WP: Allen's "Strange" Reaction to a Question about His Mother

[Bumblebee]

This just may be the final straw. Let's hope so.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091801014.html

The Senator's Gentile Rebuke

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, September 19, 2006; Page A02

First came Sen. George Allen's Macaca Moment. Then we learned of challenger Jim Webb's thoughts on the "horny" women of the Naval Academy.

Now, just when you thought Virginia's U.S. Senate race couldn't get any weirder, the Jews of Tunis are making a cameo.


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.

[Stinky The Clown]

1. And any thinking person has to ask .....

.... how is asking about the possibility that one has Jewish ancestry 'casting an aspersion'? Is Felix telling us how he really feels about Jews?

[Bumblebee]

3. That's the entire point. He just turned off many Jews in Virginia, I am

sure, and even some really hard-core neocons among them will now have to hold their noses to vote for him. I think Webb was actually smart today reminding people of his connection to Reagan... This way Republicans who are offended by Allen will have a fairly "safe" escape.

[Nickster]

4. Actually, my first question was, "Why ask about her being Jewish at all?"

Seems like a really odd question to ask in that situation. But I do agree his response is telling.

[Frances]

6. Allen says his grandfather was incarcerated by Nazis

Was it because the grandfather was Jewish?

My guess is that up until now no one knew Allen wasn't a good ole Virginia boy.

Webb had a good line when he said he was living in southwestern Virginia when Allen was growing up in California.

[Captain Hilts]

14. Webb solidly kicked Allen's ass. It was a joy to watch. nt

[Erika]

2. Allen "recoiling" from charges of Jewish blood?

This guy is a bigoted nut.

[Mass]

5. I dont want to defend Allen because he is a big time idiot, but this story

has nothing to do with whether he should be elected senator or not. Yes, Allen is a bigoted nut, but not because he cannot answer to the question of whether his mother is Jewish or not. He may not know. She may not be. From the reporters who ask the question continually, this is pure bigotry. Who cares?

Sure, his reaction is telling, but we already knew he was a racist and a bigot. What is new?

[rockymountaindem]

9. It's more than that

It's one thing to say "no, I don't have Jewish ancestry" or "all my ancestors were Christians". What Allen did was basically to say "What, me *Jewish*!?! Where'd you get that idea??? I'm not some Jew! I'm a regular person!!!"

Contrast that reaction to Charlie Chaplin, who was frequently asked if he was Jewish during times when anti-Semitism was much more prevalent and potentially damaging to his career. He simply never answered, because it didn't bother him that some people might think he was a Jew, because he didn't see anything wrong with being Jewish. Allen on the other hand, well... one might his reaction to be to the question "do you still beat your wife?"

[Mass]

10. Allen is a bigot. This is a given. but there was no reason for the

question to be asked, except if for the reporter, the fact that his mother could be Jewish made a difference.

[Bumblebee]

12. Precisely because he is a bigot, it was a very smart question to ask :)

It did come out of the blue, I agree -- but I am glad she asked it!

[Mass]

13. In fact, I found the question as bigoted as the answer.

[ruggerson]

23. It was asked because Allen is a LIAR

it was appropriate and revealing.

[Captain Hilts]

15. It IS a weird question. I agree. nt

[progdonkey]

19. not to mention...

He kept mentioning that his grandfather was in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, yet went apoplectic when asked if he had Jewish blood.

He'll use his Jewish ancestory to score sympathy points or just for the rhetorical weight, yet in the same breath deny that he's Jewish. "I'm descended from Holocaust survivors... but don't call me a Jew!"

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Actually, I think it was germaine to the debate ......

it was (at least) inplied that he'd previously denied having any Jewish blood. I watched the debate but happened to be distracted when the question was being asked. I heard the answer far more clearly.

[rockymountaindem]

7. Nice reaction

Let's see: racial slurs, thinks someone is "casting aspersions" to ask if he's Jewish, and shows up at a neo-Confderate group meeting for a photo op. I'm noticing a pattern here.

[Bumblebee]

8. Sort of reminds me of Russian Zhirinovsky whose father was apparently

Jewish which he stridently denies because he is an ardent racist and anti-semite... They even look somewhat similar.

[LibDemAlways]

16. Allen is so obviously terrified of turning off his redneck base

that he will gladly and forcefully deny his heritage.

If indeed his mother has Jewish ancestry, why not just acknowledge it, embrace it, and make one of those typical safe political statements about America being a great melting pot and land of refuge for the oppressed.

But, no. Allen has to get offended and act as though the questioner asked whether his mother is a space alien. What a dumbass. Selling out his ethnicity for the sake of the votes of the "Deliverance" crowd. He ought to be ashamed. But then he's a Republican, and they don't know the meaning of the word.

