I know, I know, another Allen diary. But still, it seems to be all the rage at the moment... so I thought I'd share.
Here's a few more clues about Allen's views on race that I dug up.
So, Allen takes offense when a moderator at a debate asks him if he has Jews in his family. He seems to think that sort of question is beyond the realm of decency, some sort of... aspersion or something. Well, what about when someone (a Republican) compares their political opponent (a Democrat) to a nazi? More aspersions?
Nope. Just, you know, everyday political discourse.
From the Roanoke Times, Oct. 13, 1995. (No link, because I got it through Lexis Nexis.)
State Sen. Madison Marye, D-Shawsville, reacted with "disgust" and emotional memories Thursday to his opponent's use of images of Nazi Germany in a campaign flier.
Marye's reaction, made in a news conference, came a day after state Democratic Party leaders condemned the flier and Republican Pat Cupp apologized for it.
The Cupp fund-raising document included this paragraph: "When I talk about the need to protect the Second Amendment, I often use this analogy: When the Nazi Party came into power in Germany under Hitler, the first thing they did was to confiscate all guns. Next, the children were put under the control of the state, and finally, the Jewish citizens and other minorities were imprisoned in concentration camps, and many were put to death in the gas chambers."
Wednesday, Cupp apologized "if offense has been taken by people of faith or others by the historical reference in my flier."
To Marye, the Nazis aren't just musty history. He left Shawsville at age 18 in 1944 to join the Army.
In the spring of 1945, his unit, the 65th Infantry Division, 259th Infantry Regiment, liberated the Mauthausen concentration camp east of Linz, Austria.
"To recall that is a very emotional experience to me. You can't imagine the horror and the despair on the face of the people who managed to emerge from those camps alive," Marye said. "To use Nazism in a political campaign," even loosely, "is to me a terrible thing."
Marye said he was offended by any attempt to link his votes for the one-gun-a-month law and against the new concealed-weapons law to Nazi party tactics. "This is how extremism can start," Marye said. "This is a poor attempt to make people think that Madison Marye was somehow going to take away their guns."
<snip>
State Sen. H. Russell Potts, R-Winchester, got in trouble this week when he said his Democratic challenger's campaign appeared ''to be crafted by Goebbels.'' Joseph Goebbels was Hitler's propaganda chief. After an outcry from Democrats, Potts apologized.
Democrats also have used the term. Speaking at a candidates' forum Thursday, Democratic House of Delegates candidate Gerald Hudson of Harrisonburg compared the Republicans' ''Pledge for Honest Change'' to a Nazi loyalty oath.
He said later in an interview that he regretted using the word Nazi, but insisted he meant no offense. ''It was not intended to be a push-button word or to keep creating this hysterical atmosphere,'' he said.
Although the Nazi comparisons seem to be more frequent than ever, they are not unprecedented. An aide to Democratic Lt. Gov. Don Beyer last December told a party gathering in Winchester that the leadership of House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Sen. Jesse Helms would be ''six degrees to the right of Hitler.''
Republicans are quick to complain that Democrats also have tried to link them to the Ku Klux Klan. A 1992 Democratic strategy memo called for labeling ''GOP proposals as David Duke-like or Pat Robertson-like.''
Del. Alan Diamonstein, D-Newport News, said that is much different than comparing someone to Nazis. ''David Duke is a bigot,'' he said.
''Goebbels was responsible for millions of deaths. That's quite a bit different.''
But Republican Gov. George Allen, who has complained about ''jackbooted'' federal officials, dismissed Nazi comparisons as just part of the rough-and-tumble of politics. ''You have to have a thick skin and a sense of humor and common sense in politics, and the people will see through ludicrous comments,'' Allen said.
Beyer disagrees. ''To suggest you need a sense of humor to overcome references to Goebbels boggles my imagination,'' he said.
So there you have it. When someone calls you a nazi, you should laugh. When someone asks if your grandmother was Jewish, you get offended.
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Allen has done some nice things while in the Senate, such as co-sponsoring a resolution asking the Senate to apologize for not intervening in lynchings. Of course, a cynic would say that he was trying to repair his image, after this:
(From: The Virginia Pilot, September 30, 2004)
As governor in the mid-1990s, he angered civil rights groups in Virginia with an annual proclamation of Confederate History Month.
Then there's the fact that after Trent Lott made his infamous comments praising Strom Thurmond -- you know, the ones that got him canned from his role as Senate majority leader -- Allen was quick to jump to Lott's defense - not to mention pointing to Thurmond's "amazing life." From the Dec. 14, 2002 Virginia Pilot:
It's time to accept Lott's sincere apologies
Sen. Trent Lott's statement last week was very unfortunate. Clearly, he was trying to be laudatory about the amazing life history of our colleague, Strom Thurmond. One statement was immediately criticized by his political opponents.
Trent has said that he in no way was trying to suggest that he was endorsing segregationist policies of the past. I take him at his word.
We cannot erase the divisive and destructive segregationist policies of our nation's past. In fact, we must ensure that we, our children and future generations learn from those horrible mistakes so that they never occur again....I know of no one who would advocate that we return to segregationist policies that oppressed a segment of our nation's citizens, except perhaps a handful of radical extremists whose hearts are filled with hatred.
Trent Lott is a decent, honorable man who had an unfortunate choice of words. He has explained that his remarks were not intended as they were interpreted and what is truly in his heart...
Yep... too bad all these nice, honorable guys keep getting... misunderstood. That sure is too bad.