ALLEN SCANDAL

See the video here.

Click on the ad to the right to contribute to Jim Webb.

UPDATE: George Allen's mother is Tunisian- Furrycat picks up on this and says: "If you don’t know it, macaca is a derogatory and very prejudiced term used in Tunisia in reference to blacks and dark-skinned people... I can bet you, he knew exactly what he meant when he called the guy “macaca”." 

This is a major development.

UPDATE #2-  Mohawk?  Here's the picture.  Remember, Wadhams said in the Post: "Wadhams said Allen campaign staffers had begun calling Sidarth "mohawk" because of a haircut Wadhams said the Webb staffer has. "Macaca was just a variation of that," Wadhams said."

WHY DID WADHAMS LIE

UPDATE #3- Oh My. 

Macaque 

(Belgium & France) a Negro (originally) or a person of North African origin (more recently); derived from macaque monkeys

UPDATE #4-  Oh My God.  Check this out, this is devastating.

Comments

[Noah Kunin]

You Tube is still verifying your video. It's not up JUST yet.

My good friend is a tracker of the Mark Kennedy campaign (MN-Senate) and has been called out by Kennedy before but this is insane.

[James Young]

Ben, you're surrendering your sensible credentials if you really think this is a story.

[Noah Kunin]

James:

I guess the WaPo will cease being a newspaper if that is the case.

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

"Loading ..."

Anybody else stuck on this?

[Not Harry F. Byrd, Sr.]

That ain't pretty.

[brimur]

This removes all doubt, he says Welcome to America, not welcome to the Real America. He may also say real Virginia but that was in reference to the point he was trying to make about Webb. This is disgusting

[Jason]

Watched. And Allen could just as easily have been meaning to address Webb as being out of touch with America. Since he won't be in those areas where Allen is, the video's are great, here's America, here's Virginia, welcome, because it's the only visit Webb's going to make, by video.

Not a story.

[Kevin]

"My friends, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas..."

And then he proceeds to insult a member of the audience. There is no doubt about the intent. It's being used to single him out and he's using a stereotype to demean him. This is something and we can play it over and over again to show what an insensitive man he is.

"...and it's important that we motivate and inspire people for something."

Like racism and bigotry! Where's the noose?

[Kevin]

The comment at 3:29 is mine...

[Matt]

And he definitely says Mocaca or Macaca, not Mohawka, like some people are trying to insinuate...

Even if George Allen meant Mohawka, and even if George Allen meant welcome to the REAL America, why the hell did he spend a couple of minutes denigrating a poorly paid intern position guy? Seems like he cracked a little and made a dumb move

Jason,

The WAPO reported on it. It's a story.

Does it have traction beyond this week? Probably not

Does it hurt Allen massively? No

Was it a stupid mistake? Yes

[brimur]

Anybody who believes this can be accounted for by the incredibly attenuated explanation that Allen meant to say "Mohawks" and that he meant to say "real America" instead of America is simplya shill for the Allen campaign. I hope this video goes far and wide. People should see what kind of man George Allen really is.

[Jason]

333 anon - You're right, no traction and no real impact. Ultimately all it will do is make folks who already support Webb continue to support Webb. No minds are going to be changed on this.

Webb needs to hold an event at the site this took place AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

He needs to go there and say "Unlike George Allen, I won't just come visit now and then, I'll actually fight for you when I'm elected Senator"

Game, Set, Match.

[I.Publius]

Wow. Even a bigger yawn that I was first led to believe. Y'all are beyond desperate if you really think this will amount to anything at all... beyond a week's worth of lefty echoing.

Have fun.

[Not Jason Kenney]

Jason should be shunned just like George Allen.

If you watch that video and do not see the vitriol in his eyes when he looks at that camera....

Watch his face, anyone remember seeing the school bully chuckle to himself as he tried to humiliate someone.

This is sickening. Just because it happens all the time it is no less troubling...and from a US Senator.

[Jason]

Oh, wow, a Not me. I haven't felt this famous since I was in the phone book.

