[Cross-posted at dailykos.]George Allen has a fascinating family history--one that his carefully contrived persona as a rural white working-class Virginian seems deliberately designed to obscure.
Yet evidence has begun to emerge that far from being a source of understandable pride, his family history has caused Allen to play deliberately to antisemitic bigotry.
As Eve Kessler reveals in an article in yesterday's Jewish Daily Forward, Allen's mother comes from "the august Sephardic Jewish Lumbroso family. Her father, who was the main importer of wines and liquors in Tunis--including the Cinzano brand--was known in France, where he lived after World War II, as part of the family, according to French Jewish sources."
Well, if Felix Lumbroso--for that is the grandfather for whom Allen was named, is it not?--was an importer of wine and Cinzano, he surely brought more happiness to the people of Tunis than his faux-Neo-Confederate grandson has ever brought to the people of Virginia. Those broad Cinzano umbrellas are the signatures of European outdoor cafes--a far more welcoming banner than George Allen's revered Confederate flag.
There's more to be proud of. "Among the most famous members of the [Lumbroso] family," Kessler has discovered, " . . . was Itzhak Lumbroso, an 18th-century rabbi and rabbinic judge who wrote a commentary on the Talmud, 'Seed of Isaac,' that was the first book printed in Hebrew in Tunis."
Others in the family settled in Livorno, Italy, whose Jewish community "became wealthy and powerful traders, setting up branches in Tunis and ransoming Jews captured by Barbary pirates." H'mm--a family history that includes pioneering international business success and rescuing Jewish captives from Islamic kidnappers--you'd think it would be something a Republican senator would be delighted to acknowleddge, wouldn't you? At least Allen acknowledges the Italian connection, Kessler notes--but not its Jewish angle.
Lumbroso grand-pere has a more painful distinction, however. As Allen's sister recalled in her notorious (and now disavowed, disavowal of one's past being apparently a family habit) memoir, "'the Nazis took away my mother's father'" when they invaded North Africa, although as Kessler notes, "he escaped from harm."
A distinguished Jewish family history stretching back centuries, success in international markets, suffering for one's identity under the most hideous regime in history--definitely something to be proud of, right? And in the shameless manner of most polititicans, to tout as a boost to one's electoral appeal, yes?
Wrong. Not only does Allen fail to acknowledge his Jewish heritage--he apparently actively misleads people about it.
I hasten to add that Allen may be entirely innocent here. Perhaps Kessler's research, and those European Lumbrosos, are simply wrong, and Allen's family has either never been Jewish or (like mine) converted to Christianity many generations back.
But there's no evidence of that to date, and if it's true, perhaps Allen needs to come out and say so. Because right now there is evidence beginning to mount that he is deliberately suppressing his Jewish heritage.
Here's how he seems to be crafting a false family history just as he has created a false personal history with his cowboy boots and Confederate flags:
1. He has replaced the reason for his grandfather's imprisonment--his Jewish identity (which, by the way, would not have depended on adherence to religious Judaism)--with a Republican fable. According to Kessler, "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.'" Not a word about the fact that he was imprisoned for being Jewish.
2. He has privately objected to journalists referring to his Jewish background and attempted to induce them to omit references to it from their publications. As Bob Gibson of the Charlottesville Daily Progress tells the New Republic's Ryan Lizza, "the only time that George Allen ever wanted a correction from me in 27 years of covering his races was when I wrote about his mother's Jewish family origins. He insisted, through a press secretary, that his mother was raised a Christian."
Whether she was raised a Christian is irrelevant--though Eve Kessler raises doubts about the claim. For as Kessler also points out, "If both of [Allen's mother] Etty's parents were born Jewish--which, given her age and background, is likely--Senator Allen would be considered Jewish in the eyes of traditional rabbinic law, which traces Judaism through the mother."
So why doesn't George Allen want people to know that he is Jewish? And more importantly, why should we care--isn't this just a personal matter, irrelevant to politics?
