Gov. Ralph Northam

Even if you don't know the man the positioning of the story gives it away. It's eight paragraph before they mention his party. Were he a republican the paper would have headlined it.

Shut up, right wing troll. Doesn't fly.

I voted for him, and don’t regret it. But this is really screwed up.

how long until the misguided kavanaugh comparisons start?

The Lt Governor is African American.

CNN is calling for his resignation. He's toast.

"The chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, Jack Wilson, said in a statement: “Racism has no place in Virginia. "

Bitch, please.

This is gross.

Yeah, this is pretty bad.

Karma.

Won't this boost his standing in Virginia or does that only work if he was a republican?

It mostly tells you how shitty the Tidewater and Fall Line really is. The northern counties are world’s apart from Norfolk and Virginia Beach which are mired in racism. It’s a stone’s throw to North Carolina and local politics here are red, red, red. It stretches straight across the state to Lynchburg to Roanoke to Danville and across the stateline to Tennessee.

R3 I did as well. VMI is a different kind of school. But this surprises me.

[quote]Norfolk Virginia Beach which are mired in racism. It’s a stone’s throw to North Carolina and local politics here are red, red, red. It stretches straight across the state to Lynchburg to Roanoke to Danville and across the stateline to Tennessee.

In that geographic distribution are currently two female Democratic freshmen members of Congress. And Bobby Scott, the sole African-American member of Virginia's congressional delegation.

Yikes. It's his medical school yearbook. This is bad. He is trending. None of the big VA Dems saying anything yet.

Which also raises the question, what the fuck is wrong with EVMS?

I don't see how he gets out of this without resigning.

[Quote]The Lt Governor is African American.

Wait a minute, let me fix that for you:

"The new Governor is African American."

"C'mon now, evybody just a little bit racist."

R14 Yes, *currently*. This is from 1984. The flip only occurred in the last election cycle.

Chuck Toad doesn’t think he’ll last the weekend.

But seriously, WTF? This is from 1984, not even that long ago.

I was looking at some high school yearbooks from the early 1980s last year. They are ALL terrible. I expect a lot more careers will be ruined in the coming years as people begin to look through them.

I figured it out

Oh for fuck sake. If his political career shows he's a fair-minded person, then chalk this up to being an idiot in your youth. What is this shit where we take down people who clearly aren't a reflection of their past selves? I mean someone like Trump has ALWAYS been a total dirtbag and he's gotten even worse, but when I see idiots try and take down every fucking one who wasn't absolutely perfect their entire life (meanwhile, you know the person doing the judging has done some bad things in their own lives as they cast stones), then we lose.

It's just false equivalency. Somehow, they've got it into their pin heads that siding with fascists who've proclaimed themselves to be the inheritors of the 5,000 year old Jewish homeland based on the Ottoman occupation and their dreams of a modern Caliphate. They can't explain why they support a vehemently anti-gay political organization that supports execution of gays and lesbians, popularly by beheading or mass hangings. They just do. Probably because they know less than nothing about the history of the region, its support for fascism from the 1920s to the current era.

They can't explain why they'd support it, though. They'd be dead in minutes. Much like in the early days of the Russian revolution - they first ones to be put up against the wall and shot. The only probably basis is they're anti semitic and always have been. The other likely explanation is they're the same kind of groupies that jerk off to serial murderers. They've always been the type to glorify Manson and Bundy and see them as the hero, not the villain.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

R24 He was 25 years old at the time, not some kid. A grown-ass man.

It doesn't matter which costume he was in. Both are equally bad. He's donezo.

The left responds:

I believe in personal forgiveness & public repentance. That is not the same as deserving the confidence bestowed in our elected officials. The picture was horrifying and deserves a clear response. Ralph Northam should resign.

And I’m not interested in hearing any commentary from Republicans that excuse Trump’s racism, attacked Ralph for supporting the removal of confederate statues, or spends time explaining away children being separated from their families so head over to someone else’s thread.

He has got to go. Democrats are calling for it. IF he was republican, they would defend him, and he would probably stay in office. That is our reality.

Guy Cecil, whoever that is, is pretty full of himself

So if he resigns, who replaces him? Is there a special election held?

R25, STFU. Don't attempt to take what I said and throw in your Pamela Geller bullshit viewpoint.

[quote]So if he resigns, who replaces him?

The Lieutenant Governor, Justin Fairfax. Who is African-American.

Virginia isn't the North. Whatever he may have done .. in what appears to be Halloween costume from 1984, isn't likely to have much of an impact.

Why did this come out now, instead of before the election? I wonder if it had anything to do with his comments on post-birth abortion.

R33 Fuck off you cunt. Nobody needed you to drag in that nazi cunt, and nobody needs your nazi cunt here either.

What’s that you say, R37?

R36 Because there was a politically explosive vote this week in the state legislature. The republicans managed to carry it, by turning into "abortion until the moment of birth". Now they want to flip it into a personal attack on the governor, so they're using this to go after him. It's typical Virginia dog whistle politics.

A page from another Northam yearbook at the Virginia Military Institute has "Coonman" listed as his nickname

Have EVMS or VMI released statements about this?

Hello, Governor Fairfax!

Only in America would anyone blink an eye at this.

Time to be PR savvy and chuck this up to a learning experience!

R43 is a walking retard.

Has he said which one he was in the pic?

R44 I think R43 went right over your head

he's toast. Democrats have to call for him to resign or they cannot call out the Republicans. The man made a mistake and seems to be a different person now but everything we do has consequences. If the Democrats don't stand up for what is morally right now we will end up with Schultz as the next President who has no experience and probably has as much ego as Trump.

25 is hardly a grown ass man bee tee dubs

[quote]Virginia isn't the North. Whatever he may have done .. in what appears to be Halloween costume from 1984, isn't likely to have much of an impact.

Oh here we go. As a black person and a Virginian, I went to school "up North" and the racism is no different. In fact, in some ways it's worse. I voted for Ralph Northam and I support Ralph Northam. You judge a man for who he is now, not for who he used to be. Not for the silliness of youth, but for his actions that show he has risen above ancient nonsense.

The democrats who are calling for his head, remind me of those who called for Al Franken's head. Self serving crybabies who will eat their own until there is nothing left. Just more fodder for the outrage machine. Democrats don't make the same mistake twice. Don't throw out a decent guy to make some moral argument that gets you nowhere.

He ran against Corey Stewart. A white race is superior nut case. Northam had an easy election and won by a lot! Corey Stewart was so awful a candidate, I think it hurt the Republican ticket all over the state.

Oh the irony.

But I’m still cool in the Capitol, right?

I agree. Trump was a pig in 1984. He's still a pig today. He can be judged on a consistent and unbroken record of piggery. Northam did something in 1984 that we don't have a context for - but looks pretty damn dumb. His service to the nation and as a pediatrician, with strong centrist values doesn't demonstrate any racism. Loudmouth liberals who smell blood can fuck off. This is Virginia. We have enough copperheads and cottonmouths without you adding more.

[quote]Yes, *currently*. This is from 1984. The flip only occurred in the last election cycle.

Virginia has undergone quite a dramatic change over the past decade, mainly because of the large growth in the Washington suburbs in Northern Virginia.

Virginia used to be such a reliably red state in Presidential elections that even white Southerners like Jimmy Carter & Bill Clinton couldn't win it, despite both of them being able to win lots of other Southern states.

Virginia hadn't been won by a Democrat since the LBJ landslide in 1964. So in 2008, many people were surprised when a Black Democrat, Barack Obama, was able to win Virginia. And do so again in 2012. And Hillary won it in 2016.

Plus, it now has 2 Democratic Senators and a Democratic Governor, as well as the new seats picked up in the House in November.

R39

He came out in favour of abortion up until full term and was cheered to the rafters by pro-abort fanatics from the Democratic party that think that infanticide is proof of social progress. There's no dialoguing with such people. They've slowly asphyxiated something inside of themselves. Much like the material collaborators with the Nazis must have done in the run up to the War. Step by step. Choice by choice. Until they actually think, quite sincerely, that what they are advocating is obviously a good thing.

It 'aint.

Still, this wisecrack skewers the governer right where it hurts. So kudos to Robert A George for coming up with this one:

- Ralph Northam starring in "After-birth of A Nation" -

Four of the last five governors have been Democrats.

[quote] You judge a man for who he is now, not for who he used to be. Not for the silliness of youth

Do you ?

Bwahahahahaha

Attempted rape is a crime, Justice Kavanaugh R56, shoe polish is not.

He better hope it’s shoe polish and not sheets

This looks bad:

Come on now, R56, liberal-lefties can NEVER be guilty of shameless hypocrisy. They care about victims. So they're always in the right. Always. And as you see with R58 it's just a bit of random shoe polish. It doesn't signify, in any way, the politic of systematic oppression, rape, murder, lynchings of a whole section of society for centuries. No, no. Just shoe polish.

Nothing to see here. Because a Democrat did it. Just like Chappaquiddick - there's no-one in the car...

But hey, at least you can kill those full-term babies now. So go Freedom!

R52 Is Kamala Harris one of your “loudmouth liberals”? She has called on him to step down.

Kamala says “go”.

It’s over

R48 Yeah, 25 is a grown ass man. Bee tee dubs.

[quote]You judge a man for who he is now, not for who he used to be. Not for the silliness of youth

[quote]Do you ?

[quote]—Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh

I judged you when you yelled and stomped your feet and disrespected the Senate and the position you were nominated for.

R63

So not because he actually did something wrong. No, no. But because sentence has been pronounced by the public-relations figure-head you've decided to out-source your moral compass to.

R63, R66?

If Virginians don't want him as governor then they can have a recall election. He should not resign.

Clinton / Northam in 2020 still a possibility:

R54 No, he didn't. You're a nutbag right winger. He supported a bill that removed the idiotic requirements that were previously imposed on women like forcing them to view sonograms and listen to religious materials on abortion. The bullshit you cite was not from him. It was statement in testimony from one of the bills sponsors.

R68 There is no history of a governor being recalled in Virginia.

I stand corrected. Northam didn't run against Corey Stewart. (That was Tim Kaine and the Senate race.) He ran against Ed Gillispie who certainly was familiar with oppositional research. I can't believe he missed this!

R40 wow. This guy was really putting his back into his racism.

R52 She should stay in California, where she belongs.

R72 Right. Ed G's isn't even from Virginia. was a Republican party hack who decided he'd run for governor based on ... no experience, and no connection to the commonwealth. Just because he thought it was a steppingstone.

It would be bittersweet for Justin fairfax if Northam resigned in that he wouldn’t be able to run in 2021 like he had planned.

True. We'd get our second elected African American governor.

[quote]It would be bittersweet for Justin fairfax if Northam resigned in that he wouldn’t be able to run in 2021 like he had planned.

Well, that would give Mark Herring an opening. He's great too.

Kamala Harris, Julian Castro, MoveOn, and Daily Kos demand he resign.

I guess a racist don’t get forgiveness like a homophone does

R70 Bullshit. Here he is, the ghoul, defending nutjob Tran's infanticide legislation. And none of you are shocked by that. Of course not. You celebrate it. Like I said, you've asphyxiated a part of your selves and no dialogue with you is possible.

What's worse: legalising infanticide or racial taunting from the 1980s?

For you all it's the latter.

You're just as dead inside as Northam is.

That was just a scare tactic, R81. Hillary said so.

R81. Did you even understand what he, as a pediatrician was saying? I don’t think you understood what he said. They’re big words. Maybe “Two providers should make these decisions”

That’s what he said. You stupid right wing batshit bag of shit . Run on back to Operation Rescue and try to fact check in the future.

NAACP demands Guv resign.

Guv refuses to resign and releases video saying he looks forward to serving his voters the rest of his term.

[quote] There's no dialoguing with such people.

In what world is "dialogue" a verb? Because that is a world I do not want to live in.

Hard for Dems to not demand resignation when the Florida Republican official resigned promptly when his photo surfaced. I know the 1980's wasn't that long ago but it was a different time. There was a little more wriggle room for political incorrectness. I'm a minority myself and not that one had to tolerate overt racism, but there was a lot of stuff that you let slide as juvenile, stupid and ignorant. Fortunately, tolerance is much lower nowadays.

I think he’s hoping this all blows over since it’s the weekend and all. Don’t think that will happen though. He needs to go.

I think his record post-photo shows he's a changed man who had an error in judgment as a young person. Being young is not an excuse, but clearly he has learned from his mistake. Second, I do not agree with the disgusting legislation that was rightfully shut down, and am glad it did not pass. I'm pro-choice, but there's a line I don't believe should be crossed. He was wrong for supporting it.

No, he should not resign.

Sad to see this happen, as a Maryland resident just a few miles away from VA, I get all the NoVA election news and commercials. I was delighted Northam defeated Gillispie. Really disappointed in Northam--he seems like a really decent guy. And he may well be and he's the same person he was in 1984. Politically though, it may not matter.

Senator George Allen managed to serve out the rest of his term as VIrginia's senator after his video haranguing a POC as a macaque ("I didn't know what it meant," but I used it right in a sentence) and noose-hanging-in-a-fica-tree ("it's a lasso!") scandals.

If he wants to stay, he can probably last out his term. But what's best for the state?

Judging from his behavior over the decades, he did a really dumb thing a long time ago and no doubt really regrets it now. I don't think he's racist at all.

R85 In North America. And I'm sure they will weep - tears of joy - should you opt to be no part of their world.

R91 The thing is, it wasn't just once. These are two different yearbooks: one with the blackface/KKK picture and one where his nickname is listed as Coonman. I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg and, when people start really digging into his past, they will find a lot of skeletons in his closet.

What amazes me is that a fucking medical school published that photo in its yearbook. In 1984.

R83 Oh I understood. But you chose not to hear. Which, of course, is the condition sine qua non for pro-aborts. They've defeaned their consciences long ago. The Governer said this: The born baby will be kept "comfortable" whilst the parents and physicians decide what they want to happen to it. Which includes letting it die. Because, well, yay, go freedom and no woman should be forced to keep a born infant she doesn't want.

But hey, you resorted to unveiling this corner of your shrivelled soul so I know exactly who - sorry, what - I'm dealing with:

"You stupid right wing batshit bag of shit ."

Yup. You're basically just a smear, the merest online contact with you leaves a person soiled.

In 1984, one would think EVMS would have a competent yearbook editor that would have flagged this pic before sending it to publication.

Northam's grossly insensitve judgment in posting a rascist pic then, was pretty bad for an adult medical student. While disturbing, it is dated and maybe he has deeply regretted for a long time. He has to explain.

