[#wellduh]
What, really, is anyone to do with a lede like we get from Mandy Mayfield for the Washington Examiner?
The Jewish attorney who Roy Moore’s wife touted employing in an attempt to fight off claims of anti-Semitism is actually a longtime friend and supporter of Senator-elect Doug Jones, who defeated Moore last month.
When we shrug and say, “Of course he did!” what, really, does that mean?
“Fake news” is nearly a brand-name buzzword that apparently suits the popular marketplace; the idea that conservatives attend strange realities is hardly new. In some circles, the fact that one knows or employs or calls someone friend has long failed to mean anything substantial in the context at hand—
“Fake news will tell you that we don’t care for Jews. I tell you all this because I’ve seen it also I just want to set the record straight while they’re here,” Kayla Moore said at a campaign rally in Midland City, Ala., waving at the media. “One of our attorneys is a Jew!”
Kayla Moore made the remarks after claims that the Moore family hated Jewish people surfaced subsequent to her husband suggesting that Jewish billionaire George Soros was going to hell.
“He’s still going to the same place that people who don’t recognize God and morality and accept his salvation are going,” Moore said of Soros last month during a local radio interview.
—but Mrs. Moore’s appeal is very nearly the perfect “article of faith” setup for what seems an obvious punch line. In the moment, it is easy enough to recall a once upon a time when some Republican running for office said he was not homophobic and had gay friends, so a reporter asked if it was possible to talk to those friends, who, in turn, did not wish to speak with the reporter. Parts of society are so far past having gay friends or a Jewish lawyer meaning anything significant other than the fact of someone deciding to tell us that reality piercing bravado, braggadocio, and bluster meets not quite indifference, but perhaps annoyed disbelief that yes, someone actually went and told us about their hellbound lawyer as if hiring a Jewish attorney somehow changes the fact of believing him hellbound.
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Image note: Kayla Moore, wife of U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore told a campaign rally, “Fake news will tell you that we don’t care for Jews …. One of our attorneys is a Jew!” in Midland City, Alabama, 12 December 2017. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Mayfield, Mandy. “Roy Moore’s Jewish lawyer voted for Doug Jones, raised money for his campaign”. Washington Examiner. 2 January 2018.
This Is 