A reader:
I also viewed that portion of the Allen debate but didn’t sense the “off”ness you refer to. For myself, not Jewish or anything else for that matter, but a true believer in the repugnance of religious bigotry, Allen’s response to the anti-semitic tone of the question seemed to be restrained anger. I think Allen was enraged not at being “accused” of having jewish blood, but at the bigotry of the question.
Perhaps it’s my non-jewish perspective, in never having been personally confronted by anti-semitism, but the notion of using alleged ancestral “jewish” blood to impeach an individual’s credibility is barely disguised bigotry. And just as overt bigotry disgusts me, disguised bigotry angers me. Allen’s stilted response appeared to be his alternative to jumping across the table and slugging the questioner.