[Cross-posted at
Raising Kaine]
So did Etty Allen's poignant confession last week of fear and historical silence absolve her son of the apparent dissimulation, shame, and lurking bigotry that had clouded his acknowledgement of his family's remarkable Jewish roots?
Well, maybe not. Bob Gibson, the columnist for the Charlottesville Daily Progress who has known and written about Sen. George Allen as long and as well as anyone in the Commonwealth, published a column in Sunday's paper that clarifies Allen's attempts to hide his heritage as perhaps no other writer could. That it manages to avoid accusing Allen of outright lying is a tribute to Gibson's forbearance and--evidently--acutely honed sense of irony.
Allen, Gibson notes bluntly, "accepted his Jewish family roots at the proverbial point of a gun . . . [his] sudden burst of pride" when forced to acknowledge them "was clearly pried out of him by reporters."
But Gibson says he and others have long known about Allen's heritage:
Enough of us have known about Allen's Jewish family roots for years so that dancing around or ducking questions, or shows of temper lead to more questions and, finally, to answers. . . . I learned of Allen's Jewish family roots years ago from Jewish friends, who knew of them from Southern California, where Allen grew up. His sister's book intimated the family's Jewish connections.
Gibson goes on to tell the full story--hitherto only published by others--of Allen's attempt to use Gibson to hide his Jewish roots three years ago:
Those roots were discussed in this column, as faithful readers may recall, on Oct. 26, 2003.
On that day, a congratulatory column about his California political connections and Senate battle to keep Internet access tax free concluded with paragraphs about his Jewish roots, because he was at the time holding Senate hearings about anti-Semitism in Europe.
"Many people are not aware that Allen's mother came from a Jewish family in Tunisia," the column stated. "He said his mother taught the family `that any bigotry, particularly anti-Semitism,' was wrong. `She made sure we really knew it was wrong.' "
Two days later, the senator's then-press secretary called and demanded a correction, a call that shocked me. . . .
I had thought from my pleasant conversation with Allen the previous week, about the Nazi incarceration of his grandfather, that the senator was acknowledging then what I knew already about his Jewish family roots. His then press secretary said that impression was incorrect.
I found it strange that Allen's earlier press secretary previously had asked The Daily Progress to stop using the initial F. with his name because Allen didn't like the middle name Felix. That happens to be the name of his Jewish grandfather, Felix Lumbroso.
There's more worth reading in this tart and astute column by a seasoned Allen observer, including Gibson's comment that "Dick Wadhams, famous for quietly employing paid bloggers two years ago in South Dakota, is accusing paid bloggers for Jim Webb, Allen's Democratic challenger, of anti-Semitism for discussing Allen's response and subsequent sudden acknowledgment of his ancestry."
As Gibson notes, he has known Allen "quite well" and enjoyed talking politics with him "since 1979." He sees him now with unillusioned and unimpassioned irony.
In fact, one might be forgiven for supposing that a robust sense of irony must now become the stock in trade of anyone who looks closely and clearly at the career and character of George Allen.