Now, with the video before him, Pubes is on the record for being fine with this kind of xenophobic bashing.

[DukieDem]

I.Publius,

How desperatley I wish to be more like you and ignore all facts and standards of decency when I make my political decisions. To never hold my leaders accountable, to never think that they can do wrong, to hold no respect for those of different skin colors and think that those who call racist remarks racist are out of touch, and to not find the irony is George Allen deriding Hollywood values when his time growing up in Hollywood for some reason led him to admire the confederacy...

You are what makes America great. May you go forth and prosper from this day forward.

[telly]

Does the young man have a mohawk? That seems kind of unlikely. I mean, usually people involved in politics don't go for extreme hairdos.

But I grew up in Virginia, and Allen is definitely trying to address the racist base that very much is still there. This is, after all, the state where some considered it disrespectful that a statue of Arthur Ashe might go up on the same street (in a majority black town, by the way, where Ashe was born!) where there are statues of confederate "heroes". Disrespectful to the confederates, who counted for a lot more with these people than a great local sportsman who did so much for the people in the area.

Trust me, those people understood exactly what Allen was saying when he called a man of Indian descent a synonym for "monkey", just as they understand when he says that he "collects flags" and that's why he had a rebel flag. They hear him saying, "Yeah, I'm a racist too. Vote for me and I'll serve your interests."

Personally, I feel like saying, "Fine. All you racists, vote for George Allen. You are a minority anyway."

But you know, it's sort of scary that a man who grew up in California so totally assumed the long-discredited racism of the south. He doesn't even come by it naturally.

I wonder why more hasn't been made of what his siblings have said about him abusing them in childhood.

Republican makes fun of Democrat for haircut = Republican is a real American

Democrat makes fun of Republican for Haircut = Democrat is an elitist

I love the GOP kool aid, it always goes down well.

[DukieDem]

BTW,
Allen's time in Hollywood did not lead him to admire the confederacy, it lead him to hijack its symbols (as others did) and use it as a means of hatred and divsion instead of pride.

[Jason]

Obviously Allen was just putting the gun on notice:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v306/jasonkenney/OnNotice2.jpg

[AllenB101]

People, wake up! Racism tanks pols all the time e.g. Trent Lott, Strom, etc.

Even if it doesn't end his campaign, it will give everyone around him a bad taste in their mouths. It will limit contributions to the GA campaign. It will make independents that much less likely to vote for GA. And it will motivate our base to come out more so now that the video is out.

You Dems that say this is marginal, at best, are the same types that run away from a tough fight, partisanship, and staying on message. Let's keep this story alive because if it means GA will have to issue an apology, explain himself, etc., then we've won.

Start drinking the blue-raspberry Kool-Aid, its time to take back the Senate.

[I.Publius]

>"If you watch that video and do not see the vitriol in his eyes"

Puh-lease. Did you stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night?

Dukie -- get off your high horse. Y'all are obviously clinging to anything you can find that might give Webb a chance, this is the best thing that's come across the wire in weeks... and you're hanging on for dear life.

Hollywood Moguls?

I thought Cecil b. DeMille was dead.

Last time I checked, George Allen was the only one running for office who has appeared in a movie.

What a retard!!

[Insider]

This is my favorite part!

"Adding comments have been disabled for this video."

Just like a Democrat....

[DukieDem]

It's not about having a high horse. Race is not a poltiical issue for either side. Joe Biden made a similar remark a couple weeks ago; he apologized and move on. Allen should apologize, bottom line.

[saywhat??]

Allen's presidential campaign is OVER. Not that he ever had a chance.

Republicans should be embarrassed by him. The smart ones are no doubt!

[JPTERP]

Absolutely disgusting. It's an act of cowardice to single out a member of a minority group to unify a room of bigots. This one goes beyond the pale. And for those who don't see this for what it is. God help you.

Anon 3:50

HAHAHAHA good point. That picture of Allen playing dress up needs to get on a TV ad and fast.

