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Ralph Northam and the Rage Mob

Part Two

By Gary F. Zeolla

This two-part article is continued from Ralph Northam and the Rage Mob: Part One.

Why Now?/ Back to Abortion

      On Friday evening (2/1/19), after the controversial photo had been released but before Ralph Northam’s press conference, Dan Bongino, a conservative commentator, was on FNC. He said he had come into possession of the controversial photo back in October 2017. But he said he did not run with it as he could not verify if it were authentic or not. But he said that if he had it, surely, others did as well. So why did it not surface during Virginian’s gubernatorial race that year? If it had, Ralph’s Republican challenger Ed Gillespie probably would have won in a landslide. Some have even suggested Ed’s opposition research manager will never work again for having missed it.

      But why did the photo surface now? It was a reaction to Ralph’s uncouth comments about late-term abortion and infanticide earlier in the week:

      Northam’s response to the controversy, according to the Washington Post, angered at least one of his former classmates, prompting them to alert Big League Politics’ editor-in-chief Patrick Howley of a photo in his 1984 Eastern Virginia Medical School yearbook showing him and another individual in blackface and Ku Klux Klan attire …

      “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 (Breitbart).

      However, in releasing this photo, that former classmate actually hurt the pro-life cause and helped Democrats and their pro-choice stance. The reason is, Ralph’s frank talk during that radio interview exposed the “pro-choice” movement for what it really is. It is not about a woman’s “right to choose.” It is about death.

      Way back in the 1970s, Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer said that abortion would lead to infanticide would lead to euthanasia. That point was drilled into my head when I read through Schaeffer’s Complete Works back in the 1980s, especially his book Whatever Happened to the Human Race?, so it is an obvious point to me. With New York’s new abortion law allowing a baby who survives abortion to be allowed to die, and Virginia’s proposed law allowing post-birth babies to be executed for not being “normal,” Schaeffer’s prediction has come true, as American has come now to legalized infanticide.

      In other words, the logical outcome of legalized abortion would tarnish the Democrat’s much beloved pro-choice stance. If Ralph’s comments on abortion had remained the focus of the media, they would have had to deal with the question of late-term abortions and infanticide, and that is a losing battle, as most Americans are opposed to both. But by releasing this photo, the conservation has turned away from abortion and infanticide to racism, and the latter is more of winning issue for Democrats. That is because the MSM has been successful in falsely labeling President Trump as a racist and are well on their way in falsely labeling everyone who supports him also as such.

      That was the whole point of the furor over the MAGA hats during the Covington students’ controversy. I discuss that situation at length in my article While I was Occupied: Part Four. But I failed to mention this point, so let me do so now.

      The reason the MSM is trying to label a red MAGA hat as today’s new “white hood” is so that Trump supporters will fear showing any support for him. A Pro-Trump hat, shirt, bumper sticker, or yard sign will be said to indicate the person is a racist. That label will be used to try to stop any outward support of Donald Trump, in order to ensure the Democratic nominee wins the 2020 presidential election.

      This effort was already seen in a story Jesse Watters related on his show on FNC on Saturday night (2/2). He said a restaurant owner in California tweeted that he would not serve anyone wearing a MAGA hat. It was also seen in story Dana Loesch related on her show. She told the story of a veteran who was wearing a “Trump for President” shirt while he worked out at a commercial gym. The gym owner told him to not wear that shirt again as she and some of the other patrons found it offensive. The vet quit that gym and went elsewhere. But I wish he had challenged her in court on First Amendment grounds.

      Then prior to the Super Bowl, the Daily Beast even went so far as to call the New England Patriots “the preferred team of white nationalists” due to the owner, coach, and quarterback (Robert Craft, Bill Belichick, and Tom Brady, respectively) supporting President Trump.

