the right wing is trying to make it seem like he was becsuse they oppose his support for lgbt and women's rights.

I don't know if the photo is real or not, but I'm curious how you can be certain Northam isn't in the picture?

In what world is that better?

I mean, he admitted being in the photo, so he’s either Mr. Blackface or Mr. Grand Dragon, and neither is a good look for a young man in the mid-80s, much less for a Democratic governor.

my reaction to this at first was based on the attacks he was getting for abortion and transgender rights from right wingers.

I thought they were associating him with some pics unrelated to him but after learning more there is no excuse for it.

If this is a hoax, we'll find out right away.

What's the link to the WaPo article?

So there are two questions.

Was he one of the two men?
Did he submit that picture to be included on his page?

A yes to either or both questions would be extremely concerning.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/virginia-gov-ralph-northam-appears-to-have-worn-blackface-or-kkk-costume-in-college?source=articles&via=rss

"The Washington Post independently confirmed the authenticity of the yearbook by viewing it in the medical school library in Norfolk."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-gov-northams-medical-school-yearbook-page-shows-men-in-blackface-kkk-robe/2019/02/01/517a43ee-265f-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?utm_term=.683297620ccc

He's gotta go.

Story is being vetted because Big League Politics has a sketchy reputation.

I can't ignore it.

The photo, which The Virginian-Pilot obtained a copy of Friday from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library, comes from the 1984 yearbook, the year Northam graduated.

NO WAY IN HELL should he.

I should NOT have to explain why.
I should NOT have to explain that TODAY is NOT like any any any any time in our past.

GOP equals death...DNC does not.

PERIOD


Here is what he should say ONLY IF it is true, of course

You seem to confuse this with circumstances involving the appointment of a US Senator, as some states permit, by the governor upon a vacancy.

The governor is the highest state official, and there would be no one to “appoint” one.

Justin Fairfax, the Lt. Governor and a strong Democrat, would become Governor. The Lieutenant Governor's position (not the Governorship) would be filled by the state legislature, which has a narrow Repub. majority.

The downside of having a repub lt. gov. would be if the state senate ended up equally divided (a real possibility) after the 2019 elections. In that case the Lt. Gov. would be in a position to cast the tie breaking vote

And I'll go a step further ... his heartfelt and sincere apology, along with his ACTIONS SINCE ... are plenty enough for me to forgive the man, frankly.

It was 35 years ago, in freaking Virginia. It's obviously some kind of costume party type of deal, it's not like he was AT a damn Klan rally.

Sensibilities about stuff like this has changed SO SO SO much since that time it's not even funny. Completely unfair to assert 2019 values over something like this in 1984.

This 'he must resign' crap over this by so many on DU ... I find extremely disappointing.

and so be it.

But under NO circumstances is ANY republican ever better than ANY democrat, NOT NOW, not when the official position of the GOP is treason.

Even if it is a RW talking point, he's probably finished

...and it looks like it was.....I don't want anyone making excuses for this. We'd be crucifying any Republican who we found this out about.

For most yearbooks, seniors got a page. They picked the quotes, the blurbs, the thank yous and the pictures on that page.

Even if it's not him in blackface or KKK robe, why did he choose that picture for his page?

A yearbook committee/club made every decision. If they didn't like you, they might just include the most unflattering photo they could find...

Or wearing Klan gear.

Maybe getting high or drinking, though.

Again, there's more evidence suggesting it is than it isn't - as it's clearly on his yearbook page.

Perhaps you might consider doing so, yourself.

Sure, Jan.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has already confirmed the validity of it being his yearbook page...

Is it still a meme now?

I wonder if you'd hedge your bets if this was a Republican governor. Yeah, probably not.

and all MSM have acknowledged the original source was a RW smear site.

That's more evidence than not, unfortunately.

Seems like some here are approaching this as GUILTY until PROVEN INNOCENT and given it is a Democrat, one might think they'd hold their fire until the full facts come out--especially since we KNOW this was introduced and PROMOTED by a very RW source.

If he's "guilty" of appearing in BF or KKK attire, let the repercussions come as they may, but I will wait for the FACTS to come out.

and/OR had editorial control. You seem determined that he's guilty, so PROVE IT.

