Virginia Democratic Governor Ralph Northam must resign now!
After apologizing last night for a racist photo in his 1984 medical school yearbook when he was 25 years old, he changed his story this morning questioning whether, in fact, it was him in blackface or wearing a white KuKluxKlan hood. His undergraduate military college nickname was ‘Coonman.’
His base of Democratic support has collapsed with our own Sen. Elizabeth Warren calling for his immediate resignation.
He should use his scheduled 2:30 press conference today to do the right thing and step down, clearing the way for Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, a black, progressive, rising star in our party.
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Tom Perriello, Northam’s 2017 progressive Democratic primary challenger, should immediately fire his opposition research director for negligence. How the hell did they not know this racist history of their opponent?
Though as far as I know he is not currently running for anything so probably doesn’t have a currently employed oppo research director to fire. Seems someone would have found something hiding in such plain sight.
Having done oppo research as a Democratic operative for many years, it is incredulous to me that ANY candidate running for Governor of Virginia, would NOT have had his background thoroughly vetted — especially on the ultra sensitive issue of racism.
By his own campaign if nothing else. Smart candidates know it’s a good idea to have oppo research done on yourself so you can prepare for what might come out.
He certainly did himself no favors by backtracking on whether the picture was even of him. Personally, I believe in forgiveness, time healing wounds, and the totality of record so I don’t see a 35-year-old picture per se as a resignable offense. I’m usually not a fan of recalls, but if the VA Constitution allows that would IMO be the appropriate course thus allowing the voters to decide his fate.
My understanding is that the nickname was bestowed upon him, but I’m a little confused since I assumed as a racial epithet it would be applied to a black person.
His nickname ‘coonman’ was given to him as an undergraduate at VMI military school.
Although he just denied at his press conference that it was him in blackface or hood in his 1984 medical school yearbook, he DID confess that he dressed up in blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a San Antonio dance conference the very same year.
If he had a reputation of using blackface to mock African Americans, the nickname might make sense.
Sorry, meant to say dance ‘contest’, not conference.
The irony of course being that Michael Jackson took pains to make himself look white!
In the words of Michael Jackson, Northam should “Beat It.”
I don’t know about recall, but the Virginia Governor can be impeached for cause.
I was having trouble finding the relevant provisions, but if this were the presidency it would not rise to the level.
February is African American month. What a slap in the face this is to our black sisters and brothers.
Virginia’s 2020 presidential primary date is on Super Tuesday, March 3. The same date as Massachusetts and California. Many, if not all, Democratic presidential candidates won’t campaign in Virginia if Northam is still in the governor’s mansion.
VA Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine were joined by other senior elected Dems last night to call for Northam’s resignation.
Hillary Clinton speaks up : “This has gone on too long. There is nothing to debate. He must resign.”
They won’t campaign with Northam, but it wouldn’t be smart to leave VA to chance.
No serious candidate can leave VA to chance but if Northam is still Governor we can kiss VA goodbye.
I don’t accept the premise at all. Different offices, different candidates, especially if our nominee had called for him to resign.
Northam has ceded all moral authority to lead.
The Virginia Constitution allows for removal for physical or mental incapacity but the Republican House speaker said that this scandal would not qualify for removal by impeachment.
VA has a one term limit for Governor so if Northam resigns Fairfax would finish out his four-year term until 2021 and then be allowed to run for a full term.
Maybe Northam could be replaced by Juan Guaido.
2019 marks the 400 year anniversary of when slavery was brought to Jamestown, Virginia.
February is Black History month and it is important for white America to remember that 13 of our first 18 presidents owned slaves.
When Justin Fairfax was sworn in as Lt. Governor he had in his pocket the papers of his great, great, great grandfather declaring his freedom from Lord Fairfax in 1798.
Just think on that for a minute.
William and Mary College of Williamsburg, VA — the second oldest university in the country — just announced they have disinvited Northam to speak at the convocation of their new president.
