Less than two months ago Sen. Allen claimed to have never, ever used the “n-word.” Now his former football teammates say that he has done so routinely. He said that he went to UVa because it’s a place where “blacks knew their place.” He even took part in a hate crime against a random black family. When I wrote about whispers about Sen. Allen’s past back in April, this is just the sort of thing I had in mind. Allen will not be able to rebut these charges without further alienating old friends with still more dirt on him. This will be bad.
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“his former football teammates say that he has done so routinely”
The article also points out that 7 former teammates expressed opinions that he held no racist views…. just thought I would go ahead and put that out there in case it got glossed over or something.
I’ve been on teams in sports where people didn’t know much about me, agitator. You think every member of the team knew George Allen perfectly? No. The account of that one guy seems like he knew Allen pretty well.
Dannyboy, does that mean that the words of those teammates should be completely disregarded? You cannot ignore what they say simply because they were believed to not be as close.
And I find it rather odd that they could only find Shelton to stand up to some of the claims made in this article. Why is he the only one that can remember any of this?
This is not a defense of George Allen or anything he may have said or done- now or in the past. I’m not a fan or supporter.
However, I’m going to call all of this “Irrelevant.” This information was out there to be found all of the previous times that Allen ran for elected office. And if it’s so damning then shame on people that they didn’t run with the information long before now. There are politicians on both sides of the isle with skeletons in their closets who are less than perfect people.
I’m also going to say, “Consider the source.” I’m not one who believes in a “liberal media bias.” However Salon.com makes no pretence at neutrality. It has a liberal political agenda. The article reads as if they really had to “dig” to find one person willing to go on the record.
When I vote against Allen it will be because of his stand on various issues that are important to me.
About the best thing I can think of with regards to this entire “Allen is a racist” issue. Is that it has effectively ended any chance he might have had at the white house.
“Allen is a racist.” We get the point. Time to move on.
The biggest issue here for me is Allen’s lie. Even a few weeks ago his denial seemed laughable. He could have simply said, “yes, in the past, I used the term, and I regret doing so”. Or “a couple decades ago I said thoughtless things that I now no longer believe”. Instead, he just lied.
In the big scheme of things though, I’m with TrvlnMn on this one. Allen’s record as a legislator, and Webb’s resume are the things I will weigh most heavily. Webb isn’t perfect either, but he has the potential to be a very good Senator. I look forward to casting a vote for him on November 7th.
You mean three people?
You mean one person? The article “quotes” two anonymous sources. That doesn’t pass muster as a reliable quote. They’re left with one person.
Dannyboy, you must have never played football. Every player knows every other player.
What are the odds that this doctor has a grudge against Allen, or that he’s on the far far left side of things politically and would love to see him go down, even if he has to lie? Zero chance of that, right?
I look forward to seeing Allen’s rebuttal. My forecast is that he will not attack his former teammates. The first reason for that is because that would only encourage them to air further grievances still, in order to defend themselves (look no further than Gary Grant). The second is that it would encourage others who have witnessed racist behavior on the part of Sen. Allen to step forward.
Sen. Allen needs to either ignore these revelations or apologize for his past actions. There are far too many stories from too many credible witnesses to escape the truth that Allen has behaved very poorly towards blacks in the past. If all else fails, there’s the “Jesus has forgiven me and I hope you will, too” gambit. That might start looking pretty good before real long.
I don’t think the fact that it could have been dug up in any previous campaign is a reason to dismiss it. One of the conventions of journalism, especially political journalism, is that they require the “new” in news. The reason this has gone so far is that it’s something lots of people knew about Allen, but no one could just write about it without it appearing to be a simple hit piece. (One might argue, and I would agree, that this is not the best way for journalists to operate concerning something that might matter a great deal to voters, but that seems to be how it is.) So Allen’s “macaca” comment made it “news,” and opened the floodgates.
I also don’t buy the argument that this is irrelevant and we should only consider “the issues.” We’re talking about putting a guy into office for six years. Many issues will come up that we have no way of predicting, even if the campaign was about the issues and communicated everyone’s stand on them well. Past stands on the issues are worth considering, but getting an idea what sort of person any candidate is, and divining what his actual principles are (as opposed to what he claims they are) are highly relevant.
There is another possibility, Waldo: Allen will note that Shelton is lying. Of course, nobody on the far Left ever does that (bill clinton; anita hill; joe wilson).
What’s interesting to consider is whom you on the Left hope to persuade with this claptrap. Allen loyalists don’t buy it, because they don’t see it (unless, of course, you’re asserting that to be a Republican is to be per se racist; good luck with that); even those marginally informed don’t buy it because it contradicts the unblemished public record. So the only people who are going to believe the “Allen is a racist” line are the far Left moonbats who weren’t going to vote for him anyway.