Even a lot of pro-choice people are appalled at this guy, even before all the racist stuff, because what he promotes isn't even just abortion it's flat out infanticide. If a woman screams post-partum depression the baby could be killed, conceibably (no pun intended)

"I suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg and, when people start really digging into his past, they will find a lot of skeletons in his closet."

I don't think so. He behavior over the years has never indicated that he's a racist.

Ralph is in the KKK robe.

I am in blackface.

This is a betrayal to his base. It will do profound damage nationally if he doesn’t resign. He’s gotta go.

I went to a very conservative college in Virginia in the 80’s and never saw anything remotely like that photo. It’s really inconceivable that a medical school would publish that in a yearbook. He’s probably going to have to resign, as much as it sucks. Where are all the Democratic agents scouring the pasts of Republican office holders? More dirty tricks.

It seems many of the upper class schools let anything go in their yearbooks...remember Kavanaugh's/Ford's yearbooks had pictures and discussion of minors drinking alcohol.

The upside is that Republicans are probably put out a hit on Ed Gillespie for not finding this.

I graduated from undergrad in 1986. My school would have never let this go to print. I remember my school having a huge discussion because they had one picture of a charity event called a "slave auction" which many schools were doing at the time.

Bret Kavanaugh's HS yearbook and calendars were quite bizzare. He liked to drink.....a lot.

r95 I don't understand your position at all. If a baby is born severely deformed with not a chance of living even one week, because of heart, lung, liver, or kidney issues, and in terrible pain, am I to understand that it is the duty of the doctor and the mother to prolong the life of that infant by whatever heroic methods possible until its inevitable death a few days later?

You do understand, that not even 30 years ago, such prolongation of life would have been impossible with the medical technology of that time? What has changed?

I'm guessing you have some sort of religious feeling about this. So let me try to sort this out on that level. Your opinion is that God deliberately made a severely defective baby who will be in pain its every living moment in order to check the moral compass of the people who brought it into the world by seeing if they would expend limitless financial means and enduring unbelievable emotional distress to keep it alive a few more days?

And you're accusing everyone else of having a shriveled soul? Really?

The hypocrisy is killing us. He needs to resign now. What with Jussie and now this fool, 2020 is a lost cause.

R102 Eastern Virginia Medical School is hardly elite, it’s not even a good medical school. My college was elite, and would never have allowed anything like that photo.

[quote] What with Jussie and now this fool, 2020 is a lost cause.

🙄 Mary!!!! That's quite an overreaction. Neither Jussie nor Ralph Northam will have any effect on the 2020 presidential election. They'll be nothing more than a blip on the radar screen in six months. Hell six weeks.

Kavanaugh’s yearbook was high school. He was 18. Northam’s was medical school and he was 25. Big difference.

Is the Lt. Governor is Democrat or Republican? If he is a Republican, DONT RESIGN!

Gov.Northam should continue serving. When I was young I was a mess. Trying to fit in, whatever. Up until I was 28 I was strung up on coke every weekend and with ho's every other night. But grew up. We should concentrate on winning at whatever the cost. Trump nor Republicans resign. We shouldn't either

R106, I'm not the poster who you were asking that question of, but the problem is that I believe the proposed law by Northam would allow for the killing of a baby due to the mental state of the mother. Whether you're religious or not, can you not see how wrong that is? A healthy baby could be murdered upon being born all because the mother claimed depression or something. In fact, I would think this law would be more appalling to atheists, actually. Since they don't think there's anything after this life, this law would be even more vile. One shot, all ya got.

I fucking loved Jeff Stryker

R115, was that meant for one of the porn threads?

Is he the one with the infanticide scandal too. He needs to just go away fast.

It was LOL I'm removing myself from DL for a week as punishment.

Anything someone does from ages 20+ they are more than capable of knowing right from wrong, and your base values and morality are set. No excuses.

No, r113 not "at whatever the cost".

I wonder what Kevin Hart has to say about this.

It was 1984, in medical school, not 1963, sophomore year of high school. I have no sympathy for him. He should have known better.

I wonder what Jussie Smollett has to say about this.

Guys guys! It was only a joke.

" I have no sympathy for him. He should have known better."

I'm sure the same thing has been said about you during your lifetime: "he should have known better." It could probably be said about all of us.

"Even a lot of pro-choice people are appalled at this guy, even before all the racist stuff, because what he promotes isn't even just abortion it's flat out infanticide. "

Liar. You are a Republican troll with your whining about "infanticide"

I really think we need to ban all white males from politics for a generation. Something is clearly wrong with them all and they need to work on themselves before holding any more leadership positions in politics or business. Maybe we should go so far as to take the vote away from them during that same time. More incentive for them to fix their shit.

r124, I've never sought a public office nor do I intend to.

For who was asking--Virginia's term limit law--one term at a time, cannot be consecutive--only applies if a governor is elected.

So when Fairfax becomes governor by Monday, he'll still be able to run in 2021.

Which really sucks for Mark Herring. He would have run in 2017, but Northam outmaneuvered him, and already announced that he was planning to run in 2021.

I told you all...blackface is perfectly fine! Even Democrats think so!

And Santa is a white man!

r125, I'm not that poster and I have to agree. I wasn't that okay with that law and glad it didn't pass. I could have gotten passed that but this on top of that. It's too much. He goes and the infanticide goes too. I'm a very pro-choice liberal woman and this is too much.

“Leaders are called to a higher standard, and the stain of racism should have no place in the halls of government.”

Kamala Harris is right about this.

Democrats are always trying to eliminate systemic racism. This guy is a racist and doesn’t belong in government. He has to go.

R130 sure trumpie we believe you

Oh please. If he were a repug, he would be on the SC in no time flat. An 80's yearbook? Now they care?

And Steve King is still a Congressman?

He would be VP after this if he were a repug.

How did he live his life AFTER this on issues of race and equality? THAT is what matters. He didn't rape anyone (or try to). If he has lived his life with no race issues and fighting for equality, this is a nothingburger. FUCK the conservatives. They get to elevate all kinds of unrepentant all the time like the current WH occupant.

The ONLY time right wingers quote left wingers is when they're trying to force something to happen. The rest of the time, "Oh, they're insane and have no idea about anything"

No one wants to hear this, but things were vastly different 35 years ago. Well, they may not have BEEN different, but they were judged differently. I will never be in a situation in which this will matter, but in 1978 I went to a Halloween party with a friend dressed as Jack Nicklaus and his caddie playing at the Masters Tournament at Augusta National. At that time, all the caddies were black local men who worked for the club. They were dressed in white jumpsuits with the player's name on a plaque on the back.

I was the caddie and yes I was in blackface. It wasn't shoe polish or soot, but it was makeup darker than my own skin. There were quite a few black folks at the party and no one seemed offended by the costumes. Today it would be grounds for the social death penalty.

I will bet my 401K that there are some things we are doing and saying today that will be viewed as disturbing in 2052.

Things may have been different. And I have never observed him acting in any way racist in his public life.

But even if both things were true, this would distract from any agenda he has going forward. He needs to go.

This would be different if he were a repug because they live their lives being racist, passing openly racist laws or condoning racists. So it does matter if he is a Dem or repug.

Northam gets a pass IF he lived his life fighting for social justice and equality.

r135 and others - the blackface I could get past but the KKK - ah no.

Maybe both of them if the abortion stuff wasn't also there. But the two together. It's tooooo much. Go quickly into the night dude.

This happened 34 years ago, and people in fraternities and sororities are still dressing up in blackface and as Nazis for Halloween to this day because people are stupid when they're that young - he would have been likely 23-24 at the time.

It's a horrible photo, but I don't think in the context of time it means that much other than a youthful indiscretion.

However, since all the Democrats are calling for him to resign because of it, I think that he has no choice but to resign because it's crowding out the news cycle with endless articles and thought pieces already. Yes, he's effectively being bullied out of a political career because of it.

The infuriating thing is, no Republican would resign over something like this in today's Republican party. The right wing media machine would be out calling for his resignation the way they did when the Al Franken photo incident happened. It's frustrating because it's mostly optics, and we're the only side limiting ourselves in this manner.

This is WAY worse than the Al Franken photo.

[quote]I really think we need to ban all white males from politics for a generation.

In all seriousness, this isn't a bad idea.

And I think some political parties and some corporations are getting really fed up with white, heterosexual males.

So many of them have been involved in so many scandals and assault allegations over the past few years that more women are now being recruited to run for office. That's one of the reasons why a record number of women Democrats were elected to the House in November.

r138 the "abortion stuff", in context, makes perfect sense. It's just the right wing taking some quotes out of context and saying they mean something other than what they actually mean.

R139, Last week Florida Sec of State (r)resigned immediately after his Halloween blackface photo from 15 years ago appeared

R141, george Washington, George Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams etc. they're all white men. Nothing wrong with being a white guy. They cute. That's not the problem

R140, no

What matters is how he lived his life in regards to race. This is the very definition of a youthful indiscretion. He didn't try to rape someone. Gee, maybe he does belong on the SC. Roy Moore was a hair away from being a Senator with how many high profile repugs endorsing him? FUCK their feelings. Yes it is a distraction but muscle through it and create another distraction like THEY do. Maybe drop a bombshell on the WH????

TALK ABOUT YOUR LATE-TERM PROCEDURES: Looks like Ralph Northam's Virginia governorship is about to be aborted in its 55th week.

r139 That was a bit more than a blackface photo - and it was 15 years ago when he was a full grown adult, not still in college. And he was mocking Katrina survivors while doing it. The combination was what did him in. He's also a much less important figure than a Governor. And yet Republican Steve King is still in office after repeated racist comments over the years, including many as recently as the last two months.

r141 The other reason being that they actually ran for office. The reason more women aren't in those positions is because they don't run and aren't encouraged to run. Which is slowly changing. I also think it's stupid to even say things like "all white males must be banned from x or y". That may work in a university but not in the real world and just looks racist.

r143 because he LIVED his life backing racist policies.

And whoever said that about white males being banned just fucking STOP that divisive talk. That is ignorant and not helpful in any way and is something a Russian troll would say. Not calling you that but that does not help the dialogue one bit and is fucking stupid.

r146 Thank you Ann Coulter.

"He goes and the infanticide goes too. I'm a very pro-choice liberal woman and this is too much."

Nonsense, you're a Republican troll. Democrats are too well versed to buy into the "infanticide" nonsense

"That may work in a university but not in the real world and just looks racist."

Some people don't understand things like exaggerating for effect and take everything literally. Republicans are dumb.

[Quote] [R138] the "abortion stuff", in context, makes perfect sense. It's just the right wing taking some quotes out of context and saying they mean something other than what they actually mean.

No it's not. That legislation crossed the line passed "abortion stuff". As a human, I believed it to be morally wrong.

r151, you don't understand the issues.

Just like the Right went after Joy Reid for her anti-gay crap, this is another tactic of the Right to go after Democrats after Bart O'Kavenaugh was treated so harshly by the Judiciary Democrats.

I am waiting for pictures of Amy K shaking her tits somewhere.

r150 I'm not a Republican, careful who you sweep up in your troll dragnet. It's dumb to even say "all white people should..." because it's racist, even if it's a joke. Just because it's talking about "white people" who are more of a majority at the moment does not mean it's still not racist.

r154 = so tender to the touch! It must be exhausting taking everything so literally. How exactly would you "ban" white males from politics? Like 80% of Congress is male and most of those males are white.

r155 nevermind, you're just an idiot.

r151 here's an explainer on the abortion issue, if you actually care and aren't just a troll:

A bill to remove abortion restrictions in Virginia was always going to be controversial. But a contentious committee hearing, and some confusing comments by Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, have turned debate over the bill into a nationwide furor.

Virginia House Bill 2491 would roll back a number of requirements, including a 24-hour waiting period and a mandate that second-trimester abortions take place in a hospital. Always something of a long shot in the Republican-controlled state legislature, the bill may now be doomed by the national firestorm surrounding it.

The controversy has centered on a provision concerning third-trimester abortions. Under current Virginia law, in order for a patient to terminate a pregnancy in the third trimester, three doctors must certify that continuing the pregnancy would likely cause the patient’s death or “substantially and irremediably impair” her mental or physical health. The new bill would reduce the number of doctors to one, and remove the “substantially and irremediably” qualifier — abortions would be allowed in cases where a mother’s mental or physical health is threatened, even if the damage might not be irreversible.

The bill began inspiring outcry among abortion opponents nationwide after its sponsor, Virginia Delegate Kathy Tran, said in a committee hearing on Monday that it would technically allow abortion until the point of birth, if a doctor agreed it was necessary.

Gov. Northam, a Democrat, was asked about the bill in a radio interview on Wednesday, and his response only added to the controversy. Appearing to discuss what would happen if a child was born after a failed attempt at abortion, he said, “the infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”

... (more in the article)

Ugh, what a mess

r150, you can continue with the moronic you must be a republican troll bit and close your eyes to the truth but that would be your mistake.

He is a problem and it's better politically for dems if he was GONE. Buh bye.

If you find nothing wrong with what you posted and linked to r157, you're the troll.

[quote] If a woman screams post-partum depression the baby could be killed, conceibably (no pun intended)

Post-partum??! Oh, dear, you’re a retard.

r154, it was me r150 quoted. So don't answer for me. I don't need or want your help.

[quote] Just like the Right went after Joy Reid for her anti-gay crap, this is another tactic of the Right to go after Democrats after Bart O'Kavenaugh was treated so harshly by the Judiciary Democrats.

Who???

r160 I was posting an explainer on the entire issue and controversy around it, as well as what conservatives are saying and why, and what the issue actually is. I can't imagine you've had the time to read the entire thing.

r162 - He quoted me as well. You seem to have missed this. I wouldn't be giving you any help because I think your argument is ignorant. I posted the Vox article in an attempt to give you more information about what the issue is. I don't care if you're a woman or not.

1. I am black and graduated from a Deep South university in the mid-80s. I remember the white frats having an annual event called "South Seas Islands Weekend," where they and guests would dress in Afro wigs, put on blackface, and generally try to look like a 1960s National Geographic spread on dark natives. It was disgusting. No matter how much black and nonracist white students complained, the events went on until sometime in the 1990s. And the pictures always made it into the university's yearbook (which was one of the reasons I never once during my undergrad years picked up my guaranteed copy).

I suspect most of those asshole racist, classist frat guys are still asshole racist, classist middle aged men. But no doubt more than a few have evolved into decent human beings, and are mortified by the casual yet aggressive bigotry of their undergrad/grad school years.

If one of them were to acknowledge the deed and and its wrongness, and genuinely apologize; and if they had spent the last thirty years doing good and being good, I would be inclined to forgive them. As I believe Rev. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson when they apologized for the Tawana Brawley and "Hymietown" episodes, respectively.

