Aspersions and Lies
Like everyone else, I've been following George Allen's spectacular unraveling for a while; when a sitting Senator throws a racial epithet at someone who is pointing a video camera at his face, you know that there will be further entertainment at that Senator's expense. This is the stuff of which meltdowns are made.
Well, the meltdown is in progress, not least because a lot more cameras are now pointed daily on George Felix Allen. The details are widely known: a reporter at a public forum asked him about his supposed Jewish roots, and whether or why these were being hidden; and entirely true to the form revealed by the Macaca incident, Felix demanded that said reporter not "cast aspersions" on him.
Once more, just to savor this guy's cluelessness: asking whether he has a Jewish background amounts to "casting aspersions". Felix went on to first non-deny that he has a Jewsih background; then to say that he had just learned about it. And here it gets, well, just plain icky.
From today's Washington Post:
Allen's mother said she first began concealing her Jewish roots after meeting her future husband, afraid that she would not be accepted by his parents and fearful that her religion could harm his budding coaching career, which started at Whittier College, a school in Southern California founded by Quakers.
"He didn't want me to tell his mother," she said of the elder George Allen. "At that time, that was a no-no, to marry outside the church." Allen died in 1990.
Leo Mugmon, 92, a longtime friend of Allen's mother who knew her as a Jew in Tunis, recalled her decision to hide her faith when she came to the United States.
"She did not say anything to her mother-in-law or her family," Mugmon said. He added that Etty Allen's father, Felix Lumbroso, traveled from Tunis for the Allen wedding. "Mr. Felix didn't say anything about it. In silence, he sort of condoned it."
Etty Allen said she is relieved to no longer have to keep a secret about her past. She said she hopes the revelation does not hurt her son's bid for reelection to the Senate.
It's 2006, and George Felix Allen's mother feels compelled to hide the fact that she was born and raised as a Jew from her family? What kind of a family is this? Seriously?
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2006 Elections | 2008 Elections | Judaism | Barking crazy rightwingers
Allen's Jewishness
Submitted by Anonymous Coward (not verified) on 21 September 2006 - 1:02pm.
Because his mother is Jewish, Allen is considered Jewish according to the religion. It doesn't matter if he is a practicing Christian, Buddhist, or Atheist, he is considered a Jew by Jewish law.
This means he can marry the daughter of a Hasidic Rabbi without conversion.
It also means Hitler would have gassed him despite him not being a practicing Jew.
Based on his mother's family being from Tunis and their non-East European last names, Allen is Sephardic (Jew who descend from pre-Inquisition Spain). Its ironic that Allen denies his connection to Judaism, while the Sephardic Jews either were burned at stakes or left Spain for Arab countries rather than deny being Jews.
I hear Allen's
Submitted by sidnora on 22 September 2006 - 5:20pm.
provided us with still more entertainment: the latest take on the "aspersion" explosion has him claiming that he was reacting to the question before the one about his Jewish roots, which was about - you guessed it - macaca.
This is about as convincing as his claim that he really was saying "mohawk" about Sidarth's haircut. Look for further insincere apologies to follow.
Republican Family Values
Once again, the true, twisted nature of Republican family values are revealed.
And for the record, I have never thought it was an "aspersion" when someone called me Jewish. And since Senator Allen feels that being Jewish is somehow a stigma, I am happily donating to defeat him and to win in Virginia. I ask you to join me in supporting Webb and Kellam in Virginia. It is time for a change from the hateful Republican values.