Tag Archives: Epstein

THE Question

I know, I know. I keep coming back to what has been the most confounding question of the past decade: why on earth would any sane voter cast a ballot for Donald Trump? The man is personally repulsive, obviously both ignorant and mentally ill and just as obviously totally disinterested in the job of governing.

That question arises again in the context of the Epstein files. 

One of the newsletters I read each morning is Robert Hubbell’s, and a couple of days ago, it included a paragraph that amplified the sheer incomprehensibility of Trump support. Hubbell wrote,

Trump’s presidency began with and was facilitated by a cover-up of a sex scandal involving Stormy Daniels. Trump won despite the Access Hollywood tapes in which Trump described his behavior in a way that can fairly be described as that of a sexual predator. Indeed, the E. Jean Carroll defamation case led to a finding by a civil jury that Trump likely engaged in sexual abuse of Carroll that matched his modus operandi described in the Access Hollywood tapes.

No other president of the US—past or future—would have or could survive a single one of the multiple sex scandals that Trump has endured.

Add to that absolutely accurate observation a discussion in the Contrarian of where Americans currently find ourselves as the result of the “performance” of this petulant toddler: the job market has crumbled; the affordability crisis is getting worse with health insurance costs set to skyrocket; the rich and Trump-connected are making out like bandits; and an increasingly decrepit president couldn’t care less about Americans. (In fact, he’s willing to maximize their pain).

Why in the world do approximately a third of our fellow Americans support this bloated excuse for a functioning human? I can only assume that his obvious hatred for the people they hate–those despised “others”–is enough to outweigh not only the daily evidence that he is personally corrupt and despicable, but the incredible harm he is doing to the country–very much including his supporters.

Rather obviously, this conundrum leads to a second question: will the slow-rolling but seemingly inexorable Epstein disclosures be enough to finally shatter the MAGA cult’s inexplicable worship? It’s speculative, but Bill Moreau–founder of the essential Indiana Citizen–recently reminded me that last Thursday was the 100-year “anniversary” of the conviction of the KKK’s D.C. Stephenson.

The 1925 trial of D.C. Stephenson, the powerful Grand Dragon of the Indiana Klan, followed the abduction and assault of Madge Oberholtzer, a 28-year-old state education official. Oberholtzer’s dying statement, taken days after she was attacked, led to Stephenson’s conviction for second-degree murder on November 14, 1925. Once seen as untouchable, Stephenson’s downfall sent shockwaves through state government, revealing how deeply the Klan’s influence had reached.

That reminder brought me back to Hubbell’s observation–and the uncomfortable possibility that racist citizens will no longer desert a man who is demonstrably guilty of truly heinous behaviors. Trump has already been revealed as a felon and a predator–unless someone is immersed in MAGA’s alternate reality, they can’t help but be aware of the Access Hollywood tape, the payoff to Stormy Daniels, the 26 women who have accused him of sexual assaults, and the verdict obtained by E. Jean Carroll. (Is the fact that–at least as far as we know– he hasn’t killed and mutilated any of the complainants enough, in MAGA’s eyes, to absolve him?)

It has become abundantly clear that Trump’s disastrous presidential performance– his corruption and ignorance, his pathetic, incompetent Cabinet, his frenzied efforts to rig the upcoming midterm election, his insane rantings on Truth Social–haven’t shaken the support of his rabid base, or caused the defection of the cowardly Republicans currently “serving” in the House and Senate. Thus far, neither has the abundant and clear evidence of his sexual crimes.

Will the inevitable Epstein disclosures finally do to Trump what they did to D.C. Stephenson? I guess we’re about to find out. 

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Epstein

The central mystery of MAGA’s devotion to Donald Trump has always been–at least to me–one incomprehensible question: how can any minimally reasonable person look at this man– an adjudicated felon and sex offender, a thin-skinned buffoon and bully constantly lashing out at any criticism with kindergarten-level insults and a third-grade vocabulary–and think, “yep, that’s the guy I want to entrust with the nuclear codes.” How can anyone who can read or watch news videos ignore the increasingly psychotic behaviors?

It’s understandable that people who don’t follow the news, or who get their “news” from Fox, et al, might have missed the copious evidence of his greed, and his use of the Presidency to enrich himself–although the most recent evidence (Paramount Plus’ payment of a bribe to get the government to approve a merger that will make its owner billions) has been very widely publicized.

Evidently, none of this matters to the MAGA cult: not the stupidity, not the ignorance, not the greed. Not the enormous damage he is doing to the country. Cult leaders can do no wrong.

So what explains the evident defection of so many MAGA cultists over the Epstein cover-up? Why of all things has the increasing likelihood that he participated in the rape of numerous young girls penetrated (no pun intended) MAGA’s “see no evil” devotion? After all, they were happy to ignore all the evidence of his predatory sexual behavior against adult women–E. Jean Carroll’s successful lawsuit, the 26 women who’ve claimed they were subjects of groping and other inappropriate assaults, his own taped admission that, being a “star” (at least in his wildly inflated opinion) he could grab women by the you-know-what.

Sane Americans are cheered by recent polling that shows Trump’s precipitous decline, but according to Gallup there are still 37% of Americans who approve of his performance as President. Thirty-seven percent of us look at this pathetic, criminal ignoramus and say “looks good to me.”

