Lowell Feld is Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign. The ideas expressed here belong to Lowell Feld alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Jim Webb, his advisors, staff, or supporters.
Comments
Allen's "Joke" To His All-White Audience (PM - 8/26/2006 9:04:24 AM)
The law student who confronted Allen made this observation:
The first event was a Chamber of Commerce luncheon. I paid my $20 and took my seat. I counted 75 white people and not a single minority. Not even an Asian. lol...
The Senator gave his speech - during which he looked at a guy with a giant television camera and said "Who are you?" - making the entire room break up in hearty laughter... because, you know, making jokes to a roomful of white people about racist comments you made last week is the surest sign of contrition...
I heard there was a picture (kevinceckowski - 8/26/2006 9:07:30 AM)
and here it is.
Too sweet. I believe I.Pub.said this story would not last a day, and it would never make it out of NOVA.
Well, guess what?!!!!! I think Allen's campaign is cold, wet, soggy, 12 day old toast.
The costumes may be better than a video camera at this point, however pictures of him high-tailing/ splitting onto his "Freedom Wagon" or whatever he is calling his motor home today (I have a few words for it), would be precious.
Do we have a banana SPLIT costume?
there was another story in WashPost yesterday (teacherken - 8/26/2006 9:39:12 AM)
on front of Metro section entitled Fairfax Native Says Allen's Words Stung which has a wonderful ending, that leads me to believe this story is going on for a while longer. Let me quote from the end of the piece, and you will see why:
Back at school in Charlottesville now, Sidarth has taken his new, unwanted fame with him.
Larry J. Sabato, an oft-quoted political pundit who teaches a small, popular seminar on campaigns and elections, said he asked students to write an essay as part of the admission process. Eighty people applied for the course, including Sidarth. His essay was just three words long -- but it was enough to clinch one of the 20 coveted spots in the class.
"I am Macaca," he wrote.
Sidarth is right. (Lowell - 8/26/2006 9:44:13 AM)
In fact, I would expand it and say - in solidarity with Sidarth - "we are ALL macaca." I would also add that we are ALL "real" Virginians and "real" Americans, despite George Allen's belief to the contrary.
I AM SPARTACUS n/t (teacherken - 8/26/2006 10:19:17 AM)
I AM SPARTACUS (pitin - 8/26/2006 6:03:16 PM)
COMMENT HIDDEN (I.Publius - 8/27/2006 8:15:33 AM)
FYI, you are right on the edge (Lowell - 8/27/2006 8:25:44 AM)
of being banned from RK. Calling Sidarth what you just called him is disgusting. Do you right wingers have no sense of decency? You think Sidarth WANTED this to happen?!? You think he's having the time of his life with this? You think this is all a big JOKE or something (oh wait, it's George Allen who thinks that it's a big joke)? By the way, those were all rhetorical questions, so feel free NOT to answer. Wait, on second thought, keep responding and showing the world how stupid, ignorant, and nasty the right wing is.
I think Allen's Political Career. (drmontoya - 8/26/2006 10:00:53 AM)
Is over. Seriously. He's had over 2 weeks of bad press, and I thought it may lighten up for him.
But it just keeps going, most of it being his own fault by feeding the press one story after another avoiding to apoligize directly to Sidarth.
But I am not the only one who thinks he's done, Check out Howard Dean's take on Allen:
Great inteview by Howard Dean (Lowell - 8/26/2006 10:20:03 AM)
I thought he was dead on that Allen is not fit for public service. Dean is 100% correct when he says that Allen is "always shooting from the hip," that he "never thinks through what he means," and - worst of all - that "he caters to the wrong instincts in people." For all those reasons, George Allen does not deserve the vote of ANY Virginian. That is especially the case given that Virginians have a fantastic candidate opposing Allen in Jim Webb - a war hero, a man of tremendous integrity, a former Reagan Navy Secretary who has friends on both sides of the political aisle, an Emmy-award-winning journalist, and an author of some of the most critically acclaimed books (on Vietnam and the history of the Scots-Irish in America) around. Frankly, this race shouldn't even be close. If all Virginians had a chance to really get to know Jim Webb and George Allen, my guess is that Webb would win in a huge landslide.
dean interview (littlepunk - 8/26/2006 11:58:31 AM)
I am a Republican, and I'm no fan of Howard Dean. That being said, I was watching Hardball the other day with Matthews confronted him about the Allen thing, and I think Dean did a great job. Putting partisanship aside, I think Dean was effective in conveying his point - and then when Matthews moved on, the fact that Dean went back and said I want to talk about Jim Webb, that was an excellent job.
