Patterico's Pontifications

2/3/2019

Theory: The Famous Northam Yearbook Photo Actually IS Northam’s Michael Jackson Costume

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 11:23 am



So my wife looked at that famous photo of Ralph Northam, and heard me mention his press conference story that he had dressed up as Michael Jackson. She said: wait, so isn’t that photo the photo of him dressing up as Michael Jackson?

It’s not supposed to be. But she has a point, doesn’t she?

Northam’s claim is, of course, that there were no photos of him dressed up as Michael Jackson. But what if the photo we have been looking at all along actually is the photo of him dressed as Michael Jackson?

Here’s the thing: the famous photo has an ostensibly black guy (obviously a white guy in blackface) with a white fedora with a black brim, a bow tie, and giant oversized glasses.

All of which were things Michael Jackson favored.

Fedoras? You bet. Now, beware: the fedora (or perhaps a Panama straw hat, as nk notes) that Jackson wears in the following image was from a photo in 1987, taken three years after the Northam photo. But stay with me:

There is also a photo of Jackson from February 1984 holding a white hat with a black band. I mean, the guy wore hats:

Michael Jackson also liked bow ties:

Michael Jackson also favored giant sunglasses:

Put it all together:

Northam Jackson

I think there’s a pretty good argument to be made that the famous Northam photo actually is his Michael Jackson costume.

UPDATE: Northam also appears to be wearing a black glove in his yearbook photo:

Yearbook Photo

Yearbook Photo Closeup

This Twitter user notes that, while we typically think of Michael Jackson as wearing a white glove, he did wear a black one in 1984:

Click the photo to see the glove.

Interesting.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

193 Responses to “Theory: The Famous Northam Yearbook Photo Actually IS Northam’s Michael Jackson Costume”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  2. That’s a good surmise.

    But I call my white straw hat of that style a Panama. My fedoras are gray felt.

    nk (dbc370)

  3. I am convinced. Thank you.

    felipe (023cc9)

  4. Patterico, I’ll bet I know what was going on, and it’s no excuse. *I* think the guy and his pal were trying to outrageously dress to show how opposites could still get along.

    At 25 years old? KKK and blackface? Oh, my aching head.

    By the way, nk, where do you buy your fedoras?

    Simon Jester (2cc688)

  5. You might be right. Michael Jackson is wearing a modified Mafia hat, (white instead of grey – real Mafia hats went out of style with Jack Ruby) and it would be hard toi explain why else should the hat have a black halo.

    But the picture might be one he got from someone els.e

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  6. So I wonder if his wife is the Grand Wizard, then?

    The figure in the Klan outfit is quite a bit shorter than the one in blackface. They weren’t married until 1987, but might have been dating while he was in medical school.

    Dave (1bb933)

  7. If it was post “Smooth Criminal” I would buy it. But the most probable MJ look at the time would have been the black and red jacket from “Beat it.”

    Michael Jackson in Beat It

    Or this get-up with the sequence (particularly the glove):

    Michael Jackson in Sequence with the Glove

    So…while I don’t think we can definitively say that the pic isn’t an MJ costume…it doesn’t seem likely.

    GOOCH (270456)

  8. But would Jackson be caught in plaid pants?

    That’s the tell…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  9. Simon,
    For about 30 years, from the Hats Plus store in my neighborhood, but the physical store has since closed and it’s now online only.

    nk (dbc370)

  10. The guy does appear to be wearing a glove, too, at least on his right hand.

    Dave (1bb933)

  11. The guy does appear to be wearing a glove, too, at least on his right hand.

    I looked at that. Black one, right, not white?

    Patterico (115b1f)

  12. Airtight case, counselor.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  13. I looked at that. Black one, right, not white?

    Yeah. I mean, if you wanted to look like a black person, putting make-up on your hands so they aren’t white would be annoying, so I guess it might not be an MJ thing but just a practical part of the costume.

    On the other hand, sequined gloves probably aren’t that easy to find, either.

    Dave (1bb933)

  14. Only if boys were wearing them, Col.

    mg (8cbc69)

  15. Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 2/3/2019 @ 12:14 pm
    I vaguely recall a lawsuit against Liberace brought by a young man who ended up losing because his description of the famous pianist seemed so implausible; The judge remarked “that man would not be caught dead in a brown suit!”

    felipe (023cc9)

  16. But wasn’t MJ the guy who seemed to be bleaching himself. Reverse blackface.

    *I* think the guy and his pal were trying to outrageously dress to show how opposites could still get along.

    My original supposition. If it is true, than Northam is being dumb by not explaining it that way. OTOH, MJ did write that Ebony and Ivory song….

    But in the 1950s fedoras were common, and bow ties were common, and most black men would have worn them, alone or in combination. So it’s not unreasonable to see the image as a caricature of a well dressed black man from the later years of segregation.

    kishnevi (bb03e6)

  17. Simon Jester @4.

    Patterico, I’ll bet I know what was going on, and it’s no excuse. *I* think the guy and his pal were trying to outrageously dress to show how opposites could still get along.

    Absolutely. In no way is this racist. It’s pro alcohol.

    It uses iconic racist images (particularly the Klan robe – blackface, all by itself, was not tghe horrid thing they make it out to be in the last year or two) but it is the opposite of racist – it celebrates the Brotherhood of Man provided people get drunk first..

    The message is: “After consuming lots of beer, the Klansman will no longer hate the black man, an d the black man will not be afraid of the Klansman, because nobody will know the difference between Haman and Mordechai, and the lion will lie down with the lamb. Let’s drink to that”

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  18. Now every candidate for Vice President is going to be asked to submit his or her high school, college, and also (if any) advanced decree and even grade school yearbooks before being considered.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  19. democrats want him out like now so they can go get racist steve king.

    lany (1e6e8f)

  20. On the other hand, sequined gloves probably aren’t that easy to find, either.

    Back then they were easier to find. MJ was the most famous person in the world. I had a sequence glove. My brother had one. Also, parachute pants. Ah, the 80s. D.GOOCH

    GOOCH (270456)

  21. I was thinking that maybe Ralph Shearer Northam (if it’s not him in the picture) got the picture from someone else, but didn’t say so because maybe that person has since been convicted of federal crimes.

