As someone who is Indian, Republican, a huge Davis supporter, and (formerly) a casual Allen supporter, I am a little bit upset at Senator Allen and let me explain why. First of all, I do understand that we all make jokes and I am not advocating political correctness. I watch the Simpson’s just like everyone else and I can definitely take a good natured joke. I make fun of my own people all the time. But the problem here is that Senator Allen appears to be picking on someone in a mean and malicious way. He appears to be singling out this person in front of a crowd that is presumably mostly white and he thinks that this is going to somehow score him political points. Now, if Senator Allen were making fun of the guy cause he was a Webb staffer, that would be different. But he goes above and beyond that. In other words, it’s the tone, spirit, and context of the situation that has me upset.
I should add that Senator Allen was one of the first Senators to speak out in favor of renewing the Voting Rights Act this year. He has also been a co-sponsor of Hate Crimes legislation.
It’s not my place to judge whether Senator Allen is a racist or not. I don’t know his heart and unlike the left, I don’t believe in instinctively attributing all events to race or class. Political correctness is not what I am advocating here. But having said that, you can’t be dumb enough to say what Senator Allen said.
Our country and the GOP have both come a really, really long way when it comes to race relations. Thirty years ago, we sat at segregated tables. Today, many minorities own their own businesses. That can only happen in America, or “the city on a shining hillâ€, as President Reagan used to call it.
However, Senator Allen’s comments should remind everyone that you don’t just ask people for their vote. Rather, you have to earn it. Unfortunately, I will not be supporting Senator Allen in his bid for the US Senate, nor his bid for the Presidency. The fact is that the Senator has a staff that is incredibly arrogant, to put it kindly. I can’t tell you how many Republicans I know that feel that way. Also, the Senator comes across, as one of my good GOP friends from New York likes to say, as a person who is †as genuine as a three dollar billâ€. I know Senator Allen loves to use football analogies. The Senator may think he scored a touchdown with his conservative base when he made those unfortunate remarks. Unfortunately, the reality is that he threw an ill timed interception- one that may cost him dearly in the 2008 Super Bowl that is the Presidential election.
—Terpsfan4life
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Aug 14th by Too Conservative
I regretfully agree with much of what you say. I will not support Allen for President because he owns stock in the company which makes the abortion pill. I will unenthusiastically vote for him this November only because he is marginally better than the other bad alternative.
t
on August 14th, 2006It is easy to say you won’t vote for Allen for President because there is little chance of him winning the Republican nomination. Since the Republicans may win the Presidential election in 2008, I certainly hope they nominate someone worthy of the office.
I am puzzled as to why you would vote, albeit unenthusiastically, to re-elect Senator Allen. He has done nothing of note with his first term in the Senate to justify rehiring him. Why would you accept six more years of mediocrity in one of our United States Senators?
I have no crystal ball to tell me how Jim Webb will perform in the Senate, but he certainly has the credentials to be taken seriously for the job. I suspect he will be a fine Senator and that we will be far happier with him six years from now than we are with Senator Allen today.
I will be casting an enthusiastic vote for Jim Webb and I’d encourage others to do the same.
Fauquier Dan
on August 14th, 2006It’s simple – Allen is at least nominally pro-life, while Webb is in favor of the legal destruction of innocent unborn babies’ lives. t always votes pro-life.
t
on August 14th, 2006Fauquier Dan – Webb has done nothing to suggest that he would do anything while in office. His campaign has been horribly run, and if it is of any indication of what will be happening when he is in office, Webb will be of no consequence in the Senate and no help to the Commonwealth of Virginia.
t – While I understand the need to be pro-life, it is never a good idea to make votes based on only one issue. With terror rearing its ugly head again in Lebanon, Gaza, and very nearly in Britain, we have our nation’s security to think of. By not voting for George Allen, who would support legislation to restrict “abortion rights” (if they can be called that), you give abortion supporters a small victory, as Webb surely will not vote in our favor.