Obviously helpful for the Webb campaign, but one of the better times I've seen Dean on TV.
I agree. And I say this as a 2003/2004 Wes Clark (Lowell - 8/26/2006 1:03:26 PM)
man, myself.
Great Quote Lowell (drmontoya - 8/26/2006 1:15:21 PM)
"Frankly, this race shouldn't even be close" --Lowell
BEST quote of the day.
I might use it later!
Who was it? (Teddy - 8/26/2006 10:20:55 AM)
You don't tell us who is the monkey, who the banana. Students? Webbsters? Concerned citizens?
E-mail the reporter (Lowell - 8/26/2006 10:30:29 AM)
at the News Leader (David Royer - droyer@newsleader.com), maybe he knows. I have absolutely no idea. Next time you see someone dressed in a banana or monkey suit, make sure you ask them who they really are! Ha.
Just monkeying around (macandanna - 8/26/2006 1:44:05 PM)
Mac the Monkey and Anna Banana checking in here. We would love to spend some time with Mr. Allen (for some reason, he didn't show up to walk down our friendly main street in Staunton); perhaps we can offer him a banana elsewhere. If anyone else would like to "appear for us", we'd be happy to give you information about our "fruit and fur" and send you:
32 small oval stickers for bananas (with the message "Racism is NOT a family value")
20 large oval stickers for yellow balloons (same message)
handouts you can photocopy onto yellow paper (one is a transcript of Allen's quote to Sidarth and the other is a monkey-illustrated copy of the Wikipedia definition of macaca)
Adults loved the bananas and stickers, kids loved the balloons. And everyone (except staunch Allenites) enjoyed seeing a monkey and banana on the streets of their home town.
If you're interested in contacting us:
macandanna@gmail.com
Does anyone have ideas for a monkey button (like the Lieberman-Bush KISS button Lamont supporters wear in CT)?
See ya!
Mac the Monkey and Anna Banana
BTW We are not endorsed by or affiliated with the Webb campaign, but you can probably guess who we are voting for!
Banana stickers (KCinDC - 8/26/2006 3:05:12 PM)
The banana stickers are a great idea. Maybe people should start sneaking a few onto bananas in their local markets.
Button idea (macandanna - 8/26/2006 4:08:58 PM)
Great idea to put the stickers on bananas in stores! Heh heh.
What about this idea for a button?
a picture of curious george with Allen's face
If George had been more curious, he would have looked up "macaca" before he used it.
Those shirts and bumperstickers on cafe press are really great! (see comment further down)
Ok, here are some ideas (JennyE - 8/26/2006 6:53:17 PM)
A friend of mine sent me these:
1. Allen's picture with text below it, "George, I'm no
monkey"
2. Simple one. Instead of Crap, use Macaca or Monkey
(http://www.deniskitc...)
3. Allen's picture with text below it,"Say No To
Macaca"
4. Some other ideas from the macaca shop: http://www.cafepress...
My Favorite: "George, I'm No Monkey" (bb10 - 8/27/2006 12:17:14 PM)
The "George, I'm No Monkey" button works for me on so many levels. It says we won't forget about the macaca (monkey/slur) comment. It says we're not going to be fooled by the long series of excuses and "explanations" that Felix and the campaign staff have given. It says that we don't buy Felix's claim that we just don't understand his "sense of humor." And, just like Allen guestured at Sidarth, the button does some deserved "No, no, no" finger-wagging at Felix.
Please Do a Daily Kos Diary (bb10 - 8/27/2006 12:07:54 PM)
Kos did a front-page story yesterday that featured the photo of the two of you. A tremendous number of people were really curious about who you were.
