# Apparently we cannot escape our past, so I never can be a politician? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 6, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080 "2019-02-06T19:40:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/41 "2019-02-08T15:41:05Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Wearing sunglasses is not an issue. Speaking to someone without taking them off is rude. In Iraq and really anywhere. I totally thought I made up that bit of etiquette because nobody else does it. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/42 "2019-02-08T15:48:52Z")
> [@Shalmanese](#): > > Yes, we should only stand up for our principles when it doesn’t inconvenience us. I’m not strongly convinced one way or the other yet, but I’d suggest that there might be multiple principles at play, and a valid analysis might be that “demand anyone revealed to have been in blackface resign their political position” is a less important principle in some contexts than “keep the party that fights to enact religious, anti-woman, anti-minority policies from gaining political power”. It’s not simply a matter of “standing up for principles” or not. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/43 "2019-02-08T16:36:01Z")
Somewhere out there is film or video of me throwing tear gas canisters back at the XXXXX Tactical Squad during a demonstration in 1972. I have no idea if that would keep me from being elected or make my election a certainty. I was also a member of the local SDS chapter, but the DIA has already discussed that with me. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2019, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/44 "2019-02-08T17:58:12Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Sorry. When I posted that, I was aware only of a report in a right-leaning media source. I was not aware that a woman came forward. Looks like I messed up the first link and put the same one in twice but you got the idea. [https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/06/politics/virginia-lieutenant-governor-accuser-sexual-assault/index.html](https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2019/02/06/politics/virginia-lieutenant-governor-accuser-sexual-assault/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/45 "2019-02-09T00:01:08Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Was it a legitimate attempt to look like an Arab, or was it more of a terrorist caricature, or maybe a Skandor Akbar type caricature? > > That’s really the question, I’d think. If the intent was to ridicule or make fun, that’s one thing, but if it wasn’t done with that in mind, then it’s not nearly as bad as you’re making it out to be. Yeah. IMHO there’s a big difference between dressing up as Blade or your favorite 90s rapper for Halloween and dressing up in a minstrel show costume next to your friend dressed in a klan hood. ---
**Author:** ![skyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@skyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyr)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/46 "2019-02-09T17:48:13Z")
Sure, sometimes people can learn from past mistakes and become better people. The problem is that it looks really, really bad for Democrats to treat this stuff differently when it comes from one of their own than they would if it came from a Republican. We all know that it would be a HUGE scandal if someone found a photo of Trump or any other Republican dressed in blackface and/or a KKK hood. You know as well as I do that if someone found a picture of Trump in blackface, you would not give him the benefit of the doubt. Yet when a Democrat is found to have done it, you’re all like, “Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not be so quick to judge”? Northam was already in med school when it happened - he was not some idiot teenager. He was a grown man who had already finished college, and still somehow thought that it was appropriate to put that pic on his yearbook. Letting him have a pass on this is basically admitting that you really don’t actually care that much about racism or white supremacy. All you care about is using allegations of racism to try to hold onto power. Similar problem with the Lt Gov’s growing scandal. The allegations against Fairfax (which now come from TWO women) have more evidence than the allegations against Kavanaugh did, and yet you don’t see nearly as many Democrats screaming for how we need to BELIEVE ALL WOMEN this time. I have seen a few Democrats claim that Bill Clinton only got away with being a sexual predator because “it was a different time” and that if he tried to run for office nowadays surely nobody would support someone with so many allegations of sexual misconduct. No, it’s just that Democrats think the ends justify the means, and sexual assault is not a dealbreaker if you like the other stuff the person is doing. Hold yourself to the same standards you hold Republicans to and maybe we will take it seriously when you say things against Trump. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/47 "2019-02-09T18:14:22Z")
