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ADT Home Security in Virginia

Felix's Racial Vulnerability

by: Dan Sullivan

Tue Oct 19, 2010 at 13:38:14 PM EDT


There's a connection between the Virginia Beach Republican Party (VBRP) Chair (former) and George Allen. It is Kenny Golden. The three of them present as models of objectivity. And all three of them are at best ignorant and at worst, well, racially intolerant. Maybe both. Golden failed twice. Will Allen?

You see, Kenny received that now famous E-mail back in the day; you know, a few months ago when Dave Bartholomew was learning about this new internet thing and accidently forwarded a racially charged joke to the six people he deliberately added to the "To..." list.

The e-mail was dated March 15 and sent from the address that Bartholomew uses as party chairman. Bartholomew forwarded it without reading the contents when "he was first getting familiar with the Internet," -- Gary Byler, the 2nd Congressional District GOP chairman as quoted in the Virginian Pilot
So, did Golden respond to the E-mail he received from his successor as the Virginia Beach Republican Party Chair with a cautionary note? Or did he forward the E-mail to his college chum, George Felix Allen who also found it unobjectionable? That's the problem once you've unveiled your intolerance. There's always that nagging doubt.
Dan Sullivan :: Felix's Racial Vulnerability
Golden, who is running as an independent, did not call for Bartholomew's resignation and criticized Rigell as being too quick "to throw him under the bus."

"David would never do something like that on purpose," Golden said. "It was a racist e-mail.... It shouldn't have gone from anybody's e-mail to anybody's e-mail." -- Virginian Pilot

Two strikes against Golden for the handling of the E-mail, unless he can provide the appropriate "Reply to..." scolding of Bartholomew. We are well aware of Allen's first public strike and here is a second unless he forthrightly condemns both Bartholomew and Golden for their gaffs.  

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Kenny Golden's explanation (0.00 / 0)
As posted at Bearing Drift:

Ladies and Gents, not sure what David's status is at this point but he told me today the email did come from his computer and wanted to know if I had seen it or sent it out. I told him I had never seen anything like this and if I had I would have contacted him to remove it. Deidre Hernandez told me tonight I was on the header as well. Could be but I never saw it and Francie (my wife) told me she did and immediately deleted the racist joke. I saw it for the first time as Brian from Channel 13 brought me by a copy tonight. I didn't tolerate that in my service or in my life and wouldn't have in an email. I do not think David would have purposely sent anything like this out. He believes he accidently sent it out and I accept his apology. He has been a wonderful Vice Chairman for me and did more for outreach in the Republican Party than I ever did. I am deeply sorry he was involved in this controversy as I have never seen any racist tendencies in his conduct in my 6 years of knowing him.


Of Course The Problem With That Is (0.00 / 0)
who was protecting Golden by removing his name from the circulated E-mail and why if he were not connected?

But this can all be cleared up easily with access to his E-mail history. Damn these intertubes.


[ Parent ]
Trying to be fair (0.00 / 0)
On the one point, I give Golden the benefit of the doubt.  Like most anyone in politics, my husband and I get a huge number of e-mails (nothing like the ones seen here, I hope I need not add!).  Given my husband's schedule, I do often go into his e-mail delete things.  So I can actually believe that.

However, a few other things come immediately to mind.  If we had a situation in our house that had played out like that, the last thing in the world my husband would ever do is, effectively, hide behind his wife.  (That's not a gender statement -- I wouldn't hide behind my husband were the situations reversed.)  Not because it might not be true, but because, well, it looks weak.

But beyond that, the next question is that having received this e-mail, the idea that he would have "accidentally" sent this out is just beyond reasonable possibility.  The idea that he was "getting familiar with the internet" in 2010 (!!!!) strains credulity.  No professional would EVER forward an e-mail without at least opening it to see what was inside.  The risks are simply too great.

Unless, of course, Bartholomew's next line is to insist that it was HIS wife......

Regardless, these are really ugly stories coming out of VB.


[ Parent ]
Dave Bartholomew Took Responsibility (0.00 / 0)
And that speaks volumes about him.

I do not think for a moment that Golden's wife, a former navy officer, casually deleted an E-mail from a close comrade and just mentioned it in passing. Even so, it would not relieve Golden from the responsibility to confront his successor.  


[ Parent ]
Responsibility or consequences (0.00 / 0)
I actually don't think that Golden's wife casually deleted the e-mail either, but in my ever quest to try and put myself into another's shoes, that was at least a scenario I COULD believe.

But I disagree that Bartholomew took responsibility.  What he did was accept the consequences.  Claiming that he never read the e-mail and just forwarded it on "accidentally" because he was "getting familiar with the internet" is not accepting responsibility.

Still, he took his lumps.  That's more than many do.


[ Parent ]
George Allen On Fox Tomorrow (0.00 / 0)
According to his website as part of "Town Hall USA-America's Asking!" Panel

George Allen will be on Fox News' "Happening Now" tomorrow at 12:30 pm ET with Jon Scott, Jenna Lee and Harris Faulkner as part of the Town Hall USA-America's Asking! panel.

Please tune in and Click Here to learn more about the show's format, submit your questions for Governor Allen and the panel, and participate in a live chat, leading up to the panel, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm ET.



This is worth front-paging (0.00 / 0)
Just in case BV readers have any comments or questions for the Macaca-meister...  

Impeachinelli! Now on Twitter.

[ Parent ]
Felix Again? (0.00 / 0)
Back in early June of 2006, I received an impassioned complaint from an older reliable democratic volunteer in my precinct who was peeved that his name "Felix" was being lampooned by the Webb campaign.

My volunteer "Felix" was born a German Jew. He pointed out to me that the reason some find the name funny is because it is foreign sounding.

At the time, nobody knew that Allen also had acquired this name from his jewish forebears.

I passed the complaint on to the Campaign; and the Post also bitched about this childish nya, nya, nya:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

But the Campaign kept it up: Felix, Felix, Felix.

Perhaps this contributed to annoying Senator Allen into his many grievous errors, and costed him the election: I don't know.

I do know that after 4 years, the joke is getting rather frayed, and seems somehow incongruous in the context of questioning whether George Allen is a racist because someone possibly might have e-mailed him a racist joke.

Macacawitz? Oy!

How about this: the Donkey will buy drinks for whomever comes up with a better nick name for George Flippin' Allen!


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