Toil, trouble, “Good Copy” and George Allen
By Norman Leahy | Thursday, March 10th, 2011 | PoliticsYesterday saw ace RTD columnist-cum-video star Jeff Schapiro trying to gin-up a fight between Eric Cantor and Mark Warner over the federal budget. It was a rather sad effort, but one that can as easily be fobbed off as a need to fill column inches.
Today, though, finds Jeff mucking about in that most familiar and comfortable of confines, his anxiety closet. Here reside the horrors of which conventional wisdom nightmares are made — conservatives running roughshod over the pastoral Virginia landscape, pillaging and burning with unreserved glee (and many of them clad in what looks suspiciously like a shade of Confederate gray). This rabble has been captained by whichever conservative, or Republican, happens to have a claim on Jeff’s subconscious at the time — be it the “Hanover Hun” Bill Bolling, Pat Robertson’s sleeper agent, Bob McDonnell, the Rasputin-like Ken Cuccinelli, and even sometimes that most determined of foes, Doug Wilder.
But no one captures Jeff’s ire, and consumes so much of the real estate inside that cramped anxiety closet, as does George Allen. In Allen, Jeff finds the perfect vessel into which he can dip his poisoned pen — a faker, a poseur, a liar, cheat and overall fraud who finally got his comeuppance in 2006 (and in the process, provided fresh pots of bile with which Jeff can season his pen).
In this brief video column, Schapiro archly ladles out heaping helpings of his latest Allen toxin, mixing in as much macaca, veiled racism and a weird dash of “nice Jewish boy” to show that Allen is his own worst enemy in the pending senatorial showdown. It’s the sort of concoction that would curl the toes of any wicked witch, but it’s also one that misses its intended mark. Rather than diminishing Allen, it withers Schapiro, exposing him as little more than bow-tied version of Count Fosco.
Still, I see this salvo as a mere audition tape for the nastiness to come. Should Allen win the GOP nomination, Jeff will rifle every nook, cranny and mouse hole in the anxiety closet in order to concoct a brew strong enough to bring Allen down.
If it’s anything like this first attempt, though, the far more likely outcome is that Jeff will be the one laid low…by a hearty guffaw from the peanut gallery.
(Cross-posted at The Score)
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About the author
Norm Leahy has written about Virginia and national politics online since 2002, beginning with One Man's Trash (OMT), and continuing through Bacon's Rebellion (both the blog and the e-zine), Sic Semper Tyrannis, NBC12's Decision Virginia, Richmond.com and Tertium Quids. He is the chief blogger at "The Score" and a producer of "The Score" radio show as well as being a Washington Examiner contributor.
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12 Responses to "Toil, trouble, “Good Copy” and George Allen"
The problem with this article is that Schapiro can’t bring Allen down.. Allen beat him to the punch and did it all by himself. From a reliable source, albiet a lib, George “Anything to get a reaction” Allen according to former classmates and uva football players, are going on record with Kaine supporters saying “nigger” rolled off Allens tongue like water over the niagara.. It is a little early to write a eulogy but history may repeat, even if Chris LaCivita claims the people who witnessed Allen’s bully personality and racial slurs are all liberal activists or whatever excuses are sure to come this time.
You are certain to read the denials by team mates in due time.
Turbo – You’re exactly right. Allen did it to himself. If “macaca” was the sole example of Allen being a little insensitive on the race issue, that would be one thing. As you point out, it isn’t.
Also, re Allen the “bully”: really surprised more attention wasn’t paid to his sister’s book last time. I wouldn’t want the man described in that book representing me in any capacity.
[...] I read Norm’s post “Toil, trouble, ‘good copy,’ and George Allen” at Bearing Drift, I couldn’t help but cheer him on as he threw it all in the kettle against [...]
Did Webb admit to using the N word? Did Mr Vaughan vote for him? Doesn’t Webb fit the profile which Mr Vaughan claims curls his toes?
Any Repub is going to get hit with the slurs. Better get used to it.
BTW I would have preferred some other plausible candidate to Allen but I believe he was a Governor and Senator and didn’t evidence any wild behavior.
Val: Nope. You always say “Democrats are always going to do this…any Republican will be accuse dof this …”
BS.
Allen got hit with those charges for a reason. Did you hear anyone try to say Bob McDonnell was a racist? Jim Gilmore? Mark Early? Bill Bolling? Ken Cuccinelli (Dems called him a lot things but not that)? No, you did not. In Allen’s case there’s a whole lot of smoke on that issue and a lot of people, left, center and right, understand that there must be at least a small fire there.
And no, Val, I haven’t heard of any accounts of Webb dragging a woman down the stairs by her hair. Had I, I certainly wouldn’t have voted for him.
Webb’s response, when asked if he had ever used the word: “I don’t think that there’s anyone who grew up around the South that hasn’t had the word pass through their lips at one time in their life.”
The left has accused Bob McDonnell as being racist for celebrating Confederte history and Cuccinelli for redistricting. Even Jim Webb is not immune from the left’s accusation of racism for his elimination of diversity program.
The left’s automatic response is racist.
It’s funny how the left has the Republicans under a microscope and yet John Edwards can raise a family while running for President. Meanwhile, Mark Sanford can’t even make it through a weekend. And they surly wasn’t holding back from the accusations of Nikki Haley.
You cannot justify the hypocrisy of the media and left but the Republicans take it. Just being a conservative is a racist according to the left.
Ever since I found out George took money from Fannie and Freddie and didn’t vote to rein them in….He’s off my list as a candidate.
[...] trouble, “Good Copy” and George Allen Bearing Drift It’s the sort of concoction that would curl the toes of any wicked witch, but it’s also one that [...]
IMO anyone who claims to be a republican, the party that sprang to life on the heels of abolishonists, who refers to anyone as a ‘nigger’, might be a rino.
Keep an eye out on a notorious dem blog.. Allens mouth is a lightning rod and for the GOP to provide cover does not bode well for conservatives.
JJ- REally? John Edwards might end up in jail for what he did and Mark Sanford got to finish out his term in office and presumably go off into the sunste to chase his Latin American dream girl. So, yeah, wow, the media was sure prejudiced against the Republican in those cases.
Steve,
John Edwards is going to jail for the cover up…not for the act of starting a family while his wife was dying with cancer.
And they were pulling out the impeachment papers for Sanford and he was gone for a weekend. While 14 Democrat Senators go AWOL for three weeks and they’re heroes.
Yes…there is no denial of the hypocrisy of the media.
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