> [@skyr](#): > > Sure, sometimes people can learn from past mistakes and become better people. The problem is that it looks really, really bad for Democrats to treat this stuff differently when it comes from one of their own than they would if it came from a Republican. > > We all know that it would be a HUGE scandal if someone found a photo of Trump or any other Republican dressed in blackface and/or a KKK hood. You know as well as I do that if someone found a picture of Trump in blackface, you would not give him the benefit of the doubt. > Yet when a Democrat is found to have done it, you’re all like, “Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not be so quick to judge”? Northam was already in med school when it happened - he was not some idiot teenager. He was a grown man who had already finished college, and still somehow thought that it was appropriate to put that pic on his yearbook. > Letting him have a pass on this is basically admitting that you really don’t actually care that much about racism or white supremacy. All you care about is using allegations of racism to try to hold onto power. > > Similar problem with the Lt Gov’s growing scandal. The allegations against Fairfax (which now come from TWO women) have more evidence than the allegations against Kavanaugh did, and yet you don’t see nearly as many Democrats screaming for how we need to BELIEVE ALL WOMEN this time. I have seen a few Democrats claim that Bill Clinton only got away with being a sexual predator because “it was a different time” and that if he tried to run for office nowadays surely nobody would support someone with so many allegations of sexual misconduct. No, it’s just that Democrats think the ends justify the means, and sexual assault is not a dealbreaker if you like the other stuff the person is doing. > > Hold yourself to the same standards you hold Republicans to and maybe we will take it seriously when you say things against Trump. Is this post meant to be a joke? Pretty much every democrat with a voice has called for the resignation of the governor and lt. governor. I’ve always been independent, but any fool can see that the standards of the Democratic Party are miles above the Republican Party. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/48 "2019-02-09T18:26:46Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I think only Democrats have to be as pure as freshly fallen snow, and thats an internal party requirement, not an election one.:eek: I think we”re at an inflection point in history, and this is only temporary. Due to technology, humanity is trending in a direction in which privacy will no longer matter and almost all skeletons will be exposed. While this sounds scary, perhaps we’ll all end up better off. Maybe it’s better to have leaders that have made mistakes and poor decisions in their lives. In my experience, people who have absolutely no flaws or black marks in their history are kind of creepy. Not sure I’d want them making decisions for all of us. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/49 "2019-02-09T19:09:09Z")
> [@skyr](#): > > Sure, sometimes people can learn from past mistakes and become better people. The problem is that it looks really, really bad for Democrats to treat this stuff differently when it comes from one of their own than they would if it came from a Republican. > > We all know that it would be a HUGE scandal if someone found a photo of Trump or any other Republican dressed in blackface and/or a KKK hood. You know as well as I do that if someone found a picture of Trump in blackface, you would not give him the benefit of the doubt. > Yet when a Democrat is found to have done it, you’re all like, “Whoa whoa whoa, let’s not be so quick to judge”? Northam was already in med school when it happened - he was not some idiot teenager. He was a grown man who had already finished college, and still somehow thought that it was appropriate to put that pic on his yearbook. > Letting him have a pass on this is basically admitting that you really don’t actually care that much about racism or white supremacy. All you care about is using allegations of racism to try to hold onto power. > > Similar problem with the Lt Gov’s growing scandal. The allegations against Fairfax (which now come from TWO women) have more evidence than the allegations against Kavanaugh did, and yet you don’t see nearly as many Democrats screaming for how we need to BELIEVE ALL WOMEN this time. I have seen a few Democrats claim that Bill Clinton only got away with being a sexual predator because “it was a different time” and that if he tried to run for office nowadays surely nobody would support someone with so many allegations of sexual misconduct. No, it’s just that Democrats think the ends justify the means, and sexual assault is not a dealbreaker if you like the other stuff the person is doing. > > Hold yourself to the same standards you hold Republicans to and maybe we will take it seriously when you say things against Trump. Have you seriously not read a single post in this thread? Have you seriously not followed the news where pretty much every prominent democrat has told him to step down? Who are you listening to that is feeding you this crap? You should stop listening to them, because they are lying to you, and causing you to look foolish when you repeat their inaccurate claims. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/50 "2019-02-09T20:54:26Z")