I suspect this will be the first of many disinvitations for the clueless Governor.
Is there a reason you treat BMG threads like a Twitter feed?
Could be because I don’t tweet. Hell, I still use a flip phone!
I reluctantly agree that Mr. Northam must resign.
I am reluctant because I’m absolutely convinced that this is another political assassination from extreme anti-abortionists. Mr. Northam (along with the rest of Virginia Democrats) has been in their targets since making perfectly reasonable statements about the painful reality of what happens when babies with severe disorders are born. It is no accident that utterly false and baseless accusations are being made by against his Democratic Lt Governor.
Nevertheless, the facts are what they are. He has admitted to donning blackface for a Michael Jackson parody. He has admitted that some of his peers called him “Coonman”. My own assumption is that Mr. Northam amused his peers by imitating black men — hence the nickname, the MJ episode, and hence the photo in question.
This was 1984, not 1964. The landmark civil rights bill had been law for twenty years. I grew up in MD, immediately adjacent to VA. This was a college yearbook. Nobody in my college would behave this way.
The only possible way he might have survived this history is if he had gone public with it and begged forgiveness before, rather than after, all this took place. He compounded that grievous error by then admitting it was him, then retracting his admission. Say what? Was he lying on Friday when he admitted it, or lying on Saturday when he denied it? It doesn’t matter how promising his political career, I think it’s over.
I think we Democrats should remind the press and the pubic that there is no place for reprehensible behavior like this in the Democratic Party — in bright contrast to the GOP. There are no Steve Kings sitting in Congress in the Democratic Party. When the reprehensible behavior of another of our promising stars — Al Franken — became public, he was GONE.
If the GOP had any integrity at all, the Access Hollywood tape would have ended the Trump campaign. Immediately. The subsequent revelations of Mr. Trump’s apparently lifelong practice of abusing young women (such as by buying a beauty pageant and then invading their dressing rooms) should have been seen as confirming the correctness of that decision.
Democrats don’t behead hostages, even if the other side does. Democrats who violate women by grabbing their private parts are immediately removed from the campaign by whatever means necessary. Democrats who, even as high school students, lead a gang rape are rejected from the party (and prosecuted if appropriate) — they are not elevated to the highest court in the land. Democrats who dress in blackface in 1984 have no place in the Democratic Party of 2019 and 2020.
That is an important reason WHY we are Democrats.
What a mess! It’s even worse than that, Tom. We are now learning that the same right wing online cons that outed Northam also targeted Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax and are accusing him of assault which he vehemently denies. The talk on the street is the snakes wanted to wait until Fairfax became Governor before sticking the knife in his back.
This is how low these pukes are willing to go in order to win at any cost. We better all put our armor on because this is going to get real nasty.
I would only inform these faux ‘Bothsiders’ that under the VA Constitution, the third in line of succession to Governor is Attorney General Mark Herring, a progressive Democrat.
Indeed, I’m all too aware of the accusations against Mr. Fairfax (I mentioned them in my second paragraph). I make the hopefully safe assumption that these accusations are, indeed, utterly false and baseless. While I agree with your characterization of these anti-abortion extremists as “snakes”, if the accusations turn out to have merit then Mr. Fairfax is gone as well.
We can’t play along with the politics of personal destruction. We must be the party that believes in forgiveness, the passage of time, and the totality of record. We should also hold fast to the principle IMO that once elected prior bad acts are not grounds for prematurely vacating office unless a criminal conviction is involved.
It is not just the racist act 35 years ago of a 25 year old man. It is the lying and coverup.
First and foremost, he betrayed the trust he gave to people of color when he asked for their vote. They are appalled at that photo and the terrorism and bigotry against AA it represents. They want him gone yesterday.
If we don’t stand together in solidarity with our black sisters and brothers then shame on us all.
They are the offended party.
I profoundly disagree with you.
