Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
The Washington Post, which (like many other major media outlets) has yet to find any significant interest in the background of President Barack Obama, ran a story yesterday alleging that Rick Perry's Democratic father owned a piece of property that had a legacy name that was racist.
Apparently the piece of property he bought had a rock with a racist name for black people painted on it. And apparently Rick Perry's father painted it over. Or did he? This -- and oh so much more -- is what you get if you pay for a Washington Post subscription. I'll pause while you sign up for regular delivery.
Now then, maybe when Rick Perry and his father were Democrats, which is when this decades-old story is dated to, they were racists. Maybe Democrats have a big problem with racism. I don't know. But as Hugh Hewitt points out:
The Post article has to be read in its entirety to grasp just how thin is the connection between Perry and the rock with the offensive place name, but here is the key line in the article: "Of those interviewed, the seven who said they saw the rock said the block-lettered name was clearly visible at different points in the 1980s and 1990s. One, a former worker on the ranch, believes he saw it as recently as 2008."
Many, many people were interviewed for the story. Only seven recall seeing the rock, and not one of them connect Rick Perry to it, nor do any of the people --either from among these seven or who knows how many more were contacted for the piece-- tie Rick Perry to offensive comments, language or actions. Though a lot of space is devoted to this story, no detailed reporting on what the seven saw and when they saw it is included, which allows for incredible supposition about the ambiguity to take root. Thus a story that could have major implications for the presidential campaign in 2012 is built on anonymous sources whose stories aren't even detailed.
It is a drive-by slander.
Rick Perry hunted at a camp that long ago had been given an offensive name which long ago his family had taken steps to cover because of its offensive content. That's the whole of the story.
I'm not a big Perry fan, but journalism such as this is reprehensible. It's not just the unbelievable double standard about how Democrats and Republicans are treated on race issues. It's also that real people are defamed with anonymous sources, in the absence of evidence.
Last week, Frank Bruni opined at the New York Times that sensationalism drives away the best candidates. Of course it does. I'm angry that Mitch Daniels won't run in this environment where his family would be manhandled as collateral damage, but I understand it.
I know this type of journalism is as old as journalism itself, but it's wrong and must be condemned. For the sake of the country.
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Mar '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
I read the article and thought: what editor thought that this was a story worth spending one square inch of ink on? More appropriate for a supermarket tabloid. I can round up at least as many anonymous sources to talk about being abducted by a spaceship being piloted by Barack Obama.
lately when I read or hear something from a news source or pundit that involves actual or subtle hints of "racism" (like anyone actually knows what that word means), my reaction is: "Really? Really. Is that all you've got?"
Jun '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
200 years ago, Herman Cain's ancestors were LIVING on the same property with WHITE RACISTS!!! His ancestors KNEW they were living with RACISTS, and they stayed anyway!!!. There's more to the story, but that's not really important now. The important thing is, Herman Cain's ancestors...racism.
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Didn't Herman Cain himself run with this story against Perry this weekend?
Dec '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
There are two things worth mentioning that even Hugh doesn't mention:
Dec '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Not coincidentally, Cain just got a new communications team a few days ago.
I wonder if they were the WaPo's sources. In fact, I wonder if the Cain team fed this story to WaPo.
The WaPo sure had a lot of sources, none of which were willing to go on the record.
May '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
A large chunk of this tempest in a thimble can be dispelled by simply defining "hunting lease". In Texas many citizens lease access to rural land for the purpose of hunting various game; deer, pheasant, dove, etc. don'tcha know? The persons who lease the land don't own it, don't put signs on it, and generally have to agree to treat the leased space with care. The Perry's did not and do not own the land, the sign was placed by an owner at some point in time prior to the lease and in painting over the name the Perry's were showing their commitment to diversity by likely violating the terms of their lease.
Game leases are hard to come by and usually when one has a lease one is careful to respect the owners' rights and property so that you can maintain the hunting rights. (Yes, I used to share a deer lease near Bandera, TX in the early eighties.)
-GM
Mar '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Cain's response was simply disgusting.
Oct '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
How does a story like this get written and printed? Don't the journalists who have the talent (??) to work for the WaPo (I assume there is competition to work there) feel a bit, well, dirty serving this stuff up? Don't the editors? Or does the strange world of 'ends justify the means' leftism and PC victimology mean any attack on Perry sourced from Cain has to be taken seriously, regardless of the facts?
Mar '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
As someone who was still a subscriber during the paper's Macaca campaign against George Allen, I can assure you that the WaPo's cynicism and corruption have no limits.
Aug '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
I read the story. I thought it was more than a bit ridiculous. The Hugh Hewitt piece was good. Thanks. I don't get the line of attack-- Rick Perry is a racist who let's illegal immigrants into Texas and gives them in state tuition? Also, Herman Cain should know better than to bite on such an obvious smear piece. He's gonna get smeared as soon too, if he becomes popular.