Came across [this twitter thread](https://twitter.com/akaDashan/status/1093877736186073090) by Da Shan, the most famous Western celebrity in China. IMHO, this is the proper way of owning up to blackface. You get in front of the story, own up to it yourself, clearly explain the circumstances that led to it, explain why it was wrong and how you’ve used that situation as a learning experience. He’s now neutralized the story as far as it being used as a weapon against him because he demonstrated he is genuinely a different person now from when the picture was taken. ---
**Author:** ![skyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@skyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyr)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/51 "2019-02-17T18:59:24Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Have you seriously not read a single post in this thread? Have you seriously not followed the news where pretty much every prominent democrat has told him to step down? Yes, I did read this thread, which includes several posts who suggested that the racists SHOULDN’T step down because then a Republican would end up in charge or speculating that maybe the sexual assault allegations are bullshit. For all the hand wringing about how awful white supremacy and sexual assault are, what has actually been accomplished in regards to these serious allegations? Here we are several weeks on from the allegations and NOTHING has actually been done. None of this talk about things like how to “own blackface” or “control the narrative” would never be happening if a Republican was caught doing this stuff. You’re trying to make excuses for this behavior because it was never really about concern for women or minorities. Just about trying to hold onto power. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2019, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/52 "2019-02-17T20:03:03Z")
> [@skyr](#): > > Yes, I did read this thread, which includes several posts who suggested that the racists SHOULDN’T step down because then a Republican would end up in charge or speculating that maybe the sexual assault allegations are bullshit. Yeah, that was UltraVires, not exactly a leftist. > [@](#): > > For all the hand wringing about how awful white supremacy and sexual assault are, what has actually been accomplished in regards to these serious allegations? Here we are several weeks on from the allegations and NOTHING has actually been done. What should be done? I have no power whatsoever over politicians in VA. The Governor has been asked to resign, he seems to have refused, and short of impeachment (which I do not see this being the sort of thing to impeach over), there’s not much that can be done. > [@](#): > > None of this talk about things like how to “own blackface” or “control the narrative” would never be happening if a Republican was caught doing this stuff. Well, no, because it’s okay when a republican does it. > [@](#): > > You’re trying to make excuses for this behavior because it was never really about concern for women or minorities. Just about trying to hold onto power. Yeah, you are in another thread, dude. Read this one, and try to catch up before you bump a week old thread again. You had plenty of time to get your facts right, and you blew it, buddy. Please cite the post where I am trying to make excuses for this behavior, or admit that you are just making things up with no justification. ---
**Author:** ![skyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@skyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyr)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/53 "2019-03-07T17:56:25Z")
You have at least as much control over the Governor of VA as you do over Trump, yet people on the left seem much more eager to “resist” Trump than to resist the shameless racists and alleged rapists in charge of VA. At the very least, putting pressure on the donors and other party leaders to demand action would be nice. But, hey, black people will still vote Dem no matter what, so who cares, right? It’s “okay when a Republican does it”? When has a Republican ever been like, “Yeah, okay, I admit it was me wearing blackface. Sorry. Oh wait, no, I just realized it totally wasn’t me! I swear I totally wasn’t in that photo that I picked for my yearbook page, and it’s totally a coincidence that everyone called me Coonman back then!” ? I really am curious about what you would consider a comparable situation. As for my “bumping” the thread, not everyone visits this website every day, dude. I do find it interesting that here we are weeks later, and NOTHING has been done, and the Dems seem to be just trying to pretend it never happened. Meanwhile, the House Democrats are struggling to agree on if anti-semitism is okay or not. Yes, Democrats, please continue lecturing the rest of us on the evils of Nazis and white supremacy while you continue to tolerate antisemites and people who love blackface among your own ranks! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/54 "2019-03-07T18:41:16Z")