Had Mr. Northam asked for forgiveness when the issue first came up — prior to his election and in a conversation with an adviser — then perhaps it makes sense. Forgiveness is completely inappropriate as the first response to being caught.
This isn’t a matter of “the politics of personal destruction”. Surely we can find leaders who haven’t groped women or “entertained” their peers with grossly racist “humor”.
Blackface comedy is not criminal, and most hate speech is not criminal. It still should completely disqualify a Democratic official, before or after election. I categorically reject your criteria.
I’ve now heard that this may have been a Halloween picture. If that is true I’m even more forgiving since the point of that holiday is to dress up as something you’re not and we need to be a little less sensitive.
The more you write, the stronger my disagreement with you.
Once again, your commentary epitomizes white privilege. If “we” need to do anything, then I suggest that “we” need to listen rather more to our black brothers and sisters in VA and rather less to our own self-serving ideas of what is ok and what is not.
If you want to excuse this behavior, that is your choice. Blackface has ALWAYS been racist. ALWAYS. It doesn’t matter what the rationalization, it is racist. Always has been, always will be, at Halloween or at any other time of year.
Mr. Northam knew full well what he was doing. He must step down.
I categorically reject that certain groups always have the monopoly on the right opinion. I have listened – and disagree.
Where did I say that any group “always” has a “monopoly” on the “right opinion”? That’s not what I wrote.
Neither you nor I have ever experienced racial discrimination. Neither of us has ever been the target of cruel and demeaning material like we’re talking about. Neither of us has lost any loved ones to lynching, violent cops, or any of the other of the long list of abuses that white men like you and me have visited on this population.
You sit in a lily-white suburb and write on a lily-white blog about a “Halloween picture”, as if this is some sort of children’s dress-up day. You then assert that “we need to be a little less sensitive”.
I think that’s way out of line. Way out of line. Would you tell a group of Holocaust survivors that they needed to be “a little less sensitive” about a “passion play” happening in their neighborhood? Would you tell a group of American Indians that they need to be a “little less sensitive” about “comic” references to Little Big Horn or Wounded Knee?
I suggest that we instead need to be a LOT MORE sensitive.
This whole controversy is tangled enough. I think Tom is closer to being right than Christopher is here, but the self-righteous tone of Tom’s comment is uncalled for.
Um, I live in a VERY diverse city which would not be anything like it is without the contributions of waves of immigrants from just about everywhere. I’m not aware of comic references to Little Big Horn (which the Natives won) or wounded knee and Passion Plays didn’t cause the Holocaust.
@ I live in a very diverse city: How many blacks live there? Have you asked them about this (in a setting where they feel comfortable about answering honestly and candidly)?
@ Passion plays didn’t cause the Holocaust: Seriously? Are you, a historian, not familiar with the role that passion plays in Europe and the “Oberammergau” particular played in the Holocaust?
Blackface may have always been racist, but awareness of darkening your skin as a costume to make it known you are portraying someone black as always being racist is most definitely a more recent thing.
I think that intent and character is always important to consider when looking at these situations.
“awareness of darkening your skin as a costume to make it known you are portraying someone black as always being racist is most definitely a more recent thing.”
Perhaps for some whites here in Massachusetts, but absolutely NOT for the elite young Virginia men we’re talking about here.
We are talking about highly-educated college students in VA. They were aware of how racist their portrayals were (and are), that’s WHY they were done. That’s WHY they were thought to be funny. That’s always been true of blackface, going all the way back to its creation in 1830.
The first blackface character was “Jim Crow”. The fact that we talk about “Jim Crow” laws is not coincidental.
I completely agree that intent and character is always important to consider. That’s why these men must step down.
I really am getting more and more disturbed by the resistance to this rather basic concept. The “N-word”, used by whites, has ALWAYS been racist. The “humor” about watermelons has ALWAYS been racist. Blackface has always been in this category. Always.
I grew up in the South. If you live in that region, and you have even a tiny desire to avoid being racist, you do not do blackface. Period.