[Bruce]

"And then he proceeds to insult a member of the audience"

A stalker is not a member fo the audience.

The audience was a group of people in a rural setting. A kid from Northern Virginia video taping it for his opponents campaign is not the audience.

I thought he was lighthearted in making fun of the video stalker - much better than the McKinney (D-GA) staffer who slugged a cameraman on election night earlier this week.

His choice of name is stupid. But his welcoming Webb and the staff to American and the Real Virginia - as opposed to Hollywood and its elitist bubble - is a valid contrast.

Long story short - this story does not have legs.

[Chris]

Yeah, I think I just found this guy on facebook (I go to UVA Law), and unless these pictures are old, he doesn't even come close to having a mohawk. In some of the pictures, sure, a dyed red patch in the middle of his hair. But no, I think I'm gonna have to conclude that Allen is just a racist asshole. Which I guess I concluded a long time ago . . .

[Southsider]

Sadly, the video isn't nearly as bad as Ben's first "quote." I actually thought this story had legs until I saw the video. Now I think it's essentially a non-story after this first news cycle. As for seeing something in his eyes, just looked to me like he was smiling.

Does anybody else have a problem with Lowell...I mean Ben...suddenly becoming a Webb shill as soon as the Webb campaign pays for commercials on NLS? Looks like a little quid pro quo where the Webb campaign lets Ben "break" the story in exchange for doing its dirty work. Attaching a fundraising link to this post makes it even more transparent and disappointing.

[Henry]

Let's see if the WaPo story even makes the print edition tomorrow. My sense is that a whole lot of good NLS readers set their hair on fire for no good reason. So we now have proof that Allen speaks without thinking, that his words pull back the curtain, revealing a little bit on what is likely a racist heart and mind inherited from his father etc., but we knew all of that already. Unfortunately, Allen was smiling and rambling and being the fool he is - but he was not the snarling, rabid race-baiter who singled out some poor kid in a menacing or threatening manner. I wish it weren't so, but this is not a deal breaker...not even in NOVA, at least not in my opinion.

[The Frugal Revolutionary]

Yada, yada, yada. Allen is a racist. Now there's a hot flash!

BTWl, people of color know the difference between a joke and racism. Republicants believe everyone is stupid. At least when they are referring to their base they are correct.

[Delta Mike]

Just sent the article and video to three of my Indian friends who live in Virginia, without comment. They are all Republicans. They all said Allen just lost their vote for the "welcome to America" comment.

BTW, Asians make up 4.4% of VA's population.

[Insider]

The Webb campaign is very sensitive about insulting the race of someone from India.

More sensitive than insulting those who are Jewish, apparently.

[TerryM]

Nothing new, but still chilling to watch. This is the same George Allen I've seen for a long time..ever since those early Governor campaign ads and his "yellow teeth down their whiny throats" comments.

Not very Senatorial let alone Presidential behavior...but red meat for the downstate "real Americans" I imagine.

Anyone wonder if I.Publius is not Roger Jarrell?

Delta Mike - I love that. Everytime a race issue comes up everyone suddenly has 3 friends of that race that swear they're personally offended and wish death on the transgressor.

Exactly the same claims were made by anti-Webb folks with the anti-semitism crap. "I forwarded that flier to 3 Jewish friends and they all say Webb started the Holocaust."

[AllenB101]

The next step is to contact your local media. I just wrote WTOP to cover it in the DC-area.

You should contact you local newspaper, news radio outlets, etc.

Richmond Times Dispatch doesn't have a story up...they should be targeted, next.

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

SOUTHSIDER defends racism...who'd a thunk it?

[Southsider]

Excuse me anon 4:20. I'm not defending racism. I just said the video didn't look as bad as the words read. What in my rather limited posting history supports the implications you're making.

Lowell has a picture of Siddharth up on RK. Man, he grew that mohawk in quick!