Psychologists tell us that one of the most important aspects of a cult–one of the most attractive attributes to members–is the reduction of the individual’s autonomy, the ceding of control over large areas of one’s life to someone else.  As one article I read put it, the cult controls people’s thinking and behaviour, their choices about who to associate with, what jobs to do, who to marry or have relationships with, what to believe, and depending upon how extreme, when to eat and sleep and even in some notorious cases when to die.

In addition to relieving the burden of thinking for oneself, in the case of MAGA, mountains of research have affirmed the central role played by racism. As American society has changed in ways that most of us would consider positive, White “Christian” men have experienced those changes as assaults on their status. How dare those uppity women take management positions? When did those Black and Brown people get the idea that they were entitled to equality? Gay people are getting married! There were plenty of straight White males who experienced the progress of others as an assault–as deprivation of their god-given right to dominance. Trump validated their anger and bitterness at a world that was failing to accord them the status they believe is their due. He made it okay to voice their racism, homophobia and misogyny.

Most of all, he provided them with stories to tell themselves. One of the most pervasive of those stories was that of the Deep State. Government was filled with horrible Democrats who sexually abused (and even ate) helpless children. Cult members were the good guys who were going to root out these terrible people and return control of the country to the good guys who deserve to control it. It was an article of faith, a part of the cult identity.

What happens when this article of faith encounters the reality that Trump–the man with whom they identified themselves in this holy war against evil– is one of the bad guys, one of the Deep State pedophiles? I think we’re about to find out.

Some of the faithful will simply reject the evidence, but as we are seeing, others will experience disillusion.

I don’t know what the outcome will be, but thus far, Trump’s usual tactics–lie, call out “fake news,” blame Obama and Hillary Clinton, manufacture distractions–haven’t worked. There are several possible outcomes: MAGA may burrow more deeply into denial and cognitive dissonance. They may double down. Or they may defect.

We shall see…

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The Ultimate Entitlement

A couple of weeks ago, Michelle Goldberg used her column in the New York Times to focus on the ultimate sense of entitlement displayed by a subset of wealthy white guys–a subset that includes Donald Trump. These men believe they are entitled to take what they want–including but not limited to sexual gratification– without regard for the consequences to others.

The arrogant expression of entitlement has been a prominent feature of accounts relayed by the twenty-two women who have accused Trump of sexual assault and/or rape.

As details emerge about the sordid behavior of Jeffrey Epstein, it is worth pointing out–as Goldberg does–that until a falling-out, Trump and Epstein were buddies.

Epstein, indicted on charges of abusing and trafficking underage girls, was a friend of Trump’s until the two had a falling out, reportedly over a failed business deal. The New York Times reported on a party Trump threw at Mar-a-Lago whose only guests were him, Epstein and around two dozen women “flown in to provide the entertainment.”

It isn’t only Epstein. Goldberg has a list.

There’s Trump’s friend Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots, who was recently charged in a prostitution sting.  There’s Steve Bannon, who was once charged with domestic violence, battery and dissuading a witness;  Bill Shine, hired by Trump after he was forced from Fox News during  the Fox sexual harassment scandals; former White House staff secretary Rob Porter, who left after both his ex-wives accused him of abuse; speechwriter David Sorensen, who resigned after his ex-wife reported his violence toward her.

And who can forget Elliott Broidy, Trump pal and Republican National Committee deputy finance chairman, who resigned last year after media reports that he’d paid $1.6 million in hush money to a former playboy model who said he’d abused her and paid for her an abortion after he got her pregnant.

The casino mogul Steve Wynn, whom Trump installed as the R.N.C.’s finance chairman, resigned amid accusations that he’d pressured his employees for sex.

In 2017, Trump tapped the former chief executive of AccuWeather, Barry Myers, to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Then The Washington Post discovered a report from a Department of Labor investigationinto Myers’s company, which found a culture of “widespread sexual harassment” that was “severe and pervasive.” The Senate hasn’t yet voted on Myers’s nomination, but the administration hasn’t withdrawn it.

And just this week, a senior military officer came forward to accuse Gen. John Hyten, Trump’s nominee to be the next vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, of derailing her career when she turned down his sexual advances. “My life was ruined by this,” she told The Associated Press.

As Goldberg notes–and we’ve all seen– Trump’s first instinct these behaviors become public is empathy. For the entitled abuser.

In May, he urged Roy Moore, the theocratic Alabama Senate candidate accused of preying on teenage girls, not to run again because he would lose, but added, “I have NOTHING against Roy Moore, and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win.” The president has expressed no sympathy for victims in the Epstein case, but has said he felt bad for Acosta.

Epstein is simply the latest specimen to emerge from what Goldberg accurately calls “the depraved milieu from which the president sprang.”

The accusations against Trump–and his “access Hollywood” admissions– have encouraged media attention to the operation and assumptions of that “depraved milieu” –and disclosed the smug entitlement of the men who occupy its bubble of wealth and privilege. In their twisted worldviews, women (and for those like Epstein, female children) exist only to satisfy their urges.  Women who aren’t compliant deserve physical abuse.

This is an entitled worldview that goes well beyond misogyny. It’s horrifying.

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