Should Virginia Republican senator George Allen realize his dream of winning the White House in 2008, there won’t be any need for that formal “Mr. President” label. Allen may prefer the less formal “massah.” At least that’s what one of his old college buddies is implying by speaking out on Allen’s bigoted past.

Dr. Ken Shelton, who played football with Allen at the University of Virginia, told Salon.com that Allen told him he’d chosen Virginia because he wanted to play where “blacks knew their place” and regularly used the word “nigger.” Shelton, whom Allen nicknamed “Wizard” because he shared the same family name as an imperial wizard of the KKK, recalled an incident where Allen stuffed the head of a freshly killed doe into a mailbox in a predominantly African-American neighbourhood. Two other teammates, individually, corroborated Shelton’s n-bomb claims and others discussed Allen’s penchant for flying the confederate flag.

More recently, Allen has taken flak for calling an Indian student a “macaca.” Allen defended himself by claiming he’d made the word up. Coincidentally, “macaca” is a variation of “macaque,” a type of monkey and a commonly used racial epithet in some parts of the world. Allen denies he’s a racist.

» Scott Saxon