Let them without sin cast the first Aspersion: George Allen and those Jewish 'rumors'

I'm confused. I'm also fairly ignorant of some of the issues and their complexity in regards to this issue. Where I come from we use white pillow cases for covering pillows.

If we're from across the river, well thats where we're from. If its got crocodiles then we're not neighbours if it hasn't got crocs then we are. [only kidding, I'm from Australia]

I've read a little of the context of the civil war, its combatants and the issues that were fought over long ago.

I'm familar with the term Democrat and Republican.

Now I have to admit I've read a certain well known 'Southern' blog from a character who seems to have the depth of a Colonel on a Southern Fried Chicken box.

I was taken aback by the 'values' he and his readers seem to share. Well I wasn't taken back, I was well and truly shocked.

Theres a rather big reaction happening over Sen George Allen.

It seems that the American public has found out he has 'Jewish' roots. It seems they have found out, not long after the Senator has.

Now the thing where I'm confused is, is the interviewer Peggy Fox racist? The political opponent Jim Webb racist? , George Allen racist? , the audience racists? The Public racist?
I'm confused, Here's the video.

[To see the video click Mr Bagel]

What other bloggers make of the whole affair?
Now there seems to be more opinions on this than bloggers on the web.

I'm going to show just a snippet of some of those opinions.

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HUGH HEWITT [A Blog of Townhall.com]

HUGH HEWITT: JUDEN!

George Allen and Jim Webb had another debate yesterday. Probably to the relief of many of you, I did not get to see it. But from the clip I did see, and the clip that everyone will see, Allen walked away from this fray the big winner. After running a sub-par campaign and his dreadful appearance on Sunday's "Meet the Press," Allen caught a huge break, a break that will likely turn the momentum of the race in his direction.

One of the panelists, a woman named Peggy Fox, asked Allen, "It has been reported your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?"

The crowd booed, and rightly so. Allen responded with angry indignation, again rightly so. And, I must say, he looked good doing so. The problem with a politician as programmed as George Allen is he often appears phony. This question showed the real man, and it was the best I've seen him look during the campaign.

A few quick points of personal analysis. As a Jew, I found Fox's question profoundly offensive. Trust me, the wounded minority card is not one that I play with much frequency. But the attempt to "tar" Allen as a Jew in a southern state was at the very least disturbing, and I actually consider it sickening. Furthermore, I think asking the question was a hanging offense professionally, and I hope whoever employs Peggy Fox has seen enough of her judgment to deeply ponder severing their relationship with her.

Fox's inquiry had no place in a political debate. How could this question have spurred an exchange? Was Webb supposed to counter Allen's answer by saying, "Yes, you are a Jew!"

Which brings us to Webb and his missed opportunity. Webb should have jumped on the questioner with the same vigor that Allen did. (If he did, none of the reports I've seen have reflected such.) His failure to do so highlights the lack of political instincts that mark him as the neophyte in this race. It also suggests he wasn't repulsed by the question. That, too, is disturbing.

The additional fact that his campaign's official press release about the debate doesn't even mention the one part of the debate that everyone will be talking about suggests a maladroit tone-deafness that John Kerry would admire. Given that the liberal blogs' talking points are that 1) Allen's rage was "bizarre" ; and 2) Allen's failure to embrace his putative Jewish roots is baffling, if the Webb campaign fails to act quickly it will become enmeshed in and associated with this ugliness.

If you're reading, Mudcat, trust me: You don't want that. [Dean Barnet]

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Andrew Sullivan: The Daily Dish [TIME]

The South and The Jews

19 Sep 2006 02:53 pm

Here's an interesting remark on Hugh Hewitt's blog:

As a Jew, I found Fox's question [to George Allen] profoundly offensive. Trust me, the wounded minority card is not one that I play with much frequency. But the attempt to "tar" Allen as a Jew in a southern state was at the very least disturbing, and I actually consider it sickening.

The premise of this argument is that many Southern voters are anti-Semitic. Is that Hugh Hewitt's belief, as well as his colleague, Dean Barnett's? (Hat tip: Mike.) Here's the video, where Allen regards asking about his Jewish inheritance is a way to cast "aspersions" on him.

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Booker Rising: Booker Rising: News Site for Black Moderates and Black Conservatives

Jewish Aspersions

William Weston comments on Sen. George Allen's (R-Va.) recoiled response to a reporter's question about his alleged Jewish roots, where Sen. Allen directed the reporter from "making aspersions".The moderate Democratic blogger writes:: "How should we read this? We now know that Allen's mother is indeed Jewish ethnically, though she converted to Anglicanism and raised her son an Episcopalian. Her father, Felix Lumbroso, was imprisoned by the Nazis in Tunisia because he was Jewish and had opposed them. We also know that Allen had only found out about his Jewish roots a month before this public question. And his mother had begged him not to tell, because she had kept it from the rest of the family. Still, a month is time enough to get used to the idea, and to have an answer ready for the inevitable reporter's questions. When asked if he had Jewish roots, George Allen took this question as an aspersion. Now, I am about as Jewish as George Allen is – ethnically but not religiously, from several wonderfully intermarried lines. Like Allen, I carry a middle name from a pretty-Jewish grandfather – Joseph, in my case. My eldest carries my grandmother's maiden name, Blum, as her middle name to honor her beloved ancestor. My daughter is a Christian, an ordinary meat-and-potatoes Presbyterian. But she will Never Forget. We honor our Jewish heritage, as we do the rest of the family lines. I don't think calling out Jewish roots is 'casting aspersions.' George Allen does. In that moment, like the macaca moment, he really did reveal his true identity."

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Majikthise: Majikthise : George Allen, self-hating Jew

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post reports on the latest bizarre twist in the Virginia senate race, George Allen's public meltdown when asked about his Jewish heritage

At a debate in Tysons Corner yesterday between Republican Allen and Democrat Webb, WUSA-TV's Peggy Fox asked Allen, the tobacco-chewing, cowboy-boot-wearing son of a pro football coach, if his Tunisian-born mother has Jewish blood.

"It has been reported," said Fox, that "your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?"

Allen recoiled as if he had been struck. His supporters in the audience booed and hissed. "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think is relevant," Allen said, furiously. "Why is that relevant -- my religion, Jim's religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?"

"Honesty, that's all," questioner Fox answered, looking a bit frightened.

"Oh, that's just all? That's just all," the senator mocked, pressing his attack. He directed Fox to "ask questions about issues that really matter to people here in Virginia" and refrain from "making aspersions."

Aspersions? Since when is Jewish heritage an aspersion?

The senator was raised as a Christian and self-identifies as Presbyterian. However, according to Milbank's article, Allen's mother Etty comes from a Sephardic Jewish family. If both Etty's parents were born Jewish, then Allen is Jewish in the eyes of rabbinic law. Allen's grandfather belonged to a prominent Jewish family and was imprisoned by the Nazis for being a resistance fighter.

Allen is awfully touchy about his mother's ethnicity. He has previously denied that his mother is Jewish, but now he acknowledges his mother's Jewish heritage.

Why the defensiveness? It's as if he thinks being Jewish is a very bad thing.

Of course, Allen wouldn't be the first Christian politician in America to have Jewish forbearers. Can you imagine John Kerry or Madeline Albright screaming at a reporter who asked questions about their Jewish heritage? [Posted by Lindsay Beyerstein]

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BagelBloger
So whose the boggey man? Please help me make sense of this all.

To me it seems....

They're all racists?

BagelBlogger Thanks for your comments!
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