2. I wonder if Democrats would be so quick to demand Northam's resignation if the Lt. Governor was Republican.

3. I like Kamala Harris okay, but she needs to be really careful about being quick to throw stones and demand resignations. She already has one strike in my opinion for the Al Franken gangup; plus eventually she is going to have to answer to black voters about her time as prosecutor, when she gave a sweetheart deal to the white officer who murdered that young black man at Fruitvale Station, while giving hard time and long sentences to hundreds of black men who committed crimes MUCH less serious than that white cop's.

As a liberal (but realistic) Democrat in a deep red state, I would like to see Northam remain in office, and have the Black Lt. Governor run and win the seat in two years. It's like office politics--never give up real estate (corner offices/real offices vs cubicles) if you don't absolutely have to.

I kept saying VA was still purple and someone on DL kept saying "No, it's totally blue now." I'm afraid we'll soon see. They have off-year elections, including this year (for the legislature).

r157, thanks for that. I wanted to know that there was more to it than the Republican talking points. But now there is a report that says cbs changed his response transcript?

I don't believe that after the baby is born that the doctor and the mother could decide to kill it.

r162 are you r157? I support abortion if they baby can't survive on it's on.

Like I said, if it were just the one issue. The racism stuff on top of it makes him toxic now. There is likely more to come.

He needs to give a speech about this. Take responsibility, apologize, and say he'll resign if Virginians want him to.

The abortion thing is totally absurd. It's about end-of-life care (infant isn't viable but is born, with hours to live).

There is a major difference between a high school yearbook, or even a college fraternity, and people in medical school. By the time a person makes it to medical school, they should be mature enough to not engage in such behavior.

r167 It's purple when a democrat is in the white house but with Cheetolini in office it's a blue state.

Justin Fairfax might make a great governor.

He was 23 or 24 at the time. People don't even get their insurance rates lowered until 25 because they're still considered high risk (i.e., immature). It doesn't matter that he was in medical school at the time.

If you wear blackface and pose in a photo with a guy in a KKK hood, it doesn't get any more racist than that. He might not "identify" as a racist, but it's an appalling lack of judgment and sensitivity on his part. If I were a black person, I'd doubt he could treat me fairly in the capacity of physician and of governor. Those doubts are just as important as whether or not a bunch of white people think "he's a racist."

If i'm him i hire a P.R cleanup guy immediately if he wants to stay in office. With Trumpstain in office anything is survivable.

r174 That's a bit silly. If you have an issue with him as your physician, don't use him. If you don't think he will treat you fairly as a governor (although the bills he's supported would beg to differ) then don't vote for him. I'm not going to hold what someone did 34 years ago when they were in their early 20s against them (he's 59 now), unless they had shown through their actions since then that they were still racist.

For example, like Rep Steve King.

I think the Dems have gotten out of him all they can get. Amazon is coming, will make the state more blue. Good contribution. Won in the special election, giving hope to Dems nationwide. But we're done with him now. He can step down. Let's see if Fairfax makes a good governor: who knows where it could lead...

Kamala Harris, the adulteress, calling for better. LOL

With Trumpstain in office all he needs to do is call it a Virginia issue and ride out the news cycle.

State of the Union abortion is Tuesday.

Three days.

I think he should not resign. Sure it was appalling judgment idea and terrible idea, but as long as he's doing the job and not a current KKK member like most Republicans, fuck that noise! Stay in the job.

I'm sure every Democrat running for President will be forced to walk the plank (as no Republican would ever be demanded to do) and out- condemn Northam as if it were a contest, creating a pit of fucking quicksand which will swallow them all whole and drag them down.

The MSM is already having a field day condemning Democrats with this raw meat.

When it comes to abortion, I can understand people who are anti-abortion AND anti-death penalty, I can understand people who are anti-abortion AND pro-death penalty, I can understand people who are pro-abortion AND pro-death penalty, but, I cannot understand people like Northam that are pro-abortion AND anti-death penalty.

Yeah, the news cycle will shift off him in 2 days. Things flip so quickly now.

r181 one has nothing to do with the other. Nothing.

I appreciate the comments stating that it is the KKK member which really puts it over the to. The black face shows poor judgment and a lack of empathy, but on its own, 34 years ago, it might not be unforgiveable.

I do agree that males are absolutely stupid(not intellectually, but socially) even through their twenties. Good men later in life can be complete idiots at 25 when in a group situation where they just want to be a part of the group.

I am imagining all the KA Old South Weekend photos which will bury many in the future.

You can guarantee Democratic strategists are scouring Republican yearbooks as we speak.

He’s calling a press conference for tomorrow morning. Sources say he will resign

[quote]Yeah, the news cycle will shift off him in 2 days. Things flip so quickly now.

No. He is toast.

From a party perspective, why not prefer that he resign? Fairfax is new blood, and we can see if he performs well. Seriously, Northam's contributed what he could. He's a liability now.

The party demands it. It's called healthy turnover.

His abortion comments were the beginning of his end

r185 Ugh just when i was hoping he'd ride this out.

"This guy is a racist and doesn’t belong in government. He has to go."

Except for those long ago photos he's never done anything to suggest he's racist. You sound like an extremist idiot.

r186 No. They can't force him to resign if he rides it out. I don't think it will happen, nor do I think he'd be re-elected if he did. But he could conceivably come through this.

Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus and Virginia House Democrats have joined the growing list calling on Gov. Ralph Northam’s resignation

[quote] CNN Chyron Incorrectly Labels Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam as a Republican

naturally

^ That's pretty funny considering all the times Fox News has done the reverse to unpopular politicians

r193 Easy mistake considering people like Steve King and other republicans, including Chump are actually modern day racist, not 35 years ago.

The Dem caucus in the VA House of Delegates is calling on Governor Ralph Northam to resign

"We regret to say that we are no longer confident in the Governor's representation of Virginians. Though it brings us no joy to do so, we must call for Governor Northam's resignation."

Who cares whether he's racist now? He's done. He contributed. He has no more to offer.

The party thanks him for his contributions, but it's time to move on.

As an aside, a byproduct of this will be more African-American turnout in coming elections. It's activating. Doesn't matter that he's a Dem. Still activating.

^ Those look more like an advancing case of anal warts

God I wish they'd built Disney's America in Virginia. So close.

r197 How do you figure this means higher African American turnout?

Why James Comey is putting his nose in all this? Is he from Virginia?

If he is a racist he is one of those rare racists who govern as a pro civil rights governor.

r202 Probably lives in Virginia but is from New York.

Yeah when something like this happens the thoughtpieces are unbearable.

R200, really? You're adorable. I take it you know nothing of resentment. Charmed life.

People mobilize when images pop up in their heads that anger them. Memories, trauma. I vote Dem every single time in part because I remember a former ABC White House reporter's son calling me "faggot" in middle school. It was just the two of us. No performative value in saying it (no one around to look dominant for). Just pure hate. He's a Republican working in the White House now. It's one vivid memory that combines with many others that motivate me to fight back.

Verified account @JohnFugelsang

I'd like to thank Ralph Northam for allowing Trump supporters to be angry about racism for the first time since the campaign began.

He was 25 damn years old at the time of this pic—NOT some kid. Please stop with that lame excuse.

R206 That is the dumbest reason, I have ever heard, to base a vote for or against a party. By your definition, I should always vote Republican, since a girl I went to school with, who verbally bullied me, went on to work in the Obama administration.

Anderson Cooper had a panel on this subject tonight.

Remember when Jesse Jackson stepped down from his presidential campaign in 1984 - the same year this Northam guy took the photo - because of Hymietown? And how his career was over?

Of course you don’t, because he stayed in the race and in his career.

At first he denied saying it

Then he tried to make it sound like a Jewish conspiracy.

Then he finally apologized.

He hadn’t said it 25 years previously. He said it a few days before it was made public.

This Northam guy apologized, called it racist and said it was wrong.

So how come Hymietown is ok, but everyone is outraged at a 25 year old photo that a guy apologized for? He sure seems like he’s changed over the past 25 years.

I was homophobic growing up, because that’s what I was taught. Society all around me laughed at, were disgusted by & said terrible things about gay people, so of course I believed they were right. Even the American psychiatric community categorized homosexuality as a disorder. People used the f worked everywhere. It was the worst insult you could say to a male.

I stopped being homophobic because I came to realize there’s nothing wrong with people being who they are. It’s wrong to deny people their freedom & equality.

I changed. I’m glad people weren’t carrying cameras around with them back then or there might be a video of me using the f word. Imagine the pain that would cause a lot of people, all for something I no longer believe.

𝗗𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸

As Lemon addressed the commotion at the top of his show, he lamented that America’s history is full of politicians “who were proud to parade their racism publicly.” The CNN anchor also figured that “there was no way [Northam] didn’t know what he was doing” at that stage in his life when he stood for that picture.

Lemon continued by saying Northam’s comments illustrate an ongoing racism problem that exists in America, which he connected to President Trump‘s infamous “both sides” comments after the Charlottesville riots.

He also said the excuse of youth and immaturity doesn’t apply to Northam’s situation since “this is more than dumb, this is racist.”

“If you’re making an excuse for it, you need to check yourself,” Lemon said. “If you even thought it was okay or you’re somebody like Ralph Northam, then you owe people like me a huge apology before you get on your high horse and get upset…Democrats who have called out President Trump for his racist remarks cannot try to sweep this one under the rug just because Ralph Northam is one of their own.”

R211 What has changed is society, especially liberals, there is now a zero tolerance policy for such things. A better example for where we are would be Roseanne, she didn't have any power other than a tv show, yet she was fired almost immediately and not given a chance to explain or apologize. This man is a Governor, therefore he has real power, and he has citizens who are black, therefore it is untenable for him to remain in office.

Roseanne didn’t make her remarks 25 years ago

Some people are calling the abortion bill in Virginia "Northam's Bill". It is not. It was put up in the House of Representatives by Rep. Tran, among others. Northam was asked about the bill in an interview and , though he wandered a bit afield and didn't appear to quite understand what the interviewer was asking, he basically stated the reality. Babies who are not viable are allowed to die. (ie they are taken off the life-support that is all that is keeping them alive). That is NOT infanticide. That is NATURE.

That being said, I think it will be very hard for Northam to continue in office. The imagery of the black face and the KKK is just too stark for our modern sensibilities.

R214 It is not about when it occurred but when it is made public, my point was that Jesse Jackson survived because people were given more leeway at that time.

As others have mentioned, if I was Ed Gillespie I would be cussing out my opposition research people right now.

[quote]The imagery of the black face and the KKK is just too stark for our modern sensibilities.

I agree.

If it was just a few bad words he had said that would be one thing -- but in this case it is the *visual impact* of actual racist images.

r207, thanks for sharing Fugelsang's signal. (Eye-roll). .

r216 I think there's different standards for these things. A white man putting on black face or a kkk outfit is not really survivable, Jessie Jackson talking shit about jews, who's going to force him out of the race, other blacks?

It was a black columnist who went public with Jackson’s remarks

Feel the rhythm with your hands (Steal the rhythm while you can) coonman Speak the rhythm on your own (Speak the rhythm all alone) coonman coonman, come together with your hands Save me, I'm together with your plan Save me, yeah Save, oh Well, all my friends are Indians (All my friends are brown and red) coonman And all my friends are skeletons (They beat the rhythm with their bones) coonman Oh, hmm coonman, come together with your hands Save me, I'm together with your plan Save me Save Save me Save me, yeah Save With your With your hands With your hands Come on, come on, come on, come on Hands Mmm, come on while I get off (Come on while I get off) coonman, come together with your hands Save me, I'm together with your plan Save me Save, yeah Save me With your, with your hands Feel the rhythm with your hands (Steal the rhythm while you can) coonman

I think Northam should resign on the day Rep King resigns, the same way I thought Al Franken should resign on the day when Trump resigned

Terry McAuliffe :The situation that he has put himself and the Commonwealth of Virginia in is untenable. It's time for Ralph to step down, and for the Commonwealth to move forward.

r220 ok but at the end of the day the politicians constituents are the only ones to put pressure on them and jews were not jesse jacksons constituency nor are whites.

The way things seem to be evolving when it comes to maturity and responsibility in this country within a decade we'll be seeing, "But he was only a youthful 45 when he *insert stupid male indiscretion*..."

White men got away with everything for so long that they didn't even bother to try to be decent. Well, we're all watching now and look at the shit we're finding. It's going to keep happening to because they also never fucking learn.

Maybe Ralph could claim to have the same condition that Bernice had.

Can he go on Ellen and clear everything up, she'll probably claim to speak for whites too.

I smell Roger Stone

r228 Well he does smell like balls.

I don’t know how much Ed Gillespie was paying his oppo research team, but he should immediately demand a refund.

R209, I said "in part." You privilege should have bought you an education. Surely at least a law degree. Parse when you read.

So who was it that exposed this year book today? Some Twitter account?

R232, the OP's article says it was posted on the web.

Ralph Northam is being Al Frankened. The Virginia Legislature has a really good chance to flip to blue next year and Democrats in each house, don't want to take the chance of having to wear that albatross around their necks. So they're all calling for his head and the photogenic black guy gets to be governor and all the sins will be washed away. But this is wrong. One lapse in judgment, 30 years ago, should not automatically negate everything else.

Ralph Northam's opponent in the 2017 VA gubernatorial election, Ed Gillespie, was previously head of the RNC, which has a large opposition research operation. Yet he couldn't find a school yearbook with Northam (apparently) dressed in blackface/KKK garb. Epic fail

Holy shit Don Lemon was pissed.

The left will eat its own.

That's why Trump will win again.

I can understand why Ralph Northam is tending . on twitter. But why the hell Ed Gillespie is trending?

It's cost/benefit: we got what he was able to provide. Now he needs to go. The left isn't eating its own, R237, it's just moving on from the most problematic figures. The GOP could learn to do the same, to its benefit.

Sorry but any educated person in 1984 should have known better than to do blackface or klan. That plus his clumsy explanation of late term abortions just shows bad judgment

God it's painful to look at. Jesus.

First, do no harm. I cannot be the only person incensed that this man was a pactrificing ypediatrician for the last 20 years! How did he treat his infant patients of color?! We should demand that his patient records be examined. Let the doorknob hit you, mother fucker, and I hope you lose your license to practice medicine.

It's Virginia in the 80s. He definitely has to resign, but it's not surprising. Looking forward to seeing more like it. Mildew, meet sunlight.

Whoa, Don Lemon is nonstop Northam. Is that normal? I generally don't watch CNN (MSNBC all the way). It's too intense.

Anderson Cooper had a panel on Northam, as well.

In the 80s many Democrats were anti-gay.

It took time.

