboten; or some hitherto unknown social-justice concern comes flying in from left field or outer space and lands in your lap. Such is the case with the senior Democrats in the Virginia state house, who from the governor on down have suddenly been accused of behavior that was perfectly acceptable when Al Jolson, Laurence Olivier, or Harvey Weinstein used to do it. What's a jackass to do?

Bonus for Virginians! Paul Mirengoff at Power Line points out how Virginians profit from blackface scandal

The good people of Virginia are about to get a reward for enduring the sh*tshow that has been playing out in the Commonwealth. They are going to get a tax cut.

I’m not sure they deserve it. After all, Virginians elected the Northam-Fairfax-Herring slate. But they did so with imperfect knowledge about the trio, so let’s not be churlish.

The tax break affords Virginians $1 billion in relief. According to the Washington Post:

The deal includes a sharp increase in the standard deduction for people filing state tax returns — for individuals, to $4,500 from the current $3,000; and for married couples, to $9,000 from $6,000.
In addition, taxpayers will get a one-time refund in October — just before election season — of up to $110 for individuals and $220 for married couples.
State and local taxes will continue to be deductible at current rates instead of being capped, as they are in the federal plan. And several business tax breaks bring the total value of the package to at least $976 million.
Republicans have been pushing for tax relief for some time. They want to offset the effect of the 2017 federal tax cut that capped the amount of state and local taxes that can be deducted. Virginia taxes, though much lower than Maryland’s, are high enough that the cap on deductions hurts many Virginians.

Virginia Democrats resisted, as Democrats almost always do in these cases. Northam held out for spending increases, as Democrats almost always do in these cases. The tax relief package seemed to be going nowhere.

But after the blackface scandal broke, Northam reconsidered, his willingness to go to the mat for fiscal liberalism seemingly sapped by demands from Virginia liberals that he step down (Northam reportedly is considering leaving the Democratic party and becoming an independent). He agreed to the tax cut and got little in the way of extra spending.

Also from Steven Hayward at Power Line, The Virgina Dem Meltdown Continues.

A Democratic nominee for the the Virginia state legislature (Virginia has legislative elections in odd-numbered years, which fits an increasingly oddball state) has issued an apology for anti-Semitic social media posts. The folks at Big League Politics—the same folks who broke the original story about Ralph Northam’s accidental exposure to shoe polish—have the story:

Ibraheem Samirah, the Democrat nominee in Virginia’s 86th district House of Delegates election on February 19th, issued a statement Friday evening apologizing for anti-Israel and anti-Semitic social media posts that were published Thursday by Big League Politics. Samirah, a Muslim-American born to Palestinian refugees, said that giving money to Israel is worse than giving money to the Ku Klux Klan and wished for the late Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon to “burn,” in addition to other hateful screeds.
“This slander campaign is using my 5-year old Facebook posts from my impassioned college days, posts that upon reflection and with the blessing of time, I sincerely regret and apologize for. I am so sorry that my ill-chosen words added to the pain of the Jewish community and I seek your understanding and compassion as I prove to you our common humanity,” Samirah stated.

Read the whole story. Samirah sounds like a real charmer.

CONFIRMED: Washington Post ranking editors quashed VA Lt. Governor Fairfax sexual assault story.

EXCLUSIVE: Washington Post VP Confirms Ranking Editors Spiked Fairfax Rape Allegation Storyhttps://t.co/c9WI7YaYS4

— Peter D'Abrosca (@pdabrosca) February 11, 2019

Da Caller, Chelsea Handler, Spike Lee Troll Virginia Dems Following Multiple Blackface Revelations. Matt Margolis, PJ Media, 9 Liberal Celebrities Who Have a Blackface Problem. It's not a problem for them if no one holds them accountable. And no one will. News Busters, Megyn Kelly vs. Jimmy Fallon: NBC and Double Standards

Megyn Kelly, she famously late of NBC, was fired not long ago from her NBC morning show. The New York Post’s “Page Six” headlined the Kelly story this way: “Megyn Kelly out at NBC After Defending Blackface."

The Post story began:

“Megyn Kelly is out at NBC following controversial comments she made about blackface this week, a source told Page Six.
It took just 48 hours for Kelly to be cut from the network.
During a panel discussion on “Megyn Kelly Today” on Tuesday with Jenna Bush Hager, Jacob Soboroff and Melissa Rivers, Kelly said, “You do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface for Halloween, or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay just as long as you were dressing as a character.”
The former Fox News host, 47, apologized to her staff in an email later that day and on Wednesday, she made a public apology on-air.”

NBC, you see, has a strict no-tolerance policy for blackface.

Oh wait. Let’s amend that. NBC has a strict no-tolerance policy for blackface - unless you are liberal Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon. Here is Fallon in blackface as comedian Chris Rock.

As writer Eddie Scarry headlined over at the New York Post, Fallon has curiously fallen silent on the subject of Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s blackface scandal. So too, as Scarry, has noted, has silence descended on ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel, that late night host also infamous for his blackface impersonation, this one of basketball’s Karl Malone. The Scarry headline was this: “Why Jimmy Kimmel and Jimmy Fallon Aren’t Talking About Blackface.”

If it weren't for double standards, they'd have no standards at all.