But continue to defend it. I'm sure you'd wait until all the facts were out if this was a Republican governor.

the yearbook page. YOU said you had the facts, so PROVE IT. Otherwise you are being unconscionably disingenuous.

If he is guilty, dump him. But prove it first.

But let's be real - I doubt you'd be waiting on the entire story if he was a Republican. Just because he's a Democrat doesn't exonerate him from criticism. The facts alone paint an ugly picture.

That you refuse to wait even hours for the full facts to come out says everything about you and I have nothing to apologize for wanting full information as I WOULD for a Republican as well.

Northam HAS released a statement and I responded IMMEDIATELY:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211759297#post3

I 100% believe you.

Your dismissing from the start speaks more about you and the evolution of your acceptance I find absolutely hilarious. Mind you, you started this whole thing by grasping at straws and all I did was point out that the evidence we had did not paint a pretty picture. Hell, I didn't even say the dude should resign in any of my posts to you.

But you went from debating the authenticity of the actual yearbook, claiming it was a right-wing meme, to then excusing it because, gosh, he may have had no input on what went on his yearbook page because that frequently happens to you proclaiming it may not be him at all and someone else ... to finally accepting the reality.

Look, from the start, the evidence was stacked against Latham. That's all I said. The evidence was damning and the proof it wasn't him didn't seem to exist, which is exactly how it turned out. There's hoping it's not true and then ridiculously grasping at reasons to make it not true. It was pretty devastatingly, and damningly clear, from the start that this was not going to end well for him and that the evidence pointed toward something pretty ugly. Surprise, it was all true.

That was absurd is all. There was plenty of evidence and the evidence turned out to be true.

Something YOU might consider in your own life.

Something YOU might consider in your own life.

Like in this thread where you suggest Northam wasn't in the picture and that it was all a right-wing ploy.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=11758976

doing likewise.

I will not allow anyone to misrepresent nor lie about me, so we can do this all night.

You posed a question: Was Northam one of them? and then you answered that question: No? hmmm...
.

Sure sounds like you're concluding something out of that post.

and inexcusable. I withheld conclusions pending facts. Your misrepresentations do not change that nor do they excuse YOUR behavior. Keep it up so EVERYONE can see what you are really about.

Now you're just splitting hairs.

Your defense actually reminds me of a Daily Show skit about how FOX News often used a question to mark to ask a question that was literally a statement:

http://www.cc.com/video-clips/8ov5kh/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-the-question-mark

Nice try, though.

If you had just asked, "are we sure it's him?" you'd have a point - but then you went on to answer your own question. It doesn't matter if you add a question mark at the end because the statement is pretty clear.

Dishonesty in ascribing intent or content to another DUer's post will earn you a reputation, so we'll just let this go on.

Good luck with that.

Sorry. Good luck with that?

WHO is in the photos/ Who created the page and determined what to include?


If it is him on either score then let the hammer come down, but no, the facts are not yet in.

I think we still need confirmation as to who the people are in the photo, but this is a page in the book.

That's problematic. I'll be honest, I want this to be false.

of that photo, then let the hammer come down. We know neither at this point. What we DO know is that this originated at a RW site and has been propagated by same (aided by our own).

My point is that the image (and page, and yearbook) appears to be real. For example:

Link to tweet

And I never heard of people not picking the photos they wanted on their page. When I was getting the photos ready for one of my kids to submit, I almost handed over a baby picture from a sibling. If that mistake had happened, it would have been on ME, not on the school committee.

It looks like these might be half pages for seniors.

Maybe in the south it was different but in the northeast it's pretty common.

Especially given that the pages in question look exactly like most yearbooks I've seen for seniors?

Yeah, that's really jumping to conclusions.

at least you admit your premature conclusion based on NO evidence.

...but yeah, sure whatever you say.

Here's the difference. If I'm proven wrong, I'll happily come on to this very post and admit I was wrong. Will you?

