I think that if it isn't, and the public lets him slide, that we are a country not much worth saving. But - it will be the undoing - for a couple reasons. The hardest calls for transparency are coming from within the house - the GOP faithful want that promised kept. and unlike their leaders, they don't seem to care where, or to whom, it leads. I think most Republicans, like Dems, are repulsed by the idea of old white men abusing young girls. And by the way, Megyn Kelly's comment about -15-y.o's not as bad as 8 y.o's --- why does this woman still have a job? At any age under the legal limit (16 in a few states, 18 most places) it's statutory rape.
and also I think it has now gotten too big to be squashed down. I can't see how this just fades away - even it trump attacks Venezuela - which he might do just as a distraction. the man is dangerous.
Final thought. I wonder about all the people in his circle trying to make all this go away - Vance, Miller, and especially Susie Wiles. Are they so morally bankrupt that they work to make all this sordidness go away? Guess so. Remember the good old days when staff resigned because they disagreed with the head honcho? I guess there really is no bottom any more.
Jody, thank you for this. I didn't know where she worked. I looked up the contact for Sirius XM and found this to get to the Directors, nonmgmtdirectors@siriusxm.com
I wrote a mail demanding they denounce Kelly's comments, then fire her. Everyone needs to do this.
Given the comments made by Megyn Kelly about the 'acceptability' in terms of the rape of a 15 year-old girl when compared to that of an eight year-old girl, she should be asked to resign and, failing that action on her part, she must be sacked.
Reputationally and morally she is doing great harm.
To your point, I wonder what happens to all these morally bankrupt people? Can and will the Republican Party continue this level of corruption, greed and immorality once Trump is gone? I can’t see a moment when they suddenly see the light. So I fear if we don’t resoundingly reject this behavior once and for all, this becomes the norm for government and our children never will experience some sense of decency.
I agree with your very thoughtful statement. These lowlifes cannot wash the stench away. The people who need to reject the behavior is decent Republicans - I assume (being a glass-half-full kind of person) that there are some out there. These amoral people need to be run out of the party, never hired for anything, and be left to molter in their own slop, while the Decents try to rebuild the party.
However, going one step further, they need to be held accountable. What did you really know about the tariffs? How much did you know about the Epstein crap, and when? WHY did you enable this? and on and on. To Bondi, Patel, Bongino, most of the cabinet members - they need to be grilled. Not a Revenge tour, but an Accountability tour.
I'm sure there's room for many of them on Wall Street. They'll probably be welcome as well on the seamier side of social media, but that may not pay as well.
Not just statutory, full blown rape. Most, if not all, of these girls were either coerced or downright forced. Trumpkopf forced himself on a 13 year old.
correct. It's called statutory when the girl consents - let's say a 16 year old with her boyfriend. even when she was a willing participant, he BF can be charged. And I totally agree that these girls had no choice - they had been groomed - thank you, G Maxwell. someone else who deserves to rot in hell.
Thanks Steven for yet another stimulating piece. Cutting to the chase … The salaciousness of “le affair Epstein” will bring Trump down in the end. I do not celebrate. I have profound sadness for the victims and I worry constantly about the effect all of this is having on the young.Those whose world knows nothing but Trump and Trumpism.
Speaking as a man I could fall into line with your sentiments by saying I feel ashamed to be (a man). That’s not helpful however. So just let me respond by saying - hoping - that this entire episode had better be taken as an opportunity to self inspect, a first step in healing a sickness that if not checked and reversed now will bring Liberal Democracy crashing down. Be strong. Be kind. Respect yourself and others. Dig in. RESIST!
The egg is already cracked, and the obviousness with which the First Felon is frantically attempting to put it back together is clear even to the voluntarily dim. The ugliness looks like the East Wing. Congress must step in Now to prevent a distracting new war. Hearings are essential now. Even shadow hearings, by the minority party on the Capitol steps, if needed. Now is the time.
Yes. This exactly. Why the minority party is not already doing this is a mystery to me. Get a shadow cabinet going. Are they afraid that if they someday regain power the minority party might do this to them? If so, bring it on. If your policies are worthwhile, defend them. Not just in the halls of Congress but all over -- in person, on the street, online, on what's left of the MSM. And if they're not defensible, get rid of them. Don't get distracted by culture war nonsense. And for heaven's sake get some fighters out there!
There are no good days left in that miserable bastard’s life and I will be here for all of them
Corporate Media bears a huge responsibility for everything that has happened in the past 10 years since Trump bragged that he could "grab women by the pussy"
Every revelation should have been enough
Every crime he's been convicted of should have been enough
Every LIE should have been enough
Just maybe after 10 years of dealing with this psychopath
Even their minimizing, enabling & ignoring his behaviors both past & present will cause his final downfall
With the DOJ opening an investigation it would lead to Congress not being able to obtain files in an open investigation.
Despite that sleight of hand, Congress can subpoena Michael Wolff, etc. to obtain his alleged audio tapes of interviews of Jeffrey Epstein, his copies of their emails, etc.
