george allen, not-so-closet racist

I wasn't sure that Senator George Allen was sophisticated enough to understand that other countries use the word "macaca" as an insult for dark-skinned people. But then I learned from Josh Marshall that Allen's mom is French Tunisian, and so Allen was very likely exposed to the word in his family. That makes more sense than the lame attempt to say "macaca" was a take-off on James Webb volunteer S.R. Sidarth's hair, which in no way resembles a mohawk (I saw him on the news).

So combined with Allen's previous track record (Confederate flags, etc) I think it's safe to conclude Allen is a racist, or is at least willing to play one. In other words, he was playing to his Virginia Republican white base.