> [@Eonwe](#): > > I’m not strongly convinced one way or the other yet, but I’d suggest that there might be multiple principles at play, and a valid analysis might be that “demand anyone revealed to have been in blackface resign their political position” is a less important principle in some contexts than “keep the party that fights to enact religious, anti-woman, anti-minority policies from gaining political power”. > > It’s not simply a matter of “standing up for principles” or not. As ever - Guy goes up to a woman in a bar and says, “You’re hot. For $50K would you sleep with me?” Woman says, “For $50K? Sure!” Guy says, “I don’t really have $50K. How about $20 and carfare home?” Woman says, “What do you think I am?” The guy says, “We’ve already established that. Now we’re just dickering.” Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/55 "2019-03-07T18:41:30Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > Is this post meant to be a joke? Pretty much every democrat with a voice has called for the resignation of the governor and lt. governor. I’ve always been independent, but any fool can see that the standards of the Democratic Party are miles above the Republican Party. Few and increasingly fewer people in the US are _really_ independent IME. I’d call myself one too in some contexts, in part to not have to engage various extreme people defending whichever party I’d align with, if I had to. But I don’t really view them equally, or put myself out as neutral arbiter. So whose standards are ‘miles higher’ is just politics, and everybody who cares has a _political_ opinion about it, just like every other political issue. And calling for resignations is kind of empty if the person just isn’t going to. That’s kind of a freebee. And as we see in many such cases it tends to be different if the targeted person is sure to be replaced by someone from the same party v that party actually losing that elected seat. With that said I agree there’s some difference in going after people for alleged, supposed, perceived extreme political views a long time ago v. a,s,p racist acts or sexual misconduct, especially if the latter might have risen to the level of a crime, or anything else that might have been a crime. The debate about whose standards are supposedly higher is also complicated by the fact that dueling cases in arguments about ‘hypocrisy’ are seldom really the same. Whatever the ‘whatabout’ case is, the reason it’s brought up is usually mainly that it’s well known or fresh in people’s minds, not that it’s actually 100% the same as the case on ‘the other side’. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/56 "2019-03-07T20:33:30Z")
When I was 14 I got a ticket on my bicycle for running a stop sign. When I came in and told my mom she broke out crying, “now you can never be president!” True story. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2019, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/57 "2019-03-07T21:12:58Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > As ever - > > Guy goes up to a woman in a bar and says, “You’re hot. For $50K would you sleep with me?” > > Woman says, “For $50K? Sure!” > > Guy says, “I don’t really have $50K. How about $20 and carfare home?” > > Woman says, “What do you think I am?” > > The guy says, “We’ve already established that. Now we’re just dickering.” > > Regards, > Shodan Yah, that’s a pretty disgusting joke, I think very poorly of those who tell it. Heh, because someone would do something they would not normally do under very extreme circumstances means that they would do the same under all circumstances, right? Would you punch someone in the face for a billion dollars? If you say yes, does that mean that we have established that you are a violent thug? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2019, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/58 "2019-03-08T13:05:27Z")
OK, $50 - but not a penny more! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![skyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@skyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skyr)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2019, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080/59 "2019-06-18T02:21:15Z")
Just wanted to remind everyone that, for all the screeching the left does about how we need to stop white supremacy and racism, Ralph Northam remains in power and still has plenty of friends among the Virginia Democrats : > [@](#): > > It’s been more than four months since both sides of the aisle in the Virginia General Assembly called on Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam to resign after it was revealed there was a racist photo on his medical school yearbook page. > > It was one of the few times in recent years Republicans and Democrats in Richmond were aligned on an issue. > > But as elections for the 140-member legislature draw closer, some Democrats have accepted donations from the governor despite trying to distance themselves from him in the weeks after the racist photo plunged Virginia into the national spotlight. [https://pilotonline.com/news/government/politics/virginia/article\_4c30e5f0-9077-11e9-9fa7-37aaa5bee946.html](https://pilotonline.com/news/government/politics/virginia/article_4c30e5f0-9077-11e9-9fa7-37aaa5bee946.html) This sort of thing is why nobody takes it seriously anymore when Democrats call everyone who disagrees with them a racist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/apparently-we-cannot-escape-our-past-so-i-never-can-be-a-politician/829080.md?page=2)