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George Allen's Jewish Heritage Confirmed

In a statement on AllenHQ and in in interview with The Jewish Daily Forward, Senator George Allen addresses the ethnicity of his parents.

Yesterday, I found it especially reprehensible that a reporter would impugn the attitudes of my mother, as Ms. Peggy Fox did in her first question at the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce Senate debate. My mother and father both taught me to abhor bigotry, and Ms. Fox's suggestion to the contrary was deeply offensive."


"The notion peddled by the Webb campaign that I am somehow embarrassed by my heritage is equally offensive, and also absurd."

"I was raised as a Christian and my mother was raised as a Christian. 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."

"On several occasions through the years, I have mentioned publicly that my mother's father was incarcerated by the Nazis. I have never known whether he was persecuted by the Nazis because of his nationality, his religious faith, his role as a community leader, or his part in the anti-Nazi resistance. What I do know is that my grandfather's imprisonment by the Nazis had a profound impact on my mother. It was a subject she found painful to discuss and so we almost never discussed it."

"Some may find it odd that I have not probed deeply into the details of my family history, but it's a fact. We in the Allen household were simply taught that what matters is a person's character, integrity, effort, and performance - not race, gender, ethnicity or religion. And so whenever we would ask my mother through the years about our family background on her side, the answer always was, 'Who cares about that?'"

"My mother has lived a long and full life, and I hope and pray she will enjoy many more years. She deserves respect and she also deserves privacy, especially where painful memories are concerned. I sincerely hope that simple decency will be respected."

In case you missed the question, here it is:

"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?"

In a campaign most notable for missteps, Allen's response confounds pundits, but in our estimation plays very well to potential voters, at a visceral, emotional level. He wasn't being questioned about a his family history, he was being accused of hiding it. The desperation of Jim Webb's Netroots Coordinator Lowell Feld to make this persona matter an issue should be spotlighted by the Allen campaign - repeatedly. Privacy, or more importantly inappropriate incursions into ones private life, is an issue that everyone can identify with, and voters have a history of being very supportive of politicians requests to allow them a level of privacy in their family - for example Clinton and Bush's protectiveness of their daughters privacy.

This clip, where Allen's justifiable outrage at the tone and aspersions of the question, will go along way toward erasing the memory of the "macaca" video.


The response shows an Allen who is passionate, raw, unscripted, and protective of his family. Anyone who thinks those qualities are a negative with voters is just deluding themselves.

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Comments (25)

Hate to bust your balls, bu... (Below threshold)

Hate to bust your balls, but the race is actually about credibility, the ethos in any persuasive discourse, which after Macaca and the latest incident, Allen has none.

Just as Latinos understand what lurked behind Allen's "secure the border" meme, and African-Americans knew when Allen did the same thing with his "truth in sentencing" campaign slogan and Draconian law that snagged a top GOP Virginia politician's daughter, Jews (except the die-hard partisans) can clearly see what's going behind Allen's faux moral outrage; he'd been OUTED!

Kevin, as I'm sure you can ... (Below threshold)

Kevin, as I'm sure you can see, Mimi is an IDIOT. If Allen himself was Jewish and said he wasn't then left-wing-Mimi would have a point.

Mimi, Webb just ensured that he'll lose this race. Let me tell you why since you're obviously clueless about the South. The ONE thing you don't do ever is pick on someone's Momma.

When Allen made the Macaca ... (Below threshold)
Carl:

When Allen made the Macaca remark directed to the student filming him, he also mentioned that (his) opponent ( Webb ) was with " Hollywood Moguls " which frankly, to me, is a code word for " Jews " , and a negative one at that ( many corporate leaders in Hollywood are Jewsih. Allen has denied knowing his mother was Jewish, which defies credibility, and even now, note that he emphasizes that his "grandfather" was Jewish--note the desperate desire to not say his mother was Jewish, which by connotation would make him "more" Jewsih, and God forbid that. Allen brought Jews and macaca into this race, and now he wants to change the rules of the game.

With Mimi's ignorant commen... (Below threshold)
The Exposer:

With Mimi's ignorant comments and obsession with Allen's Jewish heritage (as also with Allen's anti-Semite opponent, Webb) demonstrates why leftists today are merely carrying on the tradition of their Nazi forebearers. I'm surprised they haven't burned a cross in his front yard or spray-painted swastikas on his campaign headquarters. Well, there's 7+ weeks still left for the Webb folks and their media comrades to "destroy the Jew" Allen.