Further Calls for Resignation or Impeachment

      The calls for Ralph Northam’s resignation are intensifying. The Virginia legislature and Attorney General have even called for him to resign, as have many other VA political figures. The Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax has condemned the photo and Ralph’s reaction to it, but he has not specially called for Ralph to resign. Given that he would benefit by that resignation by becoming Governor, that is probably appropriate.

      Some VA legislators have even said they will impeach Ralph if he doesn’t resign. But if Virginia’s Constitution reads the same as the US Constitution, there is no basis for impeachment. He has not committed “treason, high crimes, or misdemeanors.” He has broken PC-rules, but that is a not an impeachable offense.

      However, given the backlash against him, it is doubtful he can govern in an effective manner. As such, I still believe he will eventually resign. But if he does not, he will never win another election. And his life will be yet one more life ruined by the Rage Mob and American’s new-found inability to forgive and to give people a second chance.

      But I do need to reiterate, Ralph shot himself in the foot with his two-contradictory statements. But even if he hadn’t, the reaction would probably have been the same. No matter what he said or did, once that photo was revealed, his political career was over.

      Ralph’s plan now seems to be to try to ride out the outrage until the media and the Rage Mob move on to their next target. He hopes that will enable him to remain in office long enough to clear his name of the charge of racism. I doubt he will be successful, as he still does not realize that part of the outrage against him has to do with his radical views on abortion and infanticide, and those he shows no signs of walking back. Moreover, as Kennedy on FBN observed, “He has no friends left,” so he is left without any support.

Later Conservative Media Coverage

      Come Monday (2/4), I was interested to see what the media coverage would be like. I knew the MSM would continue the pile on and call for Ralph to resign, so I was mainly interested to see if more conservative outlets would be doing the same. These are listed at Standard References.

      I first listened to Hugh Hewitt, and he called for Ralph to resign, saying he could see no way Ralph could not.

      Rush Limbaugh did not take a specific stance on that question, but the next day (2/5), Rush focused on how the outrage over Ralph’s supposed racism displaced the outrage over his radical abortion views. The latter Rush correctly pointed out are far more serious than a 35-year-old photo.

      Rose Tenant of Rose Unplugged, along with every one of her guests, joined the pile on and called for Ralph to resign. The same goes for most of the Pundits on FNC throughout the day. I was able to watch FNC by then, as the technical difficulties had mostly clear up. The FNC talking heads were all unanimous in calling for Ralph’s resignation. I was a rather disappointed in that reaction on sources that I generally consider to be much more thoughtful than that.

      Dana Loesch also joined the pile on, but in her normal sarcastic manner, especially dwelling on Ralph being called “Coonman,” ignoring that only two older students called him that and that it was not his normal nickname. She also conflated the yearbook photo with Ralph dressing up as Michael Jackson, which it clearly was not, and Ralph never said that it was. I was disheartened she did not use her own call for “nuance” and remember her Princess Tiana story to see the difference between using blackface to mock black people versus darkening own’s face as part of a costume.

      However, Dana also said she was “appalled” that such a pile on did not occur after Ralph expressed support for late-term abortion and infanticide. Like Rush, that to her was a much bigger issue. She even said that Ralph was “morally bankrupt” for advocating such. That is why she believes he is a racist, as someone who has so little regard for the life of infants would also have little regard for those of another race.

      I don’t know if that reasoning necessary follows, but Dana is right that Ralph’s views on abortion are morally bankrupt. That is why I spend quite a bit of my two-volume set God’s Sex Plan expounding on what the Bible and science teach about abortion and the personhood of the preborn baby.

      Sean Hannity did not express an opinion on whether Ralph should resign. He instead spent far more time discussing Ralph’s statements about late-term abortion and infanticide, saying that even most pro-choicers would disagree with killing third-term preborn babies and newly born babies. That again is why Dems want to change the focus of the discussion, as exposing the logical outcome of their pro-choice stance hurts their 2020 election hopes.