CNN is way too scary intense. It's like a daytime talk show but news-focused. Don Lemon... that's not typical, is it? Wow. CNN is explosive. I'm not a fan. MSNBC is like ... positive. This is like Fox News but actually balanced. Woof scary stuff.

I was but a child in the mid 80's, was it no big deal to wear black face or joke around about the kkk by wearing it in costume?

I too don't see how this will increase the turnout of blacks to the polls.

This is just me, but if I were a black voter this would further solidify the belief of many AAs that there is essentially no difference between the two parties. They are both full of racists.

I have written here before that my greatest challenge during the campaign of 2016 was convincing my primarily black readership that while the candidates may not seem different from the perspective of the AA gaze, the SUPREME COURT JUSTICES they would nominate are vastly different.

That tact did not seem to change a single opinion fwiw. Just remember, the issues which DLers hold near differ from the issues that black Americans care most about: raising up blacks both socially, culturally and economically is what matters to them. Feminism, homophobia and the separation of church and state mean little to them as a whole.

Blackface was cute

r250 Ohh goodie can't wait for Whoopie's opinion, hope it's not full of hypocrisy.

E248 The KKK? Never.

But I promise you in 1986, which was the peak year of my partying social era, seeing a white woman(or man for that matter) dressed as Diana Ross in Mahogany would not be seen as outrageous. That would be a typical Halloween party costume.

^^^^that should have read: R248 not E248

[quote] I too don't see how this will increase the turnout of blacks to the polls.

I believe that poster was thinking in terms of the Lt Gov who would benefit if Northan resigns being black, thus encouraging the sort of black bloc-voting that would be called racist if done by whites,

r254 Are you aware that the white vote in some southern states is just as onesided in favor of republicans as blacks are to democrats and yet no one has called them racist

There are about 200 million people in this country who have never worn blackface and never donned a KKK robe. I think one of them should be one of the 50 governors in this country instead of Northam. It's not like he's the local mechanic or mailman. This is an elite club he is part of as a governor. He knew this picture was out there. He decided it just didn't matter enough to take himself out of the running. He chose ego over common sense and the good of the state of Virginia, the Democratic party, and the country. He should resign right fucking now.

I don't know, R248. How was it, 20 years after the Civil War?

[quote] nor do I think he'd be re-elected if he did.

That's a moot point. Virginia has an unusual term limit law, Someone cannot be elected governor in consecutive terms, so Northam was already unable to run for re-election until 2025. That's only happened twice, once during the Civil War, and again in the 70s, when Nixon's Southern Strategy took hold and former governor Mills Godwin switched parties and won a second term.

Usually ex Virginia governors try to run for senator after they finish their one term, but thankfully Kaine and Warner are likely to be US Senators for a while

Hilarious. He's going to try and brazen it out.

Pregnant black women of Virginia: you know what you got to do...

It’s a horrible picture but he’s certainly proved he is not a racist. He should not resign.

Honestly, if any former VA governor wants to run for office, I'd rather Terry McAuliffe run for President.

My last vote as a Virginian was against him in the 2013 gubernatorial primary. I figured he was just going to be some kind of ineffectual carpetbagger.

Boy was I wrong.

Senator Ben Sasse introduces legislation to protect infants who survive abortion

Well if they can get Franken for simulating a boob grab--- this poor cracker is toast.

[quote]I cannot be the only person incensed that this man was a pactrificing ypediatrician for the last 20 years!

Guarantee you are the only person who knows what a pactrificing ypediatrician is.

No, r221.

[quote]I was homophobic growing up, because that’s what I was taught.

Were you not taught to treat others as you would like to be treated?

[quote]the baby could be killed, conceibably (no pun intended)

And none delivered.

What r256 said and I write this as someone who knows because of my own evolving attitudes that a person can change them for the better, but, I ain't the Governor of Virginia.

It's easy to pile on now, so that's what I'll do, but I swear, during the time leading up to the election when Northam won, whenever I saw him on TV and would listen to him, I had wary reaction to Northam. I couldn't put my finger on it, or identify it, but it was there for me.

That he rolled the dice that this wouldn't come out indicates deception on his part.

R109. Yes it will. Virginia is a purple state. Outsiders dictating to Virginia has a predictable result: it flips the commonwealth in the opposite direction. With all 40 seats in the Senate and 100 House seats up, incumbents were outpacing challengers.

This throws it up in the air and will likely throw the Senate back to the Republicans who have held the Senate for decades, but currently hold it by 2 votes. Fairfax is not a native Virginian, originally from Pennsylvania and become politically active only 5 years ago in Virginia. The Senate will ignore him, and he’ll be. Lame duck come December. Regardless of party registration, the swing counties in the north went for Bush twice in 2000 and 2004.

This is consistent with Virginia’s more traditional and more conservative political model. We generally elect governors of the opposite party from the White House.

Jonathan Martin, NYT:

NEWS: Northam is calling Va Dems and telling them that’s *not* him in the yearbook photo and he will make a statement this afternoon to say the same. In other words, he is NOT quitting as of right now.

Am I the only one who's intensely curious who unearthed the photo?

This shit doesn't come out in the open randomly, you know.

If it's him, he should resign. If it's *not* him, then WTF is this.

r272 it was some right-wing website; this has been on the news; you can Google it for all the details. Former Breitbarter.

Several observations from a student of Virginia politics: Northam was a Republican back then - he only switched to Democrat within the last I believe ten years. Eastern Virginia is no elite med school by any means; Uva and VCU have a far better reputation. Even the arch-conservative Richmond Times - Dispatch has called for him to step down. And it was he who pr3ched all this racist crap from the beginning.

IS NO ONE GOING TO THANK HIM FOR HIS SERVICE???

It was an oppo research site funded by Roy Moore.

R271 Well, if it is not he in the photo...great!!

But why was his nickname at VMI "Coon man?" Or maybe that was falsified as well?

This is what he said: Yesterday

Northam backtracks after apology, says he does not think he was in blackface, KKK photo: report

I figured that it was the crazy abortion people who found the photo, a photo that even Gillespie's campaign didn't find. The pro-life loons have been calling all week, threatening to kill elected officials, who now need police protection against people who claim they are pro-life. This same bill was carried in the Virginia Senate and was voted down, with nary a peep. Unfortunately they allowed a freshman to carry this bill in the House and she was tripped up by more seasoned delegates during questioning.

[quote]But why was his nickname at VMI "Coon man?" Or maybe that was falsified as well?

C'mon dude. A coon is a racoon. What else do you think it could mean?

A coon-ass in the South is also a racist insult that implies you’re mixed race.

[quote]that even Gillespie's campaign didn't find.

Well Gillespie and Tom Perriello need to demand refund from their oppenet reasarch team.It was not that difficult to find . All they need to do is look at Noetham's yearbook .

Easy peasy

G was a crappy, lazy candidate who really didn’t care about being governor. He cared about getting elected. He thought it was going to be a cake walk based on his previous work for the RNC.

R280. Yeah. That was a disaster. She took a softball and turned it into a hand grenade. Worst answer, ever.

R281 A coon ass is a Louisianan. I lived there for 30 years and heard the term 30 times a day.

Believe me, NONE of the people who proudly called themselves coon asses were in any part "mixed race."

Gov Edwards was Coon Ass #1. He could not be any whiter if he tried to be. And as for the poster above who said that Coon Man was a reference to racoons, I surely hope he was being funny.

R280 "The pro-life loons have been calling all week, threatening to kill elected officials"

Obviously because 42 million abortions are carried out worldwide each year it's such an emotive issue that people are going to saying and threatening things which they shouldn't.

But can we get some stats on how many abortionists or legislators responsible for abortion have actually been killed by unhinged pro-lifers in the US over the last, say, 20 years?

Is it more or less than the number of women and new born infants that Kermit Gosnell killed when giving them late term abortions in his chancel house abortion clinic? He was, in that sense, just extending logically what New York now permits:

"You don't want your baby? Ooops. It's been born alive despite my best efforts. Not to worry. A pair of scissors to the spinal cord will fix that in just a second. Sorry you're bleeding out. But know that your unwanted baby is no more so at least you have that last minute consolation."

R285, you need to have a heaping helping of Coon Fried Chicken while you educate yourself on the racist history of the word 'coon. '

Based on Northam's yearbook photo, it is obvious that this is the sort of Coon he had in mind when he called himself Coonman.

The Democrats are going to have a tough time in 2020 if "Governor Black-face Baby-killer" does not resign immediately.

It’s possible that his yearbook was hacked.

He now says the photo is not him. And he's not going to resign. This is not going to end well.

If it upset black hole 𝗗𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗲𝗺𝗼𝗻 it was all worth it.

If it were not him in the photo he would have said so in his initial apology.

Coonman is obviously lying.

We are killing our society with all this extreme vetting. 30 years ago! What is the matter with people? People acting as if they never did anything foolish or THEY never did anything stupid.

Don't run for ANYTHING when you have the receipts lying around so easily.

[quote]30 years ago! What is the matter with people?

But . . .but . . . he tried to touch my boob while I was wearing two layers of clothing and now I can't fly on airplanes any more than three times a year. It's in my hippocampus!

These things always bring out the racist pigs and it always brings out the dummies that refused to accept humanity as it is. These childish figure pointers never have more serious situations to consider. Did the guy lynch someone? Did he brutally rape someone? Honestly, he was an insensitive jerk and most of us have been the same at times.

Kavanaugh did much, much worse and there he sits on the Supreme Court.

R295, the black populace of Virginia deserve better than Governor Northam. He has to resign and that is all there is to it.

Kavanaugh was never proved to have done anything. R296. Dr. Ford disappeared mighty quickly for a reason.

Democrats can be such holier than thou, peabrains. A little maturity is in order here.

R298, two weeks ago the Dems were calling to burn down Covington High School with the student body inside it because a 16-year-old boy smiled at an Indian while wearing a MAGA cap.

If the same Dems give Governor Face Paint a pass, they will never get to play identity politics again.

His only hope is to switch party affiliations from Democrat to Republican at his press conference this afternoon. He'll suddenly have a lot more supporters/apologists.

It wasn’t even him. This is a right wing hit. Do not fall for it.

Thanks for pointing out my typo, R265; it should have read "practicing pediatrician."

Even if it was him, it was just a stupid costume. Nobody cares. And it was like 40 years ago.

Next?

Fuck you, republican shithead. Any woman KNOWS that disgusting prick tried to rape that woman and he never had any concern for her.

R297, we do not even know why Notham did what he did? What was his thinking? Did he even once, realize that he was doing a hurtful thing?

Could we even once face the fact that people that young have a lot of learning to do?

Gillibrand has called on him to resign.

He has to go now.

Why doesn’t Rick Scott resign then? He’s a crook and still in the game.

What about all the Republican crook governors like Chris Christy who shut down a bridge?

Repugs can do whatever they want but democrats can’t even play a stupid prank 40 years ago.

This guy should ignore the press and keep moving like all the thug repugs do. They are organized criminals and nobody’s calling for their resignation.

Even if it's not him, why did he add it to his own personal page and make the comment he did under it? He was quite amused by it. It is not an amusing photo. He's toast.

R285. You’re catching on why it’s a common slur in Virginia and North Carolilna. This isn’t Louisiana. It’s isn’t New Jersey, and it isn’t California.

This is Virginia. It’s where you get prayed over at client meetings for a “blessed and safe trip home”.

Beware the Ides of February (2/13/19)! This month is gearing up to be a real doozy.

You got some splainin to do ralphy

Why didn’t Joy Reid resign after her homophobic blog posts? Why is Kirsten Gillibrand in the race. Jesus, she lived in Beijing and then represented Philip Morris as an attorney. Fuck that’s not going anywhere.

Julian Castro mismanaged HUD leading to a huge discrimination scandal when he was in charge. He doesn’t get to run away and hide from that. Google his name, HHS and Dallas for the details.

Sherrod Brown, in Iowa, on Ralph Northam: “I call for him to resign. He should.”

Don't be dumb Trumpie r311 Racism is deadly for a politician. We're stilling waiting on the Trump N word tape that's being covered up

Sherrod Brown = had to get his ex wife to go on the speaking circuit to refute claims he beat her in the 1980s

And all this happened on the first day of black history month .

Timing couldn't have been worse

Almost like it was planned or something.

Jesus P. CHRIST! Why can't this idiot realize that he's DONE? Of COURSE that is his yearbook page! And he's the one in the Klan hood!

And not only is he finished in politics, he's finished as a pediatrician as well! Who would want to bring their kids to him?

Wake UP, cracker!

Do AA'S even really care about black history month, the consequences would have been the same no matter the month.

He was a Republican then, r300.

He needs to go. If we (Democrats) would call for the resignation of a Republican who did this, we certainly need to stand against it within our OWN party. I'm sure it's possible he's changed in the last 35 years, and I might not give a Trumper the same benefit of a doubt to be honest because I think the GOP is built on racism in a way the Democratic Party isn't....but that's just a matter of my personal perception.

Can someone explain to me why is he now claiming the photo isn't him when he already admitted it was?

I'm really confused by that.

[quote]Kavanaugh was never proved to have done anything.

Interestingly, neither has Northam.

Lenny Bruce used to do a routine where he told guys that even if their wives or girlfriends walk in on them naked in bed with another woman, they should just deny, deny DENY!!!

[quote]Interestingly, neither has Northam.

Well, there is the inconvenient fact that he admitted that he appears in the photograph in question.

Virginia's living Democratic governors--Robb, Wilder, Warner, Kane, and McAuliffe--all need to issue a joint statement calling on him to step down.

He thought at first if he apologized he would survive this, but since that didn't work he moved to denying. He is desperate to hang onto power r321.

r326 He didn't even try, it takes more than a press release to survive this. He's made a mistake with this denying bullshit that's going to be easy to verify.

This thread is long and tedious but I have two thoughts:

R54 etc., gay men and lesbians are generally pro-choice (or don't give a shit) and your words are hitting a wall here. Go away.

Kamala Harris LOVES to tell men to resign. She hates the competition. Watch out for her.

Why would they call for him to step down over a stupid photo?

Democrats are not pushing this, they are getting tangled in a republican web.

Nobody needs to call for his resignation. A simply apology will do.

r328 umm the entire democratic party is telling him to resign, go away trumpie

He’s a governor of a state, not a mayor. No way he should resign over a silly prank photo.

The Supreme Court guy’s yearbook photos were way worse and he’s on the Supreme Court.

This is nothing.

This is another republican stunt. The photo is not even him. Now the Dems are going to have egg on their face. Again.

When are they going to learn to take a chill pill before they all overreact?

This was a hit job.

Another Democrat goes down. Sigh.

