{"id":69931,"date":"2019-02-02T10:18:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-02T17:18:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=69931"},"modified":"2019-02-02T10:18:03","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T17:18:03","slug":"maybe-the-media-would-have-more-of-a-problem-with-infanticide-if-those-practicing-it-dressed-differently","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/02\/maybe-the-media-would-have-more-of-a-problem-with-infanticide-if-those-practicing-it-dressed-differently.html","title":{"rendered":"Maybe the media would have more of a problem with infanticide if those practicing it dressed differently?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a>
It\u2019s a film that more Americans need to see, and a story that they definitely need to know.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve been paying attention at all to the American news media over the past day or so, you\u2019re aware that a 1984 yearbook photograph has been discovered showing the Democratic governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam \u2014 then a student in medical school \u2014 either in blackface or dressed in the robe and hood of the Ku Klux Klan. \u00a0(It\u2019s not obvious which of the two people in the photo is the future governor, although the caption says that one of them is and although he has admitted that fact.) \u00a0As a result, Mr. Northam finds himself under mounting political pressure, with dwindling support:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPressure intensifies on Northam to resign as key allies pull their support\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRalph Northam is done, whether he knows it or not\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A couple of weeks ago,\u00a0Florida\u2019s Secretary of State Michael Ertel, a Republican, resigned when a photo surfaced showing him in drag and wearing blackface:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOfficial resigns over blackface photo controversy\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Permit me to go on record as saying that, thus far, although I expect that Governor Northam probably will<\/em>\u00a0resign fairly soon, I see no compelling reason, other than the obvious political ones, for him to do so. \u00a0Was his little stunt foolish? \u00a0Yes. \u00a0Tasteless? \u00a0Very arguably so. \u00a0Immature? \u00a0Yes. \u00a0Embarrassing? \u00a0Definitely. \u00a0Malicious? \u00a0Probably not. \u00a0At least, I\u2019m aware of no evidence to suggest that it was. \u00a0Racist? \u00a0Maybe. \u00a0Maybe not. \u00a0Is there any substantial evidence in his policies \u2014 in his history as a physician or as a Virginia state senator, lieutenant governor, and governor \u2014 that Mr. Northam harbors significant racial prejudice? \u00a0If there is, I haven\u2019t seen it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The case of Florida\u2019s Mr. Ertel is somewhat worse, I think. \u00a0Not only was his photograph taken just fourteen years ago, in 2005, when he was serving as a county supervisor for Seminole County, but he was expressly impersonating a generic victim of Hurricane Katrina. \u00a0That was a monumentally stupid and remarkably insensitive thing to do, and it shows \u2014 at the very minimum \u2014 striking lack of judgment in a fairly important local elected official. \u00a0Does it constitute adequate grounds for terminating a possibly useful career in public service? \u00a0(I know nothing about the man other than this story.) \u00a0I think that can be debated.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I disapprove of our modern zeal to destroy careers and people over the occasional tasteless joke or juvenile prank, often from decades back. \u00a0Flawed people can change and contribute. \u00a0Moses killed an Egyptian but nonetheless went on to distinguished public service, and, while St. Paul endorsed the murder of St. Stephen, his later career as an apostle, writer of scripture, and Christian martyr has tended to outweigh that in the judgment of most people. \u00a0Thomas Becket was a loyal consigliere<\/em>\u00a0to King Henry II before Henry unwisely appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, in which office Becket defended the rights of the Church against the greedy king and ultimately became England\u2019s great saint and martyr. \u00a0Robert Byrd held the highest office in his local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan \u2014 \u201cExalted Cyclops\u201d \u00a0(I\u2019m not making that up) \u2014 before being elected to the Senate of West Virginia, and then the United States House of Representatives, and, finally, serving as a Democratic member of the United States Senate (including stints as Senate Minority Leader and Senate Majority Leader) for more than fifty-one years. \u00a0Ronald Reagan was a Democrat before he became a prominent Republican leader.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Repentance is possible.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, I am not a fan of Mr. Northam. \u00a0His successful campaign for the Virginia governorship seemed cynical and manipulative at the time, and, in view of this new episode, seems strikingly hypocritical, too:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFlashback: Northam Campaign Insinuates Gillespie, GOP Are Racist\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But what frankly baffles me is how much larger this controversy has grown than another very recent one involving him that, in my judgment, is incomparably worse:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cVirginia Governor Defends Letting Infants Die\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Northam\u2019s Walk Back Really Means\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNortham on Late-Term-Abortion Remarks: \u2018I Don\u2019t Have Any Regrets\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

But, after all, why should Dr. Northam have any \u201cregrets\u201d about his stance on late-term abortions? \u00a0Plainly, at least in certain quarters, while juvenile stunts that touch on race are unforgiveable, infanticide is perfectly okay:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Indefensible Morality of Andrew Cuomo: On abortion, Cuomo casts aside his supposed Catholic convictions with greater ease than he takes them up.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCatholic Leaders Call for Cuomo to Be Excommunicated over Abortion Bill\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the Separation of Church and State\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Infanticide Craze:\u00a0Laws permitting abortion up to the point of birth follow naturally from the country\u2019s expansive abortion regime.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAbortion Maximalists Claim the Moral Low Ground\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Should Ralph Northam be the governor of Virginia? \u00a0No, he shouldn\u2019t. \u00a0But forcing him to resign over a stupid pose in a thirty-five year-old photograph rather than because of his position on late-term abortion, which seems pretty much indistinguishable from an endorsement of infanticide, strikes me as uncomfortably like finally convicting Al Capone . . . of tax evasion.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And thinking about Andrew Cuomo, Ralph Northam, and the murder of babies inescapably reminds me of a film that \u2014 quite unsurprisingly \u2014 garnered very little attention when it appeared. \u00a0But it tells a story that Americans need to know:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Gosnell: The Trial of America\u2019s Biggest Serial Killer<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 If you\u2019ve been paying attention at all to the American news media over the past day or so, you\u2019re aware that a 1984 yearbook photograph has been discovered showing the Democratic governor of Virginia, Ralph Northam \u2014 then a student in medical school \u2014 either in blackface or dressed in the robe and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMaybe the media would have more of a problem with infanticide if those practicing it dressed differently?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    If you've been paying attention at all to the American news media over the past day or so, you're aware that a 1984 yearbook photograph has\" \/>\n<meta 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