I'm Insulted. I Think.

In Allen Quip Provokes Outrage, Apology, we learn that Sen. George Allen called someone macaca at a campaign stop. This is a very bad thing. Just ask this fellow:

Steve Mukherjee, a spokesman for the Washington chapter of the Association of Indians in America, said Allen's comments were "hurtful," and he chided the senator for not being more sensitive.

"The world is so volatile and so delicate," Mukherjee said. "You have to be careful what you say and how you say it. The U.S. is no longer black and white."

Asked what macaca means, Mukherjee said: "What it means, I don't know. But it's going to cause him some grief."

(Hat tip Rich Lowry). Reporters Tim Craig and Michael Shear inform us that

Depending on how it is spelled, the word macaca could mean either a monkey that inhabits the Eastern Hemisphere or a town in South Africa. In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs.

Good to know. Allen denies any evil intent; the usual suspects, some of whom know what this is supposed to mean, express outrage. Tim Graham correctly points out these slips are covered with less intensity, if at all, when uttered by the left. Whatever sympathy I might have had for the target, "nonwhite" James Webb staffer S.R. Sidarth, is diminished by the quality of his dismay:

"I think he was doing it because he could, and I was the only person of color there, and it was useful for him in inciting his audience," said Sidarth, who videotaped the event for the Webb campaign. "I was annoyed he would use my race in a political context."

Because only one side gets to do that:

Told of Allen's apology, [Webb flack] Todd added, "I hope Allen realizes that Virginians come in all colors."

Oh. Do tell.

Update: Tim Graham in more depth at Newsbusters. I neglected to mention, as Tim does, that the Post attacks Allen in an editorial, which adds weight to Tim's pile-on theory. And courtesy of Instapundit, Hotline weighs in:

Two signs today that the Allen campaign has seriously angered the Post. First, there's the A1 placement of a story that is arguably interesting and compelling but not earthshatteringly newsy. Within the story, there's a hint that Allen's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams zoinked off the reporter who called him.

"But the apology, which came hours after Allen's campaign manager dismissed the issue with an expletive and insisted the senator has "nothing to apologize for," did little to mollify Webb's campaign or Sidarth..."

The second harbinger is the Post editorial entitled George Allen's America.

The Post is ganging up on George Allen...

Though not necessarily because of political bias, sez Hotline. Are the interns still contributing over there? But they almost make up for it with this, from the Department of Who Knew?:

A side note to the story: The Post writes that "In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs." The Post doesn't mention that Allen's mother was Franco-Tunisian and Allen speaks French.

 

Comments

[Macaca]

Sen. Allen's remarks were offensive and cavalier. Reminded me of being called on Jungle Bunny on the schoolbus.

In any case, I made up some funny t shirts celebrating the end of Sen. Allen's campaign (hopefully).

Check 'em out. 30% of profit goes to Jim Webb, Allen's competitor.

[Edited to remove urls. Sorry pal, I won't help you raise funds for Webb, but you're welcome to disagree here with anything I write]