Funny, R330. I'm a democrat - since I could vote for Carter back in the day, I have NEVER voted for one single stinking republican. So not every D is calling for his resignation. I'm extremely wary of these knee-jerk decisions ever since the invaluable Franken was ousted for NO GOOD REASON.

r332= unpaid intern for Northam.

And this is Franken 2.0 yet feeble, gullible sheep keep falling for troll post. As well as a few people running for President.

Take at least 48 hours to get her information before making a damn statement.

Quit falling for traps.

The truth is the Dems could take the moral highground on Roy Moore and Kavanaugh because Franken stepped down r336. I liked Franken, but if you want to be coldly pragmatic it helped the party, a Dem is still in his seat.

Way too many republican trolls on here that still haven’t been zapped.

Republicans are colliding with forgiven enemies yet they aren’t even questioned by the media. When is the last time anyone asked those 8 senators what they were doing in Russia? Where are the reporters on that story?

This guy did a silly prank 40 years ago but republicans are selling out the country to the highest bidders NOW. TODAY. TOMMORROW. And until they are stopped.

[quote]I think the GOP is built on racism in a way the Democratic Party isn't....but that's just a matter of my personal perception.

US History tells us the Democratic Party was built on slavery, segregation, the KKK. and the concept that the Master is entitled to the fruits of the worker's labor, while the Republican Party was built on the abolition of slavery and the right of the individual to keep the fruits of his labor.

When are we going to talk about all the pollution and destruction that republicans have caused to the environment?

How about how they ripped of the middle class with this latest tax stunt?

Now they want to take away healthcare and seperate infants from their mothers.

Let’s talk about that. Not a stupid 40 year old photo.

What a discrace, the lot.

Snort r339. The right having to go back 150 years to have to say something positive about the Republican Party is always funny.

Join us in the present.

What is the average republican doing for this country? Destroying it.

All those ears were fought for nothing as long as the republicans keep selling off out liberties to anyone who has the cash.

Call me when the VA governor starts stealing babies and and cages them.

[quote]Now they want to take away healthcare and seperate infants from their mothers.

Meanwhile Governor Northam endorsed the killing of newborn babies if the mother doesn't feel like raising them after delivering them to term.

The troll catcher needs to look at the other posts from those calling for the govs head.

They are all right-wing trolls pretending to be democrats.

Fools!

The conservative party is and was the racist party. Democrats were the conservatie party 170 years ago, republicans are the conservative party today.

No, R345, the Democrats were not the conservatives. Andrew Jackson was not a conservative, he was a radical who hated the Jew banks.

What a liar! Is he the first person in history not to have seen their yearbook picture, particularly when getting a medi cal degree?

Can we all FF the obvious GOP troll going on about the party of Lincoln crap and get the thread back on track?

R343 making up lies and disinformation as usual. Just like the fake photo.

People need to wise up. Don’t trust anything that comes from a right winger or their depraved websites.

They will do anything to divide hard working democrats. Those deplorables haven’t had jobs for 10 years because the repug CEOs sold their factories for a bonus.

They don’t work so they sit on the Internet all day doctoring fake photos and trying to divide patriotic democrats.

They direct their misery to Dems instead of creating new industries and trying to save their bombed out towns.

They let their anger control them instead of using it to organize and create jobs and prosperity. They turn their backs on unions.

If the government doesn’t do it for them, they are lost. They turn to their criminal luminaries like the president and senate leadership for guidance and are being lead to their own doom.

This is what we need to be talking about, not fake photos and internet hit jobs.

[quote]Just like the fake photo.

The Washington Post confirmed its authenticity for themselves.

When I come back to this thread I was to see lines through all the deplorables calling for this guy’s head.

And then I want to see fools get a zap or two for getting caught up in a stunt so obvious you could see it from space.

They should be made to write a hundred sentences:

“I will not fall for GOP stunts ever again”

“I will not fall for GOP stunts ever again”

“I will not fall for GOP stunts ever again”

R350, you are going to get a zapping for this.

WaPo did not confirm that it was the governor. This is a lie. You have no link and you will not find one from WaPo confirming that it is in fact the gov.

It is not him.

The fake photo that he admitted was himself at first?

[quote]“I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,” he said. “This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine, and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment.”

The Lt Gov is a Dem, this isn't that big of a deal.

How many republicans were outraged after Charleston? How many of them sit there silently while their party becomes full on KKK? Now they want to raise a fuss?

Newsflash: republicans are racist.

Wait, if he's now saying it wasn't him in the photo, why did he go overboard in apologizing for it in the beginning??? Wouldn't he have said, "That's not me in that photo, I've never done such a thing"?

And his nickname was "Coonman".....what excuse does he have for that?

This is what you get when Donald Trump is President---politicians who think that if Trump can brazen out trashy behavior with lies, then anyone can.

He is speaking now on CNN. What a shit show. His twisting and turning is nauseating, and embarrassing. I think he’s toast, but he insists he will not step down.

There are 4 pictures on his personal yearbook page. One with him and a car. a posed photo, usual yearbook pose, him in jeans and a cowboy hat....and the blackface/KKK.

So if the blackface isn't him.....then the KKK is him??? Otherwise why would he have a photo of two other people on his own page????

Who actually fell for this crap? Who was so incredibly stupid to take the word of a right wing website. I never believed it. Not even when he released a statement.

What else was he supposed to do when his own party was circling for him. He was advised to apologize because the hit was so swift. It was planned that way. It’s not his fault.

What a fucking mess.

He really expects us to believe that he wasn’t in the photo, he had nothing to do with it going in the yearbook on his page, and he never once looked at the yearbook since it came out 35 years ago? And he doesn’t know why his nickname was Coonman? Girl, please. I hate liars of any political persuasion.

Reporters everywhere are now scrambling to get footage of him dressed as Michael Jackson with his face "darkened" in that San Antonio dance contest!!!

If Northam does not resign immediately, the Republicans are going to use him as a weapon with which to bash the Democrats every day from now till November 2020. Defend him at your own peril.

What happened to taking a damn second before you tweet?

Even if it comes out as true, don’t we want our politicians to be thoughtful and not so knee jerk?

I’m not going to sit here and watch democrats get caught up in 100 right wing stunts between now and the election. Either everybody starts to slow the fuck down, take a deep breath and get all the facts before they react or I’m just going to unplug until it’s time to vote.

This isn't going to fly at all. He's obviously going to try and ride it out but the Democrats must have some kind of resource they can use to force him out.

Surely his former classmates would know if it's him or not. I'm sure journalists are investigating as we speak.

He doesn’t need to be forced out. Republicans are actual racists. That is all that matters. The party of white supremacy will have a hard time playing that game.

If not him, the republicans will just find some other scapegoat.

Curious about r354 posting history. Bet it is filled with right-wing tropes.

Not r354, but R364

[quote]Republicans are actual racists.

Is that why Trump called Robert Byrd, a former Grand Wizard in the KKK, his friend and mentor? Oh, wait a minute. It was Hillary Clinton who took Robert "KKK" Byrd to be her political mentor.

[quote]If not him, the republicans will just find some other scapegoat.

Most people don't have pictures of themselves rocking KKK outfits. That is political suicide and he needs to step down and let the Lt governor take this place.

Sorry, but this cracker has evidently taken LEAVE of his senses if he thinks he can continue as Governor.

I was the editor of my high school yearbook and I can tell you that photo is NO MISTAKE. Bad yearbook, my ass! And even if he never bought one, didn't he have a single friend who would have immediately called him to say, "Duuuudde....you won't BELIEVE what's on your page!!!"

I feel sorry for poor Pam who has to stand there and act supportive.

Liar liar!

[quote]When I come back to this thread I was to see lines through all the deplorables calling for this guy’s head. And then I want to see fools get a zap or two for getting caught up in a stunt so obvious you could see it from space.

Oh, for fuck's sake. Whether or not Northam is one of the people in that photo, it appears on HIS medical school yearbook page. Sure, it was likely a GOP operative who dug the thing up, but it's a real photo that really appears on Northam's page, not just some stunt manufactured whole cloth by Northam's political enemies.

The fact that he admitted it was him in the photo as his first statement says it all. He knows that was him and he thought that saying he had "changed" his behavior would be enough to get by on. But when other Democrats started calling for him to resign, he figured he needed to change the story and say it wasn't him.

WHY would he want to prolong the agony like this??!!

His classmates are all hoping no one finds them, they’re photos are probably just as bad if not worse.

[quote]Surely his former classmates would know if it's him or not. I'm sure journalists are investigating as we speak.

He said he has talked to classmates who have told him there are multiple mistakes throughout the yearbook.

^ their

On the bright side, the Governor can probably get a job touring in "Hamilton."

Why are people claiming it was “his page”? There is no link for that. Another made up lie?

Now he's sorry for the yearbook and that photo which mysteriously appeared on his page.

Show of hands for anyone who believes that for ONE NANOSECOND.

His apology - I've put shoe polish on my face and I regret it- has got to be the lamest lame ass statement he could possibly make.

And to be so clueless as to realize that Democrats are not going to stand by him is breathtaking.

Why has no one asked him WHY he said it was him in that photo last night? HE SAID IT WAS HIM.

Next he’s going to try the Ted Danson defense.

This is a complete stunt and you really need to ask yourself why you fall for stunts so easily? Are you too trusting?

Some people think deplorables are just mixed up and lost but the ones who have the websites are malignant. Don’t but your faith in their lies and deceit.

R380, the photo appears among a selection of other photos of him under his personal entry in a medical school yearbook. Of course he is in it. Why do you think they called him Coonman?

R380- The page has his name on it, his pictures are on it....unless you think one picture of two unknown people "accidently" got put on "Coonman's" page.

Have you read anything about this r380?

[quote]The image in the yearbook from Eastern Virginia Medical School was on a page with other photos of Northam and personal information about the future governor. Northam, a pediatric neurologist, graduated from the medical school in Norfolk in 1984 after earning an undergraduate degree from VMI. The yearbook page is labeled “Ralph Shearer Northam” and has photos of him in a jacket and tie, casual clothes and alongside his restored Corvette. Another photo shows two people, one in plaid pants, bow tie and blackface and the other in a Klan robe. Both appear to be holding beer cans. The person in blackface is smiling. Beneath the photo, Northam lists his alma mater and his interest in pediatrics and offers a quote: “There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.”

If you just looked at the image in question you would see his name in the big letters on top.

Who hasn’t put on some shoe polish for a dance contest??

Nothing wrong with that.

R385 It’s not a “stunt.” That picture is on his medical school yearbook page.

Even if all else is true, his claim that he never saw the yearbook is impossible o believe. How many DLers NEVER saw their yearbook page? Particularly when they had supplied their own photos?

R328 Yep. As an anti-abortion gay man I fully accept that most gays and lesbians - certainly on here - are pro-choice on principle. The reasons for this are obvious and are linked with the shared notion of 'doing what we want with our bodies' without mainstream straight society making us feel bad about our choices.

But just because I'm a minority within a minority doesn't mean that you get to do to me what straight society does to you. You don't like my views? Fine. Try and shut me down for expressing them? Yeah. Not cool. Typical. But not cool.

So you’re claiming that he gave himself that nickname?

Down south, coonman means that you LIKE black girls. It means that you support their cause and stick up and fight for them.

It’s a way of calling someone a _______ lover.

So it looks like other people were teasing him for dating black girls and standing up for racial intolerance.

He deserves to be commended.

"Ralph Northam says that some of his friends did call him “coonman,” but maintains he does not know why. “I don’t know what their intent was with that."

That's like David Duke saying, "Yeah, my friends called me Grand Wizard of the KKK but I don't know what their intent was with that."

[quote]Why has no one asked him WHY he said it was him in that photo last night? HE SAID IT WAS HIM.

He said he apologizes for the fact that the picture appears on his page and is therefore associated with his name.

He said he never saw the photo or the yearbook before yesterday, and insists it is not him.

[quote]He deserves to be commended.

Look at this picture again and say that. Him continually switching his stories to try to hang onto power is sad.

[quote]He said he has talked to classmates who have told him there are multiple mistakes throughout the yearbook.

Even if this is true, how did he never previously notice that a racist photo appeared on his page? In the unlikely event that he didn't look at the page when the yearbook came out, or any time thereafter, did he not at least have himself vetted for just this kind of shit when he ran for governor?

No r396. You should really get your facts straight before commenting.

[quote]“I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,”

No it’s not r395/deplorable

That is not what coonman mans.

Coonman means you LIKE black girls. The reason he don’t know is because they were teasing him behind his back. He wasn’t racist like the rest of them.

God you people are fools.

There is a fascinating theory that this photo was released specifically to deflect attention away from the fact that Northam accidentally gave away the game regarding the Democrats' plan to legalize abortion up to the hour of birth. Better to shove him out of office over blackface than over his clumsy defense of infanticide.

The infantcide bs was also a scam. That was not what they were trying to do. They were trying to protect women’s rights from the thug republican onslaught of their freedoms.

Get a grip, people.

Let's see how accurately Governor Northam portrayed Michael Jackson - photo for reference...

[quote]This is a complete stunt and you really need to ask yourself why you fall for stunts so easily?

Could you please explain what exactly you imagine to be the nature of this "stunt"? Do you think someone photoshopped that pic into Northam's yearbook entry—and then made the newly doctored page magically appear in all of his classmates' 35-year-old copies of the yearbook?

The person also ignores that Northam already admitted it was him, til he changed his story.

This is what a man who's has a giant fork stuck in him looks like.

[quote]Coonman means you LIKE black girls.

You made that up on the spot. Coon is a slur for black men exclusively. In the 19th century, black men had a stereotyped rep for being thieves- robbing henhouses and watermelon patches under cover of darkness, like thieving raccoons who have black bandit masks. Black women were not infamous for stealing melons and such, therefore they were not called coons.

So no link for “his page”

Thank you for the link to his actual statement. So he did say it was him. But what do you expect when all your allies are out for your throat?

This just goes to show you that democrats need to chill a sec before eating their

Coonman is slang for coon lover.

Deal with it, deplorable.

[quote]Thank you for the link to his actual statement. So he did say it was him.

Well I at least give you props for correcting yourself when you realize you are wrong, it is sadly a rare quality.

You wouldn’t give someone a nickname for something they didn’t like.

You don’t call a vegetarian “meatman”

And coon was used to slight men and women.

And coonlover, coonman and the other name for this which is to derogatory to type are southern slang.

[quote]This just goes to show you that democrats need to chill a sec before eating their

The Dems are not the GOP, we are the party that isn't supposed to be racist. We can't have a governor who was rocking KKK robes, period.

Of course the party pulled out the knives, he has to go.

