Stoller's Take on Allen's Non-Apology

MyDD has a great take on the Senator Allen slur and subsequent "apology."

The more I think about this racist episode, the worse it looks for Allen. SusanG points out that no one on the Democratic side will take this apology seriously. There's some dispute in the comments about racist appeals in Virginia, and whether racism turns right-wing voters off of a candidate.

Here's the thing, though. Regardless of whether coded racism sells, apologies for not being politically correct do not. Think about that for a second. George Allen just apologized to the liberal media, to liberal bloggers, and to liberal Democrats for being insensitive in matters of race.

I think Mr. Big Tough Republican just knuckled under to the PC police. If I were Jim Webb, I'd say something along the lines of 'Look, apologize, or don't. But be a man about it.'

If Allen can be pushed around by a 20 year old college student's hurt feelings and runs crying like a little girl to the liberal media to apologize, how's he going to stand up to, well, anything at all?

"Look, apologize, or don't. But be a man about it." Yes. That's boxing.