Limbaugh: "[O]ne of my staff is Spanish and informs me" that Allen simply called Sidarth a "clown"
SUMMARY: On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that "one of my staff is Spanish and informs me that the word 'macaca' " -- twice used by Sen. George Allen recently to describe a volunteer on the campaign of Allen's Democratic Senate challenger -- was not a racial slur, but "in Spanish means 'clown.' Well, I can see why that would offend somebody in an immigrant community. Yeah, callin' somebody a clown."
On the August 16 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that the word "macaca" -- twice used by Sen. George F. Allen (R-VA) to describe S.R. Sidarth, a volunteer with the Jim Webb campaign, Allen's Democratic Senate challenger -- was not a racial slur, but rather means "clown" in Spanish. Limbaugh attributed the translation to a member of his staff, stating: "[O]ne of my staff is Spanish and informs me that the word 'macaca' in Spanish means 'clown.' Well, I can see why that would offend somebody in an immigrant community. Yeah, callin' somebody a clown."
On August 11, as Media Matters for America has noted, Allen was caught on tape referring to Sidarth as "Macaca" and "[w]elcome[d]" Sidarth "to America and the real world of Virginia." Sidarth is of Indian descent, but he was reportedly born and raised in Virginia. As The Washington Post reported on August 15, "In some European cultures, macaca is also considered a racial slur against African immigrants, according to several Web sites that track ethnic slurs." Allen has claimed that his remarks "have been greatly misunderstood by members of the media."
Limbaugh's assertion that "macaca" simply means "clown" ignores two key facts: Limbaugh's explanation was not Allen's; and as Media Matters noted, Allen was raised by a mother who was herself raised in Tunisia, a former French colony in Northern Africa, where the word "macaca" is used as a racial slur.
The Allen campaign has not adopted Limbaugh's "explanation." Instead, according to the August 15 Post article, the campaign first claimed that Allen did not know what "macaca" means, and that his use of the term was really intended as a play on the word " 'mohawk,' what his campaign staff had nicknamed Sidarth because of his haircut," which, according to the Post, Sidarth characterizes as "a mullet -- tight on top, long in the back."
Allen's campaign aides has since reportedly claimed that Allen was calling Sidarth a "mash-up" of terms that amounted to "shit-head." According to an August 16 post on The National Journal's Hotline weblog:
Three Virginia Republicans confirmed to the Hotline that several Allen campaign aides and advisers are telling allies that the word was a made-up, off-the-cuff neologism that these aides occasionally used to refer to tracker S.R. Sidarth well before last Saturday's videotaped encounter.
According to two Republicans who heard the word used, "macaca" was a mash-up of "Mohawk," referring to Sidarth's distinctive hair, and "caca," Spanish slang for excrement, or "shit."
Said one Republican close to the campaign: "In other words, he was a shit-head, an annoyance."
The post added that "Allen, according to Republicans, heard members of his traveling entourage and Virginia Republicans use the phrase and picked it up. It was the first word that came to his mind when he spied Sidarth at the weekend's event, according to Republicans who have been briefed on Allen's version of the event."
On The American Prospect's weblog Tapped, Prospect senior editor Garance Franke-Ruta provided some background on the term's meaning in Spanish. " Macaca is used in Spanish to mean monkey or a fool, and because Spanish is a gendered language, it is the female form." Continuing, Franke-Ruta wrote, "To Spanish-speaking ears, Allen said: 'Let's give a welcome to joker/monkey-girl, here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia.'"
From the August 16 broadcast of The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: And if it weren't for the EIB Network, we wouldn't be exposing this to you over and over again, as the drive-by media will do to George Allen. The Washington Post has done two days on this.
One of my -- one of my staff is Spanish and informs me that the word "macaca" in Spanish means "clown." Well, I can see why that would affect somebody in an immigrant community. Yeah, callin' somebody a clown. That's worse than calling somebody a white "n-word." I guess that's far worse than making fun of Mahatma Gandhi and other Indians pumping gas in St. Louis.*
[...]
LIMBAUGH: I'd forgotten that. Mr. Snerdly reminds me that [George H.W.] Bush 41 -- that'd been the '92 [presidential] campaign, right? -- called Clinton and Gore "a couple of Bozos," and the drive-by media went nuts -- you can't call people clowns, I guess -- Bozos, macacas -- what have you.
I was talking to a Disney employee the other day that told me "Hakuna Macaca" means "no worries" in Swahili.
Who'da thunk it?
