bizarre George Allen "macaca" incident

[MODU]

I was at the Webb campaign office when I heard about this, so of course many of our minority campaign workers were outraged.  The person he called a "macaca" was S.R. Sidarth, a University of Virginia student who was videotaping Allen's statements for the Webb campaign.  It wasn't just the comment that Allen made that made this act in bad taste.  It was because he was speaking to an all-white audience in a backwoods town (Breaks, Va.) and purposely singled Sidarth out because of his minority status and ridiculed him for working with Webb.  He said, "Lets give a welcome to Macaca, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." 

The comment was totally uncalled for, and it also shows how much of an idiot George Allen can be at times.  Unfortunately, depending on how the media covers this incident, it's not likely to affect Allen's lead by much.

I'm a big Allen fan (as you all know), but I agree.  This was one of the times where Allen got carried away with the moment and said something stupid.  I doubt it will have a lasting impact on anything though.  He'll wear his public "Dunce" cap for a week and it will most likely be forgotten by the end of the month.

[MODU]

What does the term "macaca" actually mean? A shady definition like "a french ethnic slur" isn't good enough for me.

From listening to the news, that might be the version of the word used.  Appearantly there is another word spelled differently which sounds the same as macaca (which I haven't found yet) as well.  While Allen probably didn't know the word he was saying (since it is a word his staff used to describe "the kid"), he shouldn't have said it none-the-less.

Speaking of "the kid," it is a bit funny how the Webb campaign spokesperson came to the defense of Sidarth.  She said "The kid has a name . . . [this] is trying to demean him, to minimize him as a person."  LINK  I don't think she did Sidarth any favors with that comment.    Of course, Sidarth didn't do himself any with "I was the only person of color there, and it was useful for him in inciting his audience." (Also the same link.)  Welcome to politics.

[MODU]

Yeah, Kos is definately an accurate source. lol

Actually, it is. Certain members have campaign sources (this particular heads-up was from a Webb staffer), and Kos accurately reported a number of Connecticut polls before they were released to the public.

It's no more of an accurate source than the Atlas is when it comes to "insider" information.  Sorry.