How did Leslie Blitzer become "Wolf"? Anyone know?

[panader0]

It seems such an incongruous name for that namby-pamby boy.

[truebrit71]

1. He decided to get it changed after repeated ass-kickings for having a girl's name...

...:evilgrin:

[ecstatic]

20. "So poor... so black..."

:wtf: Whatever his name is, f%ck him.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-439033096735003491

[karlrschneider]

2. Wolf is his real name. The "Leslie" thing is a fabrication.

..

[babylonsister]

3. Yes, per wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolf_Blitzer

[karlrschneider]

7. He was on NPR and got asked about it. He said he was aware of the 'Leslie' claims but

swore his given name really is Wolf. I believed him. And thanks for the link

[pretzel4gore]

15. Karl, you believe Woof?

when blitzer lies, he dinnae even cross his fingers!
Joke: what's the new mantra of the US journalistic community? Answer 'greased and ready, sir!'

[karlrschneider]

17. Yes, I believed him when he said it. Wolf isn't an uncommon name for

eastern European Jews....and of course neither is Blitzer. I'm not a fan of his but I think he was truthful in that interview.

[mitchum]

8. But that Wiki entry leaves out his tenure as a newsreader for Pat Robertson's network...

leaving me to question its credibility

[Randypiper]

12. I think it was an Al Franken joke that started it..

Now people believe it.

cnn transcript:

FRANKEN: Well, Leslie. Now, by the way, let's clear this up once and for all. I made a joke once that at renaissance weekend I learned at a panel that your name was originally Leslie Blitzer and you changed it. That's not true?

BLITZER: Correct.

FRANKEN: That was a joke.

BLITZER: You made it up. But there are people who still believe it thanks to you.

FRANKEN: That's why I wanted to clear it up. But now I've cleared it up, haven't I?

[nosmokes]

4. The boy who cried TERROR too many times? n/t

[mitchum]

5. He wanted to be a Fokker flying air ace when he was a little boy...

"Wolf Blitzer, Scourge of the Sky!"
Yeah, it's a ridiculous name, isn't it?

[Crabby Appleton]

6. Wimp blitzer was already taken. nt

[ORDagnabbit]

9. always remember Wolfie worked for AIPAC in propaganda n/t

[frylock]

10. w00f

[razors edge]

11. He has been implied by many

as being a long time Mossad operative, I couldn't say one way or another but he is definately a neocon.

Maybe an old code name that stuck?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

13. He lived for years among the Lakota Sioux and hunted buffalo

threw away his newsman's clothes and began wearing a loin cloth and mocassins with a feather in his hair. Can't you just picture Leslie on horseback wearing only a loin cloth?

[sammythecat]

14. He did seem to burst in out of nowhere

back during the first Gulf War.

So THAT'S where he came from. Wolf Blitzer riding wild and free on the high plains. I'm trying to picture this, but it's hard.

[porphyrian]

16. He was going to be Laser, but he pissed off Cool Ethan. - n/t

[MonkeyFunk]

18. He didn't become Wolf

he was always Wolf.

Wolf Blitzer is his real name.

The "Leslie" thing was an Al Franken joke, but everybody here takes it seriously.

[Bucky]

21. But it makes someone I disagree with look bad. It MUST be true

from Wiki:
"During the 1970s, Blitzer wrote for Hebrew-language newspapers using aliases. Blitzer wrote for Al Ha-Mishmar, a newspaper affiliated with the left-wing Mapam political party under the name Ze'ev Blitzer. He also wrote for Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's most widely-read paper, under the name Ze'ev Barak. "Ze'ev" meaning "wolf" in Hebrew and "Barak" meaning "lightning" in Hebrew, the German word for which is "Blitz"."

Really. "Barak".

[alfredo]

19. I had a very obscene answer, but decided against posting it.

[pitohui]

22. if your name was leslie you'd change it to wolf

sometimes a moment of empathy and common sense is all we need

people are allowed to change their names

[npincus]

23. ..

[burythehatchet]

24. oh! that's a tough one!

[Zomby Woof]

25. He was NEVER named Leslie

Wolf is short for Wolfgang, his birth name.

Read Al Franken's "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot", in which Al mentions his speech at the White House Correspondence Dinner, where he made up the joke about Blitzer's first name being Leslie.

(I recommend the book because it's far more reliable than Wikipedia as a source)