It's true that the hidden, or little known, Jewish heritages of Madeleine Albright, John Kerry, and Wesley Clark have recently made fascinating news. And Allen's Democratic opponent, Jim Webb, has written a splendid and revelatory celebration of his own, very different ethnic heritage. But if George Allen doesn't want to make a big deal out of his Jewish heritage, that might be his private right--except for the fact that his already established identity as an admirer of white Supremacists (Confederate and Neo-Confederate) and caster of contemptuous racial and anti-immigrant slurs leads inexorably to a far darker conclusion:
George Felix Allen doesn't want people to know that he is Jewish because some of the people he wants to appeal to, the people whose votes he most wants, the people he chooses to identify with politically, the people he agrees with, are antisemitic.
And so, perhaps, is he.
On this one, truly, I'd be happy to be proven wrong. But only George Allen can do that--and right now, he's continuing a lifetime of silence that smells increasingly like the sickest kind of shame.
After all, people like Clark, Kerry, Albright and Dean have had no trouble acknowledging their family connection with Jews. So why is it such a problem for Allen?
;)
Okay, fine. But it seems that his ancestry is actully French-Jewish and Italian-Jewish and Spanish-Jewish. Why be so careful to omit that fact???
I love Felix!Mrs. Susan Allen speaks at the Republican Party of Virginia Beach Saturday BreakfastMrs. Susan Allen, wife of Sen. George Allen (R-VA), spent time in Hampton Roads this morning speaking at the Republican Party of Virginia Beach Saturday Breakfast.
"I've always enjoyed Hampton Roads," said Mrs. Allen. "If I could, I'd ask George to commute!"
Mrs. Allen was in town to inspire over 100 volunteers (ed. note: pretty dang good for the middle of the summer) before they went door-to-door in Virginia's Second Congressional District on behalf of Sen. Allen and Rep. Thelma Drake (R-VA02).
Mrs. Allen mainly focused her speech on Sen. Allen's positive message for Virginia. Speaking on international relations, she noted that while America has been strong on terrorism, this nation has also been very compassionate in times of tragedy and disaster -- often the first to respond. However, also in international affairs, she was unequivocal about the choice facing Virginian's saying, "Now is not the time to experiment with an unclear vision."
She also reminded the grassroots volunteers of the senator's longstanding committment to technology and making Virginia the global leader that it is. She reiterated that the senator intends to keep the Internet tax-free and out of the hands of the U.N.
"Why tax the internet when it has given greater opportunity and educational benefit to rural areas," she asked. "While George Allen is in office, he will ensure your internet bill doesn't look like your phone bill!"
After the speech and its standing ovation, she explained to bearingdrift.com about the Alexandria incident.
She stated that after meeting and greeting constituents for over an hour-and-a-half, an overzealous park official approached the Allen Team as they were taking a group photo. The official asked them to leave because they were "disturbing others." The park offical also targeted a small boat in Maryland waters that had an Allen sign.
Mrs. Allen, who has since received apologies from the Mayor of Alexandria, among others, expressed no animosity over the situation. However, she did reiterate that it is every Americans right to assemble and speak freely and that Sen. Allen will never be dissuaded from meeting with his constituents throughout all of Virginia.
Felix juggles DemocratsShe also responded to our question regarding the incessent usage of Sen. Allen's middle name, Felix, by Democrats who think that its getting under the senator's skin.
"I love Felix!" she delcared. "I would love to have a t-shirt that says that!"
Sen. Allen is named after his Italian grandfather, Felix Lumbroso.
"He is extremely proud of his grandfather and of his mother who immigrated from Tunisia," said Mrs. Allen. "He is proud to bear the name."
Proud to bear the name, but not the heritage? Hmmm ....
"Why tax the internet when it has given greater opportunity and educational benefit to rural areas," she asked. "While George Allen is in office, he will ensure your internet bill doesn't look like your phone bill!"
George Allen has systematically supported the Telecommunications Reform Bill sponsored by the Commerce Committee Chairman Senator "Tubes" Stevens (R, Alaska) that if passed as it already has in the House and also so far the Senate Commerce Committee votes, the phone companies will absolutely make your Internet access bill look just like your complex phone bill. The law would give the phone companies/local access ISPs the ability to charge based on the kind of content and destinations of the traffic not just the raw quantity as it is now. This also says that unless a premium is paid by for example a VoIP telephone service provider like Skype or Vonage the local phone companies like Verizon or ATT will be able to favor LEGALLY those service providers who do pay a premium such as themselves.