      Sean then spent much time demonstrating the racist history of the Democratic Party, saying they are the true racists, not Republicans. His point was, it is hypocrisy for Dems to condemn Ralph now and to try to use the racism charge against Republicans. On that point, he is correct.

      Lastly on Monday, I watched Tucker Carlson’s show on FNC at 8:00 pm. Tucker himself did not say one way or the other if Ralph should resign. He was mainly focused on how the conversation had turned from abortion and infanticide to blackface.

      His three guests then all agreed that Ralph should not resign. The first was Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginian District Attorney. Ken said he knew Ralph for many years and that he most definitely was not a racist. There were no signs of that at all throughout his military, medical, and political careers. That confirms the comments of the CNN pundit, but that pundit did not take that information to its logical conclusion as Ken did. Namely, that Ralph’s life for the past 35 years is far more important than one photo from 35 years ago, and that even if he was a racist back then, he changed, and no longer is, nor has he been for a very long time. That is what matters.

      Ken further said it would set a bad precedent for Ralph to resign, as that would signal that anyone could get rid of any politician they did not like by digging out something offensive from their past. On that point, he is very correct. Her also said that few would want to seek public office given the level of scrutiny politicians now undergo. Brett Kavanaugh said the same in his sexual allegorist hearing, as I report in my Tearing Apart book.

      The third guest was leftist journalist Zaid Jilani. He and Tucker joked that they probably would not agree on any issue. But Zaid wrote a column about the lack of forgiveness in America today. That is why Tucker was having him on his show. Zaid also said that people most definitely do change throughout their lives and that it is what they are like today that matters, not something they did decades ago. His comments were couched in secular not religious terms, but they echoed what I said in my original comments. On the issues of forgiveness and that people can change, Zaid and Tucker were in complete agreement.

      Then Mark Steyn was a guest. He and Tucker both agreed that the far more important issue was abortion and infanticide. Mark even considered the issue of blackface to be “trivial” compared to that issue. That is because blackface is just a symbol, not a real act of racism. No one is physically hurt by someone wearing blackface. Meanwhile, babies are dying due to abortion and infanticide. I wouldn’t call wearing blackface trivial, as it is very offensive to some. But Mark is correct that it does not physically hurt anyone, while abortion and infanticide most definitely does; it kills the precious but helpless babies.

      Tucker then showed a clip from MSNBC, in which the token conservative Steve Moore tried to bring the conversation about racism back to abortion, but he was shouted down by the other guests and the host. They told him he wanted to change to that conversation as it was more “comfortable.” But in fact, it is the opposite. There is universal agreement that wearing blackface is wrong, even if some consider it trivial. But there is much disagreement over abortion. That is why it needs to be discussed. But again, this whole debate over blackface has been used to keep the nation from having the much more important debate over abortion and the far-left swing the Democratic Party has taken in that regard.

      Tucker then showed the full campaign commercial that Ralph ran against Ed Gillespie during the 2017 VA gubernatorial race. I had heard about this ad before but hadn’t see the whole ad, and I must say, it is quite disgusting. It shows a pickup truck with a Confederate flag fluttering in the bed. Several children of color are running from the truck, as if it is trying to run them down. Then one of those kids wakes up, and it was all a bad dream. The voiceover then says something like this is what things will be like if Gillespie is elected.

      Thus, Ralph was charging Ed with being a racist, and a violent one at that, with no evidence whatsoever to support that claim. Tucker’s point was that it was poetic justice that now Ralph was being charged with being a racist, with again, no real evidence to support it, except that one photo from 35 years ago and nothing since.

      Overall, I was so pleased to have watched Tucker on this night, as his show was the only one fully reflecting my own thoughts.

      I generally do not watch Laura Ingraham’s show, as frankly, it comes on after my bedtime, and I didn’t bother recording it either. But I read her comments on Fox News’s website the next day. They parallel Sean Hannity’s in focusing on the racist history of Democrats to expose the Dem’s hypocrisy in condemning Ralph and in trying to use the racism charge against Republicans. But Laura used much more irreverent language than Sean, which is another reason I do not generally watch her show.

