I have no idea what the outcome of the current Jeffrey Epstein furor will be. It’s the first time we’ve seen real opposition to the Felon from inside his cult. Not all of them: someone posted online that if the White Male Messiah fondled her children she’d still support him because he’s a great president! Which is horrifying, but also telling: rather than saying FOTUS would never do anything to a child, she’s getting out in front of the possibility he is.
I do hope she’s lying about being okay with it, but as Robert Altemeyer says, authoritarian followers are often willing to forgive their leaders’ crimes, even crimes that hurt them directly. And the Felon’s survived earlier sex scandals. Then again, it sometimes takes lots of accumulating sex scandals before the perp goes down. Time will tell.
According to the mainstream media — CNN, WaPo and NYT, specifically — the new scandal is a win for the Felon. MAGA’s uniting around him like never before! Source? Steve Bannon, who offers no evidence and has no influence other than his podcast. Just a few months ago, he was demanding Congress approve Matt Gaetz’ cabinet post and celebrate it … well, they didn’t and there was zero blowback. Taking Bannon seriously is crap journalism, whether it’s because they’re ready to move on or feel they have to bothsides it (they’ve reported outrage over the Epstein files, now they have to show there’s no outrage).
It’s a safe bet that the Felon is not as confident as Bannon, assuming Bannon’s not sweating about it off-camera (fellow jackass Ben Shapiro is obviously uncomfortable) because the crazy is gushing. The administration is shooting for distractions: bringing up the MLK assassination, talking about arresting Obama (which is alarming fascist stuff, I should note), and Sen. Ron Johnson claiming Biden tampered with the files (he doesn’t mention reports that the FBI were to flag anything in the files mentioning the Felon). Rep. Mike Johnson, that fine upstanding man of God, is blocking any House action on the matter until after August recess to give the Felon “space” to handle things. One of the Felon’s attorneys is meeting with Ghislaine Maxwell to work out some kind of deal. Nope, nothing suspicious there.
Maybe the Onion is right: before long the Felon will demand we not only get past Epstein but forget any objections to pedophilia. I wish I could laugh and say that was completely silly.
It may not be the Felon alone. Liberal Currents points out how many right-wingers are pedophiles and statutory rapists and argues it’s a logical outcome of their extreme patriarchal views. Women and kids are property. What their owner does with them is not to be judged by outsiders (religious leader James Dobson may not approve of spousal abuse but it’s the husband’s call).
I have no predictions for the outcome but I’m watching with great interest.
