Quotes of the Morning: Killing an Arab

“Here's the unmentionable secret: Racism isn't that big a deal any more. No sensible person supports it. Nobody of importance preaches it. It's rapidly becoming an ugly memory.”
-Tony Snow, October 6, 2003

“Yep. No more racism in the U.S. Nobody important worries about it. It doesn’t happen.”
-Skippy

“’My friends, we're going to run this campaign on positive, constructive ideas,’ Sen. George F. Allen told a rally of Republican supporters in Southwest Virginia last week. ‘And it's important that we motivate and inspire people for something.’ Whereupon Mr. Allen turned his attention to a young campaign aide working for his Democratic opponent -- a University of Virginia student from Fairfax County who was apparently the only person of color present -- and proceeded to ridicule him.
Let's consider which positive, constructive or inspirational ideas Mr. Allen had in mind when he chose to mock S.R. Sidarth of Dunn Loring, who was recording the event with a video camera on behalf of James Webb, the Democratic nominee for the Senate seat Mr. Allen holds. The idea that holding up minorities to public scorn in front of an all-white crowd will elicit chortles and guffaws? (It did.) The idea that a candidate for public office can say ‘Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia!’ to an American of Indian descent and really mean nothing offensive by it? (So insisted Mr. Allen's aides.) Or perhaps the idea that bullying your opponents and calling them strange names -- Mr. Allen twice referred to Mr. Sidarth as ‘Macaca’ -- is within the bounds of decency on the campaign trail?”
-Washington Post editorial, August 15, 2006

“Wow. Sounds bad. How can you justify that kind of statement?”
-Skippy

“Wadhams said Allen campaign staffers had begun calling Sidarth ‘mohawk’ because of a haircut Wadhams said the Webb staffer has. ‘Macaca was just a variation of that,’ Wadhams said.”
-Washington Post, August 15, 2006

“Sure, that makes sense… except that Mr. Sidarth doesn’t have a Mohawk. Other than that it makes perfect sense. Honestly, it doesn’t seem like Senator Allen was talking about his hair. Perhaps there was a different meaning he was thinking of..”
-Skippy

“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.”
-Washington Post, August 15, 2006

“One of those ‘European cultures’ is the French, who gained a certain amount of bias against the North African people after their problems in Algeria, Tunisia and surrounding areas back in the early decades of the last century. Hey.. Isn’t Senator Allen’s mother of French North African descent?”
-Skippy

“My mother came over from Tunisia and fell in love with my father, they got married.”
-Senator George Allen, June 19, 2006

“Sure. It was about Mr. Sidarth’s hair.. Oddly enough the French experience in North Africa is in the news for a different reason also. It seems that at this late date Fearless Leader has learned to read.”
-Skippy

“On his summer vacation in Crawford, Texas, George Bush read Albert Camus' novel The Stranger.”
-Slate, August 14, 2006

“Camus is, of course, the famous French existentialist. His novel The Stranger is about a man who is accused of.. aw heck, let’s just let the Cure give you the flavor of the work.”
-Skippy

“Standing on the beach
With a gun in my hand
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sand
Staring down the barrel
At the Arab on the ground
See his open mouth
But I hear no sound
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm a stranger
Killing an Arab
I can turn
And walk away
Or I can fire the gun
Staring at the sky
Staring at the sun
Whichever I choose
It amounts to the same
Absolutely nothing
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm a stranger
Killing an Arab
I feel the silver jump
Smooth in my hand
Staring at the sea
Staring at the sand
Staring at myself
Reflected in the eyes
Of the dead man on the beach
The dead man on the beach
I'm alive
I'm dead
I'm the stranger
Killing an Arab”
-The Cure, “Killing An Arab”

“Hmm… Maybe that is why Fearless Leader is reading Camus. He’s looking for pointers.”
-Skippy