In part one of our series, “Is Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Frey anti-semitic,” we very pointedly refused to reach a conclusion: perhaps he is, perhaps he isn’t. Frankly, it’s hard to tell, because no one is quite sure just how many anti-semitic statements (if indeed that’s what we’re looking at) are needed in the aggregate before we can conclude that we have on our hands is a full-bore kike knocker. What we do know is that said statements are born not of intent but rather from a hatred of Jews that remains deeply buried in the subconscious of the Jew hater until it shows up in one of his statements. At which point we simultaneously know him to be a Jew hater, but can now conclude, happily, that he likely isn’t one.
– And that’s because he is to be forgiven for being an anti-semite precisely because of the deep seatedness of his anti-semitism. Sounds strange, I realize, but hey: that’s just how language works. Which is fine, so long as in the end we can convict his statements, and in so doing win the battle vs. hate. In fact, I for one wouldn’t mind it at all if those statements we convict are then banned from polite company. In perpetuity.
That’d teach them.
In this latest post in our investigative series, I will very very pointedly and demonstrably NOT BACKTRACK from my earlier non-conclusion in any way. It is too early to tell if Frey is himself an anti-semite, or even if what we are dealing with are anti-semitic statements attributable to Frey. Though he wrote them.
That’s what we’re here to find out.
And that’s why this investigation needs to press on, despite Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Frey’s rather transparent attempts to blame the victim of his (potentially) anti-semitic statements for airing them in the first place.
True, this doesn’t look good for DDA Frey, but we mustn’t rush to judgment: what we are doing here is bigger than just Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Frey. Hell, it’s bigger even than your humble investigator, whose primary goal is to make sure that the (potential) anti-semitism of Mr Frey is understood and properly contextualized.
After all, our democracy at stake. And that is hardly hyperbolic: as a movement, conservatives simply can’t have someone like Patrick Frey, who has made what looks to me like anti-semitic statements (but which may not be, I guess) backing a prominent and promising conservative candidate (maybe even the next Reagan!) in public, then find out later that Frey is, in fact, a raging anti-semite — and the worst kind, too: one who keeps his (maybe) anti-semitism quite hidden in the dark recesses of his sordid psyche, carefully signified by certain code words, ensuring that his rank bigotry gets only opaquely verbalized. Meanwhile, beneath his polished (perhaps) exterior are all those deep-seated anti-semitic thoughts that are his (but that he doesn’t intend, nor is he responsible for), itching to break free.
He’s a ticking time bomb of (potential) hate. HE JUST CAN’T HELP HAVING THOSE (PERHAPS) ANTI-SEMITIC THOUGHTS!
I don’t know about you. But that kind of thing makes me feel uneasy. I mean, it’s hard not to look at his constant use of “money grubbing” with respect to a Jew and not find it “cringe worthy.” I propose we search around and see how often, and in what other contexts, Frey used “money-grubbing” as an adjective. We want to keep this exploration of his possible (though I’m pointedly not calling him an anti-semite) anti-semitism as scientifically sound as we can, to impress upon the world our utter fairness in trying to locate the birthplace of Mr Frey’s anti-semitic statements, which we can’t yet conclude are anti-semitic.
And this investigation should be public. VERY public. So as to avoid any semblance of impropriety.
We owe it to our cause to get to the bottom of these statements of Frey’s, which on the surface a reasonable man might easily conclude are anti-semitic.
We’d actually be doing LA County DDA Patrick Frey a favor, exploring his possible anti-semitism in this way. Because if he’s exonerated, he’ll be ever so thankful! And then we’ll finally be able to answer the question, “Is Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Patrick Frey anti-semitic” with a resounding we still don’t have a fucking clue.
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update: meta-commentary, from Tommy the Cat.
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update 2: meta-er-commentary.
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update 3: meta-est-commentary.
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