TerpsFan4Life – Same to you. I know being in your position, it may be a little more difficult to deal with this situation (I do, I am hispanic myself and have had to deal with racism myself), but why vote on one issue? I myself am not sure how anyone could see this as mean-spirited. He targeted Siddarth because Siddarth was the Webb supporter with the camera in the crowd who had attended a couple of these events, not because Siddarth happened to have a different skin tone. Macaca, or whatever he said, may have really been what he felt the name of Siddarth was, albeit mistakenly.
Too many people have rushed to judgment here, and it amazes me all the more because we never see this sort of outrage for Democrats. When a Democrat says something explicitly racist (not just potentially implicitly racist), they get a pass, for no reason. And it happens all the time; see a Republican in a church and Dems cry “seperation of church and state” while Democrats are simply “reaching out to the community”. I am disappointed with Democrats across the Commonwealth for playing politics and the race card; I am frustrated with Republicans who are simply accepting what the Democrats are saying. Let Senator Allen defend himself and then make your judgment.
CR UVa
on August 14th, 2006If Terpsfan4ever is such a big republican and part of allen’s base, why then does he use the derogatory language about Allen appealing to the base, as if Allen would actually think his “base” would understand, much less appreciate, a racist remark?
I have a very hard time believing a real republican would buy into the “republicans are racists” crap, or the more subtle “republican politicians all believe that republicans are racist”.
You know, if you call a white man a monkey, everybody knows what you mean. You call a non-white man a monkey, everybody thinks you are a racist.
You say somebody’s name is “macaca”, everybody thinks that is the guy’s actual name, because nobody has any idea that those three syllables can be confused with a 2-syllable word which is the proper name of a monkey.
And to think, Webb paid some guy to run around for days taping every last thing Allen said, just so he could try to pull this “republicans are racists” crap.
charles
on August 14th, 2006Fauqier Dan- it should be obvious why patriots like t and myself support Allen over Webb for Senate this fall.
Electing someone like Webb would simply open the doors for macacas of all types from all over the world to gain a political foothold that they simply don’t deserve!!
Do we really want brown-skinned macacas holding videocameras winning over patriotic whites??? Of course not!!
A vote for web is, simply put, a throwaway vote for macacas, ans neither t nor I would stand for that.
willis
on August 14th, 2006If Terpsfan4ever is such a big republican and part of allen’s base, why then does he use the derogatory language about Allen appealing to the base, as if Allen would actually think his “base†would understand, much less appreciate, a racist remark?
I have a very hard time believing a real republican would buy into the “republicans are racists†crap, or the more subtle “republican politicians all believe that republicans are racistâ€Â
Hey Charles,
Did you even read what terpsfan4life said? Or you just can’t comprehend simple English? Cut the bullshit, he never said ( or implied )anything like what you ascribe to him.
macaca in chief
on August 15th, 2006Charles-
Read my comments again. Then go back and watch the video tape one more time. Like so many other people on this blog, Charles implies that I am not a real Republican because I had the gall to step out and criticize a member of my own party. This isn’t communism, folks. Politicians work for you. You don’t work for the politicians.
Look, I am not going to get into this debate about who is a real Republican and who isn’t. Some of you people are no different than the liberal wacko’s who consider Lieberman a traitor because he doesn’t agree 100% of the time with Democrats. Some of you people are simply the conservative version of MoveOn.org.
Now, CR UVA makes a good point about there being a double standard between Dems and the GOP when it comes to race. I myself have been pointing this out to everyone I know- especially people in my extended family who are dyed in the wool liberals (my immediate family is all Republican). However, as Ken Mehlman has acknowledged, there is a double standard for one simple reason and that is because up until recently, Republicans used race as a wedge issue, especially in the South. Ken Mehlman and President Bush have both admitted that and to their credit, they have apologized many times for it.
Now, I take a backseat to no one when it comes to my loyalty to the GOP. I travelled to Ohio to help the Bush campaign for three weeks in the freezing rain in November 2004. I also volunteered many hours with the Jerry Kilgore and Tom Davis campaigns . Furthermore, I was VP of my College Republicans chapter last year. So Charles, please spare me your sanctimonious crap about who is a real Republican and who is not.
