Page Three for Wednesday, September 27th
Page Three today dwelves into a political race that should have been a cake-walk but the leading candidate is now in a fight for his career:
"RICHMOND, Sept. 25 -- Virginia Sen. George Allen on Monday denied allegations by a college football teammate and another former acquaintance that the senator used a racial epithet to refer to blacks during and after his time at the University of Virginia in the early 1970s."
Having grown up more in the 80's I'm not sure how much using the "N" word was taboo or was it culturally insensitive, but if the allegations are true about Sen. Allen then this next story takes the cake:
"Shelton said Allen frequently used the "N-word" to describe blacks and nicknamed him "Wizard" because of the similarity of his name to that of Robert Shelton, a former imperial wizard of the Alabama Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. He also recounted an event from 1973 or 1974 in which he, Allen and a third friend were hunting deer. After the deer was killed, Shelton said, Allen cut off the doe's head, asked for directions to the home of the nearest black person and shoved the head into that person's mailbox."
Geeeeeeez-us! That is one sick, sick bastard! I do believe people can change, I mean look at (sometimes clueless) Sen. Robert Byrd for one. Back in the day he belonged to some nefarious hate groups, but has long since changed his feathers. But even recently Sen. Allen was heard calling a rival capaign worker a racial slur, and also had a Confederate flag and a NOOSE in his law office.
I think James Webb still has to fight for every vote, I mean after all, it is still Virginia. But having Sen Allen's past come back to haunt him may spell unexpected success for us Dems in November....and that will be front page news.
Comments
They were talking about George Allen on ABC This Week, and George Will noted that G.A. is having a "bad month". That whole thing about his mother being a non-practicing Jew could have easily been dealt with: "I'm part of the American melting pot"; instead, he ran away from it, and sounded most foolish.
Posted by: ROG | September 27, 2006 10:48 AM
My only gripe is that one of the guys making the charge, when Chris Matthews asked if he heard Allen use epitaphs personally, he refused to answer yes or know. And either you did or you did not. And maybe he heard it second hand from someone he deems trustworthy. If that is the case, be honest and answer the question.
Posted by: Thom | September 27, 2006 01:07 PM
So, living in the South, I can see the reasoning for someone having a Confederate flag in their office, not matter how tacky it is. Not something I'd do, but then again - half the stuff I see people do here makes me scratch my head. But what I want to know is this - at what point you decide a noose as decor is a good idea?
Posted by: Sam | September 27, 2006 01:24 PM
What...I suppose next you will suggest it is strange to have a cigarette, blind fold and a rifle displayed in my office, Sam?
Posted by: Thom | September 28, 2006 07:42 AM
Well Thom I can see the arguement of the noose as an instrument of justice (since it was for his law office). However, paired off with the confederate flag motif, it just doesn't jive. At face value it's sickening racist, and best it's uncooth.
Posted by: Chris "Lefty" Brown | September 28, 2006 09:13 AM