Besides potentially putting the independent VoIP competitors out of business, the net result of this would be a monthly Internet services bill with differentiated charges just like your phone bill with potentially distance sensitive, carrier sensitive, destination or origination sensitive, and priority sensitive billing….. funny thing it will look just like your phone or cable bill that you get now except that instead of complicated taxes giving money to the federal coffers, it would be even worse with all the additional revenue charges being paid directly to the big corporate backers of this law…… This is why the bill sponsors including Allen and the Bush Administration have been so strongly opposing the “Net Neutrality†amendments that both Republicans and Democrats have sponsored to keep the Internet billing the way it is now.
The lose of Net Neutrality IS A BIG DEAL becuase it will drastically alter everyone's internet experience (not for the better) while costing more in the process. I'm stumped about why it isn't getting more press and there isn't a loud public outcry.
You have to first understand that this law has almost unlimited lobbying funds backing it (reported to be over a million $s per week from just ATT/SBC). Think about the ramifications, it will affect your Internet access, your telephone bill, your TV watching via cable or the new FIOS fiber optic type services, and even more basic WHO gets the advantages of telecommunications as an “Enabling Influence†everywhere in North America and especially in rural America for many many years to come. Steven’s aid alone made almost $300k from just and only the cable companies….. Where is Allen’s pay day?? It’s there just waiting to be found….. Why else would he be spending as much effort and time on promoting this destructive law.
Multichannel News
Ex-Stevens Aide Reports Cable Money
________________________________________
By Ted Hearn 8/23/2006 6:28:00 PM
Mitch Rose, a former aide to Senate Commerce Committee chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), earned $270,000 from the cable industry in the first half of 2006, largely to influence a major telecommunications bill drafted by Stevens, according to congressional records.
The National Cable & Telecommunications Association, Comcast and Time Warner Cable each paid Rose $90,000 for help with the Stevens bill (S. 2686), which is partly intended to expedite cable-TV-market entry by AT&T and Verizon Communications.
Rose -- who has an almost father-son relationship with Stevens -- started his solo lobbying career in early 2006 after leaving Disney’s Washington, D.C., office. Both the NCTA and the National Association of Broadcasters passed on hiring Rose as president and CEO.
In the first six months of 2006, Rose earned $540,000 from his new lobbying clients, or slightly more than $1 million on an annualized basis, according to lobbying disclosures he filed with the House Aug. 10.
In addition to cable, Rose reported earning $80,000 each from the Motion Picture Association of America and Sprint Nextel. The Recording Industry Association of America paid Rose $30,000 for assistance on music-piracy provisions in the Stevens bill.
Away from telecommunications, Rose is lobbying for the National Business Aviation Association, taking in $80,000 so far in 2006. The Senate Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over commercial and private aviation policy.
Rose reported earning less than $10,000 from the Alaska Housing Finance Corp.
And that shame forced me to seek hours and hours on the couch to straighten out any self-loathing from "passing." You couldn't blame a gal, I mean my dad like a lot of Cubans studied abroad in the U.S. I almost could've been born in Baton Rouge, for crying out loud!
Yes, the barrage of ethnic slurs and little jokes told in front of me as I laughed heartily in the Lone Star State didn't help matters at all. I was a wounded puppy.
So...I can certainly understand how Allen might want to align his "selfhood" with what he perceives as most American as he suffers and deals with tribal conflict.
In Allen's case, his defense mechanism created a rebirth of sorts -- as a tobacco chewing, cowboy boot attired, Dixie flag waving "real" American -- a good ol' boy.
Voters in Virginia should ensure Allen gets the psychological help he so desperately needs from a shrink by not reelecting him in the fall. Recovery is only as far away as his deepest secret!
I really appreciate your honesty and openness about your experience. Every kid has a powerful need to belong to their larger community. And as a young person it can be self-destructive to be open about one's differences in any way.
I don't disagree with your insight about Allen's selfhood, but I think there's more to it. There's a fair amount of literature out there on families choosing to conceal their Jewish identity, even from their children, because of unspeakable fear due to the Holocaust.
Last year I read an autobiographical account of a woman discovering her family background and the sorting through the lies that her parents had told her and her sister. I can't remember the author or book title, but will find out. Parts of it are about the author restructuring her identity in a more authentic way, and other parts involve the heroic stories of survival on the part of her parents.