The notion that this “awareness” is something new really is indefensible.
What would be the acceptable method of dressing up as a particular person who is black? Gov. Northam has copped to darkening his face specifically to look like Michael Jackson, not some Jim Crow caricature, though I chuckle at the irony given the pains Jackson took to make himself look white.
Why bother? What’s the point?
This seems to be the disconnect between us. I agree that putting on minstrel-show blackface is, and always has been offensive.
But Halloween costumes which are not meant to be offensive? They were not always considered taboo. Sure, some would always be – if I dressed up like a fugitive slave, that’s clearly offensive. But dressing up like Michael Jackson? Or the “Cool Runnings” Jamaican bobsled team? Not necessarily.
I think the difference is, who is being made light of?
If I dress up like Michael Jackson, this isn’t making light of Michael Jackson – it is making light of me. Similar to if I dress up like a woman, or even a Mexican.
Again, it depends wholly on the context. It is possible for me to dress up like a woman in a way that makes fun of the woman. It is definitely possible for me to dress up like a Mexican in an offensive way, especially if I tie the costume to immigration.
Look at the Apu character on the Simpsons. I bet we’ve all laughed at that over the years. Except now, people are becoming aware that this ethnic stereotype is past its prime. Maybe in 35 years someone will say “hey, everyone knew back then that mocking someone’s ethnicity was absolutely racist”. That’s not the way it is or has been in that example. The awareness is gradual, and there is often no white hat and black hat.
There is paramount danger in the Democratic party applying one-strike-and-your’re-out purity tests to its candidates. It was reported today that Elizabeth Warren wrote “Native American” on her Texas Bar registration. Should she resign for this immediately? By your standard, perhaps she should – after all, she did not fully address this issue years ago when it first came up.
Democrats should do the “right thing”, but the right thing is not banishment for any transgression.
Interesting. This perhaps deserves its own thread, because I do think it’s interesting.
In my view, the key issue in our exchanges here at BMG is that none of us are black. These exchanges are therefore, by construction, steeped in white privilege. I share your concern about any absolute purity test. I think I am asking that we pay rather more attention to black voices like the Washington Post’s Eugene Robinson.
I don’t think the “Native American” thing is remotely similar, and so I don’t think that Ms. Warren should resign. The card in question (I think it was first reported by the Washington Post, which published an image of the card) clearly states that the information is for statistical purposes only. So Ms. Warren never benefited, nor did she ever attempt to benefit, from her claims.
It seems to me that Ms. Warren is doing a reasonable job at attempting to navigate all the nuances of this non-issue. She’s mended her fences with the various American Indian groups, so that I think that she’s on the right track. She’s never going to change the bigoted hostility towards her from the right-wing — I think her mistake was to get sucked into the argument in the first place.
Having said that, I think that exemplifies why Ms. Warren can be more effective as the senior Senator from Massachusetts than as a candidate, a nominee, or even as President.
I enthusiastically agree with you that while we Democrats should “do the right thing”, that should not mean banishment for any transgression.
Unfortunately, he has already admitted to going to a party in black-face… https://www.cbsnews.com/news/virginia-attorney-general-mark-herring-admits-to-dressing-in-blackface-as-a-student/
Another one bites the dust. .Are there ANY Virginia politicians who haven’t worn blackface or a pointed white hood?
Sadly, racism really is rampant and pervasive in the south. Today.
Today? Both these cases are from 35ish years ago.
Let me quote a question asked by Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson:
The racism isn’t just the repellent behavior of 35 years ago. It is also the assumption that such behavior will be forgiven. It is the reality that nobody bothers to even check. It is the pervasive nature of this behavior.
The killing of an innocent black veteran in an Alabama shopping mall by a white cop — and the subsequent exoneration of that cop by Alabama authorities — did not happen 35 years ago.
The events may have have happened 35 years ago. The fact that Northern Virginia can’t seem to find Democratic candidates who did NOT behave like this in college is happening right now.
