Despite the fact that there has been no resolution to any of the scandals surrounding the three Democrats who sit atop Virginia’s government, ABC, CBS and NBC have essentially dropped the stories from their flagship newscasts.
From February 1-7, ABC, CBS, and NBC combined for 116 minutes and 19 seconds and then 96 minutes and 12 seconds from February 8-14 on scandals involving Governor Ralph Northam, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, and A.G. Mark Herring.
Since then, however, there have only been an additional eight minutes and eight seconds devoted to the Virginia officeholders between two newscasts (the February 15 CBS This Morning and the February 19 Good Morning America).All told, there’s been 220 minutes of coverage on the Virginia scandals, but again, only eight from February 15 to Thursday evening (excluding teases plus overnight and early-morning newscasts).
The Richmond chaos began unraveling the afternoon of February 1 with the scoop from Big League Politics that there was a racist photo on Virginia Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s medical school yearbook page.
A few days after Northam’s disastrous February 2 press conference, allegations of sexual assault arose against Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax. The uncertainty in the Commonwealth was even further exasperated with the February 6 divulgence by Attorney General Mark Herring that he (like Northam) once wore blackface in the 1980s.
For Northam, he has tried and failed to launch a rehabilitation tour, but still insists he won’t resign. With that in mind, the last time a flagship ABC show covered him was February 11’s Good Morning America while the last date for CBS was February 15’s CBS This Morning and the February 11 Today on NBC.
In the case of Fairfax, his scandal has maintained a brighter spot in the limelight as threats within the Virginia General Assembly to impeach and investigate him have come, gone, and this week, tried to be resurrected.
For the February 19 print edition of The Washington Post, second accuser Meredith Watson wrote a column insisting that she be given a chance to testify while blasting the “inaction” by the Virginia General Assembly on the claims leveled by Watson and Dr. Vanessa Tyson.
Only ABC’s Good Morning America covered Watson’s column that day while, additionally, Fairfax’s scandal hasn’t been mentioned since.
Well, why would the liberal media promote news that would harm liberal politicians? It simply isn’t done.
Those “scandals” are no longer “news.” There is nothing “new” to report. What, should the “news” simply re-run last week’s coverage to keep the Republican base stoked? That’s FOX’s job.
I told FA before that Virginians don’t care, that “Blackface” was both relatively common and relatively accepted when Northam was in school, and that he’d survive this oddly-timed revelation because he broke no Law. Neither do sexually abusive behaviors rile up the electorate OR disqualify a person from holding – and keeping – public office (Clinton, Thomas, Kavanaugh), so the other officials in question are not in jeopardy either. At this point, what happened is well past, and while its revelation titillated, the sensationalism of that also passed. Old news is no news.
It is the business – yes, BUSINESS – of the news media to provide the public with the truth, and the media giants in question reported the truth of those officials and the charges against them accurately, and, according to Curt, FOR TWO WEEKS. What additional newsworthy revelations did you EXPECT after two weeks?
Simply because Republicans might want never to forget Hillary Clinton’s Email Server issues doesn’t mean that the “news” media has a responsibility to provide them with airtime every time they choose to shout “Lock Her Up!” That isn’t news anymore, either, because it’s all been heard before.
@George Wells: Pending the results of the investigations of Fairfax’s possible sexual assaults, the scandal is in the Democrat response to the revelations. THAT will stand.
@Deplorable Me:
Are YOU scandalized by my observation that “Blackface” was acceptable 50 years ago? The revelation that a politician did Blackface? Do you WANT PC hysteria to become the basis of retroactive punishment after the goal-posts have shifted over the decades? Were you scandalized by the charges against Kavanaugh? What, not the same? How?
How many teens do you know that haven’t broken some law or another? Groped someone, drank alcohol or smoked pot? Are there enough of them out there to fill all of the jobs, political or otherwise, that need to be filled? The answer is NO. The military has quietly softened its entrance requirements because it discovered that there are simply no angels out there looking to enlist. Guess what? The draft wouldn’t find them either. Angels are in Heaven.
