It looked like it was dying down but it turns out the “Macaca” story lives on, thanks to the two-faced message coming out of Senator George Allen’s camp. Apparently the incident has severely harmed him in the polls, so he’s finally apologized to S.R. Sidarth, the Webb campaign worker whom he twice called “macaca” and asked an all-white audience to “welcome to America.” Allen actually got on the phone:
“He apologized for his comments,” said Mr. Sidarth, who is an American of Indian descent, in a telephone interview from the University of Virginia, where he has resumed his classes. “He took the blame for saying them, and he said he didn’t realize how offended I was until he heard my comments from the media.”
End of story, right? Politician says something stupid, pays price in the polls, apologizes, hopefully learns lesson. Except for one thing. At the same time that Allen is apologizing, his staff is telling Republicans worried that he’s going soft on them that the whole incident was what the papers call “a barnyard epithet” (that’s newscode for “bullshit”) and that it’s Allen who is actually the aggrieved party. [Update: Here’s the campaign manager’s memo.] Here’s today’s editorial in the Washington Post:
[Allen campaign manager] Mr. Wadhams, an itinerant political hit man known for his nasty attacks on opponents, told Republican leaders in a memo sent over the weekend that the Webb campaign and the media had ganged up “to create national news over something that did not warrant coverage in the first place.”
He continued: “Never in modern times has a statewide office holder and candidate been so vilified.” In other words, Mr. Allen is the victim — not the 20-year-old student whom he mocked with an insulting, possibly racist slur in front of scores of chortling supporters and demeaned by saying, “Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!”
Unlike Mr. Allen, whose contrition has become increasingly abject over time, Mr. Wadhams has been consistent. His first pronouncement to journalists, a week and a half ago, was to refer to the “macaca” story with a barnyard epithet and insist that the senator had nothing to apologize for. He has stuck with that assessment.
With Mr. Allen plummeting in the polls and his reelection prospects now in doubt, he and Mr. Wadhams are in damage-control mode. They have dropped their far-fetched insistence that the word “macaca” referred to Mr. Sidarth’s hairstyle. But they ought to get their stories straight. Is the Allen campaign really sorry? Or are the senator’s adversaries just making a mountain out of “macaca”?
We report, you decide.
go subodh! cleveland rocks!
AWWWWWW……….That’s so CUTE! And HOT! Do you have a younger single brother? 😉
I don’t have kids yet, but when I do, I hope to make politics and activism an inclusive part of my life with them, just the way it is today with me. Politics isn’t an exclusive it’s inclusive. My work would be a lot easier if people were raised to have a poltical consciousness out of the womb.
subodh: I don’t view these things–fighting injustices–as a political purpose. I view that as the purpose of life. I hope they do too.
Your attitude towards these issues are admirable. I am a dad of a very young child too. My wife and I had a very difficult pregnancy as well. I have lived in Norman, Oklahoma for fair length of time. So we have many things in common. 🙂 However, I would allow my son to frame his attitudes by forming his independent opinions when he grows up. Sure, my discussions with him would probably influence some of those attitudes. However, my inclusion in any political movment (and that term includes practically all aspects doesn’t it?) would force my attitudes onto them. Additionally, they may not even be aware of the nature of their involvement due to their lack of maturity. Ergo, one is hoisting one’s views onto them. Lastly, if this was about fighting injustice & aiming for inclusion, at the very least, one’s children would be better off with a T-shirt message that reinforces positive qualities. One that they can relate to.
I’m not as politically active as many of the people who read/write on this blog, but I would say I’m far more active than the average U.S. citizen. I don’t know if including activism while raising a kid is good in the same way that I don’t know if it’s good to force a child to be athletic or religious. I think a belief system is something one should grow into and should develop with increased knowledge and experience. But then again, I’m not a parent so who am I to say?
Subodh:
I was silently uncomfortable about your kids’ photo too (wasn’t going to comment though), but your answer in post #48 blew me away. Good for you. Keep it up. And make sure your kids learn whatever their heritage Indian language is too (had to throw that in there).
Yes. Go for it. He’s going to kill me. But my mother will be happy.
Swwwwwwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeeetttttt!!!!!!!!
Ha Ha!!! I’ve had a very similar thing done to me. I gotta warn you dude, if his reaction is anything like mine you better be prepared for some physical violence. And don’t think that years of accrued maturity will stop him.
pied piper: Sorry about that. I see that some of my statements have been inadvertantly deleted. I am struggling with a laptop which has an optical mouse. 🙂 I hope my subsequent post to subodh has clarified it a bit. To summarize: 1. MLK – rights of children affected- here and now.
2. GFA – no legal rights of children affected. GFA’s attitudes could implicitly affect his decision making (like some would accuse GWB in the aftermath of Katrina). Therefore, it is for us (adults) to make certain that he does not get elected. 3. Positive messages are more helpful to children than angry ones.
All of the above are imho, of course. 🙂
Ha! Again, Too funny!!!
But judging from the links, he doesn’t seem to have much education or academic interests. Maybe he’s not a suitable boy afterall. 😉
Taz, just go straight to Subodh’s mummy for the brother’s biodata and such 😉
thanks for the clarification, quizman — i didn’t want to respond without being more certain i understood where you were coming from.
i’m sensitive to the notion that parents should be careful about forcing their ideas upon one’s children — it is, after all, very often reactionary ideas and values that get foisted upon kids at vulnerable ages. i’m not sure i completely buy the distinction you draw between martin luther king’s kids and subodh’s kids in this context — in particular, i’m not sure for myself that it matters that legal equality, rather than social equality, was at stake for king. in fact, in this day and age, it’s often the day-to-day reality of social inequality that matters more, here and now, than formal legal inequality, which has largely been eliminated in form.
i also don’t know that brown kids need to be taught to be open to accepting and embracing racist slurs — it’s their full inclusion and equality that’s at stake, after all.
but all of that said, i certainly have no quarrel with the general caution you raise, and your sensitivity more generally to giving kids the space to make their own choices as they grow into adulthood. of course, how precisely to do that has got to be a lot easier said than done. (and taken to an extreme, parents would be completely hands-off and leave kids to be buffeted by their schools, their peers, and popular culture….)
pied piper: also don’t know that brown kids need to be taught to be open to accepting and embracing racist slurs — it’s their full inclusion and equality that’s at stake, after all.
Oh, I didn’t imply that when I suggested positive statements on T-shirts (for kids). I meant that they could learn about equality, how they should be proud US citizens etc. Anger and knowledge of slurs can come much later. Let kids be kids. 🙂
Yes, agreed regarding social equality etc. But I was referring to a poster’s justification of the t-shirts on kids vis-a-vis MLK’s inclusion of kids in protest marches. I was merely hinting that the latter was on relatively better ground.
i know my parents took me to rallies against the vietnam war when i was a wee tot, and i’m damn glad they did.
siddhartha: Oh, you mean you had such a reputation that they couldn’t find an aunty to babysit you? 🙂
and my dad taught me slogans in honor of ho chi minh. pictures from the period, my dad looks like… well, a terrorist! but he wasn’t into blowing anything up, except subatomic particles.
Interesting. I love how SM posts and resultant discussions migrate from an issue to something totally peripheral. So from discussing the antics of Allen we go to preserving the innocence of children, and whether it’s immoral to dress them up to make a statement.
Macacas, take note. Y’all’s mummies been dressing you to make a statement since you didn’t even know! Or do you not remember Garanimals and Toughskins, or your sibling’s plaid shirt and too-short-cords hand-me-downs? Get over it. Banana Republic is a statement, Gap is a statement, bib overalls are a statement, going naked is a statement, and not being able to do anything about how your parents dress you is a fact of life.