Congress subpoenaing Bondi to testify about her prior statements to the media and to Congress may serve to foster distrust in the MAGA cult of any representations she may make going forward.
Absolutely NO to your question of is this going to be the undoing of Trump. The Republicans in Congress are too intimidated by his threats to go against him as they have displayed with everything thus far. Of course Putin knows and has the goods on him that’s why he caves to him continuously. I don’t think the complete Epstein files will be released. Trump will slither out of this as he has done with everything since 2015. This is what he meant when he said he could stand in the middle of 5 th ave and shoot someone and nothing would happen to him. Teflon Don.
His health contains in its decline; the public continues to be vocal in its anger at raising prices and impacts on Medicaid and the affordable care act premiums, a looming unwarranted war combined with all things Epstein files that he will collapse. His sycophants can only boost him up, cover for him and his ill crafted policies for just so long. In my humble opinion.
Maybe the Republicans will get smart and realize that once he’s gone that threat disappears. Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime aberration in our country’s history and will serve as either a poster boy for what a President shouldn’t be or in a “Not Wanted” poster in a Post Office near you.
I hope you are right, but I fear he is not an aberration. This country voted for him twice, unfortunately. In response to every story on the vile ICE gestapo, I see responses from readers who cheer it on and say "this is what I voted for." There was a story from a republican voter who showed a thread on X that demonstrated that republicans are turning against Trump as he has, but really the comments were that Trump was just not the guy to enact all of their own vile wishes for maximum cruelty. While Trump is the glue for MAGA, like every fascist movement, there are plenty of willing and happy sociopathic soldiers. This country is rotted by it. Absolutely shamed and rotted.
It's not just the intimidation. Too many are guilty AF and don't want others to know. There are Dems on that list who are guilty AF too. I'm not letting them off the hook. Given the stage of the dementia, the better question is how long he'll be alive. I'm surprised he's still alive.
You mention "imagination" on the part of Trump. His problem is the imagination of MAGAmericans. They're imagining what he could have been doing for hours with one of the victims - in Epstein's house, no less. That's when he loses them.
I hope it is finally enough. I haven't understood how any woman could have voted for the convicted felon after the bus tape and rape conviction, personally. Actually, even before that, as I lived in an area that got New York City news and saw what a cruel, depraved, and corrupt person he was decades ago.
I watched the Virginia Giuffre 60 Minutes Australia interview last night. It was horrifying and made me cry. The dehumanization of these children by Epstein and Maxwell and their 'clients' was absolutely heartbreaking. How anyone could watch it and then discount what happened to these girls is unbelievable. Don't these people have daughters? Of course, look what the felon has said about his own daughter, and his base has evidently been fine with that.
I recently read data about genetic testing in regards to ancestry and also crime-solving. The article said that it found that incest was a lot more widespread than was previously thought. Qasim Rashid recently wrote an article about the acceptability of children marriage in different societies, most notably in the United States. Both made my skin crawl.
So far, from what I have read, it appears that Trump has bystander status. Of course, his eagerness to deflect and distract may mean something more insidious and dark. If the Epstein files take him down, it probably will take down Bill Clinton and a few other people as well, but given the redactions, who knows what will be learned?
He’s only included a few carefully selected Dems or Dem connected names & Chase Bank to be investigated. Chase already settled with many victims. So did another bank. At least 4 banks are believed to be involved.
This is a distraction just as the Comer investigation is a distraction gone awry.
I think it’s clear that, at the very least, he knew what was happening. Personally, I believe he’s guilty as sin of participating in this heinous crime himself. But will it be enough to take him down? One can only hope. And if it also takes down a bunch of high ranking Dems too? Well anyone who was involved deserves to be punished.
DJT is finding out that he can break that bond with his voters. First he lost the ones his allied groups worked very hard to get to the polls. The disaffected, the intermittent or unregistered; the ones who were being harmed by the high cost of living. The ones who were never part of the maga core including most independents. Now it’s the maga base - the people who identify as maga which had grown to 39% in the past couple years. It shrank to 30% last month.
It looks like 2 things are in play. Voters are cynical and expect puffery from politicians. Some promises and actions are more important to voters than others. When voters are upset about one thing important to them it tends to color their view of the big picture. The bite at the cash register is a big part of their sour mood.
The Epstein Files reached crossed political affiliation at a time when there was a large anti-human trafficking movement. Trump embraced releasing the files. His appointees promised to release them & prosecute wrong doers. Bongino and others still out there fed it to their audiences and were left twisting in the wind when Bondi said there’s nothing there.
You don’t reverse what people think - and importantly - feel on a dime. Plus he offers nothing, no reason. Worse for him, his influencers, JD Vance, Massie & others know he is a lame duck. They are making their own plans for their future & what comes next.
He has no morals and his true character is being laid bare for the public to see; it is about time. One can only hope that this will be his undoing; the America people can decide his fate..
As previously stated by one responder "...morally bankrupt.." He is truly morally bankrupt and must be held accountable. All Americans must, as difficult as it is, accept his level of corruption and hope that he will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Mostly, STOP THE LYING...
