Have you guys thought about how many 50+ year old politicians are scanning old yearbooks right now?

yearbooks.. digital photos that he/she thought were deleted but still remain on a CompuServe account/database somewhere.. archived emails to/from a jilted partner or details from an awkwardly planned college party (think "This Week's Party Theme: Dress Like Your Favorite Welfare Queen")..

my only request - which I know is asking a lot - is that every politician is held to the same standard. Of course, that won't happen.

Heat Miser wrote:

Brett Kavanaugh wrote:What happens at [fill in predominantly white exclusive university here] stays at [fill in predominantly white exclusive university here].

Or not sometimes.

As someone who went to MSU in the late 80's, I did some dumb shit (no black face though) that:
1. I regret to this day
2. Should exclude me from running for, or holding public office

The difference is I recognize #2.

Also, I've evolved since then. Without the MSU experience and the doors that it opened, some of that dumb shit might have never been eradicated & today I'd be a MAGA head.

Thank God there wasn't a camera every place you turned back in the 80s

I’ve sent my share of (solicited) dick pics. Probably won’t be running for anything beyond city council any time soon.

I wish Goose were here to tell us about that time he sent an ill-advised telegram..

DWags wrote:

Robert J Sakimano wrote:I wish Goose were here to tell us about that time he sent an ill-advised telegram..

Goose bailed when the bailing was good for him. I thought he had more fight.

I warned him years ago that it was gonna be a rough ride for those that support the racist, bigoted christian sexual predator.

He defended him for a couple of years - which is a couple of years longer than I would've lasted.

I have mixed feelings about this. Societal standards have changed since the 80's. Not sure a mistake in college like dressing up for a Halloween party should be ruining people's careers. Of course, I'm neither racist nor a politician.

y2kMgrad wrote:I have mixed feelings about this. Societal standards have changed since the 80's. Not sure a mistake in college like dressing up for a Halloween party should be ruining people's careers. Of course, I'm neither racist nor a politician.

In addition, kids do stupid stuff. Nobody should be judged as an adult for everything they did when they were 17-21. However, they shouldn’t just deny everything. They should apologize and talk about the person they are today vs. that kid. But unfortunately, like Nixon, it’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.

Long story.  Bear with me.

Back in the late 70's, I was in the military, before attending MSU.  Lived in the dorms, which was a mix of all races and genders.  I mostly hung around white people, but I hung out with other people too.  Went to soul nights sometimes with my black friends and felt like I was accepted whenever we hung out.  Played on our dorm's basketball team and iirc, I was the only white guy.  I would be the equivalent of  McQuaid, without the talent lol.  But it gave me the chance to hang out with people different than me.  Had a great relationship with those guys.

Would like to think i didn't care about what the color skin a person had.  I ran a warehouse and frequently had guys drop by my office to sit and shoot the shit from all races, even had a guys from the Philippines hang out with me sometimes.  My office was off in some deserted corner of a much larger building and was a good place to hide out if you wanted a break.  I liked that everyone felt comfortable enough to come down and hang out to take a break with me and again, it helped build bonds between me and people with completely different backgrounds, cultures and skin color.  So between my office and playing hoops, I had numerous opportunities to interact with people, not just "white" people.

We also had a few of us start this thing called "stand up drunk" in the one of the dorm rooms, which is exactly what it sounds like.  We'd drink until everyone passed out and the last guy standing, "won".  Well, one night I got hammered.  But still, I got out of bed the next day like always and headed to the warehouse for another day of protecting the world from nuclear war.  And as always, some of my black friends and team mates came down to the office to shoot the shit.

But instead of bullshitting, this one morning I had black guys I'd known for several years come in and say "Ricard, if you EVER pull that shit again, I'll kick your fuckin ass."  I said WTF you guys talking about?

Then I found out why they were so pissed.  I had gotten so drunk at this stand up drunk party the night b4, that I started pounding on the doors of my black friends while they were sound asleep saying "COME OUT HERE YOU FUCKING 'N-WORD' AND I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!!", then ran down the hall, ran outside and passed out in a snow bank.  Well, these black guys all came out, ready to fucking kill me, but when they found me passed out in the snow bank, instead of beating the living fuck out of me, got me up and put me in my room, where I woke up the next morning completely unaware of what I had done.  They literally might have saved my life from being passed out face first in a snow bank.

I have no recollection of my actions that nite, but believe me, I heard this story from enough people that I knew it was true.

I learned 2 important things that day.  I was very fortunate that I had built actual relationships with people, so they didn't just turn their backs on me when it mattered, even when I deserved something completely different.  2nd, I've never touched whiskey since then, lol.  That was 40 years ago.