I want to be very clear that at least when I point out that this photo was taken 35 years ago I am making a comment about relative rather than absolute time. In other words I’m not suggesting that this was OK 35 years ago because people didn’t know better or different standards existed, but rather 35 years HAVE PASSED and therefore we should be able to forgive and allow time to heal wounds as the saying goes. The Alabama incident you mention is of course one of way too many, way too recent similar instances, but I hope we can agree that taking a life is exponentially worse than posing for a picture.
You can’t make this stuff up
.
The fourth in line of succession is the Republican Speaker of the House where they hold a 1 seat majority.
Right, Fred, “Nobody could have predicted”. . This is the type of thing that happens when people who are not impartial make a show of being impartial.
Tom, I respect you, and because of that, I’m asking you to try and change my mind on this. My opinion is currently that an incident in the past is being judged using today’s standard, a standard which has clearly evolved over time. My opinion is also that he is not being given the chance to apologize, even though I believe he has acknowledged it and apologized (as opposed to brushing it off and saying “that was nothing big”).
I fully understand the offensiveness of blackface. I believe that awareness of it is different today versus 1984. I also think that in 1984, there was a distinction between Amos & Andy blackface and darkening your skin to signify that you were dressing up as a black person. That distinction is clearly gone today, and any blackface is clearly inappropriate. I think that people are better educated about the racist origins of blackface (thanks to the internet) and I think that as a society, we are far more sensitive to casual racism than we were in 1984.
I know that 1984 is very different from 1964. Still, people say “Virginia elected its first black lieutenant governor in 1985”, as if to somehow imply that this means that 1984 and 2019 are very much the same, so the 2019 standard should be applied retroactively.
There is a picture in my Massachusetts high school yearbook from this same era of kids wearing light blackface (dressed wearing Hawaiian shirts, I think) to a Halloween dance, and there was no outcry, no one even batted an eye. I remember my reaction to it was “those guys are idiots”, and that’s it – not “those guys are racist” or even “those guys are mocking black people, a group they think are inferior”.
My perception of the incident is that it was just a costume, and what made it “funny” was white people pretending to be something they clearly weren’t – black – in the same vein of men dressing like women.
Likewise, I have a photo of myself and a friend where he dressed like a woman for Halloween (I had an unrelated costume on). Is that sexist? Does that photo disqualify me from being in the Democratic Party in 2019? Will it disqualify me in 2030?
What about other types of costumes that cross racial or ethnic lines? For example, what if someone wore a sombrero and a serape for Halloween in the 80s? Or even the 90s? Is that disqualifying? If not, will it be disqualifying in 10 years?
I have seen many people say that he lied about it. Can you tell me the lie? Is it that people think that really is him posing with the KKK costume? Is there anything beyond speculation to suggest that? I am under the impression that this was an unsanctioned Medical school Yearbook,
I really don’t understand this, and I’m concerned both with the idea of retroactively judging historical events with an eye to meting out consequences, and also the idea that an apology has to be absolutely perfectly done, that ownership and contrition is not enough.
I appreciate the reasonable tone of your comment, and I want to make every effort to respond in the same tone.
Perhaps most importantly, Massachusetts in 1984 was VERY different from Virginia in 1984. The civil war was not fought on the soil of Massachusetts. The family estate of a long-time Massachusetts patriarch and civil war general was not seized to bury our nation’s dead (Arlington cemetery occupies the grounds of the former Custis-Lee mansion, home of General Robert E. Lee).
I grew up in a MD suburb of Washington DC, just across the state line from VA. Your summary doesn’t acknowledge the stark differences between the culture of the two states. Massachusetts did not shut down its public school system in response to the Brown decision. That was in 1959.
We in the US had a different experience of WWII from those lived in Europe or Russia. Displaying a swastika is against the law in Germany and Austria. It is protected free speech here. I suggest that it is therefore inappropriate to ignore the profound differences between VA of 1984 and MD of 1984.