R396- Northam first claimed he has not seen his yearbook and still is trying to procure it, but then told reporters his yearbook contains “numerous” photos of people in blackface.

Note he's a VMI grad, so he's not the product of the most enlightened undergraduate educational experience.

Remember folks, deplorables and republicans are scum of the earth. These type of stunts are manufactured to make democrats forget that. Or make them think they are just as bad as deplorables.

Never forget the babies being ripped apart from their poor mothers. The screams. The cry’s for help. The cages. The abuse. The manslaughter.

And don’t get me started on the environment. We’re all going to suffocate if they get their way.

P.s., when it comes time for average, middle class folks and retireees to pay their huge tax bills this year, remember to thank deplorable scumbags.

[quote]But what do you expect when all your allies are out for your throat?

So he was so flustered that he temporarily forgot it wasn't him doing blackface and KKK robes? Please, if that wasn't his photo he would have known immediately and said so. It is only because his first course of action, apologizing, didn't work. Now he is desperate to spin.

"Northam: As I said earlier, I discussed this with a person of color. He let me know why this was offensive. I apologized to him. And I will never do it again."

This is a sentence that describes "tone deaf" to perfection.

Next SNL Skit coming up......straight from his press conference---

"Ralph Northam is asked if he can still moonwalk. He looks around as if he’s about to try it. His wife looks over and says, “Inappropriate circumstances.” Northam agrees, and moves on to another question."

"Was it so wrong to black up, like my grandmother's favorite, Al Jolson? Really? I didn't know. It was just for fun. If I had known it was wrong, I wouldn't have done. But I have my black people close to me educate me, so I'm now aware it was inappropriate."

[quote] How many DLers NEVER saw their yearbook page? Particularly when they had supplied their own photos?

I for one. Never had any school spirit at all. I refused to buy my high school yearbook and never bothered to pick up the college yearbooks the university swindled me for from my activity fees. I posed for the standard mugshot portraits only to keep peace with mom and had no further input on what was actually published. For all I know the yearbook staff could have put anything down.

[quote] "Coonman".....what excuse does he have for that?

That's not so bad. A coon dog is a man's best friend.

[quote] When I come back to this thread I was to see lines through all the deplorables calling for this guy’s head.

Including infanticide lady? Virginia Democratic Del. Kathy Tran became one of the many Democrats to call for embattled Gov. Ralph Northam to resign after a racist photo of Northam was revealed in his medical school year book.

And a line though Nancy Pelosi ? Pelosi: Northam Must Resign, Photo ‘Racist and Contrary to Fundamental American Values’

And Crazy Uncle Joe? Biden Joins Growing Democratic Calls for Northam to Resign: He ‘Has Lost All Moral Authority’

Two lines through Don Lemon, because he pretends to be a reporter, but yet once again inserts himself into the story. Blasts Ralph Northam in Searing Monologue: ‘This is More Than Dumb, This is Racist’

[quote]So no link for “his page”

Dipshit, virtually every article about the yearbook scandal includes a photo of the page. Here's just one. (Hint: You'll have to scroll down a little bit to see it. Hope you are not too lazy/stupid.)

What happened to all those missing kids at the border?

Were they sold into sex trafficking?

Given the republican administration’s connection to shady foreign governments, I wouldn’t be surprised. Republicans will do anything for a buck.

We need to organize a vigil in front of the Whitehouse for the lost children. One candle lit for every missing child.

Also, there should be a go fund me to hire investigators to find them.

Another theory: He'll resign tomorrow after the Super Bowl kick-off so that the news will get buried.

I’ve never seen my grad school yearbook. I’m in it, I’m sure, but barely knew anyone I went to school with and the school had no sense of community so I didn’t really care (was in NYC so people had non-school lives).

On the other hand, I’d never fucking forget wearing blackface. Or dressing up like a KKK member.

It’s really scary to think what is happing to the kids at this very moment. People need to stop ignoring the crisis.

We need to locate them and save them.

[quote]we are the party that isn't supposed to be racist.

Wow. How can you be so devoid of knowledge of American history? Where do you think segregation and JIm Crow came from?

not to mention gerrymandering

Look, the same poster that got FF'ed earlier is back. Everyone knows the history of the parties and how they have realigned r426. For the second time please join us in modern era. Actually don't join us at all, but you can't stay away from this board no matter how many times you are banned from it.

If someone did this now, I'd be on board with them being fired. This was 1984. Things were different then. It's rewriting history to say they weren't.

In 1984 the worst most people, including black people, would say about that picture is that it was in bad taste. And most people wouldn't care at all. He should not have to resign over this, and if he does it's hysteria on the level of McCarthyism.

[quote]Wow. How can you be so devoid of knowledge of American history? Where do you think segregation and JIm Crow came from?

Presumably the poster you are responding to is talking about the PRESENT. The Democratic Party of 60+ years ago was indeed responsible for a lot of racist policies but TODAY (and for the past few decades), we are supposed to be the party that stands up for racial equality.

Northam handling of this crisis and his press conference has shown him to be a pretty bad politician. No loss to VA, hopefully the Lt Gov is better.

[quote]The Democratic Party of 60+ years ago

I'm in my 50s and I remember George Wallace and his views. That wasn't 60 years ago.

[quote]In 1984 the worst most people, including black people, would say about that picture is that it was in bad taste.

Ah, bullshit. I was in college in 1984 and pretty much everyone knew it was unacceptable to dress up in blackface and especially as a Klan member. Certainly, very few people would have been so proud of that photo and so clueless as to think, "this is what I'll submit to the yearbook for posterity."

And, yeah, I know Northam is now claiming he submitted the other three photos on his yearbook page but not that one, but Mary, please. His story makes less and less sense the more he changes and elaborates on it.

Though I don't think he should resign, he SHOULD say which one is him, and why he was dressed like that. I'm guessing a Halloween party.

I knew this girl back in college in 1988 who is now a pretty powerful person in Hollywood. At a Halloween party, she lip synced I Will Survive with black make up on. It caused quite a stir on campus, and the girl really learned her lesson. She didn't go to classes for several weeks, and she was very sorry.

She learned this lesson over 31 years ago, but I guess if a picture of it came out now, she'd lose her job.

If I told you what her job was, you'd laugh.

R434, you didn’t watch his press conference did you?

R433 that was not my experience.

This was bad back in 1984 though probably par for the course in the South. But political correctness had not yet been invented.

He's a native Virginian so he was raised and educated in Southern white supremacy culture.

[quote]Ah, bullshit. I was in college in 1984 and pretty much everyone knew it was unacceptable to dress up in blackface and especially as a Klan member. Certainly, very few people would have been so proud of that photo and so clueless as to think, "this is what I'll submit to the yearbook for posterity."

Yes, that what really gets me. Not only did he do this which is bad enough, but he actually submitted a photo of it to the damn yearbook.

[quote]I'm in my 50s and I remember George Wallace and his views. That wasn't 60 years ago.

Do you deny, Goofus at r432, that TODAY, the Democratic Party is typically the party of anti-racism?

Yeah, George Wallace continued to run for office as a segregation-loving Democrat until well into the 1970s but by the that time, he was out of step with most of the rest of the party.

Obviously, the realignment of the parties did not just happen completely and overnight at the 60 year mark, but the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were enacted largely through the efforts of Democratic activists and a Democratic POTUS. Your quibbling over George Wallace does nothing to prove whatever the hell point you are trying to make about which party is racist in today's world.

In 1984 when I was in college, in the North, a Klan uniform was unthinkable and unacceptable even in private. It's amazing that in Virginia it was considered acceptable to publish a photo of someone dressed that way. I agree with r438, the children of the Southern white supremacists of course didn't stray far from the views of their parents. They just learned that in public they needed to pretend that they had different views.

R441 My guess is that it was a costume party where people came dressed in their most offensive outfits...kind of like the infamous Prince Harry party where he was came dressed as a Nazi.

Is it really blackface if you're trying to look like a black man who's trying to look like a white woman?

[quote]Is it really blackface if you're trying to look like a black man who's trying to look like a white woman?

It’s transblackface.

Over the years, as a humble gay activist, people have said that the Gay Rights Community is Like The Black Civil Rights Community. I have vehemently said that THAT was not true. The Gay Power movement [yes I am that old] and the subsequent LGBT Community took only the best from ALL the civil rights movements. We made progress from not repeating the mistakes of others. Back in the 80s, some of the fiercest gay haters were Democrats who did not think that filthy diseased gays had any political value we just needed to go away and die. Well, that did not happen. We confronted, we educated, we litigated and many people think that the Gay and Lesbian [still working on the T] has been the fastest most effective civil rights movement in American History. And one thing we learned is you NEVER EAT YOUR ALLIES. We rejoiced when people evolved, saw us as fellow citizens and abandoned their long held indoctrinated beliefs. We had people reject RELIGIOUS beliefs that the Black Power/Black Civil Rights movement never had to. If Jesse Helms had a St. Constantine conversion on his DEATHBED we would have rejoiced. Because we learned you NEVER EAT YOUR ALLIES.

So, Black Power/Black Civil Rights movement, do not learn the lesson. Governor Northam is a progressive pro-choice Democrat TODAY, not in 1984. Go ahead, eat him, it's what the Republicans want you to do.

Tiresome anti-choice troll is tiresome.

Any relation to the once dreamy Jeremy Northam?

What post is anti-choice r446?

Really good statement from the Lt Governor, Justin Fairfax. He put this out 15 minutes after Northrams It Wasn't Me defense.

Thanks a lot Lt.

Who is the next person Republicans target. You know they have the yearbooks...

Republicans are only upset because he stopped doing it.

Northam needs to stop preventing Fairfax from becoming governor.

Who put his page together? Did lowlife Kavanaugh have his own page for his college yearbook?

I appreciate Fairfax putting out a statement saying that he needs to resign without looking like an opportunist. He never actually said it.

Mark Herring, the AG, has said bluntly that he should and that he fully supports Fairfax.

You know Fairfax is probably jerking off to the idea of being the nest governor. What an opportunist.

Big fucking deal.

All of us have said /done something which is not politically correct at some time in our past. And now Warren is bowing and scraping to Native Americans over a DNA test??? Because someone says that being Native American is about culture and customs first....so it's not genetic?

Get the fuck over it. The lot of you! Focus your energies on a change of government in the fast approaching future.

Alyssa Milano ✔ @Alyssa_Milano

Join me in demanding @RalphNortham resign NOW.

Reverend Al Sharpton ✔ @TheRevAl

I am live on MSNBC sharing my thoughts before Virginia Governor Ralph Northam makes a statement on the racist photo of him in his yearbook.

James Woods ✔ @RealJamesWoods

Tough being a Democrat.

apology if this was already posted. To me this is worse than moonwalking. Total disgust.

I am a black Virginian and I support Ralph Northam. It's a photograph from 30 years ago. That is clearly not who this man is any longer. I want to live in a world where people are allowed to grow and evolve, especially our politicians.

But this has taught me one thing. I know Ralph Northam and to see so many comment on this situation (people who hadn't heard the name Ralph Northam before yesterday) and make assumptions about the man based on a photograph has forced me to wake up. Because I too have taken part in these technological beat downs, but no more. I have thrown out opinions based on the flimsiest of evidence. Called people names and judge their character because of an out of context tweet.

Ralph Northam is one of the good guys. That has not changed. And all the good he has done, won't stop the villagers with their pitchforks. This can be a real opportunity for change and for healing. Stop eating your own.

[quote]Northam handling of this crisis and his press conference has shown him to be a pretty bad politician.

That is the one thing that's for sure in this situation. Whatever it is that really happened with that photo, Northam looks like a nut and a huge liar spinning from "I apologize for appearing in that offensive photo" to "That's not me in that photo and what's more, I've never seen the photo or my own yearbook page before—but, oops, that same year I DID wear blackface in a Michael Jackson dance contest. "

[quote]You know Fairfax is probably jerking off to the idea of being the nest governor. What an opportunist.

How does that make him any different than any other politician?

Yeah, that's creepy and rude, R459.

To the folks posting the EW Jackson clip. We see you and know what you're doing. You're trying to get sympathy for EW Jackson on a gay message board?

"Even if it's not him, why did he add it to his own personal page and make the comment he did under it? He was quite amused by it. It is not an amusing photo. He's toast."

Shut the fuck up, "toast" troll. You are truly insufferable with your fixation on "toast."

Racists who don't want to see a black man become governor are going the route of saying that it shouldn't matter what someone did 35 years ago and that Northam is being persecuted, in the hope that he doesn't resign.

DNC Chair Tom Perez Rips Northam After Presser

If I was in public office, I'd say something much like Pelosi.. "Do the right thing, for the people of Virgina." Vague enough to cover your ass regardless of what happens.

Has anyone publicly said that he SHOULDN’T resign??

Which one of the two in the photo does he say was not him? Let's get some clarity here.

"Racists who don't want to see a black man become governor are going the route of saying that it shouldn't matter what someone did 35 years ago and that Northam is being persecuted, in the hope that he doesn't resign."

Virginia doesn't have any trouble with a black man being governor. Douglas Wilder was a governor of Virginia and he was a black man. You sound pretty ignorant.

Mike Valerio -- White House & Election Security Reporter @WUSA9

#BREAKING — Virginia Democrats moving towards forcing Governor Northam to resign by MONDAY... • Exerting maximum pressure so the legislative session can finish without impeachment proceedings. • STORY TO COME

Can he BE impeached for it? It happened well before he held office. And it's gross, but not a crime.

So now this racist mother fucker doesn't THINK he was either guy in the picture. And will not resign.

I hate this asshole. Fuck him

r473, a lot of states can recall the governor. Don't know Virginia.

That's a recall, not an impeachment.

Could Gov. Northam be impeached and removed from office?

Virginia's Constitution says governors can be impeached for "malfeasance in office, corruption, neglect of duty, or other high crime or misdemeanor" by the House of Delegates, with the state Senate then empowered to vote on the impeachment. It would take a vote of two-thirds of the Senate to remove an impeached governor.

And what we have here hardly seems to me to qualify

I agree that he's a crap politician. He should have been prepared for this to come out someday, and he should have better instincts on how to react. This is approaching the level of cluelessness displayed by the married governor who fled to South America with his lover. Sanford did manage to stay governor. White-knuckled it.

[Quote] He should have been prepared for this to come out someday, and he should have better instincts on how to react.

Straight white men rarely have to be held responsible for their actions. He likely thought he'd get away with it. And for 30+ years, he did.

He should pull a Trump and complain about fake news. He should say that he’s the real victim here and anyone who objects to a silly party photo from the 1980s is UnAmerican and should be ashamed of themselves.

[quote]Sanford did manage to stay governor. White-knuckled it.