    It could be a repurposed old picture. But I like the Michael Jackson theory much better. That’s not just any black man, that’s Michael Jackson, even if Michael Jackson wasn’t black any more by 1984.

    Can anyone make out the brands on the beer cans, and tell if they are contemporary to 1984, and if they are the same brand Ralph Shearer Northam is holding in another picture on that yearbook page that is apaprently definitely him ( I think it’s a different brand)

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  22. This was first leaked to Big League Politics, a spinoff of Breitbart (it’s not clear to me whether or not they left because of a dispute) which got it from a “concerned citizen.”

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-tip-from-a-concerned-citizen-helps-a-reporter-land-the-scoop-of-a-lifetime/2019/02/03/e30762ea-2765-11e9-ad53-824486280311_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.7997307557d9

    The source of the tip appears to have been a medical school classmate or classmates of Northam who acted as a direct result of the abortion controversy that erupted earlier in the week, according to two people at Big League Politics, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.

    “The revelations about Ralph Northam’s racist past were absolutely driven by his medical school classmate’s anger over his recent very public support for infanticide,” one of the two said.

    It would be very interestig to find out whether or not the source of the Biig league Politics is pro or anti-abortion.

    And whether he acted entirely on his own initiative

    And I kind of wonder whether anybody at Big league Politics would call that photo racist.

    It has to be said nobody knew to look at yearbooks until the Brett Kavanaugh hearings.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  23. 16. kishnevi (bb03e6) — 2/3/2019 @ 12:49 pm

    But wasn’t MJ the guy who seemed to be bleaching himself. Reverse blackface.

    But still, if you were doing a carton, you might make him black, rather than his most recent skin tone.

    And also Patterico guesses it might be a Michael Jackson costume he had around, even thoiugh thsi time he wasn’t trying to specifically look like Michael Jackson.

    than Northam is being dumb by not explaining it that way. OTOH, MJ did write that Ebony and Ivory song….

    Maybe there’s something very unsavory about who helped him.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  24. this thing, has gotten seriously silly, enough to drop an anvil on northam, or at least have a knight slap him with a large fish,

    narciso (d1f714)

  25. LOL, mg and felipe!

    MJ never missed a “Boy’s Pants half-off” sale at Macy’s…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  26. Th guy looked more like Red Skelton after riding the coal car on the train…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  27. Matt Drudge also wears, or used to wear, hats like that (more closer to the MAfia bosses’ pre-1964 ones than this one) but I think he indiated he was imitating Walter Winchell. (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972)

    Wikipedia has got Walter Winchell in a completely black and black hat. You can barely make out the halo, in a photo dated 1960. (Of course many Saudi royals still wear a clearly visible black halo)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Winchell

    This is more like it:

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  28. Personally suspect he is the blackfacer, not the klansman, and these days facial and body recognition software could increase or reduce the probability. You don’t learn to ‘moonwalk’ overnight; [took NASA 8 years] and Northam copped to being a big MJ fan. So much so, he won that dance contest in San Antonio [which opens up questions beyond Virginia about Texas culture as well in the Reagan days of ’84.]

    Theory has merit- but the plaid pants have more the minstrel-Bojangles look. Still, give Northam credit where it’s due: experience is a good teacher; nice tip ’bout how difficult it is to remove shoe polish from your face. Who knew? Oh… right.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  29. good work Mr. P

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  30. and also Mrs. P

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  31. So the guy in the hood was part of the same talent show? What did he do? Sing “Mammy”?

    Brendan (444932)

  32. Yeah, I still think the photo looks more like a Halloween party than a dance contest, but if he had the costume for one, he could have worn it for the other.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  33. Fine, now explain the Klansman. Maybe it’s some kind of representational art.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  34. Yeah, that’s the ticket.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  35. The plaid pants and then klan pal, especially, lead me to believe it’s just a beer party. I wish he would say “I like beer.”

    Patricia (3363ec)

  36. Now every candidate for Vice President is going to be asked

    And those of his parents, spouse(s), children and other relatives. If his great great granddad was a Klansman, then so is he, by the Elizabeth Warren transitive rule.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  37. So, blackface is OK if it’s a costume? Let’s ask Megyn.

    I suspect that he’ll be impeached and convicted by Friday if he doesn’t resign before then.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  38. Impeached for being an idiot 35 years ago?

    Narciso (cd8eac)

  39. he needs to just blame it on the boogie and get on with his job

    jack douchey’s feral twitter trash will move on soon cause this has nothing to do with our president, President Donald Trump

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  40. Kevin M (21ca15) — 2/3/2019 @ 3:08 pm

    Have you forgotten a liberal axiom? “It’s not racism when we do it!”

    felipe (023cc9)

  41. UPDATE: Northam also appears to be wearing a black glove in his yearbook photo:

    Yearbook Photo

    Yearbook Photo Closeup

    This Twitter user notes that, while we typically think of Michael Jackson as wearing a white glove, he did wear a black one in 1984:

    Click the photo to see the glove.

    Interesting.

    Patterico (115b1f)

  42. Mostly meh:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/hashtag/rva?src=hashtag_click

    Now I’d they had any shame over what they tried this week is something else again.

    Narciso (cd8eac)

  43. Hmmm, so that whole page of the yearbook is dedicated to one Ralph Northam, but the blackface kid or KKK guy wasn’t him? Doesn’t make sense. If he weren’t blackface or KKK guy, you’d think he would have notified the yearbook committee, but it looks to me like he submitted his own photos to said committee, except for maybe the stiff in the upper left corner.

    Paul Montagu (27e440)

  44. @43. You could argue the editors salt-and-peppered random and unrelated campus images as ‘white fill’ for voids on pages in a yearbook printed w/a tight budget on a limited run where sales needed to cover production costs. YB editors do that. There is at least one other ‘racist’ image of a student blackfaced and referenced as a ‘Diana Ross’ but the whole pub should be examined; as should any from a few years before– and after.

    But then, there’s his admission of blackfacing for that Michael Jackson dance thingy and how hard it is to get shoe polish off a face.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  45. I think it’s really very, very nice of all y’all who are looking for innocent explanations of the picture that Northam himself has not made. You are a decent bunch of folks and I consider myself richer for having known you.

    nk (dbc370)

  46. And I would also consider it de minimis were it not for
    1) that he’s fine with killing babies up to the point of birth for any reason; and
    2) the ad during his campaign with a pickup truck and a Confederate flag and a Gillespie bumper sticker. Remember that?

    nk (dbc370)

  47. Hes a detestable person, but not for these reasons, Fairfax would be full prog.

    Narciso (cd8eac)

  48. @47. Blackface and blackouts are in these days.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  49. Amos and Northey

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  50. I see the good guys managed to win. Were there any good commercials?

