George Allen calls opponent's cameraman a monkey?

marksman said:
Allen may or may not be a racist. But he's certainly an idiot for precisely the reason set forth in the immediately preceding post.
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That's the problem. He may not be a racist, but he sure thinks Virginians are. Thanks George Allen, you made my decision very simple!
 
Walk The Line said:
Yes, and I dare say that if all of us had a camera following us around all day long, we'd probably look like idiots too at some point.
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Speak for yourself.

This occurred, I gather, at an "event" - presumably a political event. It's not like getting caught picking your nose on CCTV.

The scary thought is that Allen knew exactly what he was doing, and knows the constituency he's appealing to.
 
Maybe it wasn't a racial slur, but just a regular insult?

"According to political operatives close to Sen. George Allen, the Senator used the derogatory phrase “macaca” not as an ethnic slur, but as a mash-up of “Mohawk,” referring to S.R. Sidarth’s distinctive hair, and “caca,” Spanish slang for excrement."

Is that better?

The crowd laughed when Allen spoke to Sidatrth, saying "welcome to America." What do you think they thought his remarks meant?
 
EBU said:
Maybe it wasn't a racial slur, but just a regular insult?

"According to political operatives close to Sen. George Allen, the Senator used the derogatory phrase “macaca” not as an ethnic slur, but as a mash-up of “Mohawk,” referring to S.R. Sidarth’s distinctive hair, and “caca,” Spanish slang for excrement."

Is that better?

The crowd laughed when Allen spoke to Sidatrth, saying "welcome to America." What do you think they thought his remarks meant?
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The name was probably the least offensive part of his remarks. I was waiting for him to yell "Go back to A-rabville ya job stealin' terrerist!"
 
We need to start a sticky thread listing the all current politicians who have said racist/sexist/etc things, Republican or Democrat. It would be a handy resource, if for no other reason than a quick way to determine whether your vote is going to an *******. I have no doubts it would be a long thread.
 
EBU said:
Maybe it wasn't a racial slur, but just a regular insult?

"According to political operatives close to Sen. George Allen, the Senator used the derogatory phrase “macaca” not as an ethnic slur, but as a mash-up of “Mohawk,” referring to S.R. Sidarth’s distinctive hair, and “caca,” Spanish slang for excrement."

Is that better?

The crowd laughed when Allen spoke to Sidatrth, saying "welcome to America." What do you think they thought his remarks meant?
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What is curious to me is that I've never heard of the term (and I'm rather a geezer). Is this a common coded appellation used among some people?
 
rhoadp said:
We need to start a sticky thread listing the all current politicians who have said racist/sexist/etc things, Republican or Democrat. It would be a handy resource, if for no other reason than a quick way to determine whether your vote is going to an *******. I have no doubts it would be a long thread.
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Yes that would be a very long list. ;)
 
"What is curious to me is that I've never heard of the term (and I'm rather a geezer). Is this a common coded appellation used among some people?"

Supposedly it's used in Europe as a derogatory term for people of color. I have no idea how Allen would know it -- and it doesn't seem likely that his audience would.
 
I agree that I don't think "macaque" was playing to his audience. Few people in Virginia would know that macaque is an ethnic slur used in Europe, and those who would aren't likely to vote for him. That probably was Allen making a portmanteau of Mohawk and caca. (Ie, he was calling the guy a "sh**head")

But the "Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia" statement is pretty nakedly insulting. The idea being that the cameraman must be an immigrant because he doesn't look like the (presumably) white people in the room (the "real world" according to Allen). Depending on the tone being used, it may also have been a bit menacing.
 
shecky said:
Seems like a racist remark.

Seems like he knew what it meant.

If that doesn't gain traction, you can always claim that he speaks French, after all.

Mark Levin at NRO calls dirty tricks on the part of some Webb supporters who had the gall to actually record what Allen says.
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Since the Allen people tape Webb apperances, as is pretty standard these days...how much of a dirty trick could it possibly be? Bad for Webb to do it? Ok for Allen's Campaign? Hmmmm
 
EBU said:
The crowd laughed when Allen spoke to Sidatrth, saying "welcome to America." What do you think they thought his remarks meant?
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So says George Allan, born in Southern California to a man born in Virgnia. He knew what he was saying. his audience loved it. They will forgive him for apologizing for it, knowing that the PC police punish good-ol boys and that Allan has to say he didn't mean it (nudge-nudge, wink- wink). Allan win's, the good ol-boy racists will see him as one of their own. His core consituency will see him as being victimized by the media and liberals ("he said he was sorry...just like Mel G....") and the voters who are really offended by his stupidity, he wasn't counting on them anyway...
 
He thought he worded his insults so cleverly that he had plausible deniability. I'm sure he didn't think either the crowd or his target knew what macaca meant, but internally I suspect he was chortling at the thought of being able to get away with calling a brown, north african-looking guy a macaca. I suspect though that both he and the crowd knew exactly what he meant by telling an indian guy "welcome to america" -I'm sure he's disappointed that relatively few people are buying that he meant that in a purely positive way.
 
CapelDodger said:
The scary thought is that Allen knew exactly what he was doing, and knows the constituency he's appealing to.
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As Jon Stewart noted on The Daily Show, being a racist may or may not help Allen's campaign in Virginia. ;)
 
EBU said:
"What is curious to me is that I've never heard of the term (and I'm rather a geezer). Is this a common coded appellation used among some people?"

Supposedly it's used in Europe as a derogatory term for people of color. I have no idea how Allen would know it -- and it doesn't seem likely that his audience would.
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From Wiki -
Macaca (slur)
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Macaca (also spelled Macaque) is a dismissive epithet used by Francophone colonials in Africa for native populations of North and Subsaharan Africans. Macaca is also a code word used in the White Power Movement to refer to people of African descent.[citation needed]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaca_(slur)
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From his Sister.

GOP Senator George Allen's Sister Documents Her Brother's Bully Tactics: "He Saw Dentistry As A Perfect Profession - Getting Paid To Make People Suffer"...

Referring to George’s early leadership skills, Jennifer wrote: “We all obeyed George. If we didn't, we knew he would kill us. Once, when Bruce refused to go to bed, George hurled him through a sliding glass door. Another time, when Gregory refused to go to bed, George tackled him and broke his collarbone. Another time, when I refused to go to bed, George dragged me up the stairs by my hair.” [Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter, page 22]


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2006/08/16/gop-senator-george-allen_n_27382.html
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What a great guy. Another poster boy for right wing republicans! Let's make him president next.
 
Mephisto said:
As Jon Stewart noted on The Daily Show, being a racist may or may not help Allen's campaign in Virginia. ;)
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Yes, I'm sure it would have helped had George Allen been running 50 years ago, but not today.

Having lived in both Virginia and in the midwest, I can say that I've encountered more racists in the midwest then in Virginia.
 
I'm very sorry to read about this. I did so love his velvet-voiced narrations of "This Week in Baseball".


Oh, wait. That's Mel Allen. nm
 
If Allen speaks French and was referring to the monkey, then he would have pronounced it ma-cack - just two syllables.
 
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