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Wednesday, September 20, 2006

George Allen is the latest politician with a Jewish problem
Posted by Jill | 6:59 AM
I know that Keith Olbermann never passes up a chance to make, or at least include, Bill O'Reilly in his nightly "Worst Persons in the World" segment, he dropped a ball that I hope he picks up on tonight. Without a doubt, the worst person in the world yesterday should have been Virginia's incumbent Senator and presidential wannabe, George W. -- I mean Felix -- "Macaca" Allen.

It seems that the crazy old aunt in the Allen family attic is the fact that his maternal grandfather was Jewish,, which of course according to halachic law, makes HIM Jewish. And for a guy raised in California with Confederate pretentions, right down to the noose and the Confederate flag, could anything be more embarrassing than having Christ-killer blood in his American Aristocratic veins? Captain Codpiece may have father issues, but this GWB mindalike must have mother issues that would make psychoanalysts everywhere salivate -- especially if that Jewish blood turns off voters from the redder parts of Virginia.

It all started on Wednesday, when Allen seemed oddly angry when asked if his mother was Jewish:





Now, I'll be the first one to agree with George Allen that the reporter's question was irrelevant and divisive -- and bigoted. Whether Allen learned the word "macaca" from his mother, and you'd have to be an idiot to believe he didn't, has nothing to do with whether his mother is Jewish. But that said, Allen's response showed as much defensiveness as anger, and given the recent racial controversy in which he proceeded to dig himself deeper by the day, it does bring up the question as to just how much of a bigot Allen is, despite his protestations to the contrary.

By yesterday, realizing that further denial was futile and was just adding fuel to the fire, Allen's people had him say that he was "proud to have recently discovered that his grandfather, an anti-Nazi resistance fighter in North Africa, was part of a well-known Jewish family. Nice work by Allen's handlers, to frame his mother's roots in the context of fighting Nazis.

I'm glad Allen is proud of his Jewish heritage, because if the rest of his statement is correct, it sounds like his mother regards her father's Jewishness as a shandeh far di goyim:

"I was raised as a Christian and my mother was raised as a Christian," Allen, 54, said. "And I embrace and take great pride in every aspect of my diverse heritage, including my Lumbroso family line's Jewish heritage, which I learned about from a recent magazine article and my mother confirmed."


Allen wouldn't be the first public figure or political candidate to find out late in life and in the context of a campaign that he has Jewish grandparents. Wesley Clark and John Kerry both acknowledged having Jewish grandparents who converted. It's discouraging that all of these families feel that their Jewish forbears are something to be ashamed of. It's particularly galling in Allen's case, because his grandfather was imprisoned by the Nazis. It's also galling in Allen's case because his statement cited above indicates a fear that the Christofascist Zombies that make up his base would not take kindly to being represented by a man with Jewish blood.

Pennsylvania State Representative Mark Cohen analyzes why Allen -- and others -- might be so afraid of finding out they have Jewish forebears:

I meet all three tests of being Jewish. Since early childhood, I have been aware of my Jewish identity. So have others. Many millions of Americans associate the name Cohen with the Jewish people. Jews who convert to other religions not infrequently change their names to make their conversion clear.

But I understand the anguish and the confusion that the sudden discovery of one or more Jewish ancestors can cause. It raises questions of who one's ancestors were, who one is, and what relationship, if any, one should have with the Jewish people.

It also raises questions of the sincerity of one's religious beliefs. The Spanish Inquisition was much more about investigating professed Christians of Jewish ancestry--the moranos-- who allegedly were secretly practicing the Jewish religion, than it was about investigating Jews as such. True Jews were not allowed to be living in Spain at the time.

The idea that some Christians are not true Christians carries weight with elements of the religious right. It is only a short step from that belief to the belief that these Christians may include secret Jews in their ranks.

Politicians have joked about their Jewish ancestry. John Kerry, after discovering it in the Washington Post, went to a St. Patrick's Day celebration and proclaimed he had the "matzo balls" to be there that day. Barry Goldwater, an opponent of federal civil rights legislation, told of asking a manager of a country club that banned Jews from the golf course: "But I'm only half Jewish. Can't I play nine holes?"

There has always been intermarriage. There have always been conversions of people from one religion to another. The more the ever-increasing computerization and translation of records proceeds over time, the more people will learn of their Jewish ancestors.

[snip]

There are about 5 million Americans who profess to be of the Jewish religion. There are many, many more Americans who have some Jewish ancestry. Senator Allen should know that he is in good company.


The question is, why on earth would we WANT him?
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