Carl, Mimi as you can see, ... (Below threshold)
Marcus:

Carl, Mimi as you can see, not only is Falcon STUPID he is also very Ignorant. It's quite obvious George "Macaca" Allen is ashamed of his heritage, it was a moment to show pride like he did for his conderate flag and noose, but instead he reinforced his bigotry. Pick on someone's momma my foot, go get an education "Toby Keith."

Considering that Allen's gr... (Below threshold)
Floremce Schmieg:

Considering that Allen's grandfather was murdered by the Nazis in a prison camp it is foul to accuse him of not wanting to acknowledge Jewish ancestry and especially stupid since he is no newcomer, having been the governor of the state and its United States senator for six years! His reaction comes across as righteous anger against that totally inappropriate question, pulling the candidate's mother into the debate. Webb knew that after it happened, thus he said he agreed with Allen's response.

That reporter was out of li... (Below threshold)

That reporter was out of line with that question. Let's talk about the issues here. This race is getting messy and is focused on the wrong things.

Well Webb has written... (Below threshold)
Rory:

Well Webb has written with premeditation and forethought some of the most sexist junk ever.

From Meet the Press-

Webb repeated a statement he had made earlier in the week, in which he expressed regret "to the extent that my writing subjected women . . . to undue hardship." On the show, he said he regretted writing that the Naval Academy is "a horny woman's dream," adding that "if I were a, you know, a more mature individual, I wouldn't have written" that.
Source

What an absolute pig-and there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

How do you look past that Mimi?

Navy women deserve that, you kind of agree-don't you?

Navy women deserve that<... (Below threshold)
Rory:

Navy women deserve that

Let's be clear I don't feel this way but it's the way Liberals must feel because they don't condemn him for this.

Allen's grandfather was not... (Below threshold)
Carl:

Allen's grandfather was not killed by Nazi's; he escaped. Allen has always known his mother "was' Jewish, any comments tothe contrary are lies ( I have no ax to grind here, I am not Jewish myself, I just don't like the lies--Allen is a priviledged lad from SoCal, born to a Jewish mother who was discriminated against badly in her African homeland, so he was brought up with very little mention of his mother's background--I accept that, and his father was not Jewish anyways.

As a US Army vet who was in Iraq War 1, I don't accept Allen's chest thumping for " Southern Values, War on Terror, and Macaca / Hollywood Mogul comments, when he is not honest about his lack of military service or racial background himself.

He should have said his mother was Jewish and let it be done with. Instead he strives for two degrees of separation, by talking about his "grandfather", and his "heritage" that he only "recently" became aware of. Yeah right!

So Carl as a veteran you're... (Below threshold)
Rory:

So Carl as a veteran you're not offended by Webb's well thought out, repetative degenerate comments about Navy Academy grads.

Oh and you have to love his excuse on Meet the Press-just this week that only the commander on the one floor should have been demoted during the Tailhook Scandal-that it didn't go beyond that.


What a P-I-G!

Suuuuuuuueeeeeeyyyyy!!!!

Is that how Democrats
find their candidates these days?

I don't give a rats ass abo... (Below threshold)
Carl:

I don't give a rats ass about the Navy Academy heh heh. As a Vet, I want more funding for the VA medical system, I trust Webb more than Allen in that regard.

Well ya- you're a Democrat ... (Below threshold)
Rory:

Well ya- you're a Democrat it's all about Y-O-U.

Now that your out and all...

Ya-the VA system, Champus, etc.were things of beauty under Clinton.

All sarcasm intended.

Carl, you are the one showi... (Below threshold)
Steve_in_Corona:

Carl, you are the one showing ignorance on this thread.

Many people discover late in their adult life that they have Jewish ancestry. Someone very close to me just discovered this secret last year.

And Madeline Albright is a famous example of exactly what I am talking about.

Now, to those bigots on the left who also believe all conservatives to be evil liars (when they are not clueless morons) - Allen becomes a story.

