Was it fair for the reporter to bring up Allen's mother?

We've already devoted a lot of space to this. But let's not forget one thing: Allen's campaign started its downward spiral when he called one of Jim Webb's Indian-American campaign workers "Macaca". In Colonial-era North Africa, particularly the Francophone areas, 'Macaca' is a rough equivalent of 'N-ger'.

That's a seemingly distant connection, except when you consider that Allen's mother happens to be from the then-French colony of Tunisia, a fact that in itself pretty much puts the lie to Allen's clumsy fib.

This whole brouhaha, including the question that set Allen off, got rolling because of Allen's preposterous claim and the reporter's question about whether he'd learned the word from his mother.

It may not be pretty. But it's all the fruit of Allen's lies.