Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been?

At a debate in Tysons Corner, Virginia on Monday between Sen. George Allen (R-Va) and his Democratic challenger James Webb, WUSA-TV's Peggy Fox asked Allen the following question:

Following the Macaca episode, the Jewish press published stories that appeared on the Internet that explored your possible Jewish ancestry on your mother’s side.  You’ve been quoted as saying your mother is not Jewish.  But it has been reported that her father, your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish.  Could you please tell us whether your forbears include Jews, and if so at which point Jewish identity might have ended?

What or who gave Peggy Fox the idea to ask that question?  According to Dana Milbank’s report:

Fox said her motive was curiosity. "I thought it was important to find out is this part of his heritage, because if it is nobody knows it. Do you deny part of your heritage for political reasons?"

Allen, surrounded by cameras and microphones after the event, hadn't cooled down. "What do you mean, 'make me so angry'?" he demanded angrily when asked why Fox's query had made him so angry.

"To make whatever sort of comment that was, you just don't judge people by their ethnicity or their religion," Allen said, fuming that Fox would "drag my mother into this." The senator said his mother was the one who taught him about tolerance. "Because," he repeated, "my mother's father was incarcerated by the Nazis in World War II."

Lowell Feld, the “Netroots Coordinator for the Jim Webb for US Senate Campaign,” whose views “do not necessarily [blah, blah, blah],” defended the question yesterday at Daily Kos, arguing that “this isn't about her at all . . . .  this is all about George Allen”:

Peggy Fox isn't running for U.S. Senate.  George Allen is.  So, whether you liked that question or not (personally, I didn't see it anything to get angry about; it's like asking Jim Webb about his Scots-Irish ancestry or any of us about our ancestors), this is all about George Allen -- why he gets so angry so often, why he is so prone to attacking those he sees as weak and/or threatening, etc.

As another famous Jew, Sigmund Freud, might have said in this situation, George Allen appears to have some deep-seated "issues" regarding his Jewish heritage -- and regarding many other things as well.  [Emphasis added by JCI].

Another famous Jew.  George Allen is one, Sigmund Freud is another.  Just like asking Jim Webb about his Scots-Irish ancestry.  Nice, Lowell.  So long, Jim.

As for George Allen’s "anger," and his "issue," you can listen to Fox’s question, and see Allen’s response, by clicking here, and judging for yourself.  Allen's statement yesterday afternoon on the subject is here.  The LGF thread is here.

(Hat tip:  Dean Barnett at HughHewitt.com)