A diary on Daily Kos would be great for getting your ideas out to a wider audience. The "package," with the flyers, balloons, and stickers is wonderful, and more people might pick up on it if you do a DKos diary on your experiences.
Diary attempt next week (macandanna - 8/27/2006 11:41:43 PM)
Hi! It's Mac and Anna checking in.
We JUST signed up to write on the Daily Kos yesterday. You see, we might be good at eating and sharing bananas, but we're sort of new to the blogging world. We think it said we have to wait 1 week before we can write a diary and 24 hours before we can post a comment on it. So...tick, tick, tick.
We'd love to get more people involved as Mac and Anna...because, unfortunately our time and money is limited AND we want to do some phone-banking and door-knocking for Webb, not just our monkeying around. So, we'd love to loan out our banana costume, sticker kit, and suggestions about where in VA to rent the best monkey costumes.
Ummm, what exactly IS a diary on the Kos anyway?
ooo hoooo hooo ooo hoooo hooo. (monkey noises)
Thanks,
Mac and Anna
ha, I was skeptical of having an Allen float (JennyE - 8/26/2006 11:01:41 AM)
But I really like the Monkey and Banana suit idea. It's brilliant. It's a funny visual statement and reminds people about the "macaca" incident.
If Allen shows up in my neck of the woods, I'd sure have a monkey suit on to greet him. That's for sure.
Sidarth Again Makes Salon (Teddy - 8/26/2006 11:13:18 AM)
In the "Quote of the Day" in Salon.com Sidarth's application to Sabato was featured without any comment explaining the quote. None is needed, the story is so well known. Heh.
It took George "Felix" Allen 13 days to apologize to S. R. Sidarth for his dehumanizing comments, he could have "called" S. R. Sidarth the next day, and that would have been the end of it. But no, he and his political strategists searched high and low for any kind of spin or lie to find political advantage of this hole he had dug. Without discovering anything to resonate a message of vindication of his "Macaca" statement, it took him 13 days to concede an apology,,, over a telephone, how sincere is that? Virginians deserve so much more.
George "Felix" Allen, seeking a second term as he explores a 2008 presidential run, apologized directly Wednesday to the Democratic aide he targeted, then joined President Bush for a private fundraiser in the Virginia suburbs of Washington.
(Coincidence? "He couldn't attend a fund raiser with our president with that albatross around his neck, it would make the President look bad! Like George W. needed any help looking BAD!")
"Humiliated and Appalled," Virginia Student Calls for Apology From Sen. Allen for 'Macaca' Slur
Thadd is getting the "The real Macaca" with the pic of George Allen (NOT the one with the confed flag) and I think I am going to go with "Who you callin Macaca" in the bright yellow.
How about y'all?
They just had this story as a half-hour news update on CNN (tokatakiya - 8/26/2006 5:22:41 PM)
This may never die. I was sure it would eventually but maybe not. This will eventually reach saturation and then what will the pollslook like? (49% Webb 43% Allen?)
Costumes are a bad idea (uva08 - 8/26/2006 5:47:43 PM)
Look, I don't like George Allen and I think he is horrible racist who has no business representing this great state. With that said people should not minimize his racist comments by turning it into a side show. By dressing up in monkey costumes these protesters made it seem as if this whole thing is a joke. We must make sure we stay on the mature side of this thing and make sure that we don't lower ourselves to Dick Wadhams-like behavior.
Monkey and Banana Suits (Gordie - 8/27/2006 8:28:52 AM)
If this is what it takes to get rid of Senators and Presidents who have shit eating grins on their faces as they talk about the War dead in Iraq, then this is what it takes. Keep up the good work. Ceck Daily Blos. Webb has had a large jump in contributors since the SLURS. Keep the contributions coming.
A UVA student and a "guy in a monkey suit" scare the bejeezus out of "Cowboy George" Allen, the tough guy who used to drag his sister upstairs by the hair when he wasn't busy holding her over Niagara Falls and giving her a lifelong fear of heights. Are all bullies really cowards at heart? It sure would seem to be the case with George Allen, who fled downtown Staunton yesterday at the mere site of a woman in a banana costume and a "guy in a monkey suit." And once again, I ask incredulously: THIS guy wants to be PRESIDENT?!?