      The next day, I checked two other conservative networks that I recorded while watching FNC. The first was CBN News. The news anchor Efrem Graham gave a straightforward presentation of the events, without offering his opinion.

      Efrem then interviewed Rev. Dean Nelson via Skype. Dean attended Virginia University in the 1980s, and he said it was common at parties to see students wearing blackface. That contradicts the claim of the NAACP president I reported about previously. Given that other racist photos were found in Ralph’s yearbook, with others wearing blackface, Dean’s claim seems plausible.

      Then I watched two shows I recorded off of FBN. The first was Trish Regan Primetime. She has been focusing on the chaos in Venezuela caused by Maduro’s corrupt government and his socialist policies, and that pattern continued with this episode. She only addressed the Ralph Northam situation near the end of her show. Her comments showed she did not believe a word of Ralph’s press conference and that she thinks he should resign. That disappointed me, as again, normally she is more thoughtful than that. But maybe her focus on Venezuela kept her from digging into this issue.

      Then I watched Kennedy’s show. She mostly mocked Ralph for his comments about his Michael Jackson dance contest and doing the Moon Walk. But she did make an interesting comment. She said she believes in “redemption and being saved.” Knowing her atheistic leanings, she is not using those words in the same manner as I do. But at least she acknowledged people can change. Her guest, a black man whose name I did not catch, agreed with that idea. But he then said people need to explain how it is that they changed, “if it was because they found the Lord or whatever.”

      Though I disagree with the flippant manner in which he mentioned “finding the Lord,” he probably is correct in saying people need to explain what caused their attitudes towards race relations to change, or whatever the topic at hand is. And “finding the Lord” is often the reason for such a change.

      Finally, on Trib Live, my local newspaper’s website, on Tuesday (2/5) was an interesting article about an interview with Joe Liberman. He was the Democratic VP nominee in 2000 but later became an Independent. His comments are surprisingly astute and also reflect my own views:

      Lieberman, who became an independent late in his Senate career, was asked during an appearance on CNN whether he thinks Northam should resign.

      “I don’t today,” Lieberman said. “I think there’s a rush to judgment that is unfair to him. One, he says he wasn’t in that picture. Two, I think we ought to fairly ask him, ‘Did he know the picture was on his page of that yearbook?’ And then three, really, he ought to be judged on the context of his whole life.”

      “I think he deserves a chance to prove what really is his essence, not to rush him out of office, unfortunately for political reasons,” Lieberman said.

Caution About Throwing Stones

      To those so strongly condemning Ralph, please carefully consider the following two Bible verses:     

      “The sinless [man] of you*, let him first cast the stone at her” (John 8:7).     

      For all sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

      The point being, before you start throwing stones at someone else for something they said or did years or decades ago, be careful, as you could be the next person to have something unseemly from your past exposed, and the Rage Mob will turn its guns on you next.

      And in fact, Justin Fairfax, the man who would replace Ralph Northam if he resigns or is impeached and who has condemned him, now has troubles of his own. A woman has accused Justin of sexually assaulting her 15 years ago, at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. He has denied the charges, but so did Kavanaugh, but we were told then to “believe all women.” But now we are being told to not believe the woman.

      In fact, the Washington Post had this story back in 2017, during the Virginia gubernatorial race, but they did not run with the story, as they could not find collaborating evidence for the woman’s claim. But the Kavanaugh proceedings showed us that collaboration for allegations is not needed. The mere allegation itself is sufficient to disqualify someone from public office. As least, that was what the left was saying, as I detail in my Tearing Apart book. That means Justin would be disqualified from taking Ralph’s seat, and that might help Ralph keep his office.

      Update: On February 8^th, a second accused Justin of rape back in college, in 2000. She says she told a friend right afterwards, while still in tears from the trauma of the attack, then others later in college and on social media. That has ended any defense of Justin, as the calls for him to resign are now deafening.

