The head of the Snohomish County Republican Party apologized Tuesday after the organization’s booth at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe sold “$3 bills” depicting Barack Obama wearing Arab headgear and featuring a camel.
Geri Modrell, the Snohomish County Republican chairwoman, said a volunteer had brought the bills to the fair thinking they were funny.
“I don’t think it’s funny,” said Modrell, who said she ordered the bills removed as soon as she learned about them. “They were offensive. The volunteers are being told very clearly they must not do these sorts of things.”
Very sad when volunteers must be educated about not being assholes. But there you have it. Later in the story, someone accuses the person handing out the bills of committing “…an absolute hate crime.” Kinda silly, unless uneducated stupidity is now a hate crime. And later:
Modrell said she hopes the presidential campaign will avoid illegitimate personal attacks — such as insinuations about Obama’s religion or McCain’s age.
The difference is, of course, that Obama is not a Muslim (not that there’s anything wrong with that.) McCain is (self-described) “older than dirt.” That’s not an insinuation. It’s a fact.