    Kishnevi (10c258)

  51. It may be more of a mock on Michael Jackson, who had a much lighter skin tone in the fedora picture.

    AZ Bob (885937)

  52. There’s a photo making the rounds of Northam wearing the same checked pants as the guy in the blackface.

    harkin (0e0056)

  53. Were there any good commercials?

    Not really, no.

    The WASHINGTONFAKENEWSAMAZONBEZOSPOST did a “Democracy dies in darkness” tribute to dead/wounded/kidnapped journalists.

    Otherwise I can’t think of anything even slightly clever or memorable.

    Dave (60c18c)

  54. Defense wins Championships.

    mg (8cbc69)

  55. That’s Northam’s cousin, Raoul Severnisunkic, from the Czechoslovakian branch of the family.

    nk (dbc370)

  56. Jeff Bezos
    @JeffBezos
    Grateful for the journalists at the
    @washingtonpost
    and around the world who do the work, no matter the risk or dangers they face.
    __ _

    Rob D
    @dueckman123
    The real heros are the people who write the retractions for your reporters
    __ _

    David Martosko
    @dmartosko
    For the price of running that ad just once, the Post could have hired a dozen reporters for four years.
    __ _

    Grant Addison
    @jgrantaddison
    $5.5 mill so Jeffrey Toobin could congratulate you on Twitter, lmao
    __ _

    harkin (0e0056)

  57. Gronk rules all galaxies.

    Dave (60c18c)

  58. Harder to get into the Super Bowl than it is getting into the United States.

    mg (8cbc69)

  59. Gronks blocking tonight, excellent.

    mg (8cbc69)

  60. I caught the Bezos ad. I turned the TV on about once every forty minutes to check the score.
    The Bezos ad was followed by a Grammy promo, so maybe CBS had a hard time selling ads.

    Kishnevi (916796)

  61. It should’ve been the Saints beating the Patriots today.

    Paul Montagu (27e440)

  62. Enjoyed the halftime show:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=416o9b_pjQk

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. If Gronk is in reality what his public persona suggests–a bit frugal, refusing to take fame seriously while milking it for all he can get– he’d probably be a better public official than most politicians.

    Kishnevi (916796)

  64. Known cheaters, Brady and Belichick, took another one, eh?

    I only said that to annoy you, mg.

    I haven’t watched an NFL game in years and years, maybe not since the Bears played the Colts in 2007.

    nk (dbc370)

  65. The Mr Peanut ad was good.

    The Dude joining Mr Ed to push Belgian beer was exceedingly weak.

    harkin (0e0056)

  66. You mean Patriots beating the Saints.

    I will admit my liking for the Patriots is pure pariochial tribalism. I am from Massachusetts so all things Massachusetts are good (except Elizabeth Warren and John Kerry).

    Kishnevi (916796)

  67. It does of course help that my actual local team is lousy (Dolphins).

    Kishnevi (916796)

  68. @53. Ahhhhh, but are they the same pants given the age gap? Straight legged or flaired? Different belt and buckle, too… shoulders seem awfully slouched in comparison…

    Photoshopped?? But then ‘there’s that admission of blackfacing to win that Michael Jackson dance contest thingy — and how hard it is to get shoe polish off the face.

    The guy is very burnt toast.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  69. Face it: the Bezos/WP ad was better than the game.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  70. If Northam really is burnt toast, then Trump will coast to re-election in 2020.

    Kishnevi (916796)

  71. “the Bezos/WP ad was better than the game”

    Only if judged by comedic value.

    harkin (0e0056)

  72. If the Patriots didn’t have the greatest organization in sports, I’d never watch another game either, nk.

    mg (8cbc69)

  73. Yes that is the curse of being a dolphins fan, was Marino like a comet?

    Narciso (527a57)

  74. @73. Only President Winfrey can bring us together 😉 She can beat him at his own game; everybody pretty much likes her, she gets better ratings. And she reads. He’ll beat any Mueller rap, anyway, unless the Senate believes he turned the launch codes over to Vlad on a thumb drive. No patriots in that bunch.

    W/t weasels popping up so far, it’ll likely be a game of whack-a-mole. Even Booker should know Spartacus put up a fight but was beaten and crucified in the end.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  75. @75. Heard one of the CBS talking heads note this was the first time LA has been in a Super Bowl since ’80– and if memory serves, Noll and Bradshaw’s Steelers beat them back then, too. Believe it is on videotape someplace around here… Beta.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  76. @53/54- Not to quibble w/you harkin, but some professional photo enhancement might be necessary on those plaid pants images for validation. There may be some question to the finer lines in the plaid patterns matching up. And anything from zerohedge is suspect. But it would be worth the effort.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  77. Does anyone remember that Northam ad painting his Republican opponent as racist ?

    AZ Bob (885937)

  78. I mentioned it just up the thread, AZ Bob.

    nk (dbc370)

  79. You could argue the editors salt-and-peppered random and unrelated campus images as ‘white fill’

    What, a reverse-Rather where they used Photoshop in 1985?

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  80. Were there any good commercials?

    There was a Bud Lite commercial where the the Budweiser King tried to return a giant barrel of Corn Syrup to Miller Lite and Coors Lite, since Bud doesn’t use it and the other two do.

    There was another Bud commercial where the Bud Knight is bested in jousting by “The Mountain” Clegane, just before a dragon wipes everyone out, advertising the final season of Game of Thrones.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  81. OTOH, there were two NFL spots where they pandered to the “social justice” crowd.

    Kevin M (21ca15)

  82. @83. No, it’s just a point regarding YB editors and production on limited run pubs w/tight budgets depending on sales to recoup costs. ’84 was essentially pre-d/t publishing days; editors aren’t keen on white space when they’re paying for a full printed page so adding fill w/campus scenes/event photos -full or fractional/cropped images- and such isn’t unusual and makes the best cost-effective use of space; it is possible for unrelated material to appear on the same page.