And having grown up next-door to Hollywood, owned a business in Hollywood, and known many, MANY Hollywood people - Carl's insinuation that the word "Hollywood mogul" is code for Jew is a first for me.

Believe me - the reasons to despise Hollywood culture have NOTHING to do with Jewishness.

And those of you who have read my posts for awhile, you know that there is no more of a Jew-loving, Israel-supporting Gentile than myself.

Carl, you might check out b... (Below threshold)
Steve_in_Corona:

Carl, you might check out books like this sometime.

http://www.judaism.com/display.asp?fp=518&sp=04

I don't believe for a minut... (Below threshold)
Carl:

I don't believe for a minute that Albright did not know she was Jewish. And I emphasize, that like Allen, she had more than Jewish "heritage"...both of Albright's parents were born Jews, and her grandparents name was Korbel...a known jewish name,,,and an educated woman like her did not know she was Jewish?? Give me a break. They were afraid that being pigeon-holed as a jew would hurt them, and they would have been right in their era. Allen, a born again southerner, is from SoCal, an attorney...he did not know his mom was a Jew> Again, I don't believe it.

" His opponent is right now... (Below threshold)
Carl:

" His opponent is right now probably with a bunch of Hollywood Movie Moguls..."

Your pals were movie moguls? a Hollywood Movie Mogul is one of the rarefied few, and they are usually Jewish.

Allen is a true prick; I do not know much about Webb other than his Vietnam service and book writing, after his Naval Secretary sting, I know he is said to be somewhat short tempered. Allen is an absolute con-artist.

Sure Carl. You must be corr... (Below threshold)
Steve_in_Corona:

Sure Carl. You must be correct.

In fact I'm sure the over 160 people in that book I link to are all liars as well. Not to mention my friend.

Yes, it is impossible for someone to be unware of their Jewish ancestory - they all hide it from the liberal bigots in the media, because apparently being Jewish is going to "hurt them" in the eyes of certain people...

No Carl, I did not say my f... (Below threshold)
Steve_in_Corona:

No Carl, I did not say my friends were movie moguls. I said you were the first person to tell us that mogul is code for Jew - and therefore, rather than Allen associating his opponent with the values of liberal Hollywood - he was actually talking anti-semitic code.

You know, a whole lot of attorneys are Jewish too. We better be careful with discussions about tort reform...who knows what we are "really" saying.

For those of you lefties wh... (Below threshold)
wavemaker:

For those of you lefties who insist on claiming that Se. Allen "hid" his jewish ancestry, your former (future?) standard-bearer, JOHN FORBES KERRY, had exactly the same "experience".

Webb made his opponent bein... (Below threshold)
Faith+1:

Webb made his opponent being Jewish an issue once before--and not that it was a positive trait. The reality is that the press and the Left want him to wear the yellow star on his clothes so he can be properly tracked. The anti-Semitism from the lef tis so palpable and their bigoted projection onto others so blatant it would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

So far, the only people claiming Allen is avoiding Jewish ancestry as some sort of dirty mark is the Left. Mainly because to them being Jewish IS a dirty mark.

Spin it how you like, but A... (Below threshold)
Xofis:

Spin it how you like, but Allen's cooked.

Forest, trees. Don't give ... (Below threshold)
Brian:

Forest, trees. Don't give a flying crap what side of the fence you whiz on. When you step away from your preferred ideology and look at that moment caught on vid, you can only reach one conclusion. Allen was pitched a gift and he nailed it.
The crowd in that room saw it as surely as anyone sitting in the stands waving their glove hoping to catch a grand slam drive to center field.
Saying anything else is spin that can only come from ignorance, foolishness or deliberation.
Allen may loose the election but it won't be because of this.

Something else people here ... (Below threshold)
The Griper:

Something else people here should understand in regards to this issue. There was something else in the Constitution that directly addressed this situation.

In Article VI there is a clause that goes like this
"but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

if the question asked did not violate this clause then we have a small problem. As far as I'm concerned that clause declares that one's religion is no one's business in a quest for public office.

Carl,Thanks for ex... (Below threshold)
Mr. Unite Us:

Carl,

Thanks for exposing Allen's duplicity and for
your service to the country.

Nothing wrong with having Jewish ancestory.

There is something wrong in the minds of those who choose to hide it.




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