George Allen still has some catching up to do

Events over the last few months have led many to believe Virginia Senator and once GOP '08 front-runner George Allen is a little slow.

It did take him an abnormally long time to realize the significance of having relatives who spent time in concentration camps and a Wikepedia entry that listed him as being Jewish.

But now that he has acknowledged his Semitic heritage, Allen has been quick to embrace the benefits that go along with that.

On the heals of his announcement he made a crack about still eating ham and pork. Now if Allen had used the same joke the day before some would have construed it as being insulting. But out of Allen's newly-Jewish mouth it was all kosher -- even when it wasn't.

This marked the first time in Allen's political career he was able to broach a topic involving race or ethnicity without offending someone.

But lest you think Allen is embracing his Jewish roots just for joke immunity, we have word from Roll Call that Allen will be skipping next Monday's meeting of the Senate Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee to celebrate Yom Kippur.

That's some hardcore Jewing. I've been aware I'm Jewish for my whole life and I didn't even know Monday was Yom Kipper.

Still, I think I speak for all of us when I say Allen won't really be a member of the tribe until he sticks the head of a gefilte fish into a schvartzer's mailbox.