On that basis, keep it up!
It may just be that someone is trying to smear him… When will people talk about issues?
http://www.allenhq.com/2006/09/25/webbs-dirty-tricksters-salon/
So Race isn’t an issue?
James Young,
I am confused, are you saying Joe Wilson has lied about something? Like uranium, or the fact that the Bush administration tried to smear him and his wife based on his findings?
He reported what he found and didn’t find, and when he wasn’t taken seriously, he took it public.
Also, I resist being called ‘far left’ if I believe one thing or another. A person will believe what they want to, based on their own criteria. Political persuasion has a little to do with it, but I know I look for credibility, honesty and facts when deciding whether I believe someone or not.
As for ‘Allen loyalists’, there seems to be quite a few less of those than there were even just a few months ago. I suppose that is because of all the lies the ‘far left’ are telling about Allen, right? Maybe they have found their own truth and don’t like what they see in their Senator. He is running to be re-hired by us, and he just doesn’t look all that credible or honest to me.
jm:
Which issues would you like to talk about? Allen’s apology for slavery? His bill last year that apologized for lynching? Do you see a pattern here?
Maybe you would like to talk about all the issues that Allen supported that have nothing to do with the governance of this country, in place of things like body armor for troops, (Twice voted against) or investigation into what happened to the billions of dollars that disappeared under the Coalition Provisional Authority?
How about his votes against the minimum wage and for gutting the bankruptcy protections many moderate to low income residents need to use in extreme situations?
No?
Then, pray tell, what issues are you talking about?
Mark,
The Senate found that Wilson lied repeatedly and Plamegeta/Fitzmas turned into a bust because it wasn’t the administration leaking, it was Richard Armitage screwing around and then not admitting it for two years.
Looks more like Wilson was trying for publicity than anything else. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/31/AR2006083101460.html
It was Richard Armitage screwing around and then not admitting it for two years.
But, as Deputy Secretary of State, wasn’t Richard Armitage part of the administration?
As for Mr. Wilson, why would he care about publicity? For that matter, what would anybody who doesn’t have a movie to promote, care about publicity? Who wants their privacy invaded? Exactly what would he be publicizing? You’re not suggesting that he planned this whole affair, just so he could write a book about it, are you? That’d be a pretty elaborate plot. “I know, I’ll go check out the yellowcake, and say there was nothing to it. The administration will ignore my findings. Then, I’ll write an op-ed calling them out. Then, they’ll leak that my wife is a CIA agent. Then, I’ll write a book about it. And, voila – free publicity.”
Harry, You should read the Washington Post link before commenting. Wilson did lie, he really is a publicity hound and he’s done pretty well financially because of it not to mention he seemed to like being in Vanity Fair with his wife.
Armitage had an axe to grind with the administration and he leaked to do so. Wonder if the case prosecutor will ever explain why he went after everyone else when he already knew Armitage was the primarey source on Plame.
Danny,
My point simply was that the ideas being brought forth from former teammates of Allen are far from unanimous.
It’s just a word, people need to get over it. It is used by people all the time, I hear it in movies, television, print, and mostly in public. Now if George Allen has lied about it, then that’s a different story.
Allen’s teammate says Allen is a racist and committed a hate crime. OK, he’s hardly credible. Allen has long been a devotee of the Confederate Flag. Oh, that’s OK, that was merely childish rebellion, and he knows better now. Allen had a noose hanging in a tree in his office. Oh, no big deal, it’s part of Western-themed memorabilia. Macaca. Oh, good people say bad things sometimes. Allen hangs out with members of a known racist organization. Just one of many photo ops he was in. Allen feels insulted at the suggestion he’s Jewish. Oh, my, no, just righteous indignation at the question.
One of these incidents on its own doesn’t necessarily meam Allen is a racist. Yeah, people make mistakes. People are victims of political mudslinging. But, there comes a point when a pattern starts to emerge. And this pattern emerged a long time ago.
Many of those who admit Allen is a racist are quick to point out that it’s irrelevant. It’s completely relevant. George Allen represents a state with a 26% minority population. George Allen doesn’t get to represent 74% of Virginians, he has to represent all of us. And to elect a man who has both privately and openly denigrated multiple minority groups is an insult to a quarter of our population, and to millions more people across the country.
I want a Senator who I know won’t reflexively cast votes against minorities. I want a Senator who is not a total embarassment to our commonwealth.
well put, Dan.
Dan, did you see that Shelton’s own roommate in college said that he never heard any of this at the time, including the alleged deer head incident?
Now tell me, what are the odds that Shelton would’ve been a witness to such an event but not tell his roommate?