Protecting pedophiles, the Republican Party's new brand
It's not just the pedophiles, but rewarding of men unaccountable to the law and devoid of human decency
TAT readers,
Today is a tough subject but please bear with me. This essay will be a mix of my personal feelings and an attempt to create a coherent narrative of the national security threats revolving around the Epstein Files. I strongly suspect that if you’re reading this newsletter, your feelings may not differ too much from mine. In many ways, the travesty of justice known as the Epstein Files, encompasses most of the biggest threats facing us from the administration, their party and their voters.
This one issue touches, Toxic masculinity, oligarchy, global finance, geo-strategic leaders, global sex trafficking and critically, the incessant Republican culture wars over all things gender. This includes their medieval perspective regarding women in general, hence the well-known comparison to the “Handmaid’s Tale.” In my profession, it is critical to not only see what is happening right before my eyes, but to also put the debilitating tragedy of sexual predation, into the context of how it impacts our communities, nation and in the case of Epstein victims, the entire world.
When if ever will these thousands of young girls receive justice? Via their vote, Republican voters have tacitly agreed that sexual predation is not a big deal to them, no matter how much they claim to be in most cases, “good Christians.” If this sounds harsh, it’s because this statement is the logical conclusion that we must make about friends and family, that voted Republican. They all knew before voting last November, exactly who and what Trump was and is. I don’t relish having to say this publicly, but then again, a thousand plus of young women didn’t want to be tossed into the psychological and physical dungeons of being trafficked either. We must now speak for those women, as if they were our own daughters, nieces and granddaughters.
Onward
As is popular to say, this sordid deficit in Republicans, is the “proverbial onion with many layers.” First and foremost, the most important layer is the irreparable damage to young lives. This comes again into sharp focus with Tuesday’s release of deceased Epstein victim, Virginia Guiffre’s post-mortem memoirs, Nobody’s Girl. The first high-profile name to be impacted was Prince Andrew, who is now relieved of his official royal titles by King Charles III. Whether this will take the pressure off of Buckingham Palace enough to forestall further prosecution, is yet to be seen. He will be far from the last.
In a different America that no longer exists, all political persuasions would be horrified and insist on prosecution but… not in Trump’s America. This administration protects the rich and powerful for their own selfish purposes. Their voters, the same as evidenced by their votes. Everyone knew who Trump was for decades and his proclivity for women, especially very young women. Giuffre allegedly died by suicide earlier this year and there are at least two other young women who died by overdose since their sexual trafficking by Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell and their colleagues in this global sex trafficking operation.
Now, Epstein is dead, allegedly by suicide, although there is plenty of reasonable skepticism about his death. Ghislaine Maxwell, in exchange for a cushy new prison in Texas, rather than her far harsher cell in Florida, created a short statement that they falsely believe non-Republican citizens will accept, hook, line and sinker. Republican voters, initially rebellious because the Epstein Files contents were promised by Trump during the campaign, are now falling back in line and filling the space between the GOP’s “circled wagons.”
High profile Epstein links: "The documents include references to former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, the magician David Copperfield, Prince Andrew, former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, actor Kevin Spacey, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, the late New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and former Vice President Al Gore, among others." "Many of the most prominent individuals, including U.S. politicians, British royalty, tech tycoons and bankers, were already known to have links to Epstein because of previous court cases or disclosures in the media." - Court documents reveal names of powerful men allegedly linked to Jeffrey Epstein - NPR - By Brian Mann, Jaclyn Diaz - January 4, 2024
It is no secret that some of the world’s most prominent men are well-connected to Epstein, his private plane the “Lolita Express” and his private Island. The men named above and those pictured below are merely the short list and to be clear, everyone is innocent until proven guilty. Recent developments also show a massive global sex trafficking network where billions of dollars changed hands.
Billionaires, Presidents, Prime Ministers and other extraordinarily powerful men, were Epstein’s collectables. The intention was to collect those that would benefit Epstein, his trafficking collaborators, and the men who were clients. Then along comes the mostly conspiratorial claims about Epstein’s connections to foreign intelligence services. To date I have seen no substance of these claims, but this may be one of those times that the truth is stranger than fiction. Considering the leverage that trips on the Lolita Express afforded those who had that information, there would certainly be interest to any intelligence service worth its salt. I’m not ready yet to fully banish these Intelligence services claims to the conspiracy theory waste bin. Time will tell.
One thing that we do know for certain is that Trump is mentioned often in the Files. Outside of a select few, we really don’t know to what extent Trump is involved because the Republicans are doing all possible to either distract from or bury those files. One thing we can assume though, is that there are those not in the Trump camp, that can hold him accountable. If not, the Republicans would act to release any names that would support their agendas, as against old enemies or Democrats. Those who’ve seen the files would include the highest levels of government or the IC/ Intelligence Community. These files have been around in a perpetually evolving and expanding form, for a very long time, going back at least, four administrations, maybe more.
As we have all known for a couple of decades, Trump’s mob connections go way back. In fact, he’s a wannabe mobster, as if this is some child’s game he’s playing. His tactics and instincts are those of a mobster. This means threats or extracting some sadistic vengeance on his perceived enemies are his go-to tactics. Sending Pam Bondi the AG on a hunt to prosecute those he believes crossed him or went after him, regardless of party, is about all he has in his arsenal. This is another way that we know he’s being somehow handcuffed, in using those files for vengeance.
Judging by the clownish incompetence of FBI Director Kash Patel and AG Pam Bondi, they have shot Trump in the foot by virtue of their very public faux pas regarding those files. Those mistakes were enough to enrage the Republican Base due to Trump’s campaign promises to release them. Like the Kennedy assassination files, their announced release by Trump, have been anti-climatic and included almost nothing previously not known. This is simply them creating political stunts for attention, nothing else. Like everything else they do, this case wreaks of reality TV.
