What did everybody make of this "Allen, are you Jewish" moment?

[beachmom]

My computer is just not working properly, so that I can't watch the video. But I guess I can't wrap my mind around it. I thought the question was odd, but from what people say of his reaction, it was rather agressive and defensive. This poster talks of Clark and talking of Jewish heritage, and not being defensive about it. We all know the story of Kerry's grandparents and how the BG tried to say he lied about being Irish (when he never said any such thing). But just was curious what you guys thought of this:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/19/92447/1353

[babylonsister]

1. For your perusal if you haven't seen it:

(someone mentioned towards the end what grace Allbright and Kerry exhibited when new flashes of their heritage were learned. I think Felix Macacawitz really overreacted, but it is ours to speculate why. Doesn't want to disappoint his base?


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2169054

[Mass]

2. I had a mixed reaction.

1/ The reaction of Allen is very telling of his bigotry. He could as well as answered: "I dont know, but is it really important". He just looked offended that somebody could call ask him if he had Jewish origins. No question that he is an antisemite as well as a racist, or at least that he thinks many of his supporters are (which is not better).

2/ I was bothered by the question that I find injustified. There are a lot of real questions to ask without bringing his mother's ethnicity. I dont want reporters to start asking people questions about distant religious affiliations. When Allen said his mother was not Jewish, she started asking about his grandfather. How far away would she have gone.

3/ I was bothered by the reaction of some bloggers, who were insisting his mother was Jewish (though both articles are not conclusive, and frankly who cares). I am not sure I like that and I am not sure it could not backfire. I was uncomfortable with the reactions of some people who have shown themselves very antisemitic a few months ago. It becomes particularly bothering when the same article was used by the some bloggers, a few weeks ago, to say that the macaca incident was due to the fact that his Jewish mother gave him racist values. Some of the people who are blaming him not to recognize that his mother was Jewish were blaming him a week ago because his mother was Jewish.

[beachmom]

3. I agree that it's best if bloggers just report it and show the video

Somebody said the reporter was nasty (again, I can't hear it, so I have no idea) about it. Quite frankly, who gives a damn if one has Jewish relatives or not? But if indeed his reaction was over the top, then that DOES give us an idea of his temperament and character which is unworthy of the U.S. Senate.

[whometense]

4. Actually wrote a post on it.

http://toughenough.org/2006/09/george-allen-is-not-only-racist.html

He's a pig. It was fine up until the "making aspersions" remark. Then he lost any benefit of the doubt.

And there is video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNkw9_F16dI&eurl=

[beachmom]

5. Help me out because I can't watch the video

Was he REALLY mad? OH, MAN -- I just looked up the PRECISE definition of aspersion -- it says to malign. Malign means "to speak evil of". Fuck that's bad. Thank you for pointing that out, Whometense. You might want to add that comment at that Kos thread. I think most people didn't focus on that word. Okay, I'm feeling an LTE coming on . . . .

[whometense]

10. he really started out answering fine,

talking about how this country believes in freedom of religion, etc. And I'm not sure it was an appropriate question, really. But then he got wound up and pissy and undid any good he might have done.

It wasn't clear to me what the reporter's motivation was for asking; it was clear Allen thought she was playing "gotcha" with him.

In any case, being called jewish shouldn't be an aspersion, but it obviously is, in Allen's tiny little mind.

[beachmom]

7. Permission to comment on Raising Kaine and link to your post

whometense -- I would like to point this word out to the folks at RK, because so far nobody has mentioned it.

[whometense]

8. please do -

I'm honored!

[WildEyedLiberal]

11. I can't believe Felix even knows what the word "aspersions" means

That seems pretty advanced for his football-cliche-ridden vocabulary.

What a vile, vile thing to say. So saying that he might have Jewish ancestry is casting aspersions? Words truly fail me. Anyone who votes for Allen is stupid or evil or both.

[beachmom]

12. Don't underestimate the amount of evil and stupid people in this state

In fact, somebody wrote an LTE criticizing Allen for apologizing for displaying the Confederate flag. Somebody to the right of Allen on racism. That's the kind of people who do live around here (don't forget that many of the members of the SBVT live in Virginia).

[sandnsea]

6. Does Allen claim his Jewish heritage or not

That seems to me to be the basis of the debate. Reading this article, it's hard to say exactly what the deal is with his mother, she seems quite damaged by her WWII experiences. I don't think the question is whether the Allens are Jewish - but why are they hiding it since it seems pretty clear they are. Adding the "casting aspersions" comment into the mix only adds to the conclusion that they're a bunch of bigots.

"There are intimations in Jennifer Allen’s book of the family’s Jewish connection. She writes that when the Germans invaded North Africa during World War II, “the Nazis took away my mother’s father,” although he escaped from harm.

Senator Allen told the Richmond Times Dispatch in 2000 that his grandfather was imprisoned because “he sympathized with the Free French and the Allies and coveted the concepts of freedom of thought, expression, religious belief and enterprise.”

In another of the book’s anecdotes, George Allen Sr., a practicing Roman Catholic, encounters problems when he wants to marry his fiancee, Etty, in a Catholic church.

“The priest said he would marry them only if Mom agreed to raise as Catholic any children the marriage might produce,” Jennifer Allen wrote. “As a young woman, my mother had an ‘incident’ with a priest in Tunis, so Mom said ‘Over my dead body’ to the priest. My mother and father were married by a justice of the peace in a Jewish friend’s home with two witnesses.”

http://www.forward.com/articles/alleged-slur-casts-spotlight-on-senator%e2%80%99s-jewis/

[beachmom]

9. More Allen dirt and why he voted no on the body armor

Donations from war profiteers. Local Virginian bloggers are on the case:

http://richmonddemocrat.blogspot.com/2006/09/george-allens-blood-money.html

Anybody who feels like heeding his call to go through donor names, give it a whirl.

[beachmom]

13. This is a nice diary about people who find out about their Jewish roots:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/20/31712/8388