Hotline On Call, a blog operated by National Journal, had an entry today providing the latest details on the newly beleagured campaign of George Allen (R-VA) in the wake of the Macaca Moment. Apparently, the Senator is being advised to start whining about unfair treatment at the hands of the liberal media establishment. Just a couple of notes here:

• This is the same liberal media establishment that helped to topple Howard Dean’s bid to become the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004 by perpetual exposure of The Scream. I’m certainly not endorsing the media’s treatment of Dean, and neither am I saying since they did it to him it’s okay for them to pillory political candidates universally for gaffes. But let’s be honest: Howard Dean was not insulting anyone. Allen, on the other hand… “Welcome to America.” There’s a story here. Regardless of the supposed meaning of Allen’s remarks, he was singling out someone for his appearance to mock him, and it’s difficult to take this particular Senator’s word that it was just about his hair based on what we already know.
• At the time of The Scream, video sharing was neither as popular nor as easy as it is today with services like Google Video, IFILM, or, of course, YouTube. Allen’s problem is just as much with the perfect storm of netroots activism originating with “Macaca” himself, who astutely posted the video such that it could achive viral status. At that point, the media, which loves a story that’s already a story, helped to perpetuate the story. If Allen is to start whining about anything, it would have its origins in the fact that clever people who don’t care for him or his politics outmaneuvered him politically. That the opposition has finally figured out a way to manipulate the media for its gains is something Allen should take pride in since its his party that has helped drive the media to its current sorry state.

In short, I find it hard to see how Allen is a victim of anything but his own personal politics.

This post was written by Freddie