The point is I could have been judged by a stupid nite of drunkeness.  I could have gotten severely sick or worse had I stayed in that snowbank.   I could have been brought up for things I could have lost my VA benefits like college funding (no graduating from MSU later in my life) or bought homes to raise my family using VA benefits.  One stupid, drunken nite could have ruined my entire life.

I'd hate to have to run for an office and have that story come out.  I don't know what the right answer for what they do in Virginia, but I do believe you need to look at the totality of what a person is, not just one nite.  There might be better solutions than just passing judgement and forcing resignations left and right.  Zero tolerance means Zero thought.

Frank Ricard wrote:Long story.  Bear with me.

Back in the late 70's, I was in the military, before attending MSU.  Lived in the dorms, which was a mix of all races and genders.  I mostly hung around white people, but I hung out with other people too.  Went to soul nights sometimes with my black friends and felt like I was accepted whenever we hung out.  Played on our dorm's basketball team and iirc, I was the only white guy.  I would be the equivalent of  McQuaid, without the talent lol.  But it gave me the chance to hang out with people different than me.  Had a great relationship with those guys.

Would like to think i didn't care about what the color skin a person had.  I ran a warehouse and frequently had guys drop by my office to sit and shoot the shit from all races, even had a guys from the Philippines hang out with me sometimes.  My office was off in some deserted corner of a much larger building and was a good place to hide out if you wanted a break.  I liked that everyone felt comfortable enough to come down and hang out to take a break with me and again, it helped build bonds between me and people with completely different backgrounds, cultures and skin color.  So between my office and playing hoops, I had numerous opportunities to interact with people, not just "white" people.

We also had a few of us start this thing called "stand up drunk" in the one of the dorm rooms, which is exactly what it sounds like.  We'd drink until everyone passed out and the last guy standing, "won".  Well, one night I got hammered.  But still, I got out of bed the next day like always and headed to the warehouse for another day of protecting the world from nuclear war.  And as always, some of my black friends and team mates came down to the office to shoot the shit.

But instead of bullshitting, this one morning I had black guys I'd known for several years come in and say "Ricard, if you EVER pull that shit again, I'll kick your fuckin ass."  I said WTF you guys talking about?

Then I found out why they were so pissed.  I had gotten so drunk at this stand up drunk party the night b4, that I started pounding on the doors of my black friends while they were sound asleep saying "COME OUT HERE YOU FUCKING 'N-WORD' AND I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!!", then ran down the hall, ran outside and passed out in a snow bank.  Well, these black guys all came out, ready to fucking kill me, but when they found me passed out in the snow bank, instead of beating the living fuck out of me, got me up and put me in my room, where I woke up the next morning completely unaware of what I had done.  They literally might have saved my life from being passed out face first in a snow bank.

I have no recollection of my actions that nite, but believe me, I heard this story from enough people that I knew it was true.

I learned 2 important things that day.  I was very fortunate that I had built actual relationships with people, so they didn't just turn their backs on me when it mattered, even when I deserved something completely different.  2nd, I've never touched whiskey since then, lol.  That was 40 years ago.

The point is I could have been judged by a stupid nite of drunkeness.  I could have gotten severely sick or worse had I stayed in that snowbank.   I could have been brought up for things I could have lost my VA benefits like college funding (no graduating from MSU later in my life) or bought homes to raise my family using VA benefits.  One stupid, drunken nite could have ruined my entire life.

I'd hate to have to run for an office and have that story come out.  I don't know what the right answer for what they do in Virginia, but I do believe you need to look at the totality of what a person is, not just one nite.  There might be better solutions than just passing judgement and forcing resignations left and right.  Zero tolerance means Zero thought.

good story, dude - and you're a good man (and someone committed to typing).

and, FYI, I do get what you're saying about the totality of the situation. While we only know about this one situation with you, and I'm assuming that it's more/less specific to that one night, the folks I am disgusted with are people who either seem to make a habit out of outward displays of racism, take pride in it, feel no shame whatsoever, and/or a nice combination of all of these things.

Trust me.. if you said "oh - and here's a picture of me in blackface.. and one of me smiling with the Confederate flag.. David Duke loves me.. Mexicans are murderers and rapists.. the KKK fully support a my views.. and I want to ban all Muslims from America", I might think differently of you.

Otherwise, we've all done stupid things that we wish we hadn't done. You're a good dude.

yep - people have every right to be racist.. bigots.. misogynists, etc.

but we should expect more from our leaders.

Here ya go. Virginia State Senate Leader (R)

https://pilotonline.com/news/government/politics/virginia/article_d4ce7700-2ae3-11e9-ace9-ff7814740140.amp.html