Trump and the party have pulled out all the stops to create diversions oriented towards distracting Americans from the files. They have shutdown the government and refuse to swear-in a congresswoman elect from Arizona, just to prevent her from casting the deciding vote to release the files. We’ve had the high-profile and absurd ICE activities in Portland in what amounts to an attempt to create a wag-the-dog moment, also as a diversion. It didn’t work and it won’t in the future either. Last Saturday’s protests and the brilliantly satirical protesters in Portland and Chicago, have taken a lot of steam out of their attempts to distract.
You may have noticed, that since last Saturday’s massive protests at home and abroad, there has been very little sensationalist nonsense spewing from the White House, DHS, the AG and the FBI, about Antifa being a domestic terror organization or protesters ravaging cities. It simply isn’t and wasn’t ever true. The only people that still believe any of their lies and conspiracy theories are those who watch FOX News, Newsmax, OAN and the rest of the incestuous far-right media propagandists. We can only wonder what other high-profile stunt they are working on for their next try at distracting us.
To be completely frank, I’m not sure that those files will ever be released in our lifetime. I remember watching President Kennedy’s funeral on TV as a first-grader and do you know what… those files are still tucked away and safe, through a dozen administrations since. America does keep some secrets. I suspect that considering the high profile individuals that we are aware of in those files, they may stay secret for as long. The one thing I do know is that this administration is terrified of what those files mean to their agendas. Just the mention of them now riles most Americans and even a fair portion of the MAGA GOP. Their very existence is a poison pill to this administration.
Looking forward, of course we must continue to demand the release of the files and demand that mainstream news reporting, doesn’t drop the ball and scurry off chasing Trump’s next stunt. Like I said, it’s no longer about the contents, it’s about cornering a guilty and frightened GOP. Keeping them off balance doesn’t allow them to be as helpful to the administration due to having to defend themselves. Don’t forget, intense pressure may create diamonds, but it also breaks rocks. The Republicans now in office will never be diamonds, so let’s keep the pressure on them until they too break. Maybe the organizers of the protests can make the next protest, the Release the Files protest, instead of being No Kings. We would likely get some Republicans to join us. The more diversified the resistance, the better. At the moment, we have leverage over the far-right, if we can quickly and effectively bring it to bear.
Summary
As noted at the beginning, the issue of the Epstein Files is complex and speaks to so many of our threats from the Republicans unraveling our republic. The issue of wealthy and powerful men, some of which are oligarchs, trafficking young women without accountability, shows us without reservation, that this is the power dynamic of this version of the GOP. Oligarchy is a threat to all of us as well as our constitutional republic. It’s beyond apparent that as a human being, Trump is not the sharpest knife in the drawer and this was even before his obvious speech and memory deficits became far more and regularly visible.
The real power behind their current efforts to ignore, edit or rewrite the checks and balances so carefully woven into constitution by our founders, are the wealthy and powerful men like Epstein and others, complicit in the global sex trafficking of young women and minors. It has also come to the public’s attention, the thousands of money transfers in the billions changing hands in this global sex trafficking operation, hiding in plain sight by these men who believe themselves untouchable. This is not how our republic is designed to work and even though the current far-right SCOTUS, no longer sees all citizens as “equal before the law,” our constitution is quite clear on the matter.
Both Jefferson and Madison, would be appalled as would the rest of our founders. Not only is our constitution seen by prominent scholars as the “Anti-Oligarchy Constitution,” Chief Justice John Roberts and the other five right-wing Associate Justices, have clearly demonstrated that oligarchs and other wealthy Americans, are either above the law or minimally affected by it. There is absolutely nothing American about this administration, the Republican-led Congress or the Judicial branches. In fact, it is nothing but criminality in plain sight with no one left in positions of power, to enforce the laws and our constitutional principles.
The last thing I will say before closing today’s essay, is that like me, the majority of Americans are appalled at the rule of the minority, that disregards the law, tradition, customs and precedents. Should this be allowed to continue, there will be nothing left of our nation as it was intended to be. This is not fearmongering, but the simple, hardcore truth. What appalls us most grievously is that our family and friends, now fully brainwashed by a decade plus of addictive conspiracy theories, knowingly voted for a lifelong sexual predator, probable pedophile, convicted felon and in my opinion, a traitorous POTUS. They voted for the very party that rubber-stamps and defends every action of this tragically and irrevocably flawed man, devoid of any and all humanity. How do we learn to forgive and forget these people that we’ve long known and loved? How can those tragically corrupted souls be trusted after falling so far, from even the lowest standards of being a moral human being?
Forgiveness is a very personal pursuit. We must all answer the question above for ourselves. The one thing I can tell you regarding my approach to forgiving them, is that I must see and hear sincere renunciations of their commitment to fascism via the Trump administration, Republican Party and voters. I might even want them to dedicate themselves to assisting in the removal of this administration and their Republican sycophants. With Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday right around the corner, it sure would be great to see some of those Trump and Republican voters around the table, once again pledged to be responsible citizens, rather than the foot soldiers of fascism. I don’t know about y’all, but I do miss my family and friends, lost to Republican fake-patriotism and the dismantling of our republic. As painful as it is, I believe that we must all now take a stand, regardless of the slings and arrows launched from the homes of those we once trusted without reservation.
Should things continue as they are now, in a short period of time, we will all have to choose between America and hurting their feelings. If we wait much longer, the only option will be to fight. Godspeed our unity in restoring our nation to its rightful values, before insults become arrows.
Back Friday and all my best until then,
Paul
a.k.a. Publius Redux