[mom]

Furrycat, interesting that the Wikipedia entry was substantially modified today and is remarkably different from the entry cached on Friday, particularly as today’s modifications are attributed to you. That aside, you may have a future as a fiction writer/WAPO columnist.

Anyone who places any credence in a Wikipedia reference deserves any and all consequences that may befall them.

—Mom

[I.Publius' Ego]

Yawn. Racism is Bor-ing! I mean, it might have been cool in the 1950s but really...who cares now. Seriously, what are brown people doing in America anyway? If you ain't White, you aint' right! That's all I have to say.

Well, not really, I'm going to keep saying crazy racist stuff 'cause I can't help standing up for my main man G.Allen!

I.Pub Out!

[Rob at Raising Kaine]

Check out a picture of Siddarth if you're interested here:

http://raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=63D785F80033DCA7F0B5834C53ABEA95?diaryId=3917

Did furrycat really manipulate the wiki entry and then cite it in support of one of his comments?

[Delta Mike]

Anon 4:19. Don't spin what I said. They said Allen lost their vote. Nothing about death or the Holocaust. My point is that this will cost Allen votes. Is that all you have? Exaggeration and hyperbole?

And if Webb lost some Jewish voters because of the flyer, so be it. He deserved it for tacitly approving of something so stupid.

No - I think "mom" is referring to the George Allen entry, which already has this incident up on it.

No - I think "mom" is referring to the George Allen entry, which already has this incident up on it.

[Slim]

Furrycat may have changed the wiki entry (not "manipulated"), but it is apparent that Allen's mother is Tunisian.

Link (a conservative site tracking 2008 GOP presidential hopefuls):
http://race42008.com/george-allen/

The quote:
Allen’s mother immigrated from French Tunisia and was “Italian, French and a little Spanish” and according to Allen, was imprisoned by the Nazi Regime in World War II Germany. Allen’s father was of Dutch-Irish and Scottish descent.

[I.Publius]

>"Just sent the article and video to three of my Indian friends who live in Virginia, without comment. They are all Republicans. They all said Allen just lost their vote for the "welcome to America" comment."

What an amazing coincidence. I sent it to four of MY Indian friends in NoVa. And they're all Democrats. They said that they still didn't like either candidate much, and that this video was much ado about nothing.

I guess my four Indian friends trumps your three.

Nice try, though.

Jeez - that's what Wadhams is calling a mohawk? This is looking worse and worse.

[Bubby]

Day one of Allen's "Listening Tour" and he is already talking hate. Virginia's United States Senator sounds more like the fraternity jackass. What an embarrassment.

[martha]

He DOES have a mohawk, sort of. The sides are growing out. He stopped and talked to us while we were standing on VES Rd. waiting for Allen to speak to the Chamber of Commerce at Westminster Canterbury.
He was very nice, interested in us and thanked us for what we did ( LOTS of WEBB signs on VES road to greet Allen).

[phriendlyjaime]

I am disgusted. I want a press conference of some sort. Absolutely despicable.

[The Squeaky Wheel]

What is this really? A sign of desperation from the Webb Camp. Trust me, this is a non-issue and you sure won’t see this on the Sunday show.

[Slim]

Of course, the difference is Publius is lying for sure.

On the mohawk, maybe it's like the Simpsons when Burns is coaching the baseball team and keeps telling one player (Mattingly?) to shave his non-existent sideburns.

Maybe the entire Allen campaign staff doesn't know what a mohawk is. Maybe they are that stupid.

[phriendlyjaime]

Bubby-exactly. Maybe it should be renamed the "insult tour bc I am a huge asshole running for senate."

HOLY CRAP - great find Slim about his link to Tunisia. No wonder Allen knew about this slur!

I sent this video to 15 of my friends named Macaca and they were so excited about the attention that they're all voting for Gail Parker. You see Macaca means "I love rails" in their homeland.

[furrycat]

And yes, the term "macaca" is a very derogatory term meaning "monkey".

