Q: Macbook Pro will not get past white screen.

Hello 123CliffW,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities. I know having an issue with starting up and Safe Mode is not what you expect.

If I understand correctly, you are unable to start up normally, as you get a white screen and when you start up to Safe Mode, you get a blue screen. Your next step will be to start up into OS X Recovery Mode and run Verify and Repair disk in the Disk Utility option. Here is more info:

OS X: About OS X Recovery

Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks

Cheers!