At least these cute little macacas look good while being “used” for furthering a message. Subodh, good article. Mad props.
quizman — i understand where you are coming from, and respect what underlies your concern. certainly for some parents who wish to encourage their children to be active, engaged citizens, though, placing them in these kinds of situations is not using them for political purposes, but rather an important part of their values education and their civic education. something about which they will have conversations that make them think critically when they are older and looking at family pictures. or whatever.
certainly, you don’t have to make the same choices — i’d just urge a bit of caution about judging too definitively or harshly about what’s actually going on. (in any event, i myself regard these t-shirts as more playfully assertive than angry — and on these three, exceptionally cute. 🙂 )
**
drmr kobayashi, can i gentlycrysuggest foul on this comment:siddhartha made the following observation the other day, and at the time, in its context, it struck me as right on the money:
oops. maybe i’m not reading your comment fairly enough, but must you resort to this move as well? especially given your powers of prescription, you don’t need it. after all, as you noted yourself, you didn’t even get into evil medical school!! 😉
That’s four of those chill pills for you. Double dose!
I was joking, yaar. Joking, you know, but kinda serious.
Anyway, the real crime is raising your children as capitalists, and I don’t see anyone comp…oh forget it.
yes sir, kobayashi. four pills, right away.
cue time-lapse clock with minute hand spinning rapidly
wow. loopyland. awesome. loopy note to self — i’ve gotta call kobayashi out more often…..
This suitablegirl can vouch for Sudeep’s fabulous education, since she WENT TO COLLEGE WITH HIM. w00t friends of my big sis! 😀
Vhat a very cute picture, yaar – i LOWWW it!
I cannot help but notice that your classic resident SM “wingnuts” (manju, md, et al) are notoriously absent on this post.
In light of Subodh’s wonderful, optimistic post #48 (brought a little moisture to mine eyes, in fact), i am not surprised. Politics be damned, but humanity does often take sides.
Subodh, you are a parent that I aspire to be. “Teach your children well…”
PS – hakuna macaca george felix, jr.!!
PS – Subodh. Having undergone a difficult pregancy myself, my best wishes to you and your wife – my husband was the basket case, i had to keep it together. ;-)))
Oh My Word
We wingnuts chimed in early. and we let our opinion be known.
Subodh
48 — powerful answer, my friend. As a mom of two precious little girls. everything I do is framed by protecting them, giving the strength and confidence, and doing what I can to make them active, conscious, thinking citizens. You are a great role model for all of us.
Mallika
What do you say… The year 2030… Swayamvara at the Chopra compound in California…
Unfortunately, one of my boys will win up short, unless they do the Draupadi/Pandavas thing… 🙂
Now, talk about going off topic!
Subodh wrote:
Isn’t this a “political” statement ?
brown_fob – abso-freakin-lutely, that is a political statement. So, pray tell, what’s wrong with that??
I previosuly wrote: One thing that I didn’t like was the use of kids to make political statements.
to which people replied that it wasn’t a political statement by Subodh!
I agree, Allen is a horrib-
Oh look! So sveet sveet!!! Those little macaca munchkins are adorable! Badhai ho, Chandra ji. Your boys are already on the right path 🙂
our kids will probably suffer the most in the long run from political proclamations that do not work out per plan, on any side, right, left or wrong. By all means, use them, spark some thought!!!
My dear brown_fob,
The anticommunist playwright, dissident, and former Czech president, Vaclav Havel said, “Genuine politics–even politics worthy of the name–the only politics I am willing to devote myself to–is simply a matter of serving those around us: serving the community and serving those who will come after us. Its deepest roots are moral because it is a responsibility expressed through action, to and for the whole.”
When Allen attacked my brother, Sidarth, he attacked me. He attacked you. He attacked my sons. He attacked all of us. As Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
Simple questions. Are you troubled by Allen’s attack, and his subsequent behavior, including his campaign manager’s? Yes or no? If yes, do you want to hold him accountable and be a karmic facilitator? Yes or no? If yes, then please express responsibility through action, to and for the whole, as Havel exhorts. Enough nitpicking and semantics.
Be the change you want to see in the world, as Gandhi said.
If it satisfies you to label a call for accountability “political”–if that helps you feel somehow above it all, that’s fine. But don’t be surprised when you have lots of more useless, divisive leaders like Allen. Nor when they hit you again, even closer to home.
