« Line of the Day | Main | More on Europe and America »
November 14, 2006
Things to Think About
There's no doubt that the margin of Webb's win over Allen was far smaller than the margin provided by the instant disgust and ensuing fallout from the "Macaca" comments. Given that, it's literally true that S.R Sidharth, the slurred Webb staffer, flipped the Senate. Himself. His very presence at that event, when combined with Allen's bigotry, ended Republican rule over Congress. So while Isaac Chotiner ably rounds up the various Allen advisors disgraced by their boss's implosion, we should all take a moment to think fondly of Sidharth, the lowly staffer who won Democrats the Senate.
November 14, 2006 | Permalink
Comments
Here's Siddarth's own piece from the Post this weekend. Great title too.
Posted by: Jeff | Nov 14, 2006 4:13:58 PM
That IS a thing to think about. That's a good observation and I don't really have a whole lot to add, although I wonder what the make-up of the Senate would like were we still living in a pre-youtube era. Would Allen's Macaca slur have gotten enough media play without the blogs circulating the YouTube video? Would it have gotten any media play at all? Also, I kind of wonder if a YouTubeless world could have spared Conrad Burns the thousand or so votes he needed to keep his seat.
I'm not really sure, although I think we can all agree with the old line: "May technology continue to bless America." Or something like that.
Posted by: Eric the Political Hack | Nov 14, 2006 4:18:29 PM
Allen cost himself his own seat. Had he not been a closet racist, he wouldn't have made the comment that way and no one would even know who S.R Sidharth is.
I'm actually uncertain how much of it was the "macaca" comment itself (which, admittedly, led to lots of late-night comedian fodder) or if it was that backhanded "Welcome to America" comment. Whichever it was, it was Allen who made the comments and showed his real personality to the world.
Posted by: NonyNony | Nov 14, 2006 4:25:27 PM
The implosion may have had a trigger, but it remains an implosion, not a bombardment or another less-common metaphor. Which straw do you give credit for breaking the camel's back? Allen was a Californian who fell in love with the idea of the Klan, and the only possible path from that to both state and national politics was to pass himself off as a vacuous good-ole-boy, a generic knockoff of Bush. Think about that for a second: Allen is not a stuffed shirt, but was trying to pass himself off as one. The spin is dizzying.
Vague anecdotal evidence that the generic knockoff act was an act either came from sources not jumping into the public eye (his sister; at least, that's the impression I got) or were downright boring. A Confederate flag pin? A noose in the office? Disgusting if you think about it, but who wants to? But an exotic racist slur... ah, now that is interesting. And he's dumb enough to aim it at a guy holding a video camera? And the guy with the camera is happy to go on the news and talk about it?
After that, it's all downhill. The whole "I love pork, dammit, please believe I'm not Jewish!" thing might have looked almost as dumb as it actually did, even if his mother had entered the combination in a more benign way. George Allen, that rare combination in a politician: stupid and evil.
Posted by: Cyrus | Nov 14, 2006 4:38:18 PM
All I can think of after "I Am Macaca" is "Coo Coo kuchoo!"
Posted by: Nicholas Beaudrot | Nov 14, 2006 5:11:12 PM
with a name like sidharth, it is no wonder that good things have happened. it would have made hermann hesse happy!!
Posted by: jacqueline | Nov 14, 2006 6:36:47 PM
it is true...the gods do come to meet us from the other direction!
Posted by: jacqueline | Nov 14, 2006 6:39:04 PM
At the blogger thing at Zeitgeist Saturday, somebody was saying the same thing about Mike Stark--that if Allen's goons hadn't manhandled him we wouldn't have the Senate. Both incidents certainly damaged the air of amiability Allen carefully cultivates.
In the end, though, tying it to a single cause is a mug's game. There are lots of things that could have happened to change it, but they didn't; I don't know how we assign relative importance to them.
(There's also an argument to be made, I think, that but for the macaca incident Allen's dumbass bigotry would have been crystallized in some other form. The macaca thing wasn't some aberration that, blown out of proportion, misrepresented Allen's true character; it was a hook for generalized perceptions of racism.)
Posted by: Tom Hilton | Nov 14, 2006 7:02:47 PM
I'm actually uncertain how much of it was the "macaca" comment itself (which, admittedly, led to lots of late-night comedian fodder) or if it was that backhanded "Welcome to America" comment. Whichever it was, it was Allen who made the comments and showed his real personality to the world.
I agree. Those convinced by merely "macaca" were the ones who didn't need convincing at that point anyway. "Welcome to America" to a kid born in...Virginia, well there's really no way to spin that. The 1-2 punch of an arguably racial slur with a clearly racist/nativist button on the end was simply too much in the way of cognitive dissonance.
Posted by: Pooh | Nov 14, 2006 9:01:01 PM
Sidarth had a commentary on this experience Sunday. I cannot remember where on line it was. But, I got to email him and I did. Just to let him know not everyone is stupid.
Webb has a wonderful oped in the Wall street journal about the economic disparity of the coorporate and the worker. He gives a wonderful write up pretty much summing up how we feel in very eloquent terms. If you get a chance I urge everyone to look it up and read it. The man definitely has his finger right on the problems.
Posted by: vwcat | Nov 15, 2006 2:00:32 AM
I just hope that the loss and the further dissemination of information about this rascist poseur keeps him from running for President. My fear? He gets asked to be VP in a hope that he can ride the coattails of Guiliani or McCain into office (though I have the same fear about Santorum). Despite all his gaffs, rascists comments & coded desk nick-nacks, the guy lost by only a few thousand votes.
I'm happy for any Democratic wins, but I would also like to think that it is our policies that win elections for us...
Posted by: Seanly | Nov 15, 2006 8:24:10 AM
Everyone is a closet racist, none more so than those who pull DHIMMIcRAT levers in voting booths.
The trick is either to keep your mouth shut about it or to blame it on others.
Allen ran a crappy race, and that lost him the race. Giving credit to Sidarth, Webb, DHIMMIcRATs or anyone else other than Allen is just residual echoes from a distortion chamber.
Posted by: Paul A'Barge | Nov 15, 2006 2:31:05 PM
i think it was a triple threat that did allen in:
macaca, michael j. fox and bill clinton.
Posted by: christian | Nov 15, 2006 2:32:18 PM
Hello Ezra and all,
Eleven Roars Loudly
Here's some eye opening background information behind many recent watershed events (Macaca, Foley, Ted Haggart, David Kuo, the US election, Hurricane Katrina, etc., etc.) that will prove very enlightening on many levels. Many of the events and situations of recent years were not mere coincidences and I have meticulously produced stunning and comprehensive proof of this, and much else. Resist the urge to dismiss the things I discuss before you review the evidence; be patient and strive to understand what I am presenting. Remember, "scoffing in the face of profundity causes blindness..."
Peace...
Posted by: Seven Star Hand (LW Page) | Nov 15, 2006 10:26:01 PM