I’m sorry, but this is just not defensible. Amos & Andy was not blackface. It was, in fact, the first all-black show on television. The objections from groups like the NAACP was that Amos & Andy was the ONLY portrayal of blacks on television, and as such was offensive.
Blackface comes from the minstrel tradition and has ALWAYS been degrading to blacks. The tradition was created by whites during the 19th century in order to degrade and subjugate blacks. “Jim Crow” was a blackface character created in 1830 by a white man named Thomas Dartmouth Rice, known as the “Father of minstrelsy”.
There was therefore nothing “casual” about the racism on full display in that 1984 COLLEGE (not High School) yearbook. Those who participated in those episodes knew exactly what they were doing. That was a medical school, for crying out loud. A medical school in the heart of segregationist Virginia. A medical school that shut down its yearbook altogether in 2013 when the yearbook included photos of students wearing Confederate uniforms and standing in front of a Confederate battle flag.
There is simply no comparison with the various costumes you mention and blackface, because there is no comparison to wounds and scars those costumes rub lemon and salt in. Hawaiians were never lynched in Massachusetts. Our pre-revolutionary crimes against women have long healed. Hispanics and Mexicans in Massachusetts do not remember being locked out of public schools because of their race. There were never Massachusetts laws against inter-marriage between Hispanics and whites or Hawaiians and whites.
On Friday, Mr. Northam apologized for the photo. Here are his words in that Friday statement (emphasis mine):
On Saturday, he claimed that he did NOT appear in the photo. Only one of those statements can be true.
In his later statements, he also acknowledged that he HAD appeared in blackface in a Michael Jackson costume, and that several of his peers nicknamed him “Coonman”.
I have seen no evidence of ownership, contrition, or sincere apology. What I’ve seen instead is yet another example of white privilege. I see a white doctor attending an elite white medical school behaving in racist ways that were as unacceptable then as they are now. Even though advisers cautioned him during the campaign that this could be trouble, he ignored them. I see a privileged white boy who just assumes that he won’t be held responsible for any of this, and who whines and stomps the floor when things don’t go as he expected.
I see many similarities between the behavior of Mr. Northam and Mr. Kavanaugh. I am appalled that the latter is was elevated to the Supreme Court anyway.
Mr. Northam must step down.
Thanks for the clarification. With respect to my description of Amos & Andy, I was thinking of to the radio show, and how white actors portrayed those two characters, and later appeared in a movie in blackface (Check and Double Check) as the characters. I was not referring to the TV show.
I appreciate what you are saying of the differences between MA and VA in 1984. I’m not sure I’m convinced of the implication that since VA was more racist than MA at the time, it was worse for someone to appear in blackface in VA than it would be in MA. However, MA did (and still does) have its share of racism. I would argue that it may even be worse here – the segregation appears to be worse, and there were riots over busing in Boston. White separation is still a major factor in schools and housing in this state, yet this still isn’t really a major issue for Democrats.
I understand your point about the contradictory statements. I suppose it could be explained if he made the first statement in a rush, without seeing the picture, but that’s probably giving him too much benefit of the doubt.
Assuming that he was either the KKK character or the blackface character in the original photo, and before he revised his statement (which many are primarily focusing on now), it still does not seem like there was any room for contrition here. His original statement seemed pretty contrite, but people did not accept it. Does this suggest that people’s inappropriate (but legal – I want to separate that from something like sexual assault) mistakes from decades ago are permanent?
You describe him as “a white doctor attending an elite white medical school behaving in racist ways that were as unacceptable then as they are now.” I’m not sure he should be dinged for the first part of that statement. It’s too broad, and it places a lot of impunity on the characteristics of being a white man living and going to school in Virginia rather than focusing on the actual racist act (dressing up as a KKK member /blackface man).
What I find lacking from the entire conversation is how Northam has behaved in the 35 years since that photo was taken. Has he been a prick to black people, or at best, indifferent? Or has he been enlightened, and championed their causes? I think that is a major factor here.