In any case the author was deeply committed to facing the truth head on. That takes guts and courage.
The one thing that seems overlooked in the Macaca episode is that, in between referring to Sidartha s Macaca, Allen said Webb was "meeting with Hollywood movie moguls!" Superficially, Allen was saying that Webb was meeting with people who are very different than the so-called "real" Virginians that Allen was addressing. If you think about it for a moment longer, you have to wonder whether Allen was deliberately choosing an example and language that white racists use as codespeak for rich Jews that supposedly control Hollywood, the media, and anything else worth controlling if you're part of some anti-white conspiracy.I have written about this numerous times -- here, on my own blog, and on the Washington Post site (including letters to the editor -- not published). I have always understood that it was known and accepted that Allen's mother came from a Jewish family. I am disturbed to learn that he is denying that part of his heritage, assuming that the research is accurate. I have stated that he is clearly pandering and catering to anti-semitic attitudes that he must believe his audience holds.
If he is denying a family history just to preserve his his 'pure Christian' appeal, his conduct begins to look far darker and deliberate than I had suspected.
By the way, I'm a Jew who went to law school in that part of Virginia. I have never felt like anyone there had a problem with me because of my heritage. I think Allen underestimates these people and overestimates their supposed anti-semitism.
I hope that race/religion/whatever is not the biggest issue in this campaign, regardless of Allen's poor choices.
Bottom line is Allen represents the fat cat interests; Webb represents everyday working folks. Allen just plays the puppet to George Bush but Webb has a history of asking the right questions. Allen does what his sponsors tell him to do; Webb will do what's right.
Allen is a cartoon career politician.
Webb is a real life hero.
It always makes me laugh when the conservative talking heads belittle anyone from Hollywood who sides with Democrats (or a Democratic cause) with the "you actors don't know what you're talking about" and "shut and stick to acting"... but when one of the handful of Hollywood conservatives pops up they can't get enough of their political genius. Ha.
I have mixed feelings about finding out that George Allen is part of my Tribe. On the one hand, this does explain where his good looks come from. On the other hand, do I really want to be associated with this guy and all he stands for? Oh well, I guess there's lots of room in the big Jewish tent... ;-)
For now, I would be cautious about using this information. It is his personal family history and it is a complicated story that could blow up in a variety of directions. Past stories like this have led to a lot of discomfort (I'm thinking Madeleine Albright, Gen. Shalikashvili, etc.) and no real political benefit for anyone. I recommend just sitting back and watching how this plays out.
What is most interesting about it was Allen's vehemence to Bob Gibson in a form that really was a non-denial denial. He tried to argue against the information by saying his mother was raised a Christian. But that does not negate his unwillingness to acknowledge the Jewishness of her background. Is there something wrong with that?
It is why I think his reference to Hollywood was also intended as code, the same way he thought he could get away with his snide remarks (and not jus the "macaca") about Sidarth.
And given the contrast of the reactions of Clark, Kerry and Albright I think it is a legitimate issue, although I would suggest it might become very relevant if Wadhams continues to try to make an issue of the comic from the primary.
My son is the grandson of Holocaust survivors and the great-grandson of concentration camp victims. This places a special burden on him, I believe, and its only proper that it do so.
"Therefore but for the Grace of God go I." George would do well to remember that.
BTW, this completely contradicts Felix's 4Fs speech that his family was one of "faith."
My feeling is that the Senator never gave his ethnic background much thought. And I don't think ignoring (or even hiding) one's background is anti-anything. (My family had to hide its ethnic background in Oklahoma, including doing a name change.) I think ethnic backgrounds are irrelevant. It's a tribal vestige that has outlived its original purpose. Of course lots of people still consider tribal identity important -- and they kill and get killed over it. Smart.
In the political realm, all politicians cherry-pick the parts of their life and their ancestry that they want to highlight, and avoid the other parts. Politicians are expected to discuss their own conduct during their lives, but are they under any obligation to talk about their ancestry? I'm not so sure.
The only political point to be made here is that it's one more bit of evidence of what an incredible fabrication George Allen's tobacco-chewing good ol boy persona really is. He's a descendant of a prominent merchant family spanning Europe and North Africa, and grew up rich in California. Face it George, you're a city slicker!