    But then, there’s his admission of blackfacing as MJ for the San Antonio dance contest– and noting how difficult it is to get shoe polish off a face.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  83. I root for the Patriots, but I am highly conflicted.

    I lived in Boston for four years while working on my PhD. It was real culture shock, coming from the Michigan where I’d lived my whole life. Of course, there are nice people everywhere, but the average person in Boston seemed to be a loud, rude and often bigoted jerk. With an annoying accent.

    During the time I was there, the Pistons and Celtics were in the most bitter throes of their rivalry. I remember being in a sports bar near Fenway, wearing my Bill Laimbeer T-shirt during the “Bird Stole the Ball! Bird Stole the Ball!” playoff game. The friendly patrons drenched me in beer…

    I lived within sight of Fenway Park, and always hated the Red Sox too.

    The Patriots sucked at that time, so they weren’t nearly as annoying. Also, since Detroit doesn’t have a professional football team, I was less vested than for basketball and baseball.

    Then Tom Brady, a fellow Wolverine who was solid in college but didn’t really stand out until he got to the NFL, started winning Super Bowls with them. It’s hard to root against the guy.

    I also love watching Gronk catch the ball and pancake safeties while carrying a linebacker down the field on his back…

    Dave (1bb933)

  84. I’m gonna say this even though I hate the Patriots and what happened at the Super Bowl against Seattle: Tom Brady has already established himself as the GOAT, but Belichick is also the GOAT when it comes to coaching. He has consistently outsmarted his opponents, year after year. He’s not only the best coach, he’s the smartest coach, the SOAT if you will. He would’ve won three in a row except Foles and the Eagles caught lightning in a bottle. I hate those goddam Patriots.

    Paul Montagu (27e440)

  85. Hard to hate a team that studies and prepares as hard as the Patriots. And if you have an ego or a thirst for individual statistics – buh bye. No I in Team.

    mg (8cbc69)

  86. Even if you hate the Patriots, if you’re a conservative, one had to smile when TB-12 yelled” REAGAN “an audible that meant Run to the RIGHT.

    mg (8cbc69)

  87. Gladys Night was incredible singing the Anthem.

    mg (8cbc69)

  88. @87. Armstrong’s professional and personal challenges weren’t all that different from his peers; those rocket pilots and astronauts of his era and generation. Their disciplines, skills and educations varied as did mission goals but as those in the know can and will tell you- given crew rotations and by the accidents of luck, schedule and happenstance, it could have been any of the qualified two dozen or so to become ‘first man.’

    Emailed an old colleague in Hollywood when word broke this film project was first greenlighted. Told ’em this would fizzle big time– and why. Hoped to be wrong, but wasn’t. Among the points- the laconic personality of the central character; a man of few words who chose them carefully, seasoned w/just a hint of dry wit. Met him. Ideal traits you’d want in engineering test pilot- but a disaster to build a multi-million dollar entertainment vehicle around. The only true drama was the spin-up on Gemini 8 and 11’s 12 minute descent to the lunar surface. The family stresses were a common ill as well; most of the Apollo astronauts eventually divorced. The management and industry teams weren’t insulated from it either.

    Mike Collins has noted over the half century since, that Apollo 8 was about leaving; Apollo 11 about arriving. I’ll add that Apollo 13 was about surviving. Survival tells the better tale.

    But the whole point of the $25 billion project was to figuratively, if not literally, ‘plant the flag’ on the moon. And though the final decision to physically put the star-and-stripes there was made only a few weeks before the flight, the rationale was inescapable: the American taxpayer paid the bill. And that is where the young filmmakers went off course.

    Read First Man twice. The book presents a much better perspective on aviator Armstrong. He’d likely agree.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  89. @ DCSCA, #79:

    Heard one of the CBS talking heads note this was the first time LA has been in a Super Bowl since ’80

    Point of order: this is accurate, but only if you’re talking about the *Los Angeles* *Rams.*

    It was not the first time a team from Los Angeles had appeared in the Super Bowl since 1980, because the Los Angeles Raiders appeared in, and won, Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.

    It was also not the first time the Rams had appeared in the Super Bowl since 1980. The St. Louis Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, and lost Super Bowl XXXVI in 2002.

    Demosthenes (7fae81)

  90. To AZ Bob: mocking MJ for getting lighter and lighter was best left to Northam’s local contemporaries at Hampton U. and Norfolk State. I guess he could claim being visionary SJW and all that, but most people wouldn’t stick around for the explanation.

    Narciso, Marino should have been looked at as anomaly, for the Dolphins should always run 3 sweaty running backs- the better to sap the opposition in high humidity with a serviceable QB, just like in the early 70s glory years.

    urbanleftbehind (250c5f)

  91. I actually fell asleep after the Rams’ 2nd punt until the Pat’s first FG. Being on the local station with the “bad antenna”(WBBM ch.2 in Chicago), my far suburban self had to stream, which worked well until I got aton of update prompts that I couldn’t close just when the Pats went on the TD drive.

    Kevin, do you count the Walmart pickup with the famous tv/movie cars as an SJW spot? All of the young WM employees attending to the vehicles were young POC.

    urbanleftbehind (250c5f)

  92. What, a reverse-Rather where they used Photoshop in 1985?

    They were using small “p”, hyphenated, photo-shop in 1850.

    nk (dbc370)

  93. Considering that Jeff Bezos has never denied betraying Earth to the Andromedans who are plotting to invade us and snatch our bodies ….

    This “denies _____” crap is an old LBJ trick. Heard of it? “We’ll accuse him of f***ing pigs, and we’ll let him deny it”? Now the scummy Fake News Media has made it part of their repertoire.

    nk (dbc370)

  94. It appears a few folks around here lucked out due to low profiles… https://www.dailywire.com/news/42988/nick-sandmanns-lawyer-sends-letters-these-54-ryan-saavedra

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  95. 77… it must be jelly cuz jam don’t shake like dat!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  96. Phil Kerpen
    @kerpen
    Justin Fairfax’s defense to Vanessa Tyson’s sexual assault accusation is that the WaPo refused to run the story.