Sanford also managed to make a comeback a few years ago and get elected to the House of Representatives.

The only reason he's not still there now is because he lost the GOP Primary to a Trumper last year.

Senator Tim Kaine:

[quote]I no longer believe Governor Northam can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia. The events of the past 24 hours have inflicted immense pain and irrevocably broken the trust Virginians must have in their leaders. He should step down and allow the Commonwealth to begin healing.

Yeah, Doug Wilder has said he should stop down as well.

Senator Mark Warner and Rep. Bobby Scott have joined with Senator Tim Kaine to issue this statement:

Which one of the two in the photo does he say was not him? Let's get some clarity here.

Either/or, neither/nor, not only but also.

This is making the rounds tonight too

Even after the Senators statements, he is saying he is not resigning. Unreal.

Where Tim Kaine leads, others follow

Actually, he's apparently saying "he believes" he was neither of the characters in the racist photo on his yearbook page. It strikes me as legalese, like the ever-helpful, "I don't remember" or "I misremembered."

I think the same guy didn't understand why posing was going to have this affect cannot understand when a situation's past the point of honorably serving his state.

Or "I don't recall."

Exactly, R490.

The fact he's gone to legalize and splitting hairs pretty much confirms he's in that photo.

I read that in Sessions' voice r490.

r486 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

That's a great photo to show any Republican who disingenuously INSISTS that Northam resigns.

He’s got to go. His abortion/infanticide controversy is harming the whole Democratic Party.

FOx News just had someone on saying “Good luck to the Democrats when they get to Iowa. They’re going to fail miserably with their party’s new ‘post-birth abortion’ platform”.

You should stop watching Faux News and taking anything that they say seriously r494.

Seriously though, it does harm the credibility of the Democratic Party. How can they call out anyone else, when one of their own may have dressed as a KKK member for fun?

You might have noticed the entire Dem establishment is trying to force him to resign r496. Obviously he should resign.

No need to go invoking what Faux News says as if they are adding anything intelligent to the discussion, its Fox. This should go without saying.

Yeah, Democrats can't really base decisions on what Fox News or the Republicans are going to say about it. It's going to be bullshit regardless.

R422, I am glad to see you are Awakening to the subject of lost children.

When Trump vowed to Drain the Swamp he was referring to the cabal of politicians on both sides of the aisles plus their buddies in show biz, media, sports, and business who partake of the "benefits and advantages" of human trafficking. Many of your favorite and most admired people are ghouls who abuse and murder children. Trump and his team of Military and Intelligence patriots are working to take these people down once and for all. All decent people should rooting for the Swamp to be Drained. The corruptionis far worse than most of us can even imagine.

What bugs me most about this story is the sudden "bravery" by every Dem to out-demand Northam's resignation. I mean, yeah, it's probably coming and the pics are thoughtless, but the guy has a fine record in office. He's spent his career as a Dem trying to make a difference for all and is NOT some criminal Trumptard endangering Democracy and our lives and sensibilities like COUNTLESS Republican office holders! He's not exactly the clear and present danger that Trump is, yet we'll make a fiery spectacle about how OUTRAGED and PIOUS we are as Democrats.

Frankly, Berners still attacking the Democratic Party, third-party and non-voters in 2016/2018 are far worse than a 35 year old blackface picture in a shitty yearbook, but that doesn't give people the thrill of moral indignation!

While we are on the topic, Virginia has really stupid laws that don't allow their governor to see re-election. That really should be changed, I can't believe it never was.

R500 well said.

In doubling down the Governor has turned the story into a present-day issue of character. He apologized for posing for the photo yesterday. That was obviously the right thing to do. Since then it has occurred to him that we can't prove it is him in the photo, so he switched up his story.

A man who never posed in black-face or KKK robes would not apologize for having done so. He would deny it immediately. The Governor's denial is a day late and a dollar short. He has surrendered the moral authority necessary for the people of Virginia to have confidence in his leadership.

R501, we Virginians like it like that and see no reason to Change it

[quote] What bugs me most about this story is the sudden "bravery" by every Dem to out-demand Northam's resignation

I haven't.

I generally think call-out culture is toxic and that democrats love to turn on each other like a fat kids loves cake (sorry!), but this guy clearly (to me) has got to go. That photo is unequivocal in it's racism, and if Northam honestly thinks ANYONE ON EARTH buys his "that's defintiely not me!" then he is a complete idiot. Of course it's him, probably the one in blackface given his height. You don't put pictures of OTHER PEOPLE on YOUR yearbook page.

This would be 100% a different story if he had, at any point since his first public run in 2007, released this photo himself. It's like what defense attorneies say: if your client has bad, damaging information about themselves, you release it as soon as possible to get it out there and try to get over it. Northam KNEW this picture existed, and never mentioned it. r500 this is why I think he needs to go most of all, total incompetence in not dealing with this beforehand. If he released the photo before he ran for governer and still got elected, then the people have spoken. He didn't.

R460 and R500 get it right. People are very quick to believe the worst about someone who has been a solid progressive for decades and who has given no indication that he is in any way biased or prejudiced.

The man said that he is not in the picture; he did not see the yearbook; and classmates report that there are a number of photo errors.

I worked on my high school yearbook, maybe barely glanced at my college yearbook, and have absolutely no idea if there was a law school yearbook and if so whether I was in it. He said that he did t purchase one and when it was released he was already in San Antonio.

[quote]What bugs me most about this story is the sudden "bravery" by every Dem to out-demand Northam's resignation.

[quote]I generally think call-out culture is toxic

If only there were a term for that kind of public signaling.

I don't agree R506. I don't think he even remembers the photo. I have some photo albums around the house and some old yearbooks that I haven't cracked open in 20 years. However, if I did open those old albums and yearbooks I would be confronted with a lot of photos, some I remember taking and some I don't. I'm 46 years old, we didn't document every moment of our lives on Instagram and in various other Social Media. I barely remember taking my last official headshot for work, let alone some random snap from a Sig Ep Pimp and Ho Party in 1991 that apparently can now be used against me if I ever plan to run for office.

i don't buy that he doesn't know if it's him, it's the reason he's using the term "believe". He's trying to weasel out of this on the fact that it's hard to tell who's in the photo because the black is so dark. Hopefully journalists get to the bottom of this.

[quote]The man said that he is not in the picture

After admitting it was him. His strategy is dumb. But this is the same person who a journalists almost goaded into a moon walking at the press conference on this so he doesn't seem to be playing with a full deck.

R509, would you remember if you ever dressed in blackface or a KKK outfit? What a ridiculous idea to say that you wouldn't remember these photos of you dressed in blackface or a KKK outfit or something similarly horrible.

r509 Doesn't that just boil down to he either 1. didn't consider blackface and full klan gear to stand out enough to remember specifically, or 2. he dressed in similar costumes so often that this particular incident doesn't stand out?

I mean, I can tell you right now there are NO pictures of me in anything like this, and I too attended many fraternity parties with "sexist themes." Maybe I'm wrong and other people disagree with me, but I feel that if you did something like this in the picture, you would remember.

r507 Northam personally submitted the other three photos (of himself) on that yearbook page to the yearbook organizers. The yearbook committee didn't source those photos themselves, they got them from him. He wants us to believe he sent in the three other photos, but not the fourth photo (coincidentally, that's the offensive one!). Unless the person(s) who actually created that 1984 yearbook come out and back him up on this, I just don't buy what he's saying is true at all.

[quote]but I feel that if you did something like this in the picture, you would remember.

Of course you would. And he did remember and instantly apologized. He is just trying to backtrack now because he doesn't want to resign, it's not complicated.

Exactly, r514. He knows he's in the pic but doesn't want to resign. Upon review, he realized there's no way to identify the guys in the pic, so decided to retract his apology and throw this ridiculous "it's not me; it must have been an editing error" Hail Mary—while 'fessing up to the Michael Jackson blackface incident because he knows he's already on record as having done that.

[quote]The man said that he is not in the picture; he did not see the yearbook; and classmates report that there are a number of photo errors.

The problem is his contradictory statements over the past day make him sound untruthful.

Plus, it's not just the photos -- there's the "Coonman" thing.

"Would you remember if you ever dressed in blackface or a KKK outfit? What a ridiculous idea to say that you wouldn't remember these photos of you dressed in blackface or a KKK outfit or something similarly horrible."

If dressing up like that meant nothing, was just a dumb lark, then chances are it wouldn't be remembered. It was probably considered meaningless, just some silly thing to do that had no significance. I think that's just what it was, not a statement on race, just two people being ridiculous.

As for "Coonman"...maybe they called him that because he was IN FAVOR of civil rights for African Americans. That occurred to me; maybe he was called "Coonman" because he supported the rights of "coons."

[quote]The problem is his contradictory statements over the past day make him sound untruthful.

The problem is his contradictory statements over the past day make him untruthful.

[Quote] If dressing up like that meant nothing, was just a dumb lark, then chances are it wouldn't be remembered. It was probably considered meaningless, just some silly thing to do that had no significance. I think that's just what it was, not a statement on race, just two people being ridiculous.

When is dressing up in blackface (picture or not, he admitted to wearing blackface) or kkk garb not a statement on race? When has that ever been considered meaningless? It's not just some silly thing, it's racist.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

[quote]If dressing up like that meant nothing, was just a dumb lark, then chances are it wouldn't be remembered. It was probably considered meaningless, just some silly thing to do that had no significance. I think that's just what it was, not a statement on race, just two people being ridiculous.

Are you insane? It's even worse if he or his group did it so often that it lost meaning or all the instances just ran together. And, if they were always just meaningless goofing around, that's the worst of all. This wasn't 1964, it was 1984. He wasn't a dumb teenager. He was a 24 year old medical student. I can't even imagine what those of you defending this are hiding from your own backgrounds.

Y'all gonna be watching the Super Bowl?

It's Puppy Bowl time

Ironic that people are about to drum out of political life a man who has exhibited no racial animus over the course of his public career as a physician, politician, or in the military over a picture that he now claims was not him -- while a real racist and misogynist continues to occupy the Oval Office, despite many recent examples of his vile bigotry.

Northam got blindsided and should have gathered all the facts before he ever uttered a word about this photo.

I’m going to play devils advocate for a minute. Is it possible that it isn’t him in the photo?

I was on our yearbook staff in high school and one year helped produce a yearbook professionally for a corporation after high school. I graduated in 1980. We didn’t have classmates or workers supply photos, we had our own photographers on staff. We would do the layouts by section, each section often had its own standards. I was a continuity expert and made sure the layouts conformed to the standards of that section.

If Northam only supplied 3 photos and that layout required a 4th, could some jokester editor be responsible for sticking in the KKK photo? Certainly not beyond possible. The editor of the yearbook and director of that section should be easy to locate. Are there other inconsistencies in the yearbook? Northam indicated there could be. That should be easy to investigate too.

Could the editor have done this as a joke or maybe as a hurtful thing to Northam? Was Northam popular or was he disliked? There are two people in the picture. Who is the other one?

Are there any real journalists left in this country looking into these questions?

I think you bring up legitimate concerns. The fact Northam admitted it was him at first shut down any investigation into who's really in the photo. But it would be great to confirm it's him and who's his buddy, and which is in which garb.

Either way, I don't think it matters anymore, as optics are, sadly, more powerful than the truth. Reading someone was in blackface or dressed as a klansman doesn't bring up the emotions of a picture of the same. And, for most of us, that's where it's at, the emotional level.

I don’t find it odd that he’s never seen the yearbook either. I don’t recall seeing my college yearbook, certainly not from my senior year. They don’t typically get released until well after the year is up. And you’ve moved on since then.

I never saw my college yearbook

They discovered another blackface picture in the yearbook. There's no indication it had anything to do with Northam, but still.

This was of a man dressed up like Diana Ross, so I guess that's okay with Megyn Kelly, since he was doing as a character.

[Quote]If dressing up like that meant nothing, was just a dumb lark, then chances are it wouldn't be remembered. It was probably considered meaningless,

Ah yes, he should go with the defense that black face and KKK outfits were such a normal part of his 20s that he just can't remember!

I honestly don't think any of the posters desperately trying to defend him even watched his cringe fest of a press conference.

What r506, r512 and r519 said.

That Northam is a political bumskull, er, I mean numbskull, is gravy. You, first, always should disclose bigoted, racist, negative, bad, stupid, things you did especially if you're running for elected office, both as a matter of honor and honesty and because if a 3rs party has to and you didn't you SHOULD be toasts.

A poster earlier stated accurately that Northam is "an idiot"; what's worse is that, obviously, he believes WE'RE idiots.

3rs- 3rd, toasts- toast, and no, with a few exceptions, none of you are idiots

Not defending Northam but it's so ridiculous to see Trump attacking him over it. DJT can only criticize racism if a Democrat does it. Otherwise, very fine people.

It's beyond embarrassing that Raphie Boy doesn't notice the giant fork in him.

[quote]His classmates are all hoping no one finds them, they’re photos are probably just as bad if not worse.

Indeed.

If that is not the Governor in black-face, then who stole his pants?

Some guy who used to work at Breitbart, loves Trump, has blog, says he doesn’t like racism, is who got the yearbook page out there.

R536, those are not the same pair of pants in both pictures. The patterns are similar but somewhat different.

I am not trolling. I genuinely a confused and want to hear at least one or two opinions on this: quite a few posters up thread have compared the blackface/KKK photo to the photos of Kavanaugh.

Isn't blackface and a KKK costume on a whole other level than Kavanaugh's drunken frat boy shit? I truly think that right now in the US, the worst thing a Democrat could do is be seen as a genuine racist(even in the past.) Sure, it's SOP for Republicans, but the whole thing which makes Dems different is that they do not condone or allow such things. So, these remarks about Rick Scott having to resign for being a crook, or that Steve King racism thing seem like moot points. They do not assume the higher ground. Never had, never will.

I think if there had been a pic of him in an Indian head dress, as un-PC as that is today, he could survive that with a sincere apology and a donation to AIM. But anything which makes fun of and/or angers blacks is never going to be acceptable. That is why Kevin Hart is fine, Joy Reid is fine, but this will never be fine.

The patterns are not somewhat different. R536, they are identical. That is Northam in both photos.

No one wore plaid pants in the 1980s. Those were an old pair of bell-bottoms the Governor wore in high school or college in the '70s. He trotted them out of his closet for a funny costume a few years later.

Oops, I meant to address the comment about the pants being identical to R538.

Sigh. Why do we as Democrats always form a circular firing squad?

Because we try to hold our politicians to a higher standard than the GOP does r542. Don't we complain about the GOP putting blind party loyalty over everything else when it comes to Trump and others?

