On Friday, I questioned the prevailing interpretation of this passage from a World Magazine profile of George Allen by founder Joel Belz:
Allen actually had a pretty credible defense for what he said. No one—including The Washington Post, which featured the story repeatedly for several weeks—ever demonstrated that "macaca" really has such murky racial connotations in any language. But in northern Italy, where Allen's mother had close family connections, "macaca" does seem to mean "clown" or "buffoon." Allen says now that's what he was trying to communicate.
Wonkette and Josh Marshall interpreted this as suggesting that Allen picked up the word from his mother, while Jonathan Alter wrote that Allen said he was referring to the Italian meaning of "buffoon." But as I wrote, the passage is unclear; Belz could have been interpreting the "shithead" alibi as being similar to the alleged Italian meaning rather than reporting a direct statement from Allen.
I emailed World for clarification on Saturday, writing the following:
I'm a blogger following up on Joel Belz's George Allen profile. Some bloggers are interpreting a paragraph from the story as saying that Allen confirmed picking up the term "macaca" from his mother or the Italian. Is that correct? I've included the relevant portion of my post questioning this interpretation below. If someone could briefly clarify what Allen actually said, I would very much appreciate it.
This is the non-response I just received from Belz (via another staffer):
I think the story says enough. I said what I meant to say, and it is a very accurate account.
Is that indirect confirmation that the Wonkette/Marshall interpretation is correct? Is Belz concerned about getting Allen in further trouble? Inquiring minds want to know -- what reporter will ask Allen's campaign for comment?
In related news, Salon is reporting that "Three former college football teammates of Sen. George Allen say that the Virginia Republican repeatedly used an inflammatory racial epithet and demonstrated racist attitudes toward blacks during the early 1970s." Futures contract prices on his Senate race dropped eight points yesterday to a 63 percent probability of him winning. And it's increasingly hard to imagine Allen even running for president. How long until Ed Gillespie and Mary Matalin jump off the sinking ship?
Update 9/25 2:06 PM: The Allen campaign is denying both stories. Their response to World Magazine is that the Senator "did not say it. Notice that it isn't a quote in the story." And their online response to the Salon article is here.
Update 9/26 1:35 PM: Wonkette links here, saying "Mr. Reasonable himself, Brendan 'Too Hardcore for The American Prospect' Nyhan, thinks we aren’t even-handed enough." Ha.
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/26/AR2006092601654_pf.html
And not only are those three college friends saying so, but now Larry Sabato is backing them up, at least on the use of the "n-word."
Posted by: Rick | September 27, 2006 at 12:14 PM