The macaca monkeys are found in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, and in Gibraltar.

http://members.tripod.com/uakari/macaca_sylvanus.html

[phriendlyjaime]

WHY DID WADHAMS LIE

Bc he is a republican perative. George Allen looks like a real douche when he says he relies on fact not fiction. the FACT is, the guy doesn't have a mohawk. You would think after 12 years in public office Allen would be smarter than.....ooops, no, nevermind.

[Not Dick Wadhams]

That's no mohawk. I guess Allen and his team saw a haircut from someone who didn't look like the preppy special and thought it some new fangled punk do.

You honestly believe the mohawk thing was made up out of thin air. Obviously, as said above, Siddarth had some kind of mohawkish (is that a word) haircut and the bored (and maybe dumb) Allen staffers referred to it as a mohawk. BTW, I can show you one picture where I'm bald and one with an afro.

[Kevin]

For the Allen campaign:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohawk_hairstyle

Thank God for the blogs - surely this mid-August snafu will define the rest of the campaign.

In the meantime, who can find the most offensive homonym of macaca? Quick!

[martha]

If the Allen people are saying that Allen was referencing the young man's Mohawk that is still a sad way to point out a person. I taught for 30 years and you don't say something like " Hey you in the back of the room....you with the mohawk, shaved head, purple hair....fill in the blank...you say young man or young lady,,,,if you don't know their name.
The Allen camp's excuse or cover up or whatever is lame as all.

Can you show us a picture where you were bald one day and then had that afro a few days later? Because that's the situation we have here.

[Not Larry Sabato]

anon 443- Its not possible to have a Mohawk and then grow in a normal haircut within a couple days. Give me a break.

anon 4:48. Actually, I could. Of course, the afro picture comes first.

[phriendlyjaime]

If you are not outraged by this, or if you think it isn't a big deal, I don't know who can help you.

[KCinDC]

Okay, the Tunisian mother changes things. I withdraw my earlier statement that the "macaque" stuff was a stretch.

[Not Robert E. Lee]

Agree KCinDC - this is turning into a show stopper story. No mohawk, and a direct link to the obscure slur.

[Not I.Publius' Ego]

I'm having a hard time figuring out if gay white folk are ok. Or very masculine straight Italians. Wait. Or wait, maybe a Welshman with darkish hair. Hang on. Could everyone please leave Virginia for a while while I figure all this out?

[I Trust Webb]

All the excitement over this?

I didn’t know what macaca was, and I’m still not sure if it is a genus of a species or an actual monkey or a town or a …?

I feel confident that the good people in Breaks probably didn’t know what it meant (and no, I have never been to Breaks).

I’m reasonably confident that George Allen probably did not know the meaning of macaca because he sure as hell would not have said something like that while knowing he was being recorded by a Webb staffer! He was directing his comments at the staffer, trying to make a point. He was not having a back-alley discussion with an old friend. It was a public event and his opponent was videotaping it!

The proof seems to be in the pudding. Heck, even the WaPo story now has a link to the video. I’ve watched it several times and I still come to the same conclusion: It was foolish for a sitting United States Senator to chide a Webb staffer and call him a name that could mean something derogatory.

SENATOR Allen should apologize for the unintended remark. NLS, RK, DailyKos, and others should not let the netroots forget that he made a very foolish remark.

I don’t think this was a racist attack. But what I think should not stop the effort of seeing if this story has any legs in the MSM and the voting booth. I just hope that the netroots and the Webb campaign not focus on the racism issue, but instead on George Allen’s lack of judgment and sensitivity, and outright foolishness.

Insinuating that a sitting United States Senator is racist could mobilize a stronger base for Webb as a challenger, but it could also galvanize Allen’s supporters throughout the Commonwealth.

Read martha's post above. There was a mohawk. Apparently, it's just a funny shaved sides haircut. Guess we'll need a sideview to confirm the existence or lack of a mohawk...I can't believe how silly this has gotten.

Give me a break - look at the picture. There is no mohawk. "Shaved sides" isn't something you can grow back into the hair we see in that picture in just a day.

