Sunday, April 19, 2009

Vancouver Dipper Dumb As A Post



If you want to become a member of the legislative assembly it helps if you don't post pictures of yourself with your pants down on Facebook. From the G&M:

“An issue was made regarding inappropriate material on my private Facebook page,” Ray Lam, NDP candidate for Vancouver False-Creek, said Sunday night in a statement.

“I regret this material and the associated comments that have now become public.

“I do not want this to be a distraction in the election campaign and have advised the party that I am stepping down.”

Is this guy really so stupid that he didn't realize that anything you post on Facebook is effectively public?

The photos were posted Sunday on media websites after being spotted on Mr. Lam's Facebook account.

By late Sunday, the photos were no longer posted on the social-networking site.

In one, a smiling man tagged as Mr. Lam hugs a woman in a low-cut dress, his hand on her breast.

In another, the same man is with friends, his pants pulled down to display his underwear.

Is Mr. Lam so bereft of judgment to not understand that posing for pictures of himself copping a feel and dropping his drawers wouldn't eventually blow up in his face?


10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well if you only let friends view the photo's by changing the privacy settings, you would assume 'your friends' wouldnt leak it to the BC libs...

Its funny though how the BC libs can still run John Les, who is currently being investigated for fraud, and not get any flack for that...

Fish said...

No question about it, you'd have to be pretty dumb not to realize that anything on facebook is about as public as it gets, though it's not actually clear if he actually posted them himself, or if they were simply on his profile because someone else put them on facebook and then tagged him.

Personally,I say he should have stayed in the race (much as I hate to defend a dipper!). The pictures on your posting look kind of embarassing, but I do not see what the big deal is. So what if the guy likes to party and take goofy pictures. It's not as though he was caught robbing a bank.

The Mound of Sound said...

Fish, your political sense is yet incomplete. The question isn't who posted these pictures to Lam's Facebook page but that he blatantly posed for these images. These aren't some sort of 'gotcha' snaps of private moments by some intruder. They're plainly posed. That begs the question of what person with any political aspirations participates in the creation of these things. To your clearly hedonistic sensibilities, these pictures are not offensive. However that view isn't shared by the electorate overall. And Fish, you have finally persuaded me that you're possessed of the sexual appetites of a goat.

Fish said...

LOL

Perhaps you'll elaborate from your wealth of knowledge on the subject and explain to me what kind of sexual appetite a goat has!

Whether he posed for the pictures or not is irrelevant to my point. Were you never young mound? Never done anything stupid? I can assure you that smart people (particularly the young ones) are notorious for doing stupid things on occasion. The man should not be condemned and cast aside because of one boneheaded move.

I'm sorry if I've offended you, but you'll have to get over the fact that my generation is not nearly as reserved as the former hippies have become.

Unless I'm mistaken, about ten years ago, a Vancouver city counsellor had to deal with a mini scandal when some topless photos that she posed for in college surfaced. I know it's not the same thing, but the idea is still that a single picture can tell a thousand lies.

I never disputed the fact that posing for the pics was dumb, for precisely the same reasons you mentioned. It was dumb, and the electorate is still pretty sensitive to that type of thing. My point is that there is no reason they SHOULD be.

Does Lam's having a good time with some friends and taking some goofy looking pictures seriously have anything to do with his ability to represent a riding? I'd rather have Lam representing me than the Conservative nut job that currently represents my riding at the federal level. I challenge you to explain to me what Lam did wrong.

The Mound of Sound said...

Fish, you pathetic wimp. No, of course I was never young nor, save for replying to your comments, have I done anything stupid. I was brought up to be a gentleman and received adult maturity just slightly after my third birthday.

You've not offended me, merely saddened me. How dare you take it upon yourself to judge what the electorate, these being your peers and a fair number of them your superiors in so many respects, should and should not find offensive?

It's not so much the picture of him groping some young woman as his stunning lack of judgment that is the problem. In what other ways would he be apt to embarrass or fail his constituents?

Voters rarely get more than a superficial knowledge of their candidates before casting their ballots. That's why the merest controversy operates as a red flag.

On that other matter, I don't know with whom you've been talking but I absolutely deny having anything to do with that Vancouver city counsellor and those nudie pix ten years ago. How dare you point fingers at me? I barely knew the woman. If there ever was the slightest reason to believe that, the proof is long gone by now.

As for the goat reference, don't pretend you don't know what I mean. I still have friends in Ottawa. They talk.

Anonymous said...

I actually find this posed for picture far more embarrassing and yet~ how odd? No repercussions at all..should this guy have stepped down from politics?
http://blog.thismagazine.ca/archives/P__mugshot-gordon-campbell%20copy.jpg

Anonymous said...

"Does Lam's having a good time with some friends and taking some goofy looking pictures seriously have anything to do with his ability to represent a riding? I'd rather have Lam representing me than the Conservative nut job that currently represents my riding at the federal level. I challenge you to explain to me what Lam did wrong."

If anyone is contemplating public life, they ought to be more vigilent about their public behaviour and they are supposed to set an example. I'll go one step further....groping and in-approprite behavour such as shown on MOS site is the fall of anything decent. Fish, you think there is nothing wrong with these pictures calling them goofy and having a good time? What you are saying is having a good time means being pornographic? If that is the case I make no wonder sex is in everyones face no matter where they go. All I have to say to you is....."dah".

Fish said...

Mound, I think this has gotten a little out of hand. I didn't mean to touch a nerve, but from the first few lines of your last comment, I obviously did.

As for what the electorate should and should not think, I have the right to my opinion. Not long ago, two members of the same sex holding hands in public was considered obscene, and that's only starting to change because people spoke their minds. Right or wrong, that's all I did. I wasn't forcing my views on anyone, merely expressing them.

I judge politicians by different standards than you do, not lesser or greater, just different.

"Stupid" as it may be, I hope you'll still continue to respond to my comments. I enjoy our little mental sparring matches.

Anon 8:49, calm down a bit. All I was saying about the pics is that it looked like he was at a party and things got wild. So no, having a good time does not mean being "pornographic".

Mound has made a good point about what this says about Lam's judgment, so I guess I can't blame a voter for taking it into consideration, but I still don't think it was necessary for him to withdraw. As Anon, 7:12 pointed out, other politicians have gotten away with much worse.

The Mound of Sound said...

Fish, stop being a goof. I was trying to have a bit of fun with you. Sheesh!

Fish said...

LOL

My bad, it's hard to tell when someone is just kidding when it's in writing, but I guess your lines about the topless photos and goats probably should have tipped me off!

Have a good one old guy!