      I describe a similar situation in my Tearing Apart book. Michael Avenatti represented one of the women who accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault. He appeared on CNN and MSNBC over 200 times saying that woman should be believed, not Kavanaugh’s denials. But then Michael was accused of assault himself, and then his tune changed, with him now saying to believe him, not the woman. I said in my book that just that allegation of assault would be the end of Michael’s presidential hopes, and sure enough, nothing has been heard from him since.

      And in a late-breaking development, on Wednesday (2/6/19), the Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring says he wore blackface while a student at Virginia University as part of a black rapper costume back in 1980, when he was 19.

      Last week Herring, who like Northam is white and is second in line to succeed the governor after Fairfax, had called for Northam to resign.

      Herring said in a statement on Wednesday he now realized he showed poor judgment by dressing as a rapper, donning a wig and brown makeup to perform a song with similarly attired friends.

      “I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others,” he said (Reuters. Virginia attorney general).

      Not only is this yet another case of hypocrisy on the part of those on the left and another example of the Rage Mob turning on one of its own, it collaborates the CBN guest’s statement that Ralph was correct when he said it was common in the early 1980s in Virginia for young people to darken their faces as part of a costume, at least among whites. That it was offensive to blacks was not commonly understood or appreciated by young whites at the time. But since blackface of any sort under any circumstances is now considered to be a PC-crime, the calls are already starting for Mark to resign. The Rage Mob knows nothing of the ridiculousness of enforcing ex post facto laws. It doesn’t matter of it was okay back then. It’s not now, so Mark’s life must still be destroyed for having done it back then.

     And don’t miss the fact that the number 1, 2, and 3 men in the Virginian government are now under the irk of the Rage Mob (for events that happened 35, 15, and 39 years ago, respectively). All three of these men are Democrats. If all three of them go down, Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates, Republican Kirk Cox, would become Governor. That is, unless some kind of allegation against him surfaces.

      That is likely given that, “Cox made headlines last week when he delivered a dramatic Virginia House floor speech, citing the Bible in his vow to fight against Democrats’ push for late-term abortions” (Breitbart. Meet). Given Kirk’s stance in this regard, I am sure Democrats are already digging into his past, looking to charge him with something. If they cannot find anything, they might just make something up. In today’s climate, that is all that is needed, a mere allegation, without any proof to destroy a person’s life.

      All of this is leading to chaos in Virginia. But that does not matter to the Rage Mob. All it cares about is enforcing its ever-changing rules, not the stability of society. The Rage Mob also knows nothing of freedom. Its self-contradictory motto is “free speech not hate speech,” with the Mob being the sole determiner of the difference between the two. And it will crush anyone who dares to ignore its ever-changing determinations.

      Again, you could be next. Remember that before you become a part of the next Rage Mob. And don’t forget that there are now cameras everywhere. That means, if you say or do anything that is contrary to the ever-changing rules of the PC-Police, it will be recorded, and that recording will eventually surface, and your life will be ruined. Even if what you said or did is okay today, it might not be tomorrow, and your life as you know it will still be over. And even if there is no video or other collaborating evidence, that does not matter. Your life could still be shattered by a mere allegation. That is the scary world we now live in.

    That is why I pleased to hear about the following:

      Attorneys representing Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann and his family indicated on Friday that they have sent letters for potential lawsuits to over 50 entities ranging from Democratic politicians to celebrities to media figures....

      The letters come in response to the media’s smearing of Sandmann after a selectively edited clip of an incident on January 19, 2019, went viral that showed Sandmann standing face-to-face with Native American Nathan Phillips, who was beating a drum in Sandmann’s face. 

      The Enquirer added: “This week they have prepared documentation preservation letters addressed to organizations and individuals they believe may have defamed or libeled Nick with false reporting” (Conservative).