Let me be as blunt as I can possibly be, at risk of provoking another round. I simply do not understand those who bemoan Allen’s actions, those who can talk or blog about it ad nauseum, but won’t do anything to try to stop his career. I don’t understand it when there is a clear issue of right and wrong, how folks can wring their hands, sit on the sidelines, and suggest that we should not use whatever means (individual and collective action) we have to right the wrong. Howard Dean (someone I am not used to quoting) put it best today when he said of Allen, “I don’t think he belongs in public service, to be honest with you. There are Republicans who are capable and smart, thoughtful people, and he’s not one of them.”
If Allen were my employee, I’d fire him and make sure no friend of mine hired him. If you want to make this a better country, do what you can to deny places in public service for people like Allen. Allen’s up for re-election on November 7. He has an opponent. As a practical matter, if you want to make it clear to the world that Allen’s attitudes and actions have consequences and no place in public service, then you need to do everything you can to support his opponent.
Maybe I am taking for granted on this blog what I know from first-hand experience as a former statewide candidate. The single most important thing Allen’s opponent, James Webb, needs right now is money. Money will help him get the word out through many means–direct mail into homes, television, radio, door-to-door canvassing, providing rides to the elderly and getting them absentee ballots, etc. Sure there are other things you can do–emailing and calling swing-voter friends in Virginia and making sure they turn out to vote, write letters to the editor, protest wearing the t-shirts, etc. But the most important thing is giving Webb the resources he needs to win and really working on your friends until they do so. A lot of people dong a little really adds up fast. Every reader of this blog has the power by working email and the phones to start a chain of fundraising that helps Webb close the three-percentage-point gap that is left after the macaca incident (it was 19 points before).
Action. The rest–it’s just talk. And politics, in the worst sense of the word, in the sense you seem to be using it? Here’s politics. Raising money for a racist. That’s politics. Me? I’m just trying to see some justice in the world. And right now that consists of focusing on getting a guy fired.
I reminded sepiamutiny readers of this quote from Gandhi when macacagate first broke, but here it is again: “The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.”
SC
P.S. Another thing I learned from campaigning–sometimes, you’ve got to ask busy, tapped-out people to give several times before they finally act. If you haven’t yet, please do.
Profile of Sidarth in today’s Washington Post.
Great ending.
Dear Mr. Chandra,
I fully appreciate your efforts. Good Luck.
Regards, brown_fob
The single most important thing Allen’s opponent, James Webb, needs right now is money. Money will help him get the word out through many means–direct mail into homes, television, radio, door-to-door canvassing, providing rides to the elderly and getting them absentee ballots, etc. Sure there are other things you can do–emailing and calling swing-voter friends in Virginia and making sure they turn out to vote, write letters to the editor, protest wearing the t-shirts, etc. But the most important thing is giving Webb the resources he needs to win and really working on your friends until they do so. A lot of people dong a little really adds up fast. Every reader of this blog has the power by working email and the phones to start a chain of fundraising that helps Webb close the three-percentage-point gap that is left after the macaca incident (it was 19 points before).
Subodh: Some of us would like to bring down Allen, but are not comfortable supporting Webb who at best is Allen Lite. I would of course love to see Webb defeat Allen but I would rather spend my time and money for someone like him to topple him or spend my time and money on someone like her to save her from being toppled by him.
Both time and money are limited resources and the allocation of them has to take into account the realities such as who is more likely to vote against a Scalito like nominee? Webb or Cantwell? I dont know for sure but lets be real here. Webb had previously endorsed Allen and is very likely to follow the path of a Ben Nelson. Dont get me wrong, I understand Virginia politics and I understand that Ted Kennedy will not win a senate race in Virginia in 2006. I also understand and agree that we would be MUCH better off with Webb than with Allen. But our resources are precious and they would be better served by saving Cantwell or supporting Brown than by supporting Webb. If I was living in Viriginia, I would certainly be campaigning for Webb. In terms of senators who say vile things, no one can beat this jackass. Even though I am not a fan of Casey, I would first support him than support Webb because Ssntorum is a way bigger nuisance than Allen.
@ #73 OH MY WORD
This Wingnut is absent from the thread until this point because she has a day job.
