George Allen Is Jewish And Mary Cheney Is Gay

[ruggerson]

What do these two things have to do with each other?

They are both issues that were brought up in public debates to rightly highlight the hypocrisy and dishonesty of Republicans George Allen and Dick Cheney.

And both remarks were met with Republican faux outrage that family members are "off limits" in public discourse.

But, of course, both points were not about the individual family members, but a much larger, deeper, darker problem: both points went to the character of the two men and the bigotry of the Republican voter.

In Cheney's case, the larger point was that here was a man with a gay daughter he ostensibly loved, representing an administration that was feverishly working to destroy gay people's civil right and gay people's families, in an effort to rally votes from homophobes. Kerry was absolutely correct in bringing up and highlighting this bizarre hypocrisy.

Just as this reporter was correct in bringing to light the fact that George Allen has consistently lied about his Jewish heritage for years. The issue is not that his mother is of Jewish heritage. The issue is that Allen is the type of person who LIES about his mother's heritage. It is a window into the soul of a bigot and it fits a lifelong pattern of hatred and exclusion.

Who can forget Lynne Cheney screaming that John Kerry was "not a good" man for bringing up the simple, already public fact that her daughter is a lesbian.

It's tough to confront your inner demons, Lynne, isn't it? Especially when they are exposed on national television.

You might want to give George Allen a call. You both have something in common.

[Erika]

1. Yeah, Cheney advertised to the world Mary was Gay in 2000

for political benefit. Then denounced Kerry for bringing it up in 2004. My biggest disappointment was in Mary. She turned herself into a political whore.

[KittyWampus]

17. Mary isn't just a lesbian. She's a Professional Lesbian who made money

representing Coors going around to gay bars with Mr. Leather.

[Captain Hilts]

2. Being Jewish is hereditary? Live and learn...

If he's not been to 'Gog in years or never had a bar mitzvah, then he's not Jewish.

Though his discomfiture is very telling...

[karynnj]

5. Can the Jewish population offically reject him?

[REP]

10. If His Mother is a Jew, Then He is a Jew

It is 'hereditary' and 'passed' by the mother. Has nothing to do with Bar Mitzvahs or synagog attendance; a person with a Jewish mother is a Jew, whether they practice or not (or even convert to another religion!).

[Captain Hilts]

15. To a Jew, perhaps, but not to me. Being Jewish isn't a race.

Not that I'm aware of.

[muesa]

24. I love your signature line

and so does my avatar, Muesa.

Some have said that the Holy Father, John Paul II, was Jewish because his maternal grandmother was alleged to be Jewish.

[sakabatou]

14. I haven't been to shul in quite a while

Mainly because the people who do the services shlep.

At my bar mitzvah, I almost did the entire service by myself, had 2 guest speakers and whatnot, and we got out at 12:20 PM (service started at 9 AM).

[Captain Hilts]

16. Damn, you're good!

I went to one recently I thought the kid kind of got swallowed by the other speakers.

[sakabatou]

21. The trick when doing the services is go faster than the

congregation. Also, using song and Torah pronounciations of sections make it fun.

[Maddy McCall]

3. How is Allen polling?

I can't stand the guy. Saw him on Meet the Press Sunday morning. We have GOT to beat him.

[Captain Hilts]

4. There was a real treat on C-Span today. Debating Webb. nt

[Tesha]

28. 4% ahead, down from 12%. (NT)

[IndianaGreen]

6. George Allen is no more Jewish than Albright or Kerry

One could say that Allen has a Jewish ancestry, an ancestry that he won't acknowledge, but he is not a Jew, not even by Jewish law. Allen is a Christian, and one cannot be a Jew and a Christian. Most of Jews for Jesus come from Jewish homes and have Jewish mothers, but they are not Jews, they are fundamentalist Christians wearing kippas.

[ruggerson]

8. According to traditional Israeli law

you are considered Jewish if your mother is Jewish.