    If that’s true, I look forward to seeing what accusation could fail to meet the standards of the paper that smeared Kavanaugh with zero evidence.
    __ _

    SlothB77
    @ScottySolth
    Exactly. The Washington Post never extended Brett Kavanaugh the same discretion it afforded Fairfax.
    __ _

    Yukio Kaczynski 🌲
    @KaczynskiYukio
    Democracy dies in darkness of the press?
    __ _

    Gianbattista
    @dw2415
    Too busy directing resources to their Superbowl ad to investigate the claims
    __ _

    Hikikomori Quisqueyano
    @xchixm
    Democracy dies in darkness and @washingtonpost provides the blackout curtains.

    harkin (0e0056)

  97. 101 and 77, Gronk must be shooting for linemen instead of quarterbacks. He could join former NFL QB Bobby Hebert (sired OL Bobby Hebert Jr.) in the defiance of dating Darwinism.

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  98. Stephen Miller
    @redsteeze
    Last Night: Tom Hanks narrates a montage of D-Day soldiers, firefighters & demands knowing is freedom in this dangerous time

    Today: Spiked credible sexual assault allegations against a Democrat rising star and replacement for racist Governor.

    Great ad guys.
    __ _

    Rightwing_Vet 🇺🇸👮‍♂️🐕
    @Rightwing_Vet
    You silly wabbit. You thought “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was WAPO’s subtle warning, but it’s actually their Mission Statement.
    __ _

    Cameron Cawthorne
    @Cam_Cawthorne
    “I swear I didn’t sexually assault anyone. See, WaPo couldn’t find anything.”
    __ _

    harkin (0e0056)

  99. The consensus seems to be that Northam was sizing up whether he had enough room near the podium to bust a moonwalk move and that the only thing that saved him from providing a moment that may have been even bigger than the Super Bowl was his wife… who was there to prove – oh I don’t know – that they were still married, or yes, he’s straight.

    Her “inappropriate circumstance” – which Northam repeated after regaining his senses – was the only thing that reined him in. You can’t even make this schiff up.

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  100. That would’ve been the Moment of 2019, already announced and we’re not even mid-1Q’19.

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  101. Yeah, “inappropiate circumstances”. Here’s a 1:11 clip, so you don’t have to watch the whole thing. https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2019/02/04/joe-lieberman-ralph-northam-judgment-sot-nr-vpx.cnn/video/playlists/this-week-in-politics/

    And obviously she was there to keep him from making too big a fool of himself. Again. For the third time.

    nk (dbc370)

  102. I thought Patterico wrote, “ in appropriate circumstances”?

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  103. That would’ve been a very special moment.

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  104. The people get what they want, good and hard:

    https://mobile.twitter.com/maciverwisc

    Narciso (a4fb45)

  105. RIP kristoff st. John

    Narciso (a4fb45)

  106. …one had to smile when TB-12 yelled” REAGAN…

    Way better than OMAHA.

    Paul Montagu (27e440)

  107. MJ wears similar pants and hats in the Say Say Say video starting at 3:49. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLEhh_XpJ-0

    Paul McCartney (4b6c0e)

  108. 37. Kevin M (21ca15) — 2/3/2019 @ 3:08 pm

    So, blackface is OK if it’s a costume? Let’s ask Megyn.

    Megyn Kelly was right, of course, although a little bit inarticulate. At least anyway, it’s not the crime of the century. This extreme characterization of blackface is very very new.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  109. Kevin @84. In the commercial, Miller said they didn’t use corn syrup. At least I thought I heard that. That’s why they headed off to Coors.

    It was the second commercial of the game.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  110. In the commercial, Miller said they didn’t use corn syrup. At least I thought I heard that. That’s why they headed off to Coors.

    No, they said their corn syrup had already been delivered.

    Try to keep up.
    🙂

    Dave (1bb933)

  111. Kevin M @37:

    I suspect that he’ll be impeached and convicted by Friday if he doesn’t resign before then.

    Not likely. The Republicans would have to so it, since they control the legislature. they;’re not going to tae the lead in that.

    Meanwhile, Northam is probably being offered jobs. Buit he can only be forced out if someone threatens an indictment or, like Sarah Palin, he has to mount a legal defense to some investigation, and can’t raise money.

    Interesting fact: Ralph Northam cannot in any case run for re-election. Virginia Governors are limited to a one 4-year term. he couldn’t have hoped to run for the Senate soon, either, since both of Virginia’s Senators are Democrats.

    The Republicans tried to persuade him to switch parties in 2009. he didn’t. In 2013 he won the Democratic nomination for Lt Governor is very lightly cnestted rimary (Terry MzcAuliffe was unchallenged for the nomination for Governor) and sort of slid into the Governorship in 2017.

    Now here’;s what’s really interesting: Ralph Northam is limited to one 4-year term. But if Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax becomes Governor, he can run for re-election, even though he would have served nearly three years of a 4-year term (unlike what is the case in the federal 22nd amendment, where a Vice President can be elected to two terms president only if he served less than half (2 years) of a presidential term. LBJ could have run for re-election in 1968. Harry S Truman too in 1952 because he excluded from the 22nd amendment because he was president when it was proposed.

    …But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  112. 55. Dave (60c18c) — 2/3/2019 @ 7:47 pm

    The WASHINGTONFAKENEWSAMAZONBEZOSPOST did a “Democracy dies in darkness” tribute to dead/wounded/kidnapped journalists.

    that commercial was a last minute (well, last week or two) replacement for a commercial for Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space company.

    It seems like that commercial was either A) no good or B) made only so he could be around his paramour more or C) both.

    .

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  113. 45. DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/3/2019 @ 5:34 pm

    There is at least one other ‘racist’ image of a student blackfaced and referenced as a ‘Diana Ross’ but the whole pub should be examined; as should any from a few years before– and after.

    Somewhere, possibly in Florida, there is an ex-Yearbook printing salesman whose territory was the Washington D.C. area in the 1980s, who is waiting for the roof to cave in on him.

    The same “drinking beer is good” theme appears in Brett Kavanaugh’s high school yearbook, from 1983.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  114. 107. Colonel Haiku (6b7575) — 2/4/2019 @ 9:05 am

    Her “inappropriate circumstance” – which Northam repeated after regaining his senses – was the only thing that reined him in.

    His wife said “inappropriate” but he said “in appropriate circumstances” (two words)

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  115. 123. Wasn’t it Coors that said their corn syrup had already been delivered?

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  116. No Sammy, I heard them both say “inappropriate”.