Edit:https://www.richmond.com/news/virginia/government-politics/virginia-gov-ralph-northam-admits-he-posed-in-yearbook-photo/article_c29e0f55-6284-5bde-8d93-8804ad507d5d.html

O.K. here's your opportunity. Or will we just get more Republican-esque spin?

he needs to say that right away.

It's hard for me to believe that this is for real, since it hadn't been seen before and the guy is a fucking governor. People look for anything not kosher in a person's past nowadays. If this is real and it was overlooked after all this time, all I can say is why?

The Yearbook Committee made decisions on other pages, but the Graduating student had control over their own.

The editor of the yearbook hated me, and I can prove it when you look at my yearbook.

I know because I was yearbook staff 35 years ago.

I'm sure every school is different, but acting like it's not a possibility or not a common thing at a lot of places is fairly naive.

I guess we'll see when he finally makes a statement on this, won't we?

I don't like to go after print publications, but they printed this based on something an ultra-conservative RW outlet allegedly found. From the article:


It’s unclear who the people in costume are.


That's damn irresponsible reporting.


In light of the crap the Virginia Democrats are facing this week WRT to late-term abortions, I find this all highly skeptical.

the paper got the picture from the school:

The photo, which The Virginian-Pilot obtained a copy of Friday from the Eastern Virginia Medical School library, comes from the 1984 yearbook, the year Northam graduated.

I find this all bothersome.

So the RW extremists know that they'll end up with Justin Fairfax if this is true?

I don't want him to become governor because Northam is forced out of office, but I want him to become governor some day.

He's spectacular.

The RTD has confirmed that the Northam yearbook photo, first reported by @bigleaguepol, is legit.

Still no comment from the governor's office

Link to tweet

The Pilot says it's real. From 1984

Link to tweet

At the risk of sounding premature, the Virginia Constitution says the lieutenant governor becomes governor if there's a resignation

Link to tweet

If this is real and Northam is in the photo or was responsible for it being on his yearbook page (and until the Governor's office responds I'm withholding judgment), I'm not sure he can remain in office.

If he resigns, Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax would become governor -- that would be the good news.
The bad news is that under Virginia law, the state legislature, which is still in the hands of the Republicans (barely) gets to pick the replacement Lieutenant Governor.

I kind of think Northam was going to be governor and no more than that, as he has (or had) a pretty good gig as an MD.

Either he's in the picture, or it appeared by chance on the same page. We'll find out.

I'm not happy about this, but we can't exactly pretend this isn't going to be on every DC-area station and network tonight.

News isn't always what we want it to be.

I'll be logging off soon. If I come back to find the thread locked, it won't be the first time that has happened.

Have a great weekend, this notwithstanding.

I am about 70, and remember that the 80's were a different time, and I think it might be nice to look at where Governor Northam is now, if this is even his picture.

Do we so soon forget that this is the age of dirty tricks, or searching for anything to smear leading democrats? I note that there was something earlier about how it might be that Roger Stone had something to do with Al Franken.....some of the republican supporters seem to enjoy searching for anything to smear democrats, and some of us jump right on the bandwagon.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam's page in a 1984 yearbook features a photo of people in blackface and Ku Klux Klan apparel

Link to tweet

Source: NY Magazine Intelligencer, article.

>The medical school confirmed the authenticity of the photos in a statement to WUSA News Channel 9:

Mike Valerio?Verified account@MikevWUSA Follow Follow @MikevWUSA

NEW - 5:15PM STATEMENT FROM #NORTHAM MEDICAL SCHOOL
"We don’t know when or where this photo was taken but it is from the 1984 yearbook. We promote a culture of inclusion and our principle mission is to recruit, educate, & train a culturally competent healthcare workforce"
@WUSA9
----------
The photos first appeared on BigLeaguePolitics.com, a right-wing website founded by former Breitbart writer Patrick Howley. The Virginian-Pilot and the Washington Post then picked up the story. The Virginian-Pilot and the Post have not yet been able to confirm the identity of either man, and a spokesperson for the Virginia Democratic Party did not return a request for comment by press time. Northam was already weathering controversy for remarks he made regarding an abortion bill proposed by Democratic lawmakers in both chambers of the General Assembly. Right-wing websites incorrectly claimed that the governor had endorsed infanticide.

