Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

George Allen's Sister Bites Back

Ryan Lizza has another bit of interesting news, old and new, up about George
Allen today, compliments of his sister.

Jennifer Allen, who changed her name to Jennifer Richard, wrote a book in 2000
entitled Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter.
It's a damning book that could do damage, so now there's a big stink on just
exactly what's true and what isn't. The portions below designated with * come
from Richard's book.

There is one sideshow to Senator George Allen's recent troubles that hasn't received enough attention. One of the most important primary sources for any reporter writing about Allen is his sister Jennifer's highly readable and often hilarious account of growing up in the raucous Allen family. Released in the fall of 2000–which, incidentally, was the homestretch of her brother's Senate campaign–Fifth Quarter: The Scrimmage of a Football Coach's Daughter offers an unsparing portrait of George as a mean-spirited bully and faux redneck. … (snip) * [To George], I was just an ugly dog, as he called me, sucking on a baby's bottle. "What are you morons watching?" George asked as he changed the channel to Hee Haw. George loved Hee Haw. His favorite character was the big, slow-witted Junior. Junior tried to tell jokes yet always failed to remember the punch line. There was also something mildly country-thuggish about Junior that I think George felt akin to. After Hee Haw, we watched Mannix. … When Mannix ended, George said, "It's late, morons, time for bed!" We all obeyed George. If we didn't, we knew he would kill us. Once, when Bruce refused to go to bed, George hurled him through a sliding glass door. Another time, when Gregory refused to go to bed, George tackled him and broke his collarbone. Another time, when I refused to go to bed, George dragged me up the stairs by my hair. George hoped someday to become a dentist. George said he saw dentistry as a perfect profession–getting paid to make people suffer. Instead, George became a lawyer and went into politics. (pages 21-22) (snip) * George took out a plug of tobacco and stuffed it in his mouth. He growled up a thick wad of phlegm and spit it into his hand for the dogs to come lick. He was dressed like a character on Hee Haw–cowboy hat, flannel shirt, blue jeans, and boots. Mom admired him more than any of her other children. He got straight As even when he acted like a hick. She went to stroke her son's strong arm, but he brushed her away with a loud burp. (page 162) * My brother George welcomed him [Jennifer's new boyfriend Flynn] by slamming a pool cue against his head. (page 178) … George Allen's sister recants her testimony. Filial Piety

Tell all books are touchy things. Once they're out many authors find the light
to bright.

That said, the more we find out about the real George Allen the less human
he becomes. It seems the only way he became a senator was through his father's
legacy. Now all that's left of the George Allen's football legacy is a dead pig.