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  117. Don’t let that Virginia drawl fool you. And was definitely trying to determine if he had enough room to bust that move.

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  118. 71, DCSCA (797bc0) — 2/3/2019 @ 8:40 pm

    that admission of blackfacing to win that Michael Jackson dance contest thingy — and how hard it is to get shoe polish off the face.

    he said he knew taht already by the time of the Michael Jackson dance contest took place – which would mean he had done that at least once before that.

    Q. Has anyone verifiued that that that Michael Jackson dance contest actually took place? The argument that it did would be that he admitted it – and he would if he knew people had seen him, and maybe someone had taken a picture, which they maybe still had.

    On the other hand he said:

    what’s his name, the singer — Michael Jackson, excuse me, that’s why I have Pam with me.

    Sounds like Pam was the fan maybe.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  119. diana ross is a good singer albeit one with a limited range

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  120. Wasn’t it Coors that said their corn syrup had already been delivered?

    Sigh.

    No, no, NO!

    Dave (1bb933)

  121. The Bud Light commercial showed that their beer is brewed with rice.

    And rice is better than corn syrup because … ?

    Dave (1bb933)

  122. Kishnevi (916796) — 2/3/2019 @ 8:17 pm

    The Bezos ad was followed by a Grammy promo, so maybe CBS had a hard time selling ads.

    The Washington Post ad was bought when a spot became available, but Bezos cancelled a Blue Origin ad at some point.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  123. looks like fairfax can’t keep his hands off the white women. hashtag where all d white women?

    lany (db4d05)

  124. @126. If there’s fault, it rests w/t editors. The printer pulls the job jacket, lays out a bible and sends proofs back to the editors for final approval before going to press.

    @131. No doubt local web ferrets, armchair Columbos and regional San Antonio media outlets are digging for it– or running from it.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  125. https://www.redstate.com/streiff/2019/02/04/story-va-lt-gov-justin-fairfaxs-alleged-metoo-problem-wapo-spiked-now-public/

    https://bigleaguepolitics.com/stanford-fellow-hints-at-possible-justin-fairfax-sex-assault

    She had no witnesses, and Fairfax claims to have evidence it didn’t happen (an alibi?), and so far that’s the only allegation.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  126. 129. Colonel Haiku (6b7575) — 2/4/2019 @ 11:52 am

    No Sammy, I heard them both say “inappropriate”.

    All that Ralph says is “in appropriate circumstances” and it would be too much of a sentence fragment if it was “inappropriate circumstances”

    That doesn’t mean anything.

    While “In appropriate circumstances” is the answer to a question. The question being could he still do it?

    Besides, Ralph was smiling.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  127. SF @ 126: Somewhere, possibly in Florida, there is an ex-Yearbook printing salesman whose territory was the Washington D.C. area in the 1980s, who is waiting for the roof to cave in on him.

    137. DSCCA:

    @126. If there’s fault, it rests w/t editors. The printer pulls the job jacket, lays out a bible and sends proofs back to the editors for final approval before going to press.

    But the salesman could have suggested the idea of printing outrageous things that could never be printed anywhere else as a means of selling copies of the yearbook, so they would order more pages.

    The way a pharmaceutical company salesman, for instance, could suggest to a doctor that he or she write prescriptions for a certain drug. The salesperson doesn’t write the prescriptions.

    As it Ralph Shearer Northan says he never bought the yearbook, and never saw his entry in the yearbook until now. And there seems to be some hints that not too many other students did either.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  128. 133. You;re right. Miller doesn’t take it because they already got it, not because they don’t use it, and Coors says our corn syrup has come (back?) But we never get to see them actually take it because the commercial ends before that. The Coors person though says, “to be clear” we brew beer with corn syrup.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  129. virgina attorny general must be getting nervous he is next in line for succession!

    lany (db4d05)

  130. the Wall styreet Journal has astory about the web site that published the leak first (Big League Politics>

    It was founded in early 2017 (i.e. after Donald Trump became president) by Patrick Howley, who also has worked for Breitbart and the Daily Caller, and who wrote the Northam yearbook story, as a very pro-Trump site (the name itself comes from a phrase Donald Trump uses “Big League” which was often misunderstood as “bigly”)

    soon after its founding it was boughht by something called Mustard Seed Media, headquartered in North carolina (which may mean nothing) and two of its owners are political consultants Reilly O’Neal and Noel Fritesch. Among their clients have been Roy Moore and Corey Stewart, who ran for Governor of Virginia in the 2017 Republican primary, but lost to Ed Gillespie, who in turn lost to Ralph Shearer Northam.

    All that Howley says about the tipster is that it “was just a concerned citizen who got in contact with me, as many whistleblowers do.”

    If it was a whistleblower, it would be a Democrat. Except that Northam said no one in his campaign knew about this.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  131. With an annoying accent.

    If you think Bostonians are loud and rude, it’s a good thing you never went to New York City….

    The bigotry is a bit more fluid….Boston Irish more than anyone else, others less so. And those that hit adulthood before, say, 1990, are more reflective of that than younger ones.

    But New England does not have an annoying accent. It’s the rest of the country that has annoyng accents.

    kishnevi (d764f4)

  132. 109. Your link linsk to

    https://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=73065

    The charge is that, in the 2017 Guubernatorial election, Northam tried to fool people he served in Desert Storm (Gulf War I in 1991) by sayinbg in a commercial

    As an Army veteran and a doctor….I witnessed the damage these guns can do firsthand as an Army doctor during the First Gulf War.

    He was stationed at the Army’s Landstuhl Hospital in Germany. Germany is , where many wounded soldiers were taken, but the 97th General Hospital in Frankfort was the primary hospital for evacuated casualties. The 97th closed in June 1992. Since thaqt time, Landstuhl played an important part in treating casualties evacuated from Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, etc But not at the time of Desert Storm, and also…

    He was a child neurologist.

    Of course he could have seen a patient or tw maybe in passing but he didn’t treat anyone – not even for traumatic brain injury, and there wasn’t much of taht in the Gulf War.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  133. Whether or not he was posing as Michael Jackson is a less pertinent question than why he chose to put a photo representing “a black man next to a KKK goon” on his yearbook page. I don’t have enough imagination to come up with an innocent explanation for it.