"Being Jewish is not simply a matter of subscribing to a set of religious beliefs. For a variety of reasons related to Jewish history, Judaism's religious laws, and cultural norms, being a Jew involves being part of a people, or a nation in modern terminology. For most, it is a product of their birth when they are born into a Jewish family.... the traditional view is that any child born to a Jewish mother is Jewish, whether or not he/she is raised Jewish, or even whether the mother considers herself Jewish. (As an example, the grandchildren of Madeleine Albright (who was raised Catholic and was unaware of her Jewish heritage) would all be Jews according to halakha (traditional Jewish law), since their mother's traceable female ancestors were all Jewish (Dr. Albright only has daughters)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_is_a_Jew%3F

[REP]

11. Jewish Law, Not Israeli Law

The Law of Return and the Laws of Judaism aren't one and the same, though they share commonalities.

[ruggerson]

20. Right, Jewish Law

as well as the law of return. So, the fact is that Allen is jewish under Jewish law. And the fact is he has, on the record, denied his heritage and does not, to this day, acknowledge it.

One can only draw a few conclusions from that, none of them positive about Allen's character and integrity.

[muesa]

25. Or

the Holy Father, John Paul II. BTW, some in Muslim lands are saying that Benedict is Jewish (I guess cause he wears a kippah).

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. Who cares what his heritage is? He is a nut, that's all that matters.

[Maddy McCall]

9. Yep.

:thumbsup:

[sandnsea]

12. It's like "passing"

I wouldn't care about the racial heritage of any candidate either - but I sure as hell would care if some asshole denied a minority heritage and said that anyone who pointed out the racism in it was "casting aspersions".

[onenote]

13. maybe you can make the case about cheney, but who care re Allen?

You can make the case that its relevant that Cheney's daughter is gay since he and his administration have taken a public position on gay rights. But I think whether Allen's mother had Jewish "blood" is a downright stupid line of inquiry and one that may turn off some voters.

[exlrrp]

18. Families are fair game--just not Republican's

According to Republicans, families are fair game for every kind of nasty comment--except Republicans.
Imagine if Kerry was the one with a gay daughter, not Cheney--what would be said about her by all the Savages and Coulters out there. You'd hear it 24/7

[npincus]

19. He's Jewish? Yech... we don't want him!

[Lurking Dem]

22. Do we really

want to bring back the Nuremberg Laws and declare him Mischlinge?

[Stinky The Clown]

23. Excellent post, ruggerson .... K&R

[pink-o]

26. Jews are ethnic and cultural as well as religious...

...it's just that we didn't have a legitimate country for centuries. (and in my opinion, we still don't.) I know Italian, Greek, Hungarian, German, and Japanese Americans, etc, etc. These peoples' familes came from Europe or Asia. Perhaps their religions are Catholic, Protestant, Eastern Orthodox or Shinto--which is a different identity from their ancestral homes. Jews don't have that. My family are the Askenazim portrayed in Fiddler on the Roof, George Allen's family are obviously Sephardic because they're from North Africa. So you can call me a Jew, but ethnically I'm an Askenazi.

And religiously, I'm an agnostic. I don't do Patriarcal superstition that was basically created by a bunch of men who needed validation to control their social groups. So when you call me a "Jew" you're referring to my ancestory, not my beliefs.

Confusing, isn't it?

Oh, and BTW, Orthodox and Conservative Judaism only recognise your mother's lineage as insurance that you're authentically Jewish. Reform Judaism recognises that nowadays they have DNA testing, ergo you can inherit it through your father as well.

[kdpeters]

27. Hindsight is 20/20, but looking back, there's a better approach

It was always risky to broach Mary Cheney's sexuality, but let's face it, Kerry/Edwards had no chance to pull it off. If you don't see the issue in terms of equality, then you don't get it. Equal treatment is not radical and compromise with hate is not moderate. That they affirmatively supported a "separate, but equal" position, left them blind to any argument that might have withstood treading so close on their personal relationship.

Had they seen us as equals, they might have noticed and asked why one daughter, her husband, and her two children were so visible, so open and so emphasized while the other wasn't mentioned but occasionally as the "other daughter"? Not an unreasonable question given all they so publicly and repeatedly offered on the campaign trail.

Had they seen us as equals, they might have wondered why he seemed so ambivalent about an issue you'd expect to have enormous personal significance. The implication is clear, but subtle and deniable -- like a Republican implying Iraq+Al Qaeda.

Someone should ask him if there's anything in his life he's unwilling to compromise for politics. But if you don't start out seeking equal treatment, you won't notice how disgusting it is for a family to ask the "unequal" daughter to shelve her dignity to keep campaign donors happy.