A JEWISH CZECH IN JOHN KERRY'S COURT

Reform Judaism ^ | 2004 | Jennifer Anne Perez

[OPS4]

A bolshevik running for Prez! and goes to communion in a Catholic Church? This a guy is flip flop man. Ops4 God BLess America!

[dirtboy]

Well, if Flipper isn't Irish but is actually Czech, does that make Teresa a Czech-mate?

[OPS4]

Could be, Floppers come in 57 varieties!

Ops4 God BLess America!

[HostileTerritory]

I can't stand Kerry, but I think this is a fascinating story independent of Senator Ketchup's political ambitions.

[TexasRepublic]

I wonder if the Arabs will prefer Kerry as President now? Ha, ha! Their dilemma - warmonger Bush or Jewish Kerry?

[thoughtomator]

At a certain point, I would expect the media to start being skeptical about these sudden relevations by Democrats, invariably while they are running for some office or other, that they suddenly have Jewish ancestry.

B.S. There's nothing Jewish about any of them.

[syriacus]

Like his father, Fritz became a simple brewer.

According to other sources Fritz' father died when he was young. His father's brother took over the brewery. His mother moved, with her small children, to live near her brother, who had a shoe factory.

After graduating with honors, Fritz worked there.

[syriacus]

Sorry about the bad link above...Other sources for Kerry ancestry

[Inyokern]

He left behind $25 in cash, $200 in stocks, and a Cadillac.

Any gold chains?

[Alouette]

Whatever ancestors, authentic or bogus, that Kerry claims to have, he is no more a Jew than I am the Queen of England. Not even Hitler would consider John Kerry to be a Jew.

[lawdude]

I don't give a rat's rosy red rectum what the hell Kerry is but I am tired of him trying to be everything to everyone. I am proud of my heritage and don't give a darn what his is.

Is he embarrased or just plain stupid?

I opt for the latter.

[GOP_1900AD]

A product of a very dysfunctional family, just like ole Slick.....

[Condor51]

Aha! In doing some Googleing®, it turns out that old JF Kerry isn't even really a Czech, that's b.s. - he's BOHEMIAN. There's a BIG difference there, I know. One of my uncles married one (a 'Bohunk'). I have some Irish-BOHEMIAN cousins, (yuk).

That would also explain why grandpa 'Kerry' emigrated to Chicago. The 'Little Village' neighborhood was all, ahem, as we called them... BOHUNKS! Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was a Bohunk too. He beat 'Big Bill Thompson', the 'crookedest' politician ever. Cermak later took a bullet meant for FDR and died.

And being BOHEMIAN would explain Kerry's penchant for chasing money as BOHUNKS are notorious for being tight-wads. That being said, my aunt Sophie made great dumplings -- well that is, until she went insane had a nervous breakdown.

I mean no offense to any Bohemian Freepers, just that a-hole BOHUNK Kerry.
Oh-oh, wait - is calling Kerry a BOHUNK hate speech?
So what, I give a sh*t.

[maro]

One can try to rationalize his "nuanced," flip-flopping personality as the product of just such a family history. Like his grandfather, Kerry has a desperate need to fit in. His father found a wealthy WASP woman from a good family who was willing to marry him, and she was his ticket in. Kerry's father became a diplomat, a perfect trade for someone trained to hide his true thoughts and dissemble whenever necessary. As a result, Kerry spent a good part of his youth living a double identity as an American and a Swiss schoolboy. I bet he has very good French accent, and is adept at mimicry. When Kerry came back from Nam, he realized that since he had a basis for presenting himself as a Man of War, he could broaden his chances as a politician by playing the Man of Peace. Of course, running in Massachusetts, he also realized there was an advantage to being perceived as Irish. 10 to 1 he didn't do much to correct the boyos who thought he was one of them. In his Senate career, Kerry constantly looked for ways he could appeal to both sides of an issue--for example, by voting for something before voting against it. He's instinctively neither a Uniter nor a Divider--he's a Straddler.

[HostileTerritory]

Hitler would have considered Kerry a mischling and he would have be subject to persecution and strict Gestapo scrutiny/abuse. His situation would have been unimaginably better than that of a full Jew (Catholic or Jewish) but much worse than that of a Germany with no Jewish ancestry.

I posted a story here about Kerry's second cousin in Vienna. Kerry's father had a cousin who was the same as Kerry--half Jewish by heritage, fully Catholic by faith and identity. (Ok, let's not get into details of how good a Catholic Kerry is. He identifies as such, that's what counted.) He survived the war in Vienna in hiding because it was too risky to live out in the open.

[HostileTerritory]

There is no reason to disbelieve the stories about Kerry's ancestry. The information about his grandmother came out in the 1980s, so it does not count as "sudden" by any stretch of the imagination.

[HostileTerritory]

There is no difference at all between being Czech and Bohemian. The Czech Republic includes two provinces, Bohemia and Moravia. Bohemians are a subset of Czechs.

In fact, Kerry should not be considered a Czech OR a "Bohunk"! For one, his hometown was in Moravia, so he was not Bohemian. Secondly, his family lived in a German-speaking part of the province and identified as Germans. If they'd been Catholic to begin with and not converts, and stayed in the country, they would have been deported from Germany under the Benes decrees after WWII and settled in West Germany along with the other Sudetenlanders.

Kerry has acknowledged this by always identifying as half Austrian, not half Czech. His family hometown is in the Czech Republic, but it bears no resemblance to the town his family knew 120 years ago. The history of Central Europe is fascinating.

[Condor51]

With all due respect, you're wrong.
Will respond with facts later - busy now eating dinner.

[HostileTerritory]

No problem. I am curious about what specifically I've said that is wrong. I consider myself well-informed about Central European geography and demographics, but not at all familiar with how old-world distinctions translate into turf wars in Chicago. :)