(I wrote this before the release of the Epstein birthday letter so I added that discussion at the bottom)
“In a video posted online on Thursday, Schnitt is recorded telling the woman that the department would “redact every Republican or conservative person in those files, leave all the liberal, Democratic people in those files, and have a very slanted version of it come out.” He also told his date that the decision to move Ghislaine Maxwell to a lower security prison went against Board of Prisons policy because she was a convicted sex offender, “which means they’re offering her something to keep her mouth shut.” “
“The White House has warned Republican rebels in Congress that pushing for the full release of the Jeffrey Epstein pedophile abuse files would be seen as “a very hostile act.” Speaker Mike Johnson is on the Felon’s side, though, insisting the president really, really cares about the horrible things Epstein did to those girls.
“They’re trying to get people to talk about something that’s totally irrelevant to the success that we’ve had as a nation since I’ve been president,” — the necrotic toddler himself, followed by the usual lies about how he’s performed miracles since getting elected. And ignoring that it was his administration that announced it would release the files. And that there’s been no success, only monstrous decline and deterioration.
The Felon seems very upset that he can’t control things and that he’s actually enduring criticism over alleged sexual assaults on some girls he thinks nobody should care about (he certainly didn’t). Some in the media are on board: misogynist homophobe pundit Michael Knowles insists Epstein’s victims were really sex workers so no big (that’s how Alex Acosta and some of the other sellouts in the 2008 Florida case preferred portraying them — and once again I recommend Julie Brown’s Perversion of Justice about Epstein and his enablers). I won’t be surprised if someone adopts Epstein’s own argument that laws against child sex are irrational — I’ve seen that argument before, though I don’t have a handy link. And we have Greg Kelly on Newsmax declaring that maybe Epstein’s right hand, Ghislane Maxwell, is an innocent victim.
But the brag by the DOJ staffer mentioned in the first paragraph? That was released by the Project Veritas right-wing group. It seems some people on the right really do care about busting rapists who prey on kids (I am pleased). Fox News on the other hand, cut away from a press conference where Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was calling for the truth to come out. And Rep. Thomas Massie says the Felon is covering for rich and powerful Republicans in the files (whom he suggests are siding with rival candidates for his seat).
While I’m delighted to see the Felon suffer, I’m also willing to see everyone named in the files pay a price. If Bill Clinton or Obama or anyone on my side of the aisle is documented as a statutory rapist, they should go down alongside the Felon. And so should anyone who covered it up. As Donna Ladd says in the Mississippi Free Press, this isn’t a game of “gotcha.” What happened to Epstein’s victims was monstrous and it’s not unique. Few men were as horrific as Epstein but every rape, every cover-up is just as awful for the victims. That shouldn’t be complicated.
Ladd: “I mean, where is the debate? These are child rapists—probably raping adults, as well, as Trump is already adjudicated to have done—or their protectors (the same thing, once removed). Why the hell would we want any of them walking the streets free, coming into contact with children, serving in political office, running media companies, giving motivational speeches at conventions, whatever? I’ve asked myself many times over the years: What kind of person wants to cover for these monsters who get their kicks from stalking and trapping prey?”
Rebecca Solnit likewise reminds us not to lose sight of the bigger picture: “in another sense the whole society is hiding something: that this violence is everywhere and it deeply shapes – or misshapes – our society. The statistics I cited above address the victims of specific crimes. But all girls and women are impacted by the reality that so many men want to harm us and these crimes could happen to any one of us. This violence affects the choices we make about where to go and when, what jobs to take, when to speak up, what to wear.
“The threat of violence and actual violence by some men against some women and girls establishes female vulnerability and fear and disempowerment far more broadly. Society has largely required us to alter our lives to avoid this, rather than society being altered to make us free and equal. This violence is an engine of inequality that benefits all men, insofar as being “more equal than others” in this respect is a benefit. The piecemeal stories – “here is this one bad man we need to do something about” – don’t address the reality that the problem is systemic and the solution isn’t police and prison.”
No argument here.
Then there’s the recently released birthday book (I believe this is an accurate copy), which is stuffed with jokes and tributes from many of Epstein’s friends besides the Felon (“One friend compared him to the main character in Ernest Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea,” except instead of fish, Jeffrey Epstein caught women, “blonde, red or brunette.”). As Scott Lemieux says at the link, it’s full of so many nudge-nudge, wink-wink jokes about Epstein’s lechery, it’s impossible to believe they didn’t know — they just didn’t care.
That would include the Felon. Unsurprisingly Speaker Mike Johnson, having briefly tried to claim the Felon had been an FBI informant on Epstein, now says the book is fake. So does Kremlin-financed podcaster (allegedly he had no idea where the money came from) Benny Johnson.
But it is real. And that’s chilling. As Cheryl Rofer puts it, “When that many people know, someone who only rode on his plane and didn’t fuck children had to know. But that camaraderie certainly would have urged men to join in the fun.”
That’s a horrifying thought because it means accepting that so many prominent, influential, intelligent people knew and not only did nothing — they applauded. Even if they didn’t take advantage of what Epstein was offering, they weren’t troubled enough to report it.
I think a big part of the problem is what Celeste Davis blogged about a while ago, that some men simply don’t like women: when push comes to shove, “bros before hos” becomes what passes for a moral guideline. Why harsh the party buzz and point out that the other guys are cracking jokes about statutory rape? Why call out people you respect over a bunch of teenage runaways and illegal immigrants who are doing it for the money (note: if you pay an underage girl for sex, it’s rape)? It’s my old 80 percent argument: the majority of men aren’t predators but they aren’t heroes either; in practice they can go either way depending on the people around them.
In this case they went the wrong way. All of them broke bad.