My point is that his casual indifference to the consequences of his racist behavior — then and now — reflects an attitude of arrogance and privilege. Because he is white, elite, and a doctor, he assumes that his misdeeds will be ignored. He assumes that he can do and say whatever he likes with impunity without fearing the consequences.
This is in stark contrast to black men who even today have police called on them while moving into apartments. Nobody ever had to sit down with Mr. Northam and explain what he must and must not do while being confronted by a cop in a traffic stop.
We progressives are quick and eager to embrace and celebrate our new black and Hispanic elected officials, candidates, and voters. We seem FAR more reluctant to embrace and celebrate THEIR views of such behavior.
That is, to me, an equally important concern here.
I still don’t get it. Let me ask you bluntly, Northam is a Democrat, presumably pretty good on issues of the black community. He seemed to sincerely apologize for something he did 35 years ago – at least initially – but people still called for him to resign even before he did the “wait, that wasn’t me” thing.
Is there anything he could have done which would have resulted in a penalty less than resignation? Or is that simply the penalty for stupid behavior decades ago? Or is that just the Democratic penalty?
While I agree that it’s unfortunate, I think the answer to your last paragraph is “Nope”.
I think his only hope was if he had come forward during the 2017 gubernatorial campaign when the issue first came up (emphasis mine):
That was two years ago. It is clear that Mr. Northam knew that this was an issue at that time.
Had candidate Ralph Northam come forward with a public explanation and apology at that time, he might have been forgiven. We’ll never know, because he instead chose the route of secrecy.
So, in answer to the first question of your last paragraph, I think a public apology during the 2017 campaign is the only way he might have survived this.
I challenge your categorization of this as “stupid behavior”. Stupid behavior is drinking too much and getting sick. This is knowing and intentional racism. Behavior, even in college, has consequences. We excuse children. We also do not allow them to vote, drive, sign contracts, or carry weapons. Actions have consequences.
Finally, I think your last question (“Or is that just the Democratic penalty?”) is just silly. Unless you argue that Democrats should display the same utter contempt for civilized standards that the GOP displays.
If that is what the Democratic party is about, then I don’t want to be a Democrat anymore. Congratulations to shrinking the tent.
I don’t see why a Democrat who was young and stupid thirty years ago is expected to resign, but Republicans who say dumb and racist things currently are tolerated and accommodated,
These pictures were in the Yearbook, which certainly says a lot about the culture of the time.
I have done and said some stupid things over the years, but I have managed to grow, forgive myself, and progress. If we put everyone on trial for being young and stupid, there would be nobody left in the jury box.
He was elected governor for the things he said today. He should be held accountable for the person he is today.
What he did was not a criminal act, like an attempted rape, such as what we have with Justice Cavanaugh. It was Prince Harry, I think, who wore a Nazi uniform to a Halloween party. Are we to assume that he is a Nazi? Wearing blackface or even a Klan outfit doesn’t mean that one is racist then or today. Humor is a thing that changes over time. Could Don Rickles, with his mile-a-minute insults, make a living today? This is neurotic.
I thought the same thing when Al Franken resigned, Human sexuality must leave room for invitation and propositions. While Franken may have crossed a line in some other encounters, the picture itself was crass and stupid and a betrayal of professional trust, but did not rise to the point of his needing to resign. Nobody can change the past, and the fact that a picture was taken reveals an attempt at humor, not contempt.
Nobody should be in office that is contemptuous of others. How many partisan operatives would fail that test? We need to be sensitive, and grow in sensitivity and awareness, but we shouldn’t be stupid and self-destructive, which is how this strikes me.
The GOP is crying crocodile tears about Democratic hypocrisy, which just makes this more Orwellian, Somehow racism is wrong when Democrats are caught doing something in the past, but not when they do it in the present? It’s just more double-standards, which should be challenged not accommodated.