[furrycat]

The sad thing is Allen's people have now removed all reference to Allen's mother in the original wikipedia article I cited.

Now, they have removed Tunisia completely from entry. Yep.

Poof! Gone. Did anyone get a screen grab of the original wikipedia entry?

[Slim]

Wikeality in motion! Colbert would be proud.

Fortunately the truth is found here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12079685/

and here:
http://race42008.com/george-allen/

Furry - they haven't gotten to this link yet:

http://www.quaest.io/?title=george-felix-allen

[furrycat]

thanks anon 5:20. It needs to be saved.

Pathetic that the Allen supporters completely edited out Allen's mother and her Tunisian background within the last hour or so from the original Wikipedia entry.

[KCinDC]

Furrycat, you can look at the history for the Wikipedia page to see older versions and differences between them. Every change is tracked.

[Henry]

I also am revising my opinion somewhat, and I still don't think this is a deal breaker. But the fact that this kid does not have a Mohawk, and the information about Allen's mother strongly suggests that this is ripe for exploitation. However, I would temper the hair-on-fire enthusiasm with a double shot of sobriety. My target would be Wadhams, not Allen. My objective would be modest, achievable and of value. My objective would be to diminish Wadhams' value and credibility as a source for quotes and information for the MSM. Wadhams statement re the Mohawk is a bald-faced lie and the Webb media operation should lazer-in on selling that point to the press (and what that lie implies - but it is the lie, not the implied covering Allen's [perhaps intended] racist statement. They can prove the lie, not the racism, focus on what you can prove. Let the press hound Wadhams for the next 24 hours and see what comes of it.

[Slim]

So here's likely what happened: Allen called Sidarth "that young man Macaca" when he didn't know the guy's real name but wanted to call him something, preferably insulting (since he was mocking the guy in front of the crowd), and this was the first thing that popped out of his mouth. An old racist term he was familiar with thanks to his family background.

Oops.

Now time to spin. Spin #1 is that he meant to say "mohawk" or some derivative of "mohawk." Sure. Run with that. It's laughable on its face and will make for great TV.

[Vlajos]

Looks like Allen is a racist and a liar.

You people are gonna feel silly when you see the pictures of Siddarth that are probably already out there in the MSM's hands. Don't forget, you're dealing with a very professional adversary. You think you've got them but you'll be surprised what they come back with. I bet Tyler Whitney is already in Dick Wadhams' office looking at a whole photo album of Siddarth and his ever changing hair.

"My understanding is that Saddarth has a MOHAWK (literally). Could Allen just have been making some play on that? Who knows until we see the video?

Posted by: | August 14, 2006 at 02:11 PM"

Interesting that this was posted in the previous thread at 2:11pm and an hour later Wadhams is pushing this little "theory" to the WaPo. Coincidence?

No, it is no coincidence. One of the webb volunteers I hang out with has a friend on the Allen campaign. They are not allowed to post, but they read NLS and RK RELIGIOUSLY-they are totally obsessed with us. They definitely saw that comment, so that's why he gave the reason. Allen is DONE; face it.

That update number 4 is unbelieveable.

[phriendlyjaime]

sorry, anon 5:51 is me.

When did George Allen change his last name to Wallace?

Good lord, folks, calm down.

You could be playing right into Wadhams' hands - Allen didn't whisper this backstage, he said it loud and clear directly to the camera. Predictably, the blogs erupted with moral indignation.

Anyone else think that could have been exactly what they were going for? Aiming to clump Webb in with liberals hyperventalating on the internet while Allen says what the "silent majority" of Virginians are actually thinking?

This isn't a blue state yet, guys, and this is a general election now. Tread carefully.

NLS,

Congrats on making it on The Hotline blog. First WaPo, now Hotline, who will pick it up next?

[Jason P.]

Just got an e-mail from the campaign about the Macaca incident. Nice!

[phriendlyjaime]

I just watched it again-it is so disgusting.

[KCinDC]

The answer is: Wonkette.