tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post115871841377407509..comments2023-10-23T11:10:05.945-04:00Comments on Karen Duncan: Life in the Time of Coronavirus: George Allen's Jewish ProblemKaren Duncanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13954405672195734097noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-21842808691142351852012-07-29T17:52:52.417-04:002012-07-29T17:52:52.417-04:00George Allen's father would have had to be Jew...George Allen's father would have had to be Jewish according to Sephardic practice. He was not, therefore Allen is not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-58958775302216789652012-07-29T16:34:19.228-04:002012-07-29T16:34:19.228-04:00It is generally understood that Ashkenazi Jews get...It is generally understood that Ashkenazi Jews get their Jewishness through the mother and that Sephardic Jews through the father. Inasmuch as Felix Lombroso was a Sephardic Jew, his daughter (Etty) was a Jewess. However,inasmuch as George Allen was not Ashkenazi, then he would not be honored with Jewishness inasmuch as the coach was not.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-1160119720373857692006-10-06T03:28:00.000-04:002006-10-06T03:28:00.000-04:00The only way that George Allen will win the U.S. S...The only way that George Allen will win the U.S. Senate election in Virginia is if that asshole is going to CHEAT his ass off somehow.<BR/><BR/>His opponent Naval Officer Jim Webb needs to, in advance, ensure that the voting is conducted in a totally fair and impartial manner, because, without question, the only way the racist, sexist, loser George Allen is going to win is if he manages to cheat somehow.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-1159569448273756612006-09-29T18:37:00.000-04:002006-09-29T18:37:00.000-04:00He was upset because his heritage is no one's busi...He was upset because his heritage is no one's business. And yes, Democraps LOVE to play the race/ethnicity game wherever and whenever they can. I don't give a rip about a politicians ethnicity - I care about what they stand for. So...why is his being Jewish an issue? Because your party has become anti-semitic. As far as his "racism, confederate flag obsessions..." that doesn't seem to bother you as it pertains to the only member of the KKK in the Senate: Democraptic Senator Robert Byrd. I don't see you or any of the anti-Semites on Kos bitching about him and his "confederate flag obsession". What a bunch of hypocrites. Are you even from Virginia? No worry - when people start talking about real issues again, I'm sure you people will find more of your friends who are willing to crawl out from under their rock to make something up against the Senator again. That's all you've got. You're losers. You'll always be losers.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-1159351707249767812006-09-27T06:08:00.000-04:002006-09-27T06:08:00.000-04:00George Allen needs some serious therapy to deal wi...George Allen needs some serious therapy to deal with his racism, confederate flag obsessions, violent infliction on his family with multiple beatings, domestic violence against women, his latent hatred for Jews, his latent hatred of himself (his Jewishness), having a hangman lynching noose in his law office used to kill blacks in this country, his abject lies to the press and the world, his cowardliness in the face of being stood up to, and his general dumb self.<BR/><BR/>What a loser this guy is. He should not even be allowed to get coffee for American leaders, let alone be elected one.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-1159218131831051762006-09-25T17:02:00.000-04:002006-09-25T17:02:00.000-04:00Thank you Teacherken. I actually wrote my post wh...Thank you Teacherken. I actually wrote my post when the story was first breaking and all the facts were not yet clear - at least not to me. <BR/><BR/>I wrote it on the fly, literally, right before leaving to board an airplane to Fort Lauderdale to visit my father for, ironically, the Jewish High Holidays.<BR/><BR/>La Shana Tova to all, by the way!<BR/><BR/>At the time I penned the piece, it was based on the first report in the WaPo and merely mentioned that Allen's mother's family was the prominent Sephardic Lumbroscos (spelling?) a Portugese family some of whose members had converted to Christianity.<BR/><BR/>Given the history of the Sephardim of Spain and Portugal, I thought they could be Conversos, families that converted as early as the 1300s and 1400s. Many of those families practiced Judaism secretly. But a lot of those who converted actually became Catholic and their descendents today are still practicing Catholics. <BR/><BR/>An interesting side fact is that Fidel Castro has some Converso blood in his family too, although he was raised a Catholic in Cuba. Many, many prominent Hispanic families had ties to the Conversos, including even St. Teresa of Avila's family. Her father's father's family were Conversos who backslid and ran afoul of the Spanish Inquisition. Teresa's mother's family, however, was always Catholic. St. Teresa was considered to be only a quarter Jewish.