The Democrats are too quick to assemble a circular firing squad. Sure, there may be more to this case than I am aware of, but I haven’t seen anything yet that would justify a call for him to resign,
Mr. Franken resigned because he himself admitted that the offensive picture was just one of several episodes, episodes that went well across the boundary that separates invitations and propositions from harassment and even assault. “Invitation and proposition” excludes sudden and unwanted groping.
I feel that the yearbook picture together with Mr. Northam’s own admissions of his behavior are more than enough to force his resignation.
There is no “circular firing squad” here. We are a party that has principles and standards, The fact that GOP does not is precisely why it is so vital that we retain ours.
I would hope no one here is tolerating and accepting racist things done and said by politicians on either isle, but some commentators here seem to be. There is something to be said for the moral high ground in the cases, whether it is politically expedient or not.
There is a wide range between condoning and punishing. There are things like this that generally aren’t OK, but also not worth a federal case. Ditto the actions of Al Franken.
Oh, so you now also argue that Mr. Franken should not have stepped down?
I’m sorry, but the “standard” you end up applying is no standard at all. Mr. Franken admitted to multiple abuses of multiple women — that’s why he stepped down.
When we know an official has committed a heinous act and we do not punish that official, then we condone that act.
Al Franken exemplifies the modern Democratic Party doing the right thing. Your commentary strikes me as very much out of step with the entire party.
It’s not just “now” that I argue that Franken should not have stepped down. I was so upset about it at the time that I wrote a whole diary about it.
My standard is actually pretty simple and consistent. No person once elected should resign for a prior bad act not connected to official conduct or the election process unless a criminal conviction results. If either Northam’s or Franken’s transgressions came out during the campaign voters would be free to decide how much they care, but once elected in a system of regularly scheduled elections they are more or less entitled to hold the seat for the term to which they were elected.
I disagreed with you then and I disagree with you now about Mr. Franken.
By “now” I referred to your broadening of the discussion about Mr. Northam to also include Mr. Franken.
I think you’re standard is, frankly, absurd and indefensible. Mr. Franken did the right thing by resigning. I sincerely hope that Mr. Northam will make the same choice.
Northam must go. Any chance of redemption he might have had (and he shouldn’t have, for the record) was tossed out when he needed his wife to advise him not to moonwalk. Disgraceful.
Regarding the claims against Fairfax: It is discouraging to see people here already calling them “baseless” before the issue has been fully aired (and the accuser even heard). I am not sure what the general feeling of many here was when the accusations against Kavanuagh were first brought to light, but it smacks of hypocrisy and self-interest. To be clear, I am not saying I believe them, and I do not doubt that they have been forced out as part of a political hit job, but if there is an accuser with a story they deserve to be respectfully heard.
If this accuser had stepped forward in any other context and chosen any other vehicle, then I would be on board with you.
I call these claims “baseless” because there is, so far, The accuser herself states that she didn’t tell anyone until taking her unsubstantiated and uncorroborated account to the Washington Post. That publication chose not to publish the story because there was and is no corroborating evidence.
Yesterday’s story in the Post clarifies why the publication did not print the story (emphasis mine):
This has all the earmarks of a manufactured story, released in an extremist right-wing anti-abortion blog, and intended to harm an official who is standing up for a woman’s right to choose what to do with her body.
This is different in virtually every significant detail from the situation with Mr. Kavanaugh.
Compare Kavanaugh’s statements and those of Fairfax. Both claimed that someone was out to get them. And did you check with any women, Tom, before you labeled this accusation “baseless”?
Actually, you are quite correct, and I clearly need to walk back my overly harsh criticism of her. I read the statement she issued this afternoon. She is a credible accuser.
I should have withheld comment until hearing more from the accuser. I find her account credible, just as I found the accusations against Mr. Kavanaugh credible. There is, so far, only one accuser stepping forward against Mr. Fairfax.
In this case, your criticism of my commentary is absolutely valid. I was wrong to jump to a conclusion as I did.