Thank God we don’t hold our media to a higher standard, especially when they get hacked!

^ Give it up, troll

Northam looks like an aged Colby Keller.

Colby, here's your future.

I despise Gillibrand and I always will. She is a peabrain...she should not even be in public office, she is an idiot.

[quote] The patterns are not somewhat different. They are identical. That is Northam in both photos. No one wore plaid pants in the 1980s. Those were an old pair of bell-bottoms the Governor wore in high school or college in the '70s. He trotted them out of his closet for a funny costume a few years later.

Bullshit. You can't tell that pants in the yearbook photo are bell bottoms. And the patterns are different. The white field in both are different.

[quote]I despise Gillibrand and I always will. She is a peabrain...she should not even be in public office, she is an idiot.

Why do New Yorkers always elect such horrible politicians... Gillibrand, Ocasio-Cortez, Giuliani, Hillary... the list of incompetence goes on and on.

And yet Men in Woman Face have gotten Democrats, including our Goddess Kamala, to heartily endorse the Equality Act, which would change the definition of sex to include "gender identity" and throw open all women's spaces and women's athletics to Men in Woman Face.

Talk about a fucking societal Double Standard: Lefty politicians like Kamala and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez can fall all over Men in Woman Face and everyone congratulates them on being WOKE, even though most of the Men in Woman Face look like clowns in fright wigs and are mental cases, but careers are destroyed for doing the same for another oppressed group.

And by no means do I think that Black Face is OK, I'm just pointing out the hypocrisy, and that no politician actually gives a shit about women.

Wow, there is no thread that DLs trans obsessives can't attempt to derail

"TRANS! TRANS! TRANS! EVERYTHING IS TRANS!!!111!!"

Why don't you tell me the difference between Black Face and Woman Face, R551?

I'm waiting.

As you know, because you're the Trans Hag and haunt the Trans Critical threads the Equality Act will fuck women and gays.

But again, please explain the difference between Black Face and Woman Face.

[quote]I guess a racist don’t get forgiveness like a homophone does —Kevin Hart

Oh Dear! homophones have heart Kevin

[quote]Why don't you tell me the difference between Black Face and Woman Face

Says a person who is obviously unaware of the painful history of blackface.

I'm not unaware of the painful history of Black Face,R 554 but again how is it different than Woman Face?

I really want your explanation. Why is it OK to engage in a grotesque parody of women?

In fact, not only are men appropriating women's appearances, but they are changing the law to redefine womanhood to include men who think they're women, thereby negating women's ability to be safe in any public space.

So, in fact, Woman Face is worse than Black Face.

And if you don't think the Democrats support of the Equality Act won't be an issue in 2020, think again. Women are waking up. Right after I post my comment here, I found this:

[quote] the parallel between black face and the woman face the TIM (Trans"women") display. It's completely dehumanizing and a kind of ridiculing of the women porn sick men invented. They display a caricature (a picture, description, or imitation of a person in which certain striking characteristics are exaggerated in order to create a comic or grotesque effect.) of a hypersexualized woman. It has to stop.

I wonder how many people who are defending Northam also condemned the "Smirking Maga Hat Kid." I know "liberals" in my life who take these two obviously contradictory positions and it makes me view them as hypocrites.

I also wonder how many people, like me, think Maga Hat kid was NOT necessarily racist but that Northam's photo definitely was. I don't see that as hypocritical, since to me Maga Hat and friends were pretty clearly provoked by the native american instigator (and, while I disagree, totally have the right to wear Maga Hats), and Northam's photo was unambiguous in it's racism. You can't be "provoked" to wear blackface or a klan hood, can you? I doubt it.

I think if there's going to be a conversation about womanface, it deserves its own thread, R555. You want a discussion, and it sounds like an interesting idea. But this thread's for discussing Northam's self-induced plight, and you probably won't get the thoughtful responses you're seeking in a thread about something else.

It was the Russians. There's a fake yearbook farm in the Crimea. Fact.

[quote]there's the "Coonman" thing.

I don't understand how that being a nickname in college indicates he was a racist in college.

[quote]if your client has bad, damaging information about themselves, you release it as soon as possible to get it out there and try to get over it.

And say it's not really illegal.

How many of you are the same people you were 30 years ago? In this life we make mistakes, we learn from those mistakes and then we move on and do better. There is nothing in Ralph Northam's recent past or history and as a politician or voting record in the Senate of Virginia that would indicate the man is racist.

I'm all for zero tolerance for current offenses. But this is not a current offense. This is social media pile-on. And the democrats fall for it every damned time and we end up losing good people to stand on some moral high ground that the general voting public doesn't give two shits about.

Bob McDonnell served out his term as Governor and he and his grifter family were on the take while he was Governor and you want to tell me that what Ralph Northam did 30 years ago is worse than what Bob McDonnell did? We now have two standards in this country Republicans protect their own and their power. Democrats will turn on each other for literally nothing. Shame on all of you.

He didn't even try to explain the coonman thing at all. "I can't remember why my classmates called me that!"

Man, it is pretty dangerous he apparently remembers none of MEDICAL SCHOOL.

[quote]We now have two standards in this country Republicans protect their own and their power. Democrats will turn on each other for literally nothing. Shame on all of you.

Yes, Democrats are not the GOP. That's rather the point.

That chocolate ganache has a lovely sheen...

[quote] Northam's photo definitely was.

Of course it was. But, (1) if it wasn't him in the photo, (2) he didn't submit it, and (3) he didn't know about it then it is hard to pin him as a racist. Especially since he has never done anything else in the last 35 years that indicated that he was a racist of any type.

His response to this has been nothing short of dreadful, and has given people enough ammunition to try and force him out. You don't get two chances to explain, especially when the answers are contradictory --it was me and then it wasn't me. I'm not willing to say that in and of itself is sufficient to determine that he is the person in the photo. He should have spent Friday night searching his memory and his conscience to recollect why this was on his page. Then, he should have spent Saturday morning doing a moot of that press conference with very tough lawyers, comms people, and some former journalists. throwing questions at him and vetting the responses.

But, he didn't do any of that. A lesson in crisis response: get all your facts and your story straight from the get-go.

[quote]Yes, Democrats are not the GOP. That's rather the point.

But where does it get us? Where did taking Al Franken out get us? Where does trying to take a man down for racism who hasn't shown one bit of racism in his political career get us?

[quote]r256 He knew this picture was out there. He decided it just didn't matter enough to take himself out of the running.

But now he says he's NEVER seen the picture before, and never even bought the yearbook!

[italic]Leave the boy alone!

[quote]He should have spent Friday night searching his memory and his conscience to recollect why this was on his page.

Searching his memory? He DID remember. He instantly remembered as, as any human being who doesn't have Alzheimers would remember, when they dressed up in blackface/KKK gear for that party in med school. That is why he apologized for it.

You are being absurdly disingenuous to pretend like the reason for his contradictory statements isn't solely about him realizing that an apology wouldn't be enough.

the fact that he was a really hot cadet should count for something.

Why doesn't someone try to find the "other" person in the photo or the person who took the photo or the editor(s) of the yearbook for their recollections?

[quote] Hillary Clinton ✔ @HillaryClinton This has gone on too long. There is nothing to debate. He must resign.

Oh no, it seems Hill forgot about R69 and R112...

It's the biggest self-inflicted wound at a press conference since Budd Dwyer.

[quote]r306 This guy should ignore the press and keep moving like all the thug repugs do. They are organized criminals and nobody’s calling for their resignation.

Quoted for TRUTH.

[quote]if your client has bad, damaging information about themselves, you release it as soon as possible to get it out there and try to get over it

I take it you are quite unfamiliar with corporate PR.

Maybe he should just say he'll resign when Steve King resigns.

R549 you forgot Rangel. Piece of trash.

r500,

And if he said something disparaging to the gays, like Kevin Hart, would you feel the same? Would you be defending his record?

R311 Knock off your lame ad hominems. I’m not a Trumpie; your school yard taunts are pathetic and weak. The typical piling on before there’s any kind of evidence or investigation is why Democrats lose in the South and have lost the South. We have a state wide election in November. All that’s going to happen here now is this total bullshit has handed the state over to the Republicans. So, good job fuckheads.

Nobody seems to care about the black politicians and black comedians who are anti-gay. I guess that’s still okay. Or how irrelevant the NAACP really is with its non-existent membership. Here it is claiming it can recall a governor. Really? VIrginia has limited constitutional basis for recall. All the laws here are for criminal behavioir, not “we’re offended”.

The majority of the commonwealth’s voter basis is the Tidewater and the Fall Line - which is reliably republican. Guess where the Governor is from? That’s right. The TIdewater. Kamala Harris and the leftie loudmouths have totally blown the election for the Democrats by proving they can’t be trusted.

So, that’s a state lost to the Republicans. Way to fuck it up, kids. Nobody can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory like the Democrats.

[quote]Why doesn't someone try to find the "other" person in the photo or the person who took the photo or the editor(s) of the yearbook for their recollections?

The press has tried to contact the yearbook editor but thus far she has not replied. Not sure how you'd go about finding the photographer or second person in the photo unless someone came forward with the info.

Those look like the same pants, r548.

It's just different lighting and frame, same pants.

R579. It will help when the press gets hold of the original yearbooks and the yearbook editors. Look, if Northam dissembled - no question, he’s cooked.

The question was raised about a number of similar photos throughout the yearbook. Good god. What the hell was going on at this college? What kind of events were going? I know we had some seriously raunchy ass parties when I was in the military during that period - and there certainly were some involving blackface. None involving Klan hoods, though. Military regs were strict: ownership of that stuff got you kicked out. Those regs were never changed and are still in effect today.

There will likely be more than one person involved in the editing of the yearbook and there will be copies of the yearbook somewhere - versus the one page that magically appeared. This reflects horribly on the school. It has to be addressed.

Eastern Virginia is not a military school r581. .

Didn’t say it was. He went from VMI to EVMS to the Army right after graduation in 1984.

[quote][R579]. It will help when the press gets hold of the original yearbooks and the yearbook editors

Pretty sure they already have the original yearbook. In any case, as I said, they know who the editor was and have tried to contact her; she just hasn't responded. Hopefully, she will eventually, but maybe she doesn't want to get involved in this shitshow.

Oh. Okay. Sounded like you did by throwing that paragraph in.

Thank you for your service!

[quote]Ironic that people are about to drum out of political life a man who has exhibited no racial animus over the course of his public career as a physician, politician, or in the military over a picture that he now claims was not him -- while a real racist and misogynist continues to occupy the Oval Office, despite many recent examples of his vile bigotry.

It's ironic to you that people have standards that they apply universally instead of being hypocrites? Really?

I want Trump gone. I want Northam gone. And, how do you know that he hasn't done anything with racial animus for the entirety of his adult life after medical school? Do you really think someone who would dress in black face and hang out with people in KKK outfits in 1984 just completely changed in 1985? There's something wrong with someone who didn't know not to do this kind of thing as a twenty-something in the mid-80s.

[quote] Yes, that what really gets me. Not only did he do this which is bad enough, but he actually submitted a photo of it to the damn yearbook.

Where has it been established that he submitted the photo himself? At most yearbooks, photos are assembled and chosen by the yearbook staff, not submitted directly by the students themselves. Just because it was "his" page doesn't mean that he's the one who chose the photos.

r587, classmates have said that they submitted their own yearbook photos, and Northam himself has said that he submitted the other three photos on his page, just not (supposedly) the offending one.

Interesting article about the website that broke the story and their connections to Corey Stewart, Roy Moore, and conspiracy theories about the "Deep State" and the "fake news media."

Yes, it's probably Northam in the photo, and he should resign, but this was clearly a hit job by the far right. And I'm sure we'll see a lot more of these in the months and years to come as Republicans comb through old newspapers and yearbooks for any hints of Democrats being racist or sexist. Yes, the Northam photo is very blatantly racist and offensive, but the next case may be more subtle. If you're a Democrat, you had better hope that there is nothing published about you anywhere in print or on the web that could be used against you.

Of course it was a hit job by the right. Just like it was a hit job from the left against Kavanaugh.

[quote]He went from VMI to EVMS to the Army right after graduation in 1984.

Again, WHY IS NO ONE THANKING HIM FOR HIS SERVICE???

[quote]In any case, as I said, they know who the editor was and have tried to contact her; she just hasn't responded. Hopefully, she will eventually, but maybe she doesn't want to get involved in this shitshow.

Maybe she forgot she was the yearbook editor like Northam forgot why he was called Coonman.

[quote] this was clearly a hit job by the far right.

Horrors

Well he has been thanking himself for his service.

The outside use case here is the pictures are demonstrated not to be Northam. He’s a conservative Democrat, not a liberal. The State Senate is held by the Republicans. Northam aligns himself to the Republicans and rebukes the Democrats by changing parties.

Why this harms Democrats even worse is were Northam to resign and change parties is if were succeeded by Justin Fairfax is Northam becomes immediately eligible under Virginia’s constitution to run for election again. Democrats have created a dangerous game for themselves.

It’s little cost to him because in Virginia, governors are limited to one term. It does screw the Democrats pretty royally because he’d stop Ed Gillespie from running again. He’s also shoot the Democrats hard as they’d have to run against him and now the Republicans and explain their behavior to Virginia. It won’t go well. This would likely return Virginia to the 2004 election map. There’s no appreciation outside of Virginia how much contempt there is for the media and liberal democrats interfering in Virginia politics.

I sure hope Ralph wasn't hosting a Super Bowl party today, there will probably be a lot of no shows.

I'd go. To be honest with you I find the whole thing rather hysterical. Of course without the starvation and murderous rampage it's nearly Pol Potesque.....is there a reeducation camp somewhere for him to be sent? You know the one where they purge you of every youthful indiscretion from decades ago?

Why? The face painting game is on point?

What does Virginia say about a Governor installing his wife after his term ends?

Can’t be done. We’re not *that* Southern!

[quote] Do you really think someone who would dress in black face and hang out with people in KKK outfits in 1984 just completely changed in 1985? There's something wrong with someone who didn't know not to do this kind of thing as a twenty-something in the mid-80s.

Your assertion presupposes that it was him. He said it wasn't him and he wasn't the person wearing black-face or garbed in the KKK robe. If it was him, that would be a different matter. Has anyone pointed to something racist n his public life as a doctor, politician, or in the service? Because that would change the equation as well.

If it were just the photo, he could say he went to a party with an offensive costume theme. Those were a thing. (Favorite thing seen, a baby doll in red jello called afterbirth.). He might have been able to salvage his career,

But Coonman and another black face incident. He has to go. It would be hypocrisy not to call on him to go. Democrats can not afford to piss off African Americans, we need the votes.