I’ve already said this was a disgraceful incident, I’ve already condemned it and not just on desi or desi lefty blogs (I stray far and wide from the plantation), but on righty blogs as well. Heck, I even e-mailed The Corner, but they didn’t, like, post my e-mail or anything. They have posted e-mails of mine in the past. Have I proved myself to you all now?
Continue with the feeding frenzy……..
*I’m not sending money to Webb. I don’t agree with him on many issues.
What is it with some of you people and wingnut anyway? Is this supposed to make me feel all warm and fuzzy toward your point of view or should I just take it as the insult it’s intended to be?
PS: Adorable children.
AWWWWW, i want one of them.
Great picture and great article Subodh
well-crafted “washington sketch” by dana milbank today on the allen campaign post-macaca:
read the whole thing.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! We’re teaching George Felix Allen some patriotic values! Love America! (Doing the brown power salute)…
Subodh,
So awed by your op-ed but even more by your parenting philosophy and your children’s names.
I quoted from your comments here on SM on my blog–hope that’s ok. It’ll be such a nice surprise for the four other people who read my blog to encounter something other than my prattle 🙂
All the very best as your and your family shoulder the hopes of many of us.
The profile of Sidarth in today’s post was great.
Subodh, your views on politics and service are inspirational. I wish you were still running for office. I’d volunteer for your campaign.
Mallika Chopra in the house? What a great Friday! Much respect, didi.
Subodh — 30 years it is. But let me warn you my younger one is a tempest! 🙂 DesiDancer, thanks for the shout out. Much respect to you, as well. Mallika
My littlest of three, too. It’s a match.
…and this story just keeps getting better and better…
The kid in the middle is a Oompa-Loompa look alike. 😀
Think George Allen’s ego and heart have accepted that he was wrong? Think again.
Now, the question is, are we going to let him get away with it?
This is one of the cutest photos I have ever seen.
And I completely agree with Salil (#68). Plus I think one makes the biggest ‘statement’ of all just by having kids – that one has some sense of faith in the world and in oneself. In this case, Subodh Chandra is taking it further by showing that he’s a politically attuned dad with a sense of humor. (*By the way, I think you could do a kickin flip book of them wearing these shirts every few months until they actually fit)
Other kids get Mother Goose, Siddhartha gets Ho Chi Minh. Sounds like some good times in the Mitter household, machang 😉 you are going to have to share some of those slogans some time!
(As per usual, domo arigato, Mr. Kobayashi – damn, does the wit and erudition ever stop ?!)
Yet another piece in the media (this time the Washington Post) that fails to report a crucial fact before drawing its conclusion:
Here’s what you can do:
Email the Washington Post at letters@washpost.com, reference the piece, “In Defense of Andrew Young” by John H. McWhorter (8/27/2006) and ask them to stop running any articles and op-eds on the Allen matter without mentioning his “French connection,” namely, that Allen’s mother is a French-Tunisian colonial who immigrated to the U.S., that Allen himself is fluent in French, and that French colonials would be quite familiar with the term, thank you very much.
Those facts make drawing the conclusion McWhorter did above seem rather silly–and indeed all the more absurd since McWhorter, who is with the right-wing Manhattan Institute, professes to be an expert on language.
While you are at it, please email the New York Times at nytnews@nytimes.com AND public@nytimes.com for this piece, “Senator Apologizes to Student for Remark” by Carl Hulse (8/24/2006) as another example of incomplete reporting.
The French-Tunisian connection is key to understanding the whole story. It’s the smoking gun. People have been convicted over less.
Please engage in this exercise repeatedly with media in Virginia if you are trolling around the net for Virginia newspaper stories. We have got to get the media to start reporting this story correctly and being able to think critically everytime people in Allen’s camp (including, presumably, himself), protest Allen’s innocence and ignorance of what he was saying.
It’s truly amazing that I have yet to find a single instance of a single member of the media asking George Allen directly about the “French connection.”
You can change that.
Fewer and fewer of these stories, by the way, as time goes on, mention the “Welcome to America” comment, which was even less excusable. Reference that as well as you wish in your letters to the editor.