Sometimes stereotypes exist in politics for a reason. Democrats have earned their reputation for being soft on defense because of things that they have done. Similarly, Republicans, especially those from the South, have earned their reputation for being a party that is not tolerant of others BECAUSE OF THINGS THAT THEY HAVE DONE in the past. So while I am a Republican, pardon me if I am just a tad bit skeptical when I see a comment like that.
I am conservative first and Republican second. Unlike the relationship between African Americans and the Democrat Party, I do not believe in allowing politiicans to take my vote for granted. I believe citizens should hold their leaders accountable when they step out of line. Too many conservatives in Washington have became like the Democrats in that they take their supporters votes for granted. So everyone, please stop drinking the cool aid and in the immortal words of Ronald Wilson Reagan, “trust but verify. And don’t be afraid to see what you see”.
Terpsfan4life
on August 15th, 2006I wonder how this meshes with TC’s slandering of efforts by the people to primary lousy Republicans. Just an interesting observation… I totally agree with the statement.
Sophrosyne
on August 15th, 2006I don’t think that Senator Allen is the right choice for Republicans for 2008. The current election in Virginia is a much tougher question.
Charlie
on August 15th, 2006Charlie, it is a much easier question than you imagine. Don’t listen to the Republican rhetoric to make your judgment. Look at what they have done and are doing since the American people gave them the reins of power. There is a breathtaking disconnect between what they say and what they do.
They say they are for a smaller government that is less intrusive into the lives of its citizens. Their actions tell a different story. They may bitterly oppose having the government tell you how to live your life from a left wing perspective, but they seem to think it’s just dandy for the government to tell you how to live your life from their perspective.
They call themselves fiscal conservatives, yet they spend like drunken sailors and mushroom the national debt. Amazingly, they pass huge tax cuts during the prosecution of a war.
And on the subject of tax cuts. Shame on you if you buy their snake oil on that subject. While there is merit to the idea that tax cuts stimulate the economy, these cuts are not the broad based cuts of President Kennedy or President Reagan. They are weighted heavily to the wealthy. This is why you get the combination of some pretty good economic statistics while so many working folks feel they are being squeezed pretty hard.
Go back to 1994 and read some of the criticism of the Democratic Congress that the Republicans made during that election year. Many of their complaints about the way the Democrats ran Congress were valid. But the methods they have used to run things have made the Democrats look like Boy Scouts. The hypocrisy of these guys is staggering! And these guys were corrupted by the power in record time!
We haven’t even touched on the selling of the Iraq war. Or the handling of the run up to the war. Or the planning for only the rosiest possible outcomes in Iraq. Even if you felt that invading Iraq was the right move for our national security, how can you forgive the loss of the precious lives of American soldiers and marines caused by the the ideologically motivated refusal to acknowledge any possible outcome but easy success?
That anyone would think these guys should be left in charge is beyond me. The country needs better than this.
So, Allen’s childish performance aside, it is an easy call. Vote for Webb. Let’s get some grown ups at the table for a change. And then the Republicans can regroup for 2008 and perhaps offer the American people something better.
Fauquier Dan
on August 15th, 2006It would be nice to just once hear a Republican say that race-baiting and name calling is just a bad thing to do. A good sign of terrible character. Something they don’t want to be associated with. Quit prefacing it with “Gee, gosh, I mean, I’m not POLITCALLY CORRECT, or anything, but sheesh, did he haveta say, I mean it’s so UNCOMFORTABLE.
Although Dems do it to. Just not as often.
STOP apologizing for being PC. What’s wrong with being considerate and calling someone the name they want? You don’t use a nickname someone has asked you to stop using, do you? Not since your little brother was 7 and you were 9, I hope. Then don’t use other names.
Just say it: it’s RUDE. It’s OFF TOPIC, which is supposed to be the economy, and the War.
Speaking or the war, how is Allen’s supporting the war Iraq “Pro-Life?” That country was 50% children under 18 before the war. Most of the dead in Iraq are children. Do they stop counting as “pro-life” when they are born, or when they are brown?
Mack
on August 25th, 2006