[Mass]

17. But is she Jewish? This is the question nobody answers to.

[Bumblebee]

18. According to Forward, which is a very respectable -- and liberal -- source

she apparently is. See:

http://www.forward.com/articles/alleged-slur-casts-spotlight-on-senator%E2%80%99s-jewis/

[rockymountaindem]

20. It doesn't matter

Allen is free to associate himself with whichever religion or part of his heritage he chooses. However, he reacted to this question as if he thinks being Jewish is a bad thing, and that's a problem for me. All he would have to say is "no, my mother was not Jewish" or "yes, my mother was Jewish but I don't consider myself to be Jewish". As it is, it sounds like he's trying to hide some kind of skeleton in the closet. I had no idea that Jewish heritage was such a scary skeleton in the USA in 2006, but apparently it might be for some people. I kind of resent that.

[ruggerson]

24. Exactly

the issue is that he is a liar and has serious issues with his own heritage.

[Mass]

25. Whether he is Jewish or not does not excuse his reaction. Insisting that

he is with that little certitude is just going to change to subject from "Allen is a bigot and an antisemite" to "the mad bloggers". I dont see why it is useful when his reaction is so telling.

I just find suspect this insistance by some here to want that somebody as bad as Allen is Jewish.

[rockymountaindem]

27. I don't think that's what's happening

I think people are focused on the hypocracy of him talking about his grandfather and the Nazis while dodging the Jewish heritage thing, not to mention his -shall we say odd?- reaction to being asked about it. I'm Jewish myself, and it's not up to me to decide who's in the Jew Crew and who isn't. I don't think people on this thread care if Allen is Jewish, Presbyterian, Buddhist or a follower of Mithras. I think we'd all just like to see some kind of answer that doesn't insinuate that Allen thinks it's demeaning to be Jewish, which is the vibe I get from his reaction here.

[Bumblebee]

29. Actually, being Jewish myself, I wish nothing of the kind! I hope he isn't

as a matter of fact -- for I do not want yet another fellow Jew to be deeply disgusted with!

[Frances]

21. If you go to the Wash Post link above

it seems probable that his mother was from a prominent Jewish family that was forced to convert to Christianity when they lived in Portugal.

I seem to remember that Boston media made a big deal out of the fact that Kerry's grandfather was Jewish. That's because a lot of voters had assumed Kerry was Irish and, of course, Massachusetts has many Irish voters. The media also made a big deal out of the fact that M. Albright was at least part Jewish.

It's possible that Allen recoiled from the question because he has built up this image of himself as a cowboy boots wearing, tobacco chewing good ole boy. I don't think many people in Virginia realize that his mother was French-Italian. There is prejudice against that ethnicity among some of Allen's most ardent supporters.

[ruggerson]

22. This is his second "Macaca" moment

The issue is NOT whether his mother is Jewish. No one gives a rat's ass about that. The issue is that he has consistently LIED about his mother's heritage.

Either he is ashamed of his own lineage, and is a self hating Jew, which fits the pattern of his bigotry throughout his entire adult life, or he fears the anti Semitism of rednecks in Virginia.

Either way, this is a huge character issue and an enormous problem for Allen.

[Evergreen Emerald]

32. actually the noose in his office is also a "macca moment"

He appears to have lots of them.

[IndianaGreen]

26. "Jewish roots wouldn't play well in parts of Virginia."

Fox's question, while a matter of some intrigue, seemed out of place in the debate, which focused on more urgent matters such as Iraq. But Allen turned on the questioner with ferocity. He may have been irked that the question was a follow-up to one noting that "macaca" was a racial slur that his mother may have learned in Tunisia. He may have been concerned that Jewish roots wouldn't play well in parts of Virginia.

I thought that Peggy Fox's questions smacks of anti-Semitism. It was the sort of question that was asked of people by the Nazis to determine if they had any Jewish blood.

Allen's response was not the sort of response that the question merited, instead was the response of someone having issues with Jewishness.

Shame on Fox, and shame on Allen!

On edit:

I just saw Mr. Conservative: Goldwater a profile of Senator Barry Goldwater. It showed a clip of Goldwater telling the GOP convention of his Polish Jewish grandparents. He wasn't ashamed!

[ruggerson]

28. You're totally off base

she had every right to ask him about this because he has a history of LYING about it. The question was about his truthtelling.

[underpants]

30. Oh man his buddies in the CCC are NOT going to like this at all

[spooky3]

31. Oh, give us a break, Felix...

This is a political system where candidates constantly trot out smiling children and happy homemaker wives in order to appeal to voters. Felix himself constantly talks about his dad's football career, and he's told us his daughter is in college. If a question about his mother's heritage or religion is out of bounds, so is all of his talk about other family members, which presumably have no more and no less to do with his position on Iraq, Social Security, etc. Ditto for discussions of religion. How many times have we heard candidates talking about their family's long association with this church or that, and how many times have we had to listen to the advice that Democrats need to be more open about the importance of religion in American life? Don't tell me this question has no place in the discussion; I don't buy it. Funny how politicians love to talk about certain topics if they think it will benefit them, but react with indignation and outrage to the same question if it would shine light on some info they consider problematic.