@George Wells: When Perry was running for President, the left tried to vilify him because some property his father bought decades ago had a large rock at the entrance which had a racial epithet painted on it… which the senior Perry had removed. THAT is the level the left’s political use of anything remotely racist will sink. Yet NOW they just ignore “blackface”?
Gross hypocrisy. It is why many, like myself, have no respect for them. Everything about them is a political lever, not a sound principle.
@Deplorable Me”
Actually, only 30% of white Virginians think Northam should stay in office, while 70% of Blacks support him. Go figure.
As for Perry, that was nonsense. It was looking for whatever ammunition you can find and then shooting blindly. Politicians on both sides are like sharks – they go into a feeding frenzy when they smell blood.
Hey, gotta go nite-nite. Having trouble typing now. Tired of correcting self…
@George Wells: Yeah, so obviously they don’t look at it from the political angle the left likes to normally play in situations like this if a Republican was involved. Thus, my point is made.
Uh… yeah. Just like Trump. Just like Moore. Just like Kavanaugh. Just like Covington. Just like Smollett. Seems to be a trend. Let’s look for a common denominator.
@Deplorable Me:
We, seeing as we both agreed that Northam didn’t do anything that was against the Law, just as Perry didn’t, and that Thomas and Kavanaugh’s cases were past prosecution, and that while Bill Clinton wasn’t, his prosecution did NOT lead to conviction and that NONE of them were ruined in the process, what, again, WAS your point? If it was that Democrats are overly sensitive about PC issues, well, I’ve made that point too. If it was that Democrats are overly quick to throw their own under the bus if they think it will help their re-election, I would posit that many if not all politicians have that short-coming. I recall reading just a few days ago a FA contributor who was absolutely incensed by Paul Ryan’s recent record, he a powerful Republican who at ONE time was considered reasonably far right and a rising Oval Office prospect. A Republican, I might add, that I was ready to vote for because he was a believer in legislating as opposed to dictating. The point being that BOTH bases turn on their own when they think it benefits not the nation but their core constituency which is in each case extreme.
@George Wells: Clearly, the point is just this: Democrats have no principles. A sexual assault accusation of a Republican is grounds for instantaneous legal conviction while one of a Democrat requires we wait for absolute proof (the correct position, by the way), though they aren’t very committed to DISCOVERING the proof.
That Kavanaugh was not TOTALLY ruined (his reputation among Democrats IS) was not for lack of trying, which was a total hell for him and his family. Ellison? Booker? Fairfax? Now, now, now… let’s give them the benefit of the doubt.
If Trump says illegal immigration is wrong, he hates ALL immigrants. If a Democrat says illegal immigration is wrong, they are standing up for citizens (yet fine one that has that position currently).
It goes on and on. THAT’S the point.
Apparently eclipsed by the election fraud story out of North Carolina…
@Greg: Which is far and above eclipsed by the election fraud stories of Florida and California.
@Deplorable Me:
George Wells is blocked from Flopping Aces. You have free speech issues to look into?
I already answered this in the other thread.
Do not put another comment like this on another thread or YOU will be censored.
What makes anyone think George Wells has been blocked? Seems pretty prolific to me.
@Paul Balg: I don’t want to see anyone blocked, even the non-contributing idiot AJ.
@EVERYONE:
MY APOLOGIES!
@Curt: I was informing the two people who correspond with me the most on why I was not answering their posts that were addressed to me. Neither of those messages were addressed to you. When I was given your email address, I wrote to you, but Deplorable Me graciously gave me the fix I needed by then. Again, my apologies. Flopping Aces is GREAT! OK?
It’s all good George. Saw that you fixed it. Thanks for the compliments.
@George Wells: Dont give up on cleaning out your puter its amazing the amount of crap that gets dumped into it by just browsing.
Some of it may require you to disable your anti virus shut down your router when doing that.
@Curt:
To borrow from the movie GHOST: “Ditto.”