Just Say "No"

Charlie Pierce (who believes Ralph Northam should resign as governor of Virginia) points out

That the "revelation" of the yearbook photo is question has been a very successful ratfck by conservative oppo creeps who held onto it until the hue and cry over Northam's comments on a defeated abortion bill had been twisted far beyond what he actually said, and thereby weaponized fully.

When the photo of maybe-Ralph Northam, of Eastern Virginia Medical School, in blackface with an individual in a KKK hood, followed closely on the heels of the trumped-up GOP outrage over Governor Northam's remarksabout abortion, the timing seemed none-too-coincidental. Pierce evidently is aware that

Patrick Howley, editor in chief of the website Big League Politics, first reported Friday the existence of a photo on Northam’s page of his medical school yearbook depicting a figure in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood.

“It’s very easy to explain,” Howley, 29, said in an interview Saturday. “A concerned citizen, not a political opponent, came to us and pointed this out. I was very offended [by the photo] because I don’t like racism.”

The tip came after Northam’s comments on Wednesday about late-term abortions, he said. Howley declined to give any further information about his source, citing a confidentiality agreement. But he said it took him just a few hours to confirm that the photo was authentic.

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.

Pierce recognizes also

That the national Democratic Party, and national Democratic politicians, have learned nothing from the ACORN and Shirley Sherrod debacles and can be spooked into condemning one of their own with surpassing ease.

That the ratfck over Virginia Democratic politics is by no means over and the national Democratic Party better D up quickly against this kind of thing, because the only thing asymmetric in this particular asymmetric conflict is the way the Democrats still fight it.

But if the national Democratic Party wants to challenge this kind of thing, rushing to judge Governor Northam and pushing his resignation is not the way to do it.  However, it worked when ACORN was defunded, Shirley Sherrod fired by President Obama, and SenatorAl Franken persuaded by Democrats to resign. In each case, a pound of flesh was demanded, and  received.

This saga may not end whether Northam stays or goes because

Virginia’s lieutenant governor — who would replace Gov. Ralph Northam (D) if he decides to resign after admitting he once wore blackface — has denied allegations of sexual assault and threatened legal action against the conservative website that published the accusations.

In a statement released early Monday morning, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax’s office described the allegations as “unsubstantiated,” “defamatory and false.” He confirmed that the allegations of sexual assault were brought to the Washington Post “more than a year ago,” but the newspaper decided to ditch the story after it spent months investigating the claims, citing “the absence of any evidence.”

“The Lt. Governor will take appropriate legal action against those attempting to spread this defamatory and false allegation,” the statement said.

The allegations originated with Big League Politics.

With each incident in which the truth is either distorted or demolished, it becomes more difficult for Democrats to raise an objection. "Prostrate thyself" will be the order of the day and that is why- absent overwhelming evidence that Northam was in the offending photo- Governor Northam should resist calls for his resignation.

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