There is strong public and political pressure for these men to resign from their posts because of these disclosures and, if they do, the Republican Speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates, Kirk Cox, will become acting Governor. [The Democrats are not likely to allow that to happen, so the net effect of all this likely will not involve significant change. But it’s entertaining to see how how many politicians have skeletons in their closets. Some of us even suspect that this is a requirement for being endorsed by a major party because those skeletons can be useful for controlling the office holders.] -GEG
Attorney General Mark Herring, third in the line of succession to Virginia’s governor’s office, announced Wednesday morning that he “wore blackface at a college party” sometime in the mid-1980s, according to Bloomberg News.
“Another top Virginia Democrat — Attorney General Mark Herring — admitted Wednesday to putting on blackface in the 1980s, when he was a college student,” the outlet reported. “Herring issued a statement saying he wore brown makeup and a wig in 1980 to look like a black rapper during a party as a 19 -year-old undergraduate at the University of Virginia.”
Herring, who is in his second term as Attorney General — and was reportedly planning to run for governor in 2021 — called the incident “ridiculous” in a statement released to media.
“It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes – and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others – we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup,” he said in his statement.
“That conduct clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others,” he continued. “It was really a minimization of both people of color, and a minimization of a horrific history I knew well even then.”
The New York Times’ Jonathan Martin reported early Wednesday that Herring had convened a hasty meeting to discuss “an issue” with the state’s legislative black caucus, leaving reporters to suspect that all three of Virginia’s top legislators were embroiled in trouble. At the time, though, neither Herring nor the legislative black caucus was willing to give details on possible transgressions.
Martin instead tweeted that VA Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat, “had a private meeting this morning with the legislative black caucus,” according to a member of the caucus, Del. Lamont Bigby.
Asked if Herring discussed a photo of his own, Bagby said ‘He’ll talk about it,'” Martin added. “Before he could say more, the House min ldr pulled him into a private room.”
When asked by media to explain what was going on, Bagby said only that, “I imagine we’re not praying enough,” according to The Washington Post. Another legislator added that, “It’s a mess.”
Virginia’s state government has been gripped by scandal since last week, when a photo surfaced of two individuals at a party in the early to mid-1980s, one dressed as a member of the Ku Klux Klan and the other outfitted in minstrel show-style blackface makeup. The photo appeared on Northam’s medical school yearbook page, and, initially, Northam took full responsibility for the picture, though he would not say which of the two individuals he was.
Sure is nice watching the left consume itself.
“But it’s entertaining to see how how many politicians have skeletons in their closets. Some of us even suspect that this is a requirement for being endorsed by a major party because those skeletons can be useful for controlling the office holders.] -GEG ” Wasn’t it the KGB who said “Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime.” ? I wonder what Jeffrey Epstein might have on Trump, aside from the hold the gambling, high finance mob has on him. This calls to mind the military purge that Obama conducted. Find an excusable way to bump these people… Read more »