No, Northam’s yearbook isn’t at all like Kavanaugh’s

First, the Kavanaugh yearbook in question was his high-school yearbook. Kavanaugh was 18 at the time. Northam’s yearbook was from medical school. He was 24. It seems obvious that the younger you are, the more knucklehead behavior you are permitted.

Second, if Kavanaugh’s yearbook had depicted him in an obviously racist pose, wearing blackface or a Klan robe, this would have sunk him and rightly so. We can’t have public figures in important positions who have such an awful photo in their past. It severely undermines the public’s trust. The Northam photo may be the single most shocking image of a high-ranking public official to be published in American history. Yearbooks don’t automatically matter but they can matter, if they reveal extremely disturbing information, even allowing for youthful indiscretion. Making a mildly sexist joke might be counted a youthful indiscretion. Being fixated on Mein Kampf quotations, even as a teen, is not okay.

Third, the charges made about Kavanaugh were minor.