George Allen is a sweet man after all!
You do know it's "hakuna MATATA" right?
Of course, that does not explain why Allen failed to give this explanation himself, opting instead for the more refined “Mohawk-Caca” explanation.
PE
... is why Allen would then go on to welcome a born and raised Virginian to Virginia and the United States.
First of all, I am not "Spanish" (although I doubt Limbaugh's aide was either. Limbaugh most likely doesn't understand the different Hispanic races). But I did enter "macaca" into Yahoo's Spanish dictionary. While several definitions came up, the one that made the most sense was simply "macaque," a genus of monkey native to, among other places, Northern Africa. Also, the latin genus name of any species of macaque is...you guessed it...MACACA. The ties to a type of monkey certainly seems to confirm "macaca" as a racial slur. That Allen's mother is native to the region where both macaques are present and "macaca" is a racial slur seem to condemn Allen's comment as racist beyond any doubt.
Unfortunately, Limbaugh's hordes of unwitting listeners did do as I or MMFA have done, and research the claim a little. This just illustrates how programmed these conservatives have become.
Let's review:
Limbaugh jumped at the chance to defend a fellow conservative racist. He defended the term by citing that in Spanish, one definition of "macaca" is "clown." The problems with this defense are almost to vast to recount. 1. Allen did not use this defense, as MMFA noted. 2. Allen, to our knowledge, was not speaking Spanish. 3. If he was referring to Sidarth as a clown, that is not very flattering either. 4. More likely, due to his mother's North African heritage, he was using "macaca" to refer to Sidarth as a monkey, which has probably been a racial slur as long as there has been racism. 5. So the whole "Spanish word" defense doesn't exorerate Allen, rather it further indicts him.
Unfortunately, the right will never know the difference.
What? Limbaugh not understand something??? Nooooooo......
for you Etty Allen said she had never heard of the word. Kind of shoots your Tunisian theory right in the buttocks.
Second, Allen disputes he said the word.
If he want to be a racist, he could have picked something a little better than some obscure word that no one on this board knew 7 days ago. Or he could have made a gas station reference or called Andrew Young for specific ethnic insults.
He was caugh saying the word on video.
responding to:
"Unfortunately ... Second, Allen disputes he said the word. "
... TWICE.
Next theory.
Do you happen to have a link to a site corroborating this? And if he is disputing that he said it, then why does Rush believe he did and why are Allen's staffers falling all over themselves with "translations" and "explanations?" Are they lying or is he?
There is a really good research summary on the etymology of the word and a puproted quote of an insider on the campaign claiming that the phrase was initiated by staffers, meant "s--thead, an annoyance" and was picked up by Allen from them ... [link to itre.cis.upenn.edu]
The MMFA link to the recording doesn't seem to work for me([link to mediamatters.org] Anyone have another?
[link to www.youtube.com] a clip.
There's also another clip on the site with CNN commentary, but this is just the remarks themselves.
Apparently I messed up my html. Here it is:
[link to www.youtube.com]
very much! :)
Are you serious? His mom said she never heard the word, so it MUST be true. After all, there couldn't be a more impartial person in this matter than Allen's own mother. She couldn't possibly have been defending her son. I'm sure she is a woman of such impeccable integrity that had she heard the word before, she would admit it, even if it hurt her son's re-election campaign.
Have I made my point? His mother's word is worthless, as is your post.
without any justification. Is this the way conservatives work these days? Say anything, no matter how wrong, to rebut a point? Will he every acknowleged his error?
When the level of discourse reaches this kind of disconnected state, it becomes difficult to have reasonable discussions. I fear that this small display of uncritical judgement represents the current state of politics in this country.
George Allen is just another empty suit. Let's hope he stuck his foot deep enough in his mouth to ruin his presidential ambitions and possibly his senate re-election efforts. The last thing this country needs is a George Bush want-a-be.
There are exceptions, but generally one of the surest signs of guilt is the ever-changing explanation or excuse.
It made the difference for me with O.J. Simpson with his chipping golf balls and whatever else he was doing, It's made the difference with the Repubs and their Reason-of-the-day for invading Iraq, and it does the same for this minor incident.
If you're gonna lie, at least be good at it-stick with one.
It seems "payaso" is "clown" in Spanish. Rush, your marching orders are showing.
