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Northam? “Off With His Head!” (EP.103)
Summary
Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, should resign. But not for the reasons that most people are citing--the outrageous photo on his medical school yearbook page showing youths, one in blackface and the other in full KKK garb. He originally admitted to having been one of the men, and later simply denied it. He is clearly backpedaling, and not telling the truth. Perhaps to soften the lie, he then admitted to having appeared in blackface at least once when impersonating Michael Jackson. Once again, it is not the original action that brings people down; it is the coverup. (See Watergate.)
People who make mistakes, repent and learn from them can be valuable teachers and leaders. Northam has demonstrated neither repentance nor learning. He is simply stonewalling, hoping that the news cycle will forget about him, and that he will not have to resign. And he is the same man who accused his 2017 gubernatorial election opponent of racism multiple times during the campaign. That is why he should resign.
For the next 10 minutes, we will unpack what it means to have made a mistake, repented and learned from it, as opposed to having make the same mistake with no repentance, no shame and no learning.
Transcript
Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, should resign. But not for the reasons that most people are citing--the outrageous photo on his medical school yearbook page showing youths, one in blackface and the other in full KKK garb. He originally admitted to having been one of the men, and later simply denied it. He is clearly backpedaling, and not telling the truth. Perhaps to soften the lie, he then admitted to having appeared in blackface at least once when impersonating Michael Jackson. Once again, it is not the original action that brings people down; it is the coverup. (See Watergate.)
People who make mistakes, repent and learn from them can be valuable teachers and leaders. Northam has demonstrated neither repentance nor learning. He is simply stonewalling, hoping that the news cycle will forget about him, and that he will not have to resign. And he is the same man who accused his 2017 gubernatorial election opponent of racism multiple times during the campaign. That is why he should resign.
For the next 10 minutes, we will unpack what it means to have made a mistake, repented and learned from it, as opposed to having make the same mistake with no repentance, no shame and no learning.
Today’s Key Point, part 1: Today’s PC culture, PCism, of self-righteous intimidation is doing major damage. PCism should not be dismissed humorously, or even bitterly, as merely a language nuisance. PSism is aimed at limiting and directing our thoughts and speech.
Similar to Strother Martin’s role in Cool Hand Luke, a movie where Martin works constantly to get a prisoner, Paul Newman’s “mind right.” Martin is the Captain of the guards in this Southern chain gang prison. Newman, Luke, is a prisoner. Martin uses his power as the Captain on Luke throughout the movie through intimidation, beatings and worse, to change how Luke thinks. Captain, “You’re gonna get your mind right. And I mean right.” It is important to note here that Luke was not a problem prisoner--at least in the way that most of us would define the term problem prisoner. He was quietly irreverent; he did not suck up to barracks and chain gang guards in the obsequious way that most prisoners did. That’s enough for the power structure to need to come down hard on Luke. Very hard. And all for easily overlooked slights. The specific slights were not the issue; the prison authorities saw that Luke’s mind was running on a track different track than what they wanted. And they saw that thought difference as dangerous. Luke was different. All the lumps in the mashed potatoes had to be beaten out. That’s exactly what PCism is all about.
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By Will LudenSummary
Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, should resign. But not for the reasons that most people are citing--the outrageous photo on his medical school yearbook page showing youths, one in blackface and the other in full KKK garb. He originally admitted to having been one of the men, and later simply denied it. He is clearly backpedaling, and not telling the truth. Perhaps to soften the lie, he then admitted to having appeared in blackface at least once when impersonating Michael Jackson. Once again, it is not the original action that brings people down; it is the coverup. (See Watergate.)
People who make mistakes, repent and learn from them can be valuable teachers and leaders. Northam has demonstrated neither repentance nor learning. He is simply stonewalling, hoping that the news cycle will forget about him, and that he will not have to resign. And he is the same man who accused his 2017 gubernatorial election opponent of racism multiple times during the campaign. That is why he should resign.
For the next 10 minutes, we will unpack what it means to have made a mistake, repented and learned from it, as opposed to having make the same mistake with no repentance, no shame and no learning.
Transcript
Ralph Northam, Governor of Virginia, should resign. But not for the reasons that most people are citing--the outrageous photo on his medical school yearbook page showing youths, one in blackface and the other in full KKK garb. He originally admitted to having been one of the men, and later simply denied it. He is clearly backpedaling, and not telling the truth. Perhaps to soften the lie, he then admitted to having appeared in blackface at least once when impersonating Michael Jackson. Once again, it is not the original action that brings people down; it is the coverup. (See Watergate.)
People who make mistakes, repent and learn from them can be valuable teachers and leaders. Northam has demonstrated neither repentance nor learning. He is simply stonewalling, hoping that the news cycle will forget about him, and that he will not have to resign. And he is the same man who accused his 2017 gubernatorial election opponent of racism multiple times during the campaign. That is why he should resign.
For the next 10 minutes, we will unpack what it means to have made a mistake, repented and learned from it, as opposed to having make the same mistake with no repentance, no shame and no learning.
Today’s Key Point, part 1: Today’s PC culture, PCism, of self-righteous intimidation is doing major damage. PCism should not be dismissed humorously, or even bitterly, as merely a language nuisance. PSism is aimed at limiting and directing our thoughts and speech.
Similar to Strother Martin’s role in Cool Hand Luke, a movie where Martin works constantly to get a prisoner, Paul Newman’s “mind right.” Martin is the Captain of the guards in this Southern chain gang prison. Newman, Luke, is a prisoner. Martin uses his power as the Captain on Luke throughout the movie through intimidation, beatings and worse, to change how Luke thinks. Captain, “You’re gonna get your mind right. And I mean right.” It is important to note here that Luke was not a problem prisoner--at least in the way that most of us would define the term problem prisoner. He was quietly irreverent; he did not suck up to barracks and chain gang guards in the obsequious way that most prisoners did. That’s enough for the power structure to need to come down hard on Luke. Very hard. And all for easily overlooked slights. The specific slights were not the issue; the prison authorities saw that Luke’s mind was running on a track different track than what they wanted. And they saw that thought difference as dangerous. Luke was different. All the lumps in the mashed potatoes had to be beaten out. That’s exactly what PCism is all about.