More on George Allen the racist/ At least Mr. Sidharth was born in Va.

[liberalitch]

"...Virginia Sen. George Allen (R) apologized Monday for what his opponent's campaign said were demeaning and insensitive comments the senator made to a 20-year-old volunteer of Indian descent.... At a campaign rally in southwest Virginia on Friday, Allen repeatedly called a volunteer for Democrat James Webb 'macaca.'"

"...Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs....'The kid has a name," Webb communications director Kristian Denny Todd said of Sidarth, a Virginia native who was born in Fairfax County. "This is trying to demean him, to minimize him as a person.'"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081400589.html

From another article:
"Mr. Allen said last night that no slur was intended, though he failed to explain what, exactly, he did have in mind. Macaca is the genus for macaques, a type of monkey found mainly in Asia. Mr. Allen, who as a young man had a fondness for Confederate flags and later staunchly opposed a state holiday in honor of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., has surely learned too much about racial sensitivities in public life to misspeak so offensively."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401114.html

I hope what Jim Webb is really doing in Ca. is trying to find people like this guy who went to high school with Allen:
http://gotv.blogspot.com/2005/06/is-george-allen-racist.html


At least Mr. Sidharth is really a Virginian

[WoodrowFan]

1. and the Post put it on Page 1, above the fold

and the Post put it on Page 1, above the fold, so it'll get at least some attention...

[liberalitch]

2. The VCU prof. doesn't think it will matter....

I say we make it matter.

[deminks]

3. And his little campaign manager, too.

(snip)

But the apology, which came hours after Allen's campaign manager dismissed the issue with an expletive and insisted the senator has "nothing to apologize for," did little to mollify Webb's campaign or Sidarth, who said he suspects Allen singled him out because his was the only nonwhite face among about 100 Republican supporters.

[liberalitch]

4. Boy the Webb campaign needs to be on this one!

[Lerkfish]

7. "the only nonwhite face among about 100 Republican supporters"

and that one line speaks volumes

[zbdent]

5. How do you get macaca out of Sidarth?

Now that's a stretch, trying to claim that he fumbled the name ... I thing that the only letter he got right was the 'a' ...

[abburdlen]

6. Simple mistake

I'm sure George Felix "Dude Ranch" Allen didn't mean anything hateful with the comment. You see, one of best friends is brown and is named Macaca. And you know how easy it is to get confused - those brown folks all look alike.

[underpants]

8. Sweet Nectar of Liberty!!! WE HAVE VIDEO!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pL3Q9gUEvtA

[wicket]

9. Oh.my.god.

:popcorn:

[rsr1771]

10. This helps Allen

Making fun of a person's ethnicity in Virginia? Especially someone who looks like a "terrorist"- do you really think this will hurt Allen?! I believe Allen and his aides are loving every second of this. Webb would be a fool to make an issue of this.

[Vickers]

11. Yes, let's just ignore it.

:eyes:

I believe you misunderestimate Virginians.

Welcome to DU yadda yadda yadda...

[Zynx]

12. Kaine proved that you can win with just the urban and suburban parts

of VA and this comment will hurt Allen badly in those areas. Virginia is one of the best educated states in the country, even sometimes beating my homestate of Wisconsin. Do not underestimate the Virginian voter.

[yellowcanine]

13. I don't think so. Virginia, particularly Northern Virginia - where most

of the votes are and where turnout is typically higher than the rest of the state, has been trying to distance itself from its segregationist past. Without the video you might be correct. But the video is damning and depicts a white politician clumsily humiliating someone who is different, complete with an ethnic slur deliberately used twice, in order to score political points with the crowd. Then on top of it, Allen and his campaign initially tried to downplay the incident with that ridiculous talk about a mohawk haircut. Also, Allen still has not directly and unambigiously apologized - it was to reporters with the usual non-apology phrasing "if he was offended."

[SaveElmer]

14. There are parts of my state sadly...where this will help him...

Felix is confederate lovin, cowboy boot wearing, good old boy as far as some areas of this state are concerned.

Doesn't matter if he isn't really a native Virginian, or the the only "cowboyin" he did was at a dude ranch instead of in VietNam..

However I do agree with another poster that this will be more than offset by the harm it will do him in Northern Virginia, which is politically closer to the Maryland suburbs than with the rest of Virginia.

[Sinti]

15. Having lived in VA most of my life, only having left recently

I'm certain those parts of the state have rather small populations. The populous part of the state is not going to take this well at all, not only are they "trying to distance themselves" and generally miles above this kind of crap, they have a very, very diverse population. Then again, they say they won by getting all 15 of the votes in Tinytown last time, to go against the 150,000 we had in Bigcity, so...