It's "Macaque" Not "Macaca." It's A Slur Allen Likely Knew, Not Gibberish.

[JABBS]

Click here to read why Sen. George Allen's slur isn't likely gibberish, as he claims.

Also, check out Allen's non-apology.

[Totally Committed]

1. He knew what that meant as much as Romney knew what "tar baby" meant...

They're just used to using those words and terms as regular conversation amongst themselves, and as "code" to the White Supremicist portion of the Republican "base". They just don't count on us either knowing what it means or calling them on it.

TC

[JABBS]

3. agreed

that's a point made in the linked article.

[beaconess]

9. Bingo - this is obviously a phrase that he's been using privately

It rolled off his tongue so effortlessly - it's probably what he and his buddies have been calling that kid in the privacy of their campaign bus. He just thought he was being clever with an obscure racist slur.

The good thing about all of this is that he can kiss his presidential aspirations goodbye. The slur may not be enough since so much of his base is probably just as racist as he is. But conservatives are criticizing the mean-spiritedness he showed in singling out a kid for ridicule at a campaign event, as well as the ham-handed amateurishness of letting the mere presence of a low-level volunteer on his opponent's campaign throw him off-message and off his game.

Buh-bye, George.

[oasis]

2. Allen's mom is French-Tunisian. I can see her making those comments

about dark folks in Allen's presence when he was a kid. He slipped up and reacted when he saw the dark skinned video guy.

[JABBS]

4. probably true

Although thus far, Allen has suggested:

-- It was a made up word
-- He meant to say mohawk
-- He meant to say mullet
-- He was repeating a nickname given to Siddarth by his staff

[underpants]

6. The mohawk excuse just proves how much a MORON Allen is

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=183&topic_id=4217&mesg_id=4217

[JABBS]

7. what sucks

is that everyone is just taking that half-assed apology as an apology. The NY times, the cable networks. No one is talking about how many excuses Allen has thrown up in the last 48 hours.

[LibDemAlways]

5. Allen got his views somewhere - and early - because

by high school he was a card-carrying bigot and widely known for it. His dad was an NFL coach who came into daily contact with black players. Who knows what Allen heard around the house growing up. I'd suspect behind closed doors it wasn't pretty.

[JABBS]

8. AP Updates The Story

Click here to read the whole story.

<snip>

Allen said he apologizes to Sidarth if he took any offense, but said his use of the word "macaca" was an innocent play on "Mohawk," a nickname Allen staffers gave to Sidarth because of his hairstyle. Sidarth said he believes Allen called him the first name that came into his head and that he meant to highlight the fact that Sidarth was the only person of color attending the speech.

Macaca in some contexts is an obscure racial slur, and is also a genus of monkeys including macaques.

Allen was to meet Wednesday with leaders from the US Indian Political Action Committee, which said Allen's comments have generated hundreds of emails.

"Obviously this is something that has us very, very concerned," said Sonjay Puri, a northern Virginia businessman and founder and director of the PAC, which claims 30,000 members. "The remarks are very insensitive."

[beaconess]

10. Don't you love these half-assed apologies racists give when caught being

themselves? They always profess to being sorry if someone was offended, rather than saying they're sorry they were so offensive. They put the burden on the one being attacked - "Of course, I'm blameless since I didn't mean anything bad when I called him a porch monkey. But I do feel bad that he's SO sensitive that he would actually take offense to being called a porch monkey!"

[Stockholm]

11. Over here they are called Makaka

Gibberish my tush.

[JABBS]

12. hopefully

this story won't get swept under the rug. this should be examined, because there's a lot of anecdotal evidence that Allen has a history of saying or doing offensive things, some racial.