Dec '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
I still to this day don't get the WaPo's explanation of "macaca". They were arguing that because Allen's mother was a dirty foreigner (oh, and she was a Jew, but those were the other WaPo slime stories) and so she used this racial slur at home which wasn't really a racial slur, but could have been in theory.
And so Allen used this non-slur, I assume to curry favor with his audience, by using a term none of them would understand.
By the way, it took about a week for the WaPo to make it into a racial slur. They "knew" that it was, they just had to retrofit it.
Allen's explanation made so much more sense: it was a juvenile scatological takeoff on the fact that he had a Mohawk haircut and that name had circulated throughout the campaign staff.
Mar '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
As I recall, Allen was far from coherent/consistent in his response to the attack, but it was the constant repetition of the story that did him in.
AmishDude
I still to this day don't get the WaPo's explanation of "macaca". They were arguing that because Allen's mother was a dirty foreigner (oh, and she was a Jew, but those were the other WaPo slime stories) and so she used this racial slur at home which wasn't really a racial slur, but could have been in theory.
And so Allen used this non-slur, I assume to curry favor with his audience, by using a term none of them would understand.
By the way, it took about a week for the WaPo to make it into a racial slur. They "knew" that it was, they just had to retrofit it.
Allen's explanation made so much more sense: it was a juvenile scatological takeoff on the fact that he had a Mohawk haircut and that name had circulated throughout the campaign staff. · Oct 3 at 9:19am
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
I grew up in an area where whites were a minority. I've heard every racial slur in the book, because minorities tend to use racial slurs more than anyone else by far (that was my experience).
Never have I heard one person call another person a "macaca" in a fit of racist rage.
It wasn't a word. It isn't a word. It was a made up controversy by WaPo.
Mar '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
I've always thought that Allen called the heckler a "macaque" because his mullet hair style made him look like one, and then was loath to admit that he'd called a "person of color" a monkey.
Tommy De Seno: I grew up in an area where whites were a minority. I've heard every racial slur in the book, because minorities tend to use racial slurs more than anyone else by far (that was my experience).
Never have I heard one person call another person a "macaca" in a fit of racist rage.
It wasn't a word. It isn't a word. It was a made up controversy by WaPo. · Oct 3 at 10:58am
Aug '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Tommy De Seno: I grew up in an area where whites were a minority. I've heard every racial slur in the book, because minorities tend to use racial slurs more than anyone else by far (that was my experience).
Never have I heard one person call another person a "macaca" in a fit of racist rage.
It wasn't a word. It isn't a word. It was a made up controversy by WaPo. · Oct 3 at 10:58am
The whole George Allen thing. I had never heard... the "M" word until then. I remember that I was a liberal at the time, and I didn't even think it was a big deal.
Nov '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Goldgeller
Tommy De Seno: I grew up in an area where whites were a minority. I've heard every racial slur in the book, because minorities tend to use racial slurs more than anyone else by far (that was my experience).
Never have I heard one person call another person a "macaca" in a fit of racist rage.
It wasn't a word. It isn't a word. It was a made up controversy by WaPo. · Oct 3 at 10:58am
The whole George Allen thing. I had never heard... the "M" word until then. I remember that I was a liberal at the time, and I didn't even think it was a big deal. · Oct 3 at 12:19pm
Isn't this always the case? This non-story essentially ended Allen's career (though he may yet take Webb's seat). Why? Because he's a Republican. Barack Obama can consort with unabashed racists like Jeremiah Wright and will never be held accountable. Why not? Well, because his *heart* is in the right place: It must be, because he's a Democrat.
Sep '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Michael Hussey: I read the article and thought: what editor thought that this was a story worth spending one square inch of ink on? More appropriate for a supermarket tabloid. I can round up at least as many anonymous sources to talk about being abducted by a spaceship being piloted by Barack Obama.
lately when I read or hear something from a news source or pundit that involves actual or subtle hints of "racism" (like anyone actually knows what that word means), my reaction is: "Really? Really. Is that all you've got?" · Oct 3 at 7:36am
Oh, so that explains the last three years?
Edited on October 4, 2011 at 2:20amAug '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
The political message board that I used to post on before it became a haven for angry leftists is having a conniption fit today over this story. Apparently it doesn't matter that the Perrys only leased the place. It doesn't matter that they never scrawled the N-word on the rock. It doesn't even matter that they painted over it. What matters is that it was "insensitive for them to keep hunting" in a location where there was once a racist word painted on a rock.
The left is devoid of anything resembling logic.
Apr '11
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
Basil, you don't have a link or video clip for the Cain angle, by any chance? Thanks.
Oct '10
Re: Washington Post 'Macacas' Another Republican
This issue does seem absurd. I agree with Jennifer Rubin; the way Republicans are treated does, in an odd way, make us stronger and more disciplined than Democrats. Still, I worry that our country and our society can handle the sheer level of corruption that exists in modern minority politics.