    Radegunda (694c3c)

  134. R.I.P. Julie Adams

    Star of “Creature From The Black Lagoon” (but you knew that, of course)

    Icy (e1f5ec)

  135. The Babylon Bee does it again:

    Governor Northam Assures Virginians He Supports Killing Babies Of All Colors

    https://babylonbee.com/news/governor-northam-assures-virginians-he-supports-killing-babies-of-all-colors

    harkin (0e0056)

  136. 134.

    And rice is better than corn syrup because … ?

    Everybody hates corn syrup.

    Because it’s sticky?

    It’s supposed to be unhealthy If it is, it can’t be worse than sugar.

    https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/high-fructose-corn-syrup/faq-20058201

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  137. To be clear, the site linked to @149 is a joke site:

    Northam said he is just the target of a vicious “noticing campaign”, where people notice things he did and then mention the things that were noticed. “I was just a happy-go-lucky infanticide governor, and you could hardly drag the press to pay attention to me,” Northam stated. “Now all of sudden I’m getting scrutinized like a common Republican.”

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  138. lany, if Sheriff David Clarke, and to a lesser degree, Sen. Corey Booker, can play that game (and might have gotten to a base with the First of First Daughter), why not Lt. Gov. Fairfax?

    urbanleftbehind (5eecdb)

  139. Whether or not he was posing as Michael Jackson is a less pertinent question than why he chose to put a photo representing “a black man next to a KKK goon” on his yearbook page. I don’t have enough imagination to come up with an innocent explanation for it.

    Because, in the days before microaggressions and the requirement that SJWs have no sense of humor, the idea of a black man partying together with a Klansman was considered humorous….

    kishnevi (d764f4)

  140. In re Super Bowls in general
    https://twitter.com/DougIpson/status/1091921189667328000

    kishnevi (d764f4)

  141. 154 — I kinda see the point, and it’s valid considering that it used to be okay to dress up as all manner of malignant personages and beings without everyone jumping to the conclusion that it’s an endorsement of the ethics represented. There’s also the possibility that it was a “can’t we all get along” statement. And yet I remember 1984 and I doubt I would have thought it humorous then for me to put on blackface and pose that way. Moreover, what kind of statement did Northam intend to make by choosing that as representative of his med-school days? That goes a step or two beyond thinking it was funny to dress that way for a party.

    Radegunda (694c3c)

  142. If you think Bostonians are loud and rude, it’s a good thing you never went to New York City….

    … and if I had a dollar for every time some Bostonian told me that after I pointed out something rude done by another Bostonian, I could have retired comfortably to the Vin-YAHD by now…

    The bigotry is a bit more fluid….Boston Irish more than anyone else, others less so. And those that hit adulthood before, say, 1990, are more reflective of that than younger ones.

    I lived there in the mid-late ’80’s, so nobody had hit adulthood, or even been born, after 1990 yet…

    But yes, it was most noticeable with the Irish.

    Once when I lived there, my a-PAHT-ment was broken into while I was out for the evening, and my TV, VCR and stereo were stolen. I called the cops and they dutifully sent a paddy around to take my report. The first words out of the cop’s mouth after I described how I came home to discover the burglary were “He was probably black.”

    Dave (1bb933)

  143. oh hey look when you click here you actually gets stuff again now kind of

    http://proteinwisdom.com/

    for a while there was barely a placeholder there

    i hope this means good things for america

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  144. What people don’t understand about Massachusetts is that when St. Patrick kicked the snakes out of Ireland they had to go somewhere.

    nk (dbc370)

  145. well this is a new twist:

    http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=379602

    narciso (d1f714)

  146. “Once when I lived there, my a-PAHT-ment was broken into while I was out for the evening, and my TV, VCR and stereo were stolen. I called the cops and they dutifully sent a paddy around to take my report.“

    Probably to buy drugs supplied by the Bulger gang…

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  147. All that Ralph says is “in appropriate circumstances” …

    You’re wrong, again. You discount his Virginia drawl, I’ve listened to it a dozen times, he says “inappropriate”, one word, not “in appropriate” JUST AS HIS WIFE DID… one word.

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  148. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny-news-liam-neeson-admits-once-considered-mudering-random-black-man-for-revenge-20190204-story.html?fbclid=IwAR1V_npJM0V6ewPhht_xBc2KVc3Ct06NAQ2iMtdeeId_FFCjePJRRgTU0-U

    That’s dumb. All he had to do was make a relatively modest, for him, donation to Planned Parenthood and they would have killed dozens for him.

    nk (dbc370)

  149. He killed Albanians and Turks in taken, corrupt cops in tombstones (how is that the only matt scudder film)?

    Narciso (2980ef)

  150. i saw Mr. Neeson in a movie it was called the commuter

    it had vera farmiga in it and elizabeth mcgovern

    he played an ex-cop so you’d think he was a big racist but actually he was very nice to all the different races he encountered

    he looked really really old and he was supposed to have kids in high school and it was all kinda nuts but he raised good kids not racist ones like how Jheff Fhlake did

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  151. You know, there’s possibly some black man walking around alive today, because Liam Neeson could not find a screenwriter, director, studio armorer and stunt man.

    But the Hollywood organ grinder’s monkey who gets the Oscar in Best At Believing His Tough Guy Roles is Alec Baldwin.

    nk (dbc370)

  152. But yet for Taken they had to pick the whitest of the subgroups to vilify rather than the more common (to Paris) Algerians or Morrocans.

    Speaking of which, the Fire Ants have crossed the Queens/Nassau line apparently. Next up, Los Trinitarios.

    urbanleftbehind (250c5f)

  153. Well, CNN reports a response from one of the ’84 layout editors. Says the images were submitted by the individuals in sealed envelopes for placement on the personal pages. Says it’s ‘possible’ images could have been mixed up– but not ‘probable.’

    Why the editors in Virginia accepted blackfaced racist images for publication in 1984 and why organizers of a San Antonio, TX., dance contest allowed performances in blackface in 1984 remains unanswered.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  154. at&t’s bill maher thinks all the black people eat popeyes all the time

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  155. If it was okay for Ben Vereen at the White House and SNL on national broadcast television …?

    nk (dbc370)

  156. she’s a giver

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  157. And in unknown random German and American assasins.

