skippy the bush kangaroo: but you gotta admit, moses was there, too!

Tuesday, August 29, 2006

but you gotta admit, moses was there, too!

max blumenthal, writing in the nation, points out that sen. george allen's "macaca" mis-step was only one in a pattern of calculated behavior. the pr event that has even more potential to harm allen's run for prez, blumenthal muses, was commemorated in a 1996 photograph showing allen with then-nra president charlton heston, and a few officers of the council of conservative citizens, or ccc:

Example

in 1996, when governor allen entered the washington hilton hotel to attend the conservative political action conference, an annual gathering of conservative movement organizations, he strode to a booth at the entrance of the exhibition hall festooned with two large confederate flags--a booth operated by the council of conservative citizens (ccc), at the time a co-sponsor of cpac. after speaking with ccc founder and former white citizens council organizer gordon lee baum and two of his cohorts, allen suggested that they pose for a photograph with then-national rifle association spokesman and actor charlton heston. the photo appeared in the summer 1996 issue of the ccc's newsletter, the citizens informer.

according to baum, allen had not naively stumbled into a chance meeting with unfamiliar people. he knew exactly who and what the ccc was about and, from baum's point of view, was engaged in a straightforward political transaction. "it helped us as much as it helped him," baum told me. "we got our bona fides." and so did allen.

descended from the white citizens' councils that battled segregation in the jim crow south, the ccc is designated a "hate group" by the southern poverty law center. in its "statement of principles," the ccc declares, "we also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the european-american people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the european-american heritage, including the heritage of the southern people, and to force the integration of the races."

where's your macaca now, moses?

and watch the fun as the senator tries to back-peddle his way out of this one:

asked whether allen supports or deplores the ccc, john reid, his communications director pleaded ignorance. "i am unaware of the group you mention or their agenda and because we have no record of the senator having involvement with them i cannot offer you any opinion on them," reid told me in an e-mail response.

pretty interesting, considering that when he was governor, allen appointed a member of the ccc to his state government:

in 1995, he appointed a ccc sympathizer, virginia lawyer r. jackson garnett, to head the virginia council on day care and serve on the governor's advisory council on self-determination and federalism. according to the ccc's citizens informer, garnett delivered a speech before a ccc gathering saying that the federalism commission was "created to study abuses by the federal government of constitutional powers that rightfully belong to the states."

later that year, garnett closed the virginia council on day care after accusing it, as he wrote in a letter to governor allen, of attempting to "form the minds of our young children with a radical ideology before they enter public schools." the virginia council had aroused garnett's ire, according to the virginian-pilot newspaper, for preparing an "anti-bias" curriculum for day care teachers. allen approved the shut-down.

blumenthal makes a pretty good case that allen is hedging his confederate bets in his race for re-election, and perhaps as a future gop presidential candidate. using code words and dog-whistle language to satisfy his neo-confederate constituency while trying to maintain his innocence of such ("i meant that the kid wears a mohawk! yeah, that's the ticket!"), allen hopes to garner as much support with the bigots and the anti-bigots as possible.

posted by skippy at 4:33 PM |