The Ersatz Jew And A Mea Culpa, Too
I've never given it much thought -- it doesn't matter to me one way or the other -- but I just naturally assumed that our national treasure Mark Steyn is Jewish.
It wasn't until recently that I noticed the FAQ section on his site, where he addresses the question:
Mark is of Jewish descent, but was baptized a Catholic, confirmed an Anglican, and currently attends a small rural American Baptist Church. As John Podhoretz of The New York Post said, “You’re not Jewish or gay? But you wrote a book on musicals?”
He further discusses his status in today's National Review Online:
Earlier this year, I chanced to be at a public meeting with the great Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post. Afterwards, a gentleman from the audience casually made some allusion to some or other aspect of the Jewish calendar, at which I looked momentarily befuddled. And so Caroline helpfully explained to him that “Mark’s not a Jew, but he plays one on TV.”
I posted some videos of Canadian troops in Afghanistan a few weeks ago mistakenly thinking they were the work of Army combat photographers. They were in fact made by American journalist Scott Kesterton, embedded with the Princess Pats, as detailed in today's National Post.
David Frum also quotes Kesterton:
In the last engagement working with the Canadian soldiers we were ambushed in a small village. As three of us were making our way toward the enemy, a Canadian squad leader appeared at our right flank, killing a Taliban soldier who was poised to shoot us. The Canadian saved not only the lives of two of his fellow soldiers, but the life of this American photojournalist.”A few days later Kesterton asked Canadian soldiers how they felt about this war that had begun with an attack on American soil. The answers were virtually unanimous: "It's time that someone else steps up. The United States shouldn't have to carry the fight alone. We may be Canadians, but the attack was an attack on our common values and beliefs. 9/11 was an attack on all of us."