Sen. George Allen - A Jew? Oy Vey.

Just when things can't get any weirder they do. Sen. George Allen (R-VA) has what can only be described as a suspicious history of supporting, either in coded terms or clear as day photos, discrimination at best or unrepentant racism at worst. His tropism to the Confederate Flag is well-known, had a noose hung from a tree in his law office (he claims it was "Western stuff...more of a lasso..[having] nothing to do with lynching.") and as governor of Virginia signed a "Confederate Heritage Month" proclamation while calling the NAACP an "extremist group." The proclamation called the Civil War "a four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights." It was observed during April, the month in which the Civil War essentially began with the Confederates' attack on Fort Sumter, S.C. The declaration made no mention of slavery.

Allen also opposed the 1991 Civil Rights Act in Congress, not the the 1964 Civil Rights Act mind you the 1991 Act, and as a state delegate he opposed creating a holiday for Martin Luther King. And then there is the "macaca" incident that basically exposed Allen's, just below the surface, racism to everyone. His explanation for calling an American citizen of Indian descent "macaca" changed as many times as Bush's reason for invading Iraq. There's more and more but you get the point if you didn't know it already.

So how can it get wierder? Someone found a way. At a debate yesterday between Republican Allen and Democrat Webb, WUSA-TV's Peggy Fox asked Allen, if his French Tunisian-born mother has Jewish blood. "It has been reported," said Fox, that "your grandfather Felix, whom you were given your middle name for, was Jewish. Could you please tell us whether your forebears include Jews and, if so, at which point Jewish identity might have ended?" Allen recoiled as if he had been struck. "To be getting into what religion my mother is, I don't think is relevant," Allen said, furiously. "Why is that relevant -- my religion, Jim's religion or the religious beliefs of anyone out there?" "Honesty, that's all," questioner Fox answered, looking a bit frightened. "Oh, that's just all? That's just all," the senator mocked.

Dana Milbank of the Washington Post writes, "Turns out the Forward, a Jewish newspaper, reported that the senator's mother, Etty, "comes from the august Sephardic Jewish Lumbroso family" and continued: "If both of 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."

Oy Vey. George Allen a member of the tribe? What's interesting is that Allen was furious during and after the debate because of the Jewish question - no pun intended. Allen lectured Fox about the importance of "freedom of religion and not making aspersions about people because of their religious beliefs." Just to be sure Allen made the point that religion didn't matter he pointed out that he's a Christian. Allen said, "my mother is French-Italian with a little bit of Spanish blood in her, and I've been raised, and she was, as far as I know, raised as a Christian." Milbank reports, "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 real question to be answered -- is Allen angry because the "is your mom Jewish" question was impolite or because he doesn't want even the hint of suggestion that he may have Jewish roots through his mother. "Me? A Jew? Absolutely not! Why would you even suggest such an awful thing? I'm not Jewish but some of my best friends know some Jews." I have this feeling in my stomach that this story gets even weirder. Then again it could simply be a craving for a bagel with lox and cream cheese.