As politics go, it is hardly possible to have a more disastrous week than Democratic Virginia Governor Ralph Northam has. After openly attempting to rationalize – even normalize – the euthanizing of newborns, Northam placed himself firmly in the crosshairs of practically everyone who has a shred of humanity. As a direct result of that moment of infamy – one can safely assume – someone dug into the governor’s past and came up with his 1984 yearbook from medical school. One photograph on his page in that yearbook will likely end the governor’s political career.
The photograph in question is of two young men in costume – perhaps at a party or celebration of some kind. One of the students is wearing blackface and sporting a grin while his colleague is dressed in a facsimile of white Ku Klux Klan robes, complete with hood. Northam has admitted that one of those students is him, although he has declined to say which one.
Blackface or KKK Robes: Which is Worse?
Perhaps it could be argued that the two costumes are equally offensive, and it is little more than speculation to suggest that Northam is the one in the KKK robes since the young man in blackface is wearing glasses, which Northam did not. Since the glasses, clearly, are not integral to the costume of the young man in blackface, one can only assume that he – whoever he is – was a person who wore glasses even out of costume.
The real point, though, is that Northam must go. He should resign immediately. He is now a liability to the Democratic Party as a whole and to Virginia Democrats in particular – Virginia is a state that could tilt red or blue in any given election year.
Same Rules for Everyone
Apart from Northam’s resignation being a matter of damage control for the Democratic Party, there is another reason why the governor must be compelled to step down. Quite simply, he must conform to the rules of acceptable behavior now enforced by the left. It almost goes without saying that if Northam was a Republican, he would already be gone. Every Democratic politician – along with most Republicans – and every national newspaper would have demanded it.
As was made clear during the debacle of the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination, yearbooks matter. According to Democrats and their left-wing minions in the media, what is found in one’s yearbook defines one’s character forever. More than that, though, it is simply unacceptable to wear blackface or dress as a member of the KKK, even if no offense was actually intended.
If the left defends Northam and declines to demand his resignation, the rules will have changed again, and it would, henceforth, appear ridiculous to feign outrage over pictures of anyone in blackface or wearing KKK robes in the context of a costume party. More importantly, the left will have to abandon one of its favorite strategies: using images and comments from decades past against their political opponents. Either one can be forgiven for acts committed in the folly of youth or one cannot. Either one can be forgiven for acts committed in the folly of youth or one cannot.
It is a ghastly reflection of modern America, though, that a politician who clearly believes infanticide has a place in society will almost certainly have to leave office because, 35 years ago, he attended a party dressed in an offensive costume. Have we completely lost sight of what is truly important? Can we no longer distinguish between true evil and off-color humor or politically incorrect hijinks? Northam should resign because he thinks it acceptable to snuff out the lives of newborn infants, but he will be forced to resign because he indulged in a racially-insensitive frivolity. Maybe Americans should re-examine their priorities.
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