O Say Can You Please Entry 3

O Say Can You Please Entry 3: Northam by Northwest

Today, I am writing about something I did not expect: A Democratic governor from Virginia named Ralph Northam is in deep trouble over a yearbook photo from medical school. It wasn’t just any photo, but one with two young men, with one in blackface and the other in a KKK hood. We do not know which one Northam was, but either way, it’s still inconceivably disgusting that he’d even consider this. This photo was taken 30 years ago, but even then, blackface and a Klan hood were only used a shock comedian’s last refuge (or by the actual Klan). The picture was first publicly shown by right-wing (and that’s putting it politely) website Big League Politics, who I first heard of in a HuffPost report which called them worse than Breitbart in the headline. That is not a ringing endorsement.

    Back on topic, the bipartisan outrage was swift and brutal. In fact, he was condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike, including the Virginia branch of the Democratic Party, literally every Republican in the country, and multiple 2020 Presidential candidates. I have my own two cents, as well: Even a post-scandal Louis C.K. would not even do this as a joke, unlike this little piece of doggie-doo who (as of now) sits in a Governor’s mansion. That’s saying a lot, too, considering the material Louis has been pumping out lately.

    However, this is not the only time “Gov.” Northam wore blackface. In a press conference the day after all of this broke, he admitted to doing a ham-fisted Michael Jackson impression at a dance contest in which he wore shoe polish on his cheeks. He won the contest, but by doing so, further doomed his political career. And now, here’s a meme that sums up this fiasco.

   

    Anyway, the State of the Union address was a thing that happened on Tuesday night. President Trump spoke to both Houses of Congress as well as invited guests to a mixed reception from the audience and the nation as a whole. However, the speech may have been filled with falsehoods, as with most political speeches. That is what we will prove on this edition of Fact Up. All fact checks and quotations in this iteration of the feature are sourced from NPR.

    First up, Trump introduces the speech by calling for unity, which is noble. However, I find it a bit ironic coming from him, especially considering that he recently said that “the Democrats are doing a tremendous disservice to our country” and “should be ashamed of themselves,” as reported by NPR White House Correspondent Tamara Keith. That kind of language comes from a totalitarian playbook from a one-party state like Russia or China. It is not typical for an American President to be like this, but this is the state of the union.

    Next, he brings up the economy, saying that the growth that has undoubtedly happened under his administration is unprecedented. NPR Business Reporter Jim Zarroli reports that “the economy grew at an annual rate of 4.2 percent during the second quarter of last year. But it grew by 5.1 percent in the second quarter of 2014 and by 4.9 percent the quarter after that.” I should also mention that Obama was President at the time, so if you are giving Trump credit for the current economy, you have to give Obama credit for his. I shouldn’t have to state something so obvious, but this is the state of the Union.

    The last thing we’ll cover is our President’s decrying of what he called “ridiculous partisan investigations,” likely trying to sneak in a jab at Mueller and his Russia probe. Needless to say, this only made me believe the idea that Trump has something to hide even more than before. It is also entirely possible that he is attempting to gaslight parts of government in an effort to reduce trust in the system and create even more division. This is outright contradictory to the message of unity he seemingly had for this speech. This is the true state of the union. All in all, after weighing it for quality, this speech gets 5 division signs out of 10. That’s all for today, so have a great one!