Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Has George Allen Lost His Mind?
If I didn't watch the video myself, I wouldn't have believed this:
S.R. Sidarth, a senior at the University of Virginia, had been trailing Allen with a video camera to document his travels and speeches for the Webb campaign. During a campaign speech Friday in Breaks, Virginia, near the Kentucky border, Allen singled out Sidarth and called him a word that sounded like "Macaca."
"This fellow here over here with the yellow shirt, Macaca, or whatever his name is. He's with my opponent. He's following us around everywhere. And it's just great. We're going to places all over Virginia, and he's having it on film and its great to have you here and you show it to your
opponent because he's never been there and probably will never come."After telling the crowd that Webb was raising money in California with a "bunch of Hollywood movie moguls," Allen again referenced Sidarth, who was born and raised in Fairfax County."Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia," said Allen,
who then began talking about the "war on terror."
"Macaca"?
The Google hits for derivations of the word don't exactly look good for Allen either.
Given the uproar over that TNR cover story a several weeks back (as well as past episodes) on racial issues, this was just about the last self-imposed wound he'd want to inflict.
UPDATE: The Washington Post weighs in on "George Allen's America."
UPDATE II: Garance Franke-Ruta at Tapped gives an even more in-depth analysis of "Macaca" which, depending on the viewpoint, makes Allen's comment worse or not-quite-as-bad (in the sense of him only being merely ridiculously stupid rather than brutally racist). Hat tip: Jonah Goldberg.
UPDATE III: Speaking of NRO, sorry, Kate O'Beirne, but the answer to this one is obvious: You should be outraged at a United States senator who signled out a non-white individual in either a racial or beastial context -- and mockingly "welcomed him to America." That the non-white individual happened to work for a rival campaign takes nothing away from the fact that Allen's comment was offensive. Period.
Technorati Tags: Republicans, George Allen, race, Macaca
