FRAMESHOP:FRAMESHOP: AMIDST RACISM, BUSH TO STUMP FOR ALLEN

Within days of George Allen (R-VA) using a racist epithet to demean a person at one of his campaign stops, the incumbent Senator will be rewarded with campaign stops from President George W. Bush and Presidential hopeful John McCain.

Apparently, news that George Allen uses the same gutter racist vocabulary as white power hate groups is not embarassing enough for Bush and McCain to pull out of their plans to help re-elect Allen.

Apparently, news that George Allen has had past dealings as a sleazy financial gigolo for a crooked Virginia tech company is not embarassing enough for Bush and McCain to pull out of their plans to help re-elect Allen.

As of today, Virginia voters should be asking themselves this question:  Exactly when does a Republican Senator's sleazy behavior become toxic enough that President Bush and John McCain decide to cancel their plans to help him raise money?

Racist epithets in a stump speach?  Nope.  Long-term associated with a sleazy tech company under investigation?  Nope. 

Accordinng to a new article in the American Prospect, the story of George Allen's white power outburst will soon be joined with tales of his past flirtations with questionably legal white collar opportunism.

'Macaca' meet 'Xybernaut'--a sketchy 1990s Virginia tech firm that put George Allen on their board during his first bid for Senate, and was subsequently embroiled in a WorldCom style scandal.

A special hat tip to American Prospect Senior Editor Garance Franke-Ruta for bringing back to life an story that George Allen wishes would go far, far away.

Here's the lead from the article called Just a Gigolo:

In the go-go '90s, George Allen sat on the board of a Virginia tech company. Now, the company faces several class-action suits and an SEC insiders probe.

[...]

There's no evidence that Allen did anything illegal, and he has not been named in any of the shareholder suits, which post-date his tenure on the board. Yet Xybernaut clearly engaged in questionable activities -- and did plenty of business with questionable characters -- while Allen was a director with a responsibility to protect shareholders' interests. Xybernaut's rise, indeed, was driven by some of the financial industry's seediest bottom-feeders -- questionable stock touters, offshore front groups involved in money laundering, and foreign financiers linked to short-selling, securities fraud, and, in 2005, the collapse of a major Wall Street brokerage firm. Driving Xybernaut upward as well were the determined efforts of its officers to promote and sell the company's stock to unwitting small investors, even as the company's fundamentals spiraled ever more out of control. It became clear that no market for its products would emerge. And Allen's affiliation with the company should now raise questions about whether he deserves to retain his other seat -- the one on the best board of directors in the world.

The story is one we all know by now.  In the 1990s, the tech companies made money not by manufacturing products and selling them to customers, but by hyping sky-high profits to big money brokers looking to flip stock futures for huge returns.   

Apparently, a huge part of Xybernaut's business strategy was focused on cultivating influence in the Federal government, so they reached out to Allen in ways that pushed the limits of what was and was not legal. 

Today, Xybernaut's shady practices are coming to light as the result a legal actions and Senator Allen's rise to power runs right through the legal documents of this WorldCom-style controversy in the making.

All this means that George Alllen can add 'Flirted with white collar crime' to his resume of sketchy immoral behavior, right below the recently added item,'Used white power racist word during stump speech.'

And this raises an interesting question:  In the Virginia race for Senate, which will prove more toxic to Allen's quest for re-election?  Being caught--on video--talking like a gutter, white power racist?  Being caught up in a tech boom currpution scandal involving hundreds of thousands of dollars and millionaire influence peddling in Washington, DC?

It's a tough call.  But if George Allen wants the people of  South and West Virginia to think that he is a real, authentic good old boy--then they should start asking him how he used his office as Virginia Governor to make money with sleazy tech firms in Northern Virginia.

© 2006 Jeffrey Feldman, Frameshop

My guess?  When news of Allen's white collar dealings start to come out, I bet he will wish the goood people of Virginia would remember him as just an old fashioned racist.