"He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.""Go... And Sin No More."Last weekend, I felt I had no choice but to say a few words about the Northam thing in Virginia. I hate his kind of conservative Democrat so I was only too happy to remind DWT readers that he's had a long, horrible, conservative career in Virginia politics. For starters, he admits he voted for George W. Bush-- both times. In his own 2013 campaign, Northam said "I don’t consider myself as a liberal... I think the less government, the better" and said he is "very conservative fiscally." He has a record in the state legislature to back it up. He's also been generally anti-immigrant over the course of his career until very recently. Soon after he was first elected to the state Senate in 2007 he announced he was leaving the Democratic caucus and joining the Republicans, which would have thrown control of the Senate to the GOP. He said the reason he was switching was because of his fiscal conservatism. I don't know what the Democrats promised him-- plenty, no doubt-- but they persuaded him to change his mind." So the offensive picture in the yearbook didn't exactly shock my socks off. But I couldn't bring myself to cast the 3,000th stone. All I really wanted to do was remind Democrats howling for his blood that Biden is worse, much worse.A friend of mine, Dr. Fergie Reid, a prominent African-American civil rights activist from Virginia, called me and was furious about what's happening to Northam. He thinks it's a mistake to demand he resign. He thinks Democrats are dancing to the Republicans' tune and that the Republicans are laughing at them-- or were laughing at them... until they figured out how they stumbled onto a way to get the Democrats to cannibalize themselves and destroy their own party from inside. This morning he dashed off a note about some of the things we talked about and said I can share it here:
"Virginia is for Lovers"-- good sales pitch."Virginia has always been, of, by, and for racists"-- hard truth; not such a good sales pitch.BREAKING NEWS!!!! SHOCKING!!!Two of Virginia’s favorite sons grew up in racially intolerant Virginia society, and may have engaged in openly racially insensitive displays while they were young adults!! There is Gambling at Rick’s Cafe too.This dirty trick operation is effective, because like a virus, it uses the replicating machinery of the host to potentiate its lethality. Dems are doing the dirty work for the originators of this operation. Qui Bono-- Who Benefits?Good question; more folk should be asking and answering this question.The operation hasn’t quite worked as planned; Northam hasn’t resigned; subsequently, the hit on Fairfax dropped too early; and, after hypocritically calling for Northam’s resignation, Herring inoculated himself by outing his own blackface "issues."Now, Northam has been given the opportunity to become Virginia’s most transformative, impactful politician; this includes Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and others. Ralph can start the healing discussion about the true history of Virginia; no one is better suited to be this messenger; he is a product of this culture; he was raised on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, the birth place of Slavery in America. His ancestors were Slaveowners.Ralph grew up in Onancock, Virginia during the 1960s and 70s. He attended VMI a school that remains proud of its Civil War history. He attended Eastern Virginia Medical School-- a school with a long history of racial insensitivity. Eastern Virginia Medical School banned yearbooks in 2013 after students posed in Confederate garb.Then Ralph went into the Military. He returned to Virginia, voted twice for George W Bush, changed political parties, and was elected to office four times as a Democrat. He is a walking example of the song Amazing Grace.Virginia has had "cancer" since its founding. Examples of this cancer’s rampant expression and metastasis can be found throughout the state. There are times when "cutting cancer out," is not an option; it’s found its way into too many locations. This is Virginia today; "a state of denial" is not a solution; "Projection" and "Displacement" are not solutions.Ralph can start the healing process with a frank, open discussion of the "true history of Virginia." It will be ugly, and difficult, and painful. Effective treatment of difficult problems is rarely easy; but, treatment is necessary if improvement is desired. The Dirty Tricktsers probably never envisioned that.
Who remembers Governor and Senator George "Macaca" Allen and all his Confederate memorabilia-- including the Stars and Bars with the noose? You think the Republicans who started the drumbeat for Northam's resignation care one bit that he applied shoe polish to his face? Of course you don't. Otherwise they would be demanding Iowa Nazi Steve King be ousted from Congress. And now what are they going to do about Virginia's state Senate Majority Leader Tommy Norment? And nearly every other white Virginia male of a certain age? But... they do seem to have come up with a formula-- a formula of divisiveness that no one knows how to use better than Trump-- that will tear the Democratic Party apart.UPDATE: Skip KaltenheuserSure, Governor Northam, your handling of the matter while under pressure was ham-handed. But don’t resign, or Democrats will go on to eat their old, and there will be a silent backlash.Thirty-five years. Is there no statute of limitations on stupidity and insensitivity, on poorly conceived humor? Because if that’s the case, people who’ve done stupid and decide to enter public service might as well just hang themselves now. Forget medical service. Forget serving your country in the Marines or any other risky endeavor. Your service just isn’t wanted. And most of all, forget any ambitions to evolve, to become more aware, to try and square the slate. Any growing awareness and maturity simply isn’t wanted. It’s inconvenient to those who congratulate themselves on growing up with a different background and who pride themselves on their moral superiority, or who’d like to make a political statement by joining the chorus to throw you under the bus. If you did stupid thirty-five years ago, no good deed will go unpunished, not helping felons back into society or expanding Medicaid. Nothing but nothing you do will ever have value again. And so the swirl of opportunistic piranha, including some who surprise me, thickens. You are forever of the lowest caste, forever a political untouchable.And while we’re following this logic, let’s end parole and any other concept of second chances, because people can never be allowed to be anything but what they once were. If you poorly navigated a stilted environment or culture, like a conservative medical school or military academy, that’s you, forever frozen like a bug in amber.Meanwhile, those that condemn with a hair trigger, including one who shilled for tobacco companies, (Gillibrand, just for starters), and one who covered up or defended prosecutorial abuses, and gave a pass to bankers who preyed on the poor, (Harris, just for starters)-- talk about harm to minorities-- and in far more recent times, can get a pass.Oh, and please don’t bring up LBJ. What a shame he was allowed to achieve his civil rights goals. We should have waited until we had someone that skilled who also had a pristine history.