    Narciso (2980ef)

  158. 173 – if Liam felt a little uneasy at the time, Dylan would understand.

    harkin (0e0056)

  159. @172. So the RNC inaugural committee and NBC have something in common-but then viewers could lodge a complaint to the FCC over NBC standards & practices; still, showbizzers Nancy ‘n’ Ron didn’t get up and leave ’cause, you know, ‘the show must go on’ — it’s a Hollywood ‘thang.’

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  160. Nk, OW’s hubby Jason Sudeikis is a lucky man and, had Kris Kobach gotten stuff done, the odds on SNL alum who would portray him.

    urbanleftbehind (250c5f)

  161. 176… tangled up in blue-ew-ew

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  162. First Northam’s idiocy and now Fairfax is alleged to have forced a young woman to whup some skull 💀 on him… NEXT!!!

    Colonel Haiku (6b7575)

  163. Just wait till Democrats find out that it was Democrats that put up all those Confederate statues. That’s when the quinoa salad will hit the fan.

    nk (dbc370)

  164. It’s like Cheadle vs. Downey or poitier vs.
    Caan

    Narciso (401e9c)

  165. Speaking of Cheadle, 95% of black folk wish would happen to the rest of us in this one scene.

    urbanleftbehind (250c5f)

  166. 183… sweet Jaysus, I hope not. Or are you saying they hope we get a money gift bag, with donuts on teh side, ulb?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  167. Seriously how corrupt and morally repugnant are these people!?!?! https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/cnn-guest-criticizes-ralph-northams-abortion-extremism-immediately-gets-sho

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  168. 84. 134.

    134.The Bud Light commercial showed that their beer is brewed with rice.

    And rice is better than corn syrup because … ?

    When I opened up the New York Times today, and turned to page A18 to follow the jump and read all about the Governor of Virginia and related stories, I found a full page ad on page A19 from Miller.

    Note: I wouldn’t expect to find a copy opf the ad on the New York Times’ web site, but the full tgext is included, for instance, here:

    https://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/millerlite-responds-bud-light-s-corn-syrup-attack/316529

    I hadn’t realized there was a distinction between “high fructose corn syrup” and just plain corn syrup. Me bad.

    Also, they said none of it winds up in a can of Miller Lite. But the corn syrup nevertheless makes it taste great. They didn’t explain that.

    They call the Superbowl the “Big Game” like as if the term “Super Bowl” was trademarked. Come to think of it, maybe it is, but this has to be fair use. Nobody else was ever stopped from ujsing thast term. Maybe their lawyers told them to put a ™ symbol next to the word Super Bowl if they used it.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  169. 154. 156. kishnevi (d764f4) — 2/4/2019 @ 1:32 pm

    Because, in the days before microaggressions and the requirement that SJWs have no sense of humor, the idea of a black man partying together with a Klansman was considered humorous….

    156. Radegunda (694c3c) — 2/4/2019 @ 2:32 pm

    I kinda see the point, and it’s valid considering that it used to be okay to dress up as all manner of malignant personages and beings without everyone jumping to the conclusion that it’s an endorsement of the ethics represented. There’s also the possibility that it was a “can’t we all get along” statement,

    It’s not a “can’t we all get along” statement. It’s a “The Great Big Brotherhood of Beer” statement. It’s a statement that drinking beer makes all hostilities between people go away. They are both holding a can of beer in their right hands, and now they all join in the Brotherhood of Man. Maybe so fast that Klansman doesn’t even have time to take off his robe, or he doesn’t realize what it means anymore.

    It has a kind of a caption underneath it, or at least the picture is intended as an illustration of what follows:

    After mentioning that Ralph Shearer Northam’s Alma Mater is the Virginia Military Institute (is that a college? Apparently, yes. It’s not a high school or prep school); and that his Interest: is Pediatrics; it gives the following quote:

    There are more old drunks than old doctors in this world so I think I’ll have another beer.”

    That looks sort of like a caption to the photo or the photo is an explanation of the quote.

    Holding beer cans they are about to have another beer. Saying “another” beer indicates that they are already very drunk.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  170. Patterico (115b1f) — 2/3/2019 @ 2:52 pm

    I still think the photo looks more like a Halloween party than a dance contest, but if he had the costume for one, he could have worn it for the other.

    I don’t think this was taken at a Halloween, or other, party, but I think this was probably shot in a photographer’s studio.

    There are no other people in the picture, and there is a curtain behind more than half of the picture frame. The only other thing you see is a wall, and, perhaps, part of waht could be a low stool.

    Indeed he could have had a costume. I might even maybe think it is indeed correct that the person posing in the picture is not him (Northam is actually now telling his people he’s trying to find out (using facial recognition software??!) who is the person in blackface.

    On the other hand there seems to exist a picture of Northam, if that os him, wearoing the same kind of pants.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  171. 156. Radegunda Moreover, what kind of statement did Northam intend to make by choosing that as representative of his med-school days? That goes a step or two beyond thinking it was funny to dress that way for a party.

    That drinking lots and lots of alcoholic beverages is a very, very, good thing to do.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  172. Some further developments that didn’t make the news by you maybe:

    1. Governor Northam released a statement from many of his fellow former students at Eastern Virginia Medical School that they don’t believe it was him in the photo, and besides he was not a racist. (CBS Evening News)

    2. Governor Northam’s wife, Pam, is said to be one of those telling him he should not resign. Governor Northam apparenetly feels that if he does resign he will go down in history as a racist (probably because nobody will be interested in following up this story if he is no longer Governor of Virginia)

    3. One of the tactics that might be used against him is members of his cabinet resigning, but that’s not likely to start in earnest until the end of the week.

    4. Impeachment is unlikely. There doesn’t seem to be a case for it, according to the Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates, Kirk Cox. BTW, Republicans have narrow majorities in both houses, which are up for re-election this year. (this morning’s New York Times)

    5. The colegs has hired a law firm to investigate how offensive pictures came to be published in past yearbooks, and formed a community advisory group to examone the cammpus’s culture. But this happened more than a generation ago! It’s long over. Probably these yearbooks didn’t sell like (the salesman?) said it would.

    It’s interesting to investigate, but that’s a historical inquiry. You might, in general, want to know how such things can come to pass.

    5

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)

  173. One thing worth noting is that in the picture, the Klansman and the black man are in amode of equality.

    Sammy Finkelman (102c75)


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