In fat white woman-ese, clown is "doofus" so you'll know when you read the posts about you.
there is a nationwide morning radio show called the bob and tom show. i was listening yesterday and the subject of limbaugh came up. and rush is always rustling those papers to make it sound like he has something documented and he's reading off it. tom griswald said that he knew a couple guys who worked on the show and they said rush has three monitors and there are no papers, it's just a sound effect. it was known before he was also faking it when he "lost" his hearing, because he was reading the phone calls off a computer monitor, while pretending he was listening to the caller. that was before his big announcement that he had mysteriously lost his hearing. we didn't learn until later it was because of the drug abuse.
Let Allen and his backers keeping spinning this story and he and his campaign will spin right into the ground, six feet under.
Plato
This Spanish speaking member of his staff is likely to be Mr. Snerdly. A made up side kick helping him make up his own definition so he can come up with another way to squeeze Clinton into the "discussion". Pretty soon, it'll be Clinton who was overheard calling Monica his little love macaca... Coming This Fall To The Foxxx Network...Davey Jones starring in a new sitcom Hey, Hey, We're The Macacas.
The Spanish word for clown is "payaso." The French term for "dirty Arab" is "macaca."
I love watching the right wing idiots mangle reality in order to hold onto their littlel fiefdoms.
When is Rush finally going to be in jail? or more importantly why is Rush allowed on to armed forces radio. I think our troops deserve to be treated like intelligent human beings. I guess I kinda feel sorry for Rush, I mean living without a brain must be tough.
If you are looking for a certifiable idiot, talk to lambaugh or his kind.
1) It almost amazes me that George Allen would forget the following incident concerning his dad's team:
1983 Monday Night Football’s Howard Cosell Washington Redskin wide receiver Alvin Garrett breaks open to receive a pass, and Cosell gives the following “color” commentary: “That little monkey gets loose, doesn’t he?"
There followed a veritable firestorm afterward. So, even if Allen were merely referring to Sidarth as 'a monkey' he should have expected at least a good bit of opprobrium.
2) For any who heard the audio of the original event, note the crowd reaction to singling out this kid (20 yo) and calling him a 'macaca'...twice! Cheers, hooting and general merriment. What morons!
3) Allen's mother, having been Tunisian of French ancestry, is actually another strike against him. The French, like most colonials, were by nature dismissive of the native populations so, regardless of what the word 'meant' in its literal translation in the mouth of a colonial 'overlord' it was certainly anything but laudatory.
Cosell called Garrett a "tough little monkey" when he broke a tackle to score. The phrase is not an uncommon one and was not meant by him as a racial slur. He used it all the time, including to describe his kids and grandkids. Cosell may have been a lot of things, but a racist was not one of them, so I don't think it is fair to conflate Cosell with Allen.
no one in the crowd knew what the hell a macaca was.
It is b.s. to claim they were hooting and hollering over that.
The guy had a whacked mullet and was filming for the enemy.
Secondly,
There is video of Cosell calling white players monkeys during NFL games.
I love how this board just wants to paint anyone and everyone a racist.
you've gone back and seen the replies to your first comment regarding your hero.
The thing about Cosell is that whether he meant it to be racist or not, he was hammered by the press and the public, as should Allen be.
Also, referring to your defense that his mother defends her baby, I'm sure Allen's mommy wouldn't misstate the truth for her son, who she raised to be such an open-minded humanist. Thus, her denial is indisputable evidence that you must be completely and irrefutably correct on this point.
deserved what happened, though. He should've been allowed to offer his defense, and having been credible, an appology should have been sufficient. Allen has no defense that makes any sense as yet, and his appologists (as Springstine said, "present company INcluded,") are making things worse for him.
What remains to be seen is whether Viriginians have enough voters left who can rise above the tidal waive of ignorance that has been dominating some of their dealings with political issues of late, to deal this guy the defeat he has earned.
Now that Limbaughloney has given us some more of his usual noisy flatulence, we may yet hear some of it from his wannabe Sean Hannutsy. Both are soidisant intellectuals with no academic credentials lecturing the slack-jawed, drooling Dupes into a frenzy of hatred against "them libruls" who criticize our red-blooded American, Republican patriots such as Allen.
Hope that fixes the italic problem...
I think I'm blind now. You stupid Macaw.
You fakakta makaka.... :-)
Payaso is Spanish for clown. Macaca is used as a vulgar slang for masturbation in ref to a female monkey. No one who is Spanish would have told that to Rush. He made it up.
I have a question-Is this "staff" here an illegal? That might explain Bush's push for the "guest worker" exception.
