McCain's Macaca Moment
By nonny mouse Monday Oct 06, 2008 5:00pm 
In March of 2000, Katie Hong, a Korean-American woman who worked for the Washington state government, wrote an article for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about Senator John McCain's remark to reporters on his campaign bus.
He said, "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live."
Although he attempted to explain he was referring specifically to his Vietnamese prison guards while he was a POW – his habitual justification for just about everything he does or says – he refused to apologize for his use of a racially offensive epithet generally regarded as applicable to anyone of Asian background. Ms. Hong was not only hurt by his comment, having committed to serving her country as a place where equal opportunity and justice for everyone regardless of their skin color could become reality, she was disturbed by how little reaction his remark generated from the media.
It is eight years later, and McCain's second run at the White House. In that time, he's dropped numerous F-bombs, called his wife the C-word, and used racially charged language in his campaign to refer to his opponent. There is no reason to believe that his attitude toward "gooks" has changed all that much, either. McCain's unmanageable irritability and use of inappropriate and offensive language has generated serious questions "whether he has the temperament, and the political approach and skills, we want in the next president of the United States."
But a deeper and far more troubling uncertainty concerns me. This particular McCain Macaca Moment is not excusable just because he was a POW, and it's disconcerting that McCain himself is incapable of seeing it, saying, "Do I insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that? No, I don't." But far more importantly, this is indicative of a dangerous and intransigent racism that not only offends a large percentage of American citizens – and not all of them need be Asian to be offended – it has no place in a presidency that may well be called upon to negotiate with the aforementioned "gooks", some of whom have nuclear weapons and others who own a good deal of our national debt. To "hate the gooks" is bad enough, but to declare "I will hate them as long as I live" demonstrates a pig-headed obstinacy that is antithetical to anyone aspiring to hold the most influential and powerful office in the country, if not the world.
But just how many more McCain Macaca Moments is it going to take?
McCain's Macaca Moment
By nonny mouse Monday Oct 06, 2008 5:00pm
In March of 2000, Katie Hong, a Korean-American woman who worked for the Washington state government, wrote an article for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about Senator John McCain's remark to reporters on his campaign bus.
He said, "I hated the gooks. I will hate them as long as I live."
Although he attempted to explain he was referring specifically to his Vietnamese prison guards while he was a POW – his habitual justification for just about everything he does or says – he refused to apologize for his use of a racially offensive epithet generally regarded as applicable to anyone of Asian background. Ms. Hong was not only hurt by his comment, having committed to serving her country as a place where equal opportunity and justice for everyone regardless of their skin color could become reality, she was disturbed by how little reaction his remark generated from the media.
It is eight years later, and McCain's second run at the White House. In that time, he's dropped numerous F-bombs, called his wife the C-word, and used racially charged language in his campaign to refer to his opponent. There is no reason to believe that his attitude toward "gooks" has changed all that much, either. McCain's unmanageable irritability and use of inappropriate and offensive language has generated serious questions "whether he has the temperament, and the political approach and skills, we want in the next president of the United States."
But a deeper and far more troubling uncertainty concerns me. This particular McCain Macaca Moment is not excusable just because he was a POW, and it's disconcerting that McCain himself is incapable of seeing it, saying, "Do I insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that? No, I don't." But far more importantly, this is indicative of a dangerous and intransigent racism that not only offends a large percentage of American citizens – and not all of them need be Asian to be offended – it has no place in a presidency that may well be called upon to negotiate with the aforementioned "gooks", some of whom have nuclear weapons and others who own a good deal of our national debt. To "hate the gooks" is bad enough, but to declare "I will hate them as long as I live" demonstrates a pig-headed obstinacy that is antithetical to anyone aspiring to hold the most influential and powerful office in the country, if not the world.
But just how many more McCain Macaca Moments is it going to take?
http://crooksandliars.com/nonny-mouse/mccain%E2%80%99s-macaca-moment
A New Gig For 'Macaca': Richardson Staffer
S. R. Sidarth in the Webb senate campaign offices in August of 2006.(AP).
Remember Macaca?
The young man whose handheld video brought down former Virginia Sen. George Allen, has resurfaced in the presidential contest that Allen once hoped to be part of himself.
S.R. Sidarth, the Fairfax student of Indian descent, is now a paid staffer in the communications office of Democratic Presidential hopeful Bill Richardson. He works in Richardson's Santa Fe office compiling daily newspaper articles for the governor, drafting press releases and performing other communication tasks.
Alas, he is not reprising his role as a volunteer "tracker" for the Jim Webb campaign, when he shadowed Allen with a video camera, hoping to catch the Republican in an unguarded moment. It was Allen's dismissive comment about Sidarth --"Say hello to Macaca or whatever his name is"--that helped to doom Allen's reelection bid in 2006.
Sidarth's video was one of the first political video's to "go viral" on the web, forcing Allen to repeatedly apologize and opening the door to other stories questioning his commitment to diversity. Allen lost by a tiny margin to Webb, but the political damage also destroyed a promising shot at the presidency this year.
Sidarth did not reply to a request for an interview sent to his Richardson campaign e-mail.
But Sidarth's presence on the Richardson campaign may be no coincidence.
The New Mexico governor also employs the ad agency Murphy Putnam, whose employee, Philip de Vellis, was the one responsible for the now-famous anti-Hillary Clinton video that spoofed Apple Computer's "1984" ad. The spoof, which was eventually connected to de Vellis, flew across the Internet like wildfire.
Between the two, Richardson has two of the most successful guerrilla warriors when it comes to using video on the Internet. So far, however, neither has found a magic bullet for Richardson, who is still lagging in the polls.
So what does Allen think of the news that Sidarth is involved in the 2008 campaign while he watches from the sideline? Allen traveled from Washington to Tampa this week where he was providing "spin" on behalf of presidential hopeful and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson.
Told of Sidarth's job, Allen smiled, looked genuinely surprised and said, "Hey."
Then he kept his mouth shut.
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