<BR/><BR/>So, I originally thought that Allen too only had one Jewish ancestor. Since then I've learned that, in fact, his mother was a full Jew whose family converted in modern times. But it wasn't unusual for those caught up in the pre-war and World War II Nazi threat to hide their Jewish background. <BR/><BR/>And as you point out, the Nazis did not care if you were a practicing Christian. For them anti-Semitism wasn't intolerance for a religious belief, as it was historically among European Christians. <BR/><BR/>For the Nazis it was actual racism. The concentration camps held many people whose ancestors had converted to Christianity generations before. Hitler and his Gestapo were intent to root out anybody who had an ounce of Jewish blood, which they thought was polluting the pure German Aryan race. These were purely racist theories about pure bloodlines.<BR/><BR/>So, Etty's parents or grandparents might have converted to escape the typical anti-Jewish persecution of pre-war Europe and French Tunisia. And they would have assimilated successfully into the Christian society and culture. But the Nazis were indeed a different story.<BR/><BR/>But Allen's grandfather also could have been in the Resistance. I had an uncle who was Jewish and also a Resistance fighter in Belgium. He was caught by the Nazis and imprisoned not for being Jewish but for his Resistance activities.<BR/><BR/>All this is conjecture because I just got back from Florida haven't read more of this unfolding story yet. But it did reach the Florida newspapers and even the Sunday morning TV shows.<BR/><BR/>In any case, it's obvious that George Allen handled this very badly. What could have been a beautiful narrative that even his most Evangelical supporters would have approved of became a disaster for him among even the staunchest Jewish conservative Republicans like Bill Kristol and John Podheretz. Allen is just plain dumb.<BR/><BR/>I think his presidential ambitions are pretty well shot. He's proven he's not ready for prime time yet.Karen Duncanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13954405672195734097noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10563856.post-1158722620541531562006-09-19T23:23:00.000-04:002006-09-19T23:23:00.000-04:00This is crossposted from the thread on this subjec...This is crossposted from the thread on this subject at not larry sabato:<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/>1) both of Etty's parents were Jewish, meaning she was Jewish, which means unless she were baptized (which even were she "raised" Christian is not necessarily the case) she is still halachicly Jewish, which would mean that by birth Allen is Jewish.<BR/><BR/>2) Allen's statement that he only learned of it from the Forward article is laughable. The issue had previously been raised by Bob Gibson of Charlottesville paper, who has said that Allen called him to complain. That means Allen was at least aware of the possibility at that time, and if he didn't "know" it would have to be because he refused to explore further so that he could deny knowing. And I don't buy it.<BR/><BR/>3) He regularly makes reference to a grandfather who has a distinguised Jewish name being incarcerated by the Nazis. It is a reasonable question to ask if that gentlemen perhaps was incarcerated because of his being jewish, or even of jewish background - remember, conversion did not exempt you from the treatment received by the Jews at the hands of the Nazis.<BR/><BR/>4) for all of his complaints yesterday, Allen has never hesitated to talk about his religion when he thought it would benefit him, thus in resorting to the First Amendment only when a question of Jewish heritage was raised is laughable and hypocritical.<BR/><BR/>5) Allen's press statement says he learned of the Jewish background as a result of the Forward article. But that was published several weeks ago. In describing his mother yesterday he continued to avoid including her Jewish background -- he mentioned Italian, French and Spanish, but NOT Jewish -- thus that statement yesterday and his acknowledgement that he has known as a result of the article shows his unwillingness yesterday to acknowledge his Jewish heritage.<BR/><BR/>5) I hold no official position with the Webb campaign. I do volunteer for him. It was not in that capacity that around midnight I posted diaries at dailykos and raisingkaine that addressed this issue. I am of Jewish background, underwent bar mitzvah on my 13th birthday in May of 1959, but an a Quaker by persuasion, and thus am not Jewish religiously. Neverthless I took great offense at the way Allen used the phrase 'casting aspersions' in his reaction yesterday to the question - the only way it could be read was that to raise the issue of his (possible) Jewish background was to be casting aspersions on him. Thus any fair reader could well react that Allen thought that to have Jewish background was somehow demeaning or diminishing.<BR/><BR/>It was about this which I wrote, and which you can read at dailykos here<BR/>http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/9/19/04522/6673<BR/><BR/>That Allen's campaign now acknowledges what he tried like all getout to deny yesterday in no way changes the damage he did himself by how he handled the issue. LIke on macaca, he has changed his story several times. Perhaps he now has his story "straight" but I believe that his handling of it will continue to raise questions about him, not because the Webb campaign is raising them (it is not), but because the Allen campaign's handling of these issues has been so inept. When John Podhoretz refers to the junior senator from Virginia as George Macacawitz, you can see the damage he has done to himself.teacherkenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02225551101423123044noreply@blogger.com