Monday, May 01, 2006
Born-Again George Allen
Michael Paul Williams of the Richmond Times-Dispatch wrote a column today about born-again Sen. George Allen, and his burning bush moment during his tour with the Faith and Policy Institute in 2004.
Yes, it was such an overwhelmingly memorable moment that Allen told, well, almost no one.
An article by the Atlanta Journal Constitution in writing about congressional trips arranged by the institute also included a few lines and a weak quote from Allen about his experience and last-minute, pre-presidential campaign conversion:
Hmmm, so Allen called the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People a bunch of extremists; the parlance of the day, equal to the Communist label during the 50s, 60s and 70s. But heck, Allen wasn't a racist as a youth, he was just a rebel, get it, rebel-confederate.Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) said he's among those changed by the experience.
Allen, who once decorated his law office with a Confederate flag and noose and, as governor of Virginia, signed a "Confederate Heritage Month" proclamation while dubbing the NAACP an "extremist group," returned from a trip to the bridge with Lewis last year and introduced legislation that essentially apologized for lynchings.That journey, said the senator --- who is a co-chair of this year's tour --- "will guide many of the decisions that I have yet to make."
Somehow I think if Allen weren't running for president; or Tim Kaine hadn't convincingly won the governorship last fall; or Leslie Byrne hadn't nearly captured the lieutenant governor spot, Allen would update his racist narrative and call the NAACP a den of terrorists today.
Like Williams writes, "Allen's conversion to civil-rights sympathizer was already a tough sell." And now Raising Kaine alerts readers the Times-Dispatch is trying to create the impression, why everyone running for office in Virginia is rumored to be a bigot (thanks Miller).
Well folks, I ain't "buying it." We know the history of Allen and we know the history of Webb; and trying the proven 'switch-and-bait, now-you-see-a-racist-now-you-don't' won't work; their records speak for themselves.
The good news about the latest buzz is that the Allen story finally has seen daylight; and with the latest media chatter, folks across the commonwealth are reading that their jovial senator is really a bigot behind his cowboy smile.
// posted by Howling Latina @ 7:02 PM 