      It is good Nick’s family is fighting back against the Rage Mob, but how much better is the world the Bible gives us, one with constant rules as to what is right and wrong, requirements for actual evidence to support allegations and for judges to use due diligence in investigating them, and a Commandment against making false allegations. But most of all, the Bible offers forgiveness and a second chance to those who sin via repentance and faith in the death of Jesus Christ for our sins.

      Add to this the US Constitution and its guarantees of freedoms and of due process and its prohibitions against ex post facto laws, and you have a world that is far better to live in than a mobocracy. But sadly, the USA is moving away from its foundations on the Bible and the Constitution to one founded on mob rule.

      These points are central themes of my Tearing Apart book, in which I quote and expound on supporting Scripture references and quotes from the US Constitution for all of these points.

Conclusion to Series of Articles

      My Tearing Apart book was published shortly before Christmas, 2018. It covers political events that occurred from mid-summer to the end of November 2018. Then after it was published, I wrote my two-part article End of the Year Political Unrest. It covers political events in December 2018. Then I wrote my article Additional Thoughts on the Border Crisis and Government Shutdown. It covers political events in early January 2019.

      I then took a break from writing to set up my new PC and to deal with other tech and some personal issues. Then I wrote my four-part article While I was Occupied covering political events from mid-January to February 1, 2019. Then this article covered the Northam situation that transpired over the first few days of February. Lastly, I added SOTU Highlights, which happened on February 5^th, though I didn't post the article until the ninth of February. These writings together cover most every significant political event that occurred during the almost seven-month time period of mid-July 2018 to early February 2019.

      Needless to say, I cannot continue to write about every significant political event, as I also have articles to write for my Christian newsletter and my fitness newsletter. Plus, I want to get back to working on next Christian book, an updated version of my Scripture Workbook that I mention about pausing work on in my Tearing Apart book to work on that book.

      But I still want to write about political events, so I will go back to doing what I was doing before I started working on my Tearing Apart book, writing an article or two a month for this politics website. I won’t be able to cover everything, but I will try to pick the most significant event or two to report and comment on.

      But whatever happens in the future politically, it will most likely still relate back to my Tearing the USA Apart book and this series of articles. That means, if you have not yet read all of this material, I would suggest doing so, as it will help you better understand whatever happens next.

References:

Standard References, plus the references indicated in the article, plus the following:

Axios. Fairfax faces pressure to resign after second sexual assault allegation.

Axios. Second accuser against Justin Fairfax alleges he raped her in 2000.

Big League Politics. YEARBOOK: Ralph Northam In Blackface & KKK Photo.

Big League Politics. NEWSUPDATE: Stanford Fellow Hints At Possible Justin Fairfax Sex Assault.

Breitbart. Meet the Republican Who Could Take over Virginia in Doomsday Scenario for Democrats.

Breitbart. Report: Ralph Northam’s Abortion Comments Prompted Classmate to Reveal Racist Photo.

Daily Beast. Tom Brady’s New England Patriots Are Team MAGA, Whether They Like It or Not.

Conservative Fighters. Nick Sandmann’s Lawyer Sends Letters To These 54 Entities For Potential Lawsuits.

CNN. Other racist photos found in Northam’s medical school yearbook.

CNN. This is why blackface is offensive.

Fox News. Laura Ingraham: Republicans should avoid left’s ‘PC Puritan’ trap in the Northam scandal. It’s a smokescreen.

Fox News. Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax denies sexual assault claim, amid political storm.

New York Times. Northam Scandal Opens Rift Between Top Democrats in Virginia.

Reuters. Virginia attorney general says wore blackface in college as scandal spreads.

Reuters. Virginia governor apologizes for racist photo but resists growing calls to quit.

Trib Live. Joe Lieberman says he sees no reason for Northam to resign.

Ralph Northam and the Rage Mob: Part Two. Copyright © 2019 by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org).

The above article was posted on this website February 7, 2019.

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