As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a great admirer of the sentiment that as evil can flourish in any station or position, it must be unsafe in any station. Which is hard: as Jeffrey Winters says, “one of the greatest challenges in history has been to create legal governing institutions that are stronger than the strongest people in society.”
The Jeffrey Epstein case is a good example of how blatantly we failed. Contrary to the Qanon fantasies about deep, elaborate webs of pedophiles talking in code, Epstein’s associates joke around quite openly or discuss their sex lives with him. Larry Summers’ wife even recommended Lolita to Epstein as an interesting book. And this took place long after Epstein’s sliminess was known.
“Government and Sociology professor Theda R. Skocpol — who frequently crossed swords with Summers during his tense presidency — declined to comment on Summers’ case, but called the web of connections between Epstein and elite spheres ‘sickening.’ “This kind of mutually reinforcing corruption,” Skocpol wrote, “is what one sees in failing societies and empires in decline.””
At no point did Summers seem to feel any discomfort about staying friends with a monster; even after the full expose came out on Epstein’s crimes, they stayed in touch. Summers has assured the public he feels really, really bad about it. I don’t doubt he feels really bad about being in the public eye for this but about asking a sexual predator for dating advice? Probably not. And as Karen Attiah points out, Harvard’s still keeping him on the faculty [Update: No, they’re not, at least until Harvard finishes an investigation].
Meanwhile, the Felon Administration has transferred child trafficker Ghislane Maxwell to such a low-security prison she feels like Alice in Wonderland. It seems the Felon wants to keep her happy to keep her quiet — another example of “mutually reinforcing corruption.”
As Timothy Snyder puts it, “The bigger the grift bubble grows, the less healthy material remains beyond it. It sucks away what it productive. As personal connections become the basis of business, the economy slows. It sucks away what is ethical. As corruption comes to seem normal, citizens lose trust in one another. As basic institutions are scorned and destroyed, people cease to believe in the law. The material which builds a nation — moral, institutional, economic — starts to give way.” Here’s some examples. Here’s another example of how influence and personal connections screw up the system.
Perhaps the Felon’s outrage over the Epstein files discharge petition indicates he’s scared. I hope he has reason to be.
To end on an up note, here’s a case of someone who wasn’t as safe as he thought in his station, a federal judge who lost his judgeship and has now been disbarred over things like “his ‘flirtatious rapport’ with Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Vandergaw, who sent him nude photos, photos she now says she felt pressured to send, all while she continued appearing before him in active cases.” Fred Clark offers some insight.