Media Matters is wrong on this issue. I can't imagine anyone who would know more about clowns than Rash Limburger. He was born a clown and his mama nearly bought the farm when those huge shoes issued from her nether regions. The man can do a kiddy party without wearing any makeup.
So, please defer to the brilliant idiot when it comes to all things clownish. Just look at these hilarious moves the man has made:
1. He wants to put all drug addicts in prison, but has admitted to having a Hillbilly Heroin habit of his own.
2. He believes in family values and is now looking for a fourth wife to cement his credibility in this area.
3. He got caught at the airport with a vague Viagra prescription, which explains one reason why his wives don't hang around very long. If he wasn't rich and famous, he couldn't get a date. Even being rich and famous, he rarely gets second dates.
4. He believes in a hawkish military stance. But when it was his turn to serve, he whined about a boo-boo on his butt. I heard that Audie Murphy nearly ran away from combat for the same reason. And Sergeant York said, "check my butt" before he was shipped off to capture all those Germans in WWI.
This man is a natural clown and Media Matters cannot hope to match his depth of clownish savoir faire.
I used to work in Virginia. I had some colleagues who were NOT liberals--some were military reserve officers, establishment if not rather conservative.
They told me that when Allen became governor, he walked thru the state offices and said, "I want that guy gone, and that guy, and that guy..."
Someone had to pull him aside and tell him, "Ah, George, there's a system known as civil service. It's not a patronage system." The guy is incredibly--laughably--ignorant. He's a buffoon!
But don't assume he won't be reelected because of it. That attitude will cause him to get away with using essentially a racial epithet in his campaign.
(And George I got away with Willie Horton. Those emotions work, even more in Virginia. That's a reason I don't live there any more!)
George Allen is running for " FOX Analyst "
Rush might have verified this with his last trip with "the boys" to the Dominican Republic, y'know. It's funny how Rush can be so research oriented with this and yet jump all over a total falsehood that suits his purposes (remember Vince Foster's murder in the Hillary Clinton owned apartment).
[link to frogstar.soylentgeek.com]
>>The Spanish word for clown is "payaso." The French term for "dirty Arab" is "macaca." I love watching the right wing idiots mangle reality in order to hold onto their little fiefdoms.
Like a lot of right-wingers, Limbaugh's idea of reality of whatever he chooses to believe that day. Like Bush, he lives in a self-constructed fantasyland.
Sort of like Rush curiously certifying himself as "Not Guilty" following his deal with the Palm Beach County D.A. when the conditions of his deal explicitly required he continue to pass drug screens.
Hi;
I am a native spanish speaker. I can tell you macaca does not mean clown. I confirmed it by looking the word in the diccionary of the Royal Accademy of the Spanish Language. The diccionary defines macaca as:
1- A female macaque monkey. 2- An ugly woman 3- a finiky, or difficult to please woman.
Enough said.
The Spanish word for clown is 'Payaso'
When we call someone a "clown" we call him a "Limbaugh."
I thought limbaugh meant idiot in....I think it was Latvian.
Wonder what part of Spain Limbaugh's assistant is from?
In any language, Rush is "maccoocoo."
Sidarth is not an immigrant; he's a native-born American from Virginia.
I guess facts like that are insignificant to Allen and Limbaugh. If you don't look American, you're not American.
How does someone accidentally end up using the Spanish word for "macaque"? Limbaugh's explaination is total BS. If a Spanish speaker calls someone a monkey they say "mono" not "macaca."
Frankly I suspect he was simply trying to be funny by calling the reporter "mohawk" but mangled his words and rather than admit it, is spinning like a madman.
I don't know which is funnier, watching his campagin try and fight their way out of this wet paper bag with their changing explainations or watching RW zombies like 'leatherhelmet' try to lend a hand:
"Second, Allen disputes he said the word."
Priceless. You know they have this new thing called video...
Sidarth should call Allen a redneck cracker...and say he meant it as a playful euphemism for "pal".
Allen knew what he was doing implying to that audience that Sidarth just came to the country...
I think the best example of Limbaugh's problems is "Bo Snerdly", or however it would be spelled. For years, Limbaugh answered questions from and talked to someone the radio audience couldn't hear, an assistant named Bo Snerdley. Then, Limbaugh admitted the person didn't exist, and that it was simply a device for him to talk to himself, and answer questions he wanted to answer. The interesting thing is that for years Limbaugh claimed this person was black, and used him to excuse his racist BS, by claiming it didn't offend Snerdly. And, just to make it clear, this is ALL stuff I heard myself, having listened off and on for years.