If Northam resigns, he will be replaced by Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax. Fairfax would become only the second African-American governor in Virginian history. L. Douglas Wilder was the first – and he, like Fairfax, first held statewide office as lieutenant governor. In 2017, a union supporting Northam’s bid for governor distributed campaign flyers that featured every Democratic candidate for statewide office except for Fairfax, the only African-American on the ticket. The union, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said at the time that it was because Fairfax opposed the Mountain Valley and Atlantic Coast natural gas pipelines, which the union supported.
http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/02/ralph-northams-yearbook-page-shows-man-in-blackface.html

That anyone thinks otherwise is off base.

we all know Kavanaugh would still have been confirmed. And if it had been of Trump, Senator Collins would show a bit if concern before saying she talked it over with Trump and is now satisfied and GOP House members would find a reason not to rush to judge.

for one thing, did no one think, what about our black students?

that said, Northam is a big target for the RW due to the abortion legislation.

How did any school in 1984, even in VA, publish that picture in their yearbook?

white or black? Hard to tell just by looking at the picture, but it would certainly change the context of the picture.

I’ll wait for Northam’s response since the timing of the release is odd. I voted for the guy and I hope that there’s a good explanation.

This is really no excuse, but if he put it on his page in the yearbook, I bet both students know why it was chosen.

If it was his half page he picked the pictures to be on it. Not good.

I don't see how he has any options. Nor should he. He was in his mid-twenties graduating from Medical School. He wasn't a clueless kid. If these were other men, then I think he should apologize for the photo but remain in office if he didn't choose to include the photos on his page.

I honestly don't see how this can end well if he had anything to do with this. He has to resign.

1. The picture is fake, in which case he or the University will be able to show an authentic page.

2. The picture is real, but he's not in the picture, in which case he's still in trouble for choosing to include the picture AND NOT CONSIDERING THE PICTURE when he ran for office.

3. The picture is real, AND he's in the picture.

In the event of 2. or 3. I don't see how he remains in office.

See post 11 upthread.

If he’s in the photo or chose it, he should resign — but we don’t know that yet.

Last edited Sat Feb 2, 2019, 12:20 AM - Edit history (2)

This could have been a prank played on him. I’ll wait for his statement.

On edit: Now I’ve seen his statement. I don’t think that will be enough.

I don’t think Northam is racist, but was extremely insensitive and stupid 35 years ago. He doesn’t seem to govern as a racist, which is the key here. But there is also the betrayal of trust among most of his constituents, so it’s probably best that he resign. His Lieutenant Governor seems like a fine man and will do a good job.

Trump does worse things daily and pays no consequence, which is infuriating. Nevertheless, we have to be better, or what are we fighting for?

But we'll see

He needs to resign and democrats need to forcefully condemn this.

If that really is him did he think no one would ever find it? I mean this is pretty serious problem. This was 1984. The klan and blackface were long past socially acceptable by that point.

will crowd all the news shows this weekend and tell us it was just a joke, that we all did crazy shit in college, that it's no big deal, that it's cheap political ratfuckery to dredge up something from that long ago and anyone offended is just a whiny liberal effeminate loser...

I would hate to see him gone in Virginia.

The man is a racist. This was 35 years ago. Looks like some kind of a costume party? This is horrible no doubt but we forgave Robert Byrd and he was in the KKK.

Source-https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/va-gov-northams-medical-school-yearbook-page-shows-men-in-blackface-kkk-robe/2019/02/01/517a43ee-265f-11e9-90cd-dedb0c92dc17_story.html?utm_term=.a83b1c4d81dc


Snip::By Laura Vozzella ,
Jim Morrison and
Gregory S. Schneider February 1 at 6:27 PM
RICHMOND — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Friday acknowledged appearing in a “clearly racist and offensive” photograph in his 1984 medical school yearbook that shows a man in blackface and another in a Ku Klux Klan robe.

“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.”

Northam did not say if he was the man dressed in blackface or Klan robes. The governor’s statement indicated that he had no immediate plans to resign, despite some calls for him to do so.


More at site

And issued an apology.