I think that if it isn't, and the public lets him slide, that we are a country not much worth saving. But - it will be the undoing - for a couple reasons. The hardest calls for transparency are coming from within the house - the GOP faithful want that promised kept. and unlike their leaders, they don't seem to care where, or to whom, it leads. I think most Republicans, like Dems, are repulsed by the idea of old white men abusing young girls. And by the way, Megyn Kelly's comment about -15-y.o's not as bad as 8 y.o's --- why does this woman still have a job? At any age under the legal limit (16 in a few states, 18 most places) it's statutory rape.
and also I think it has now gotten too big to be squashed down. I can't see how this just fades away - even it trump attacks Venezuela - which he might do just as a distraction. the man is dangerous.
Final thought. I wonder about all the people in his circle trying to make all this go away - Vance, Miller, and especially Susie Wiles. Are they so morally bankrupt that they work to make all this sordidness go away? Guess so. Remember the good old days when staff resigned because they disagreed with the head honcho? I guess there really is no bottom any more.
Agree. Folks are calling on SiriusXM to deplatform Megyn "it's ok to rape a 15 yr old" Kelly. Spread the word.
Jody, thank you for this. I didn't know where she worked. I looked up the contact for Sirius XM and found this to get to the Directors, nonmgmtdirectors@siriusxm.com
I wrote a mail demanding they denounce Kelly's comments, then fire her. Everyone needs to do this.
Better yet, cancel your SiriusXM subscription.
This is what I wrote:
Given the comments made by Megyn Kelly about the 'acceptability' in terms of the rape of a 15 year-old girl when compared to that of an eight year-old girl, she should be asked to resign and, failing that action on her part, she must be sacked.
Reputationally and morally she is doing great harm.
Peter Robinson
Perth
Australia
To your point, I wonder what happens to all these morally bankrupt people? Can and will the Republican Party continue this level of corruption, greed and immorality once Trump is gone? I can’t see a moment when they suddenly see the light. So I fear if we don’t resoundingly reject this behavior once and for all, this becomes the norm for government and our children never will experience some sense of decency.
I agree with your very thoughtful statement. These lowlifes cannot wash the stench away. The people who need to reject the behavior is decent Republicans - I assume (being a glass-half-full kind of person) that there are some out there. These amoral people need to be run out of the party, never hired for anything, and be left to molter in their own slop, while the Decents try to rebuild the party.
However, going one step further, they need to be held accountable. What did you really know about the tariffs? How much did you know about the Epstein crap, and when? WHY did you enable this? and on and on. To Bondi, Patel, Bongino, most of the cabinet members - they need to be grilled. Not a Revenge tour, but an Accountability tour.
The ones who are found in the Epstein files are toast. The ones who aren't will manage to slither back into the shadows.
That’s the key! The country will have to unite beyond party, race, culture, etc. Can we, yes! Will we?
I'm sure there's room for many of them on Wall Street. They'll probably be welcome as well on the seamier side of social media, but that may not pay as well.
Not just statutory, full blown rape. Most, if not all, of these girls were either coerced or downright forced. Trumpkopf forced himself on a 13 year old.
correct. It's called statutory when the girl consents - let's say a 16 year old with her boyfriend. even when she was a willing participant, he BF can be charged. And I totally agree that these girls had no choice - they had been groomed - thank you, G Maxwell. someone else who deserves to rot in hell.
Agreed. This is the litmus test for this country. Greed versus Moral
It will be telling how many soldiers and which soldiers will fall and line up behind Trump.
Thanks Steven for yet another stimulating piece. Cutting to the chase … The salaciousness of “le affair Epstein” will bring Trump down in the end. I do not celebrate. I have profound sadness for the victims and I worry constantly about the effect all of this is having on the young.Those whose world knows nothing but Trump and Trumpism.
Hi Ellen. I share your interest in the historical perspective. If you haven’t already, check out “The Long View” on Substack. All best. Don
Agreed about the sadness. And they are but a very few compared to the larger world of survivors....that's what is so horrifying.
Speaking as a man I could fall into line with your sentiments by saying I feel ashamed to be (a man). That’s not helpful however. So just let me respond by saying - hoping - that this entire episode had better be taken as an opportunity to self inspect, a first step in healing a sickness that if not checked and reversed now will bring Liberal Democracy crashing down. Be strong. Be kind. Respect yourself and others. Dig in. RESIST!
No need to be ashamed. Be a; Ted Lasso/Fred Rogers/Chef Jose Andres/President Obama instead of a pooty/thiel/miller/musk/vought.
Ha! Will definitely do.
The egg is already cracked, and the obviousness with which the First Felon is frantically attempting to put it back together is clear even to the voluntarily dim. The ugliness looks like the East Wing. Congress must step in Now to prevent a distracting new war. Hearings are essential now. Even shadow hearings, by the minority party on the Capitol steps, if needed. Now is the time.
Yes. This exactly. Why the minority party is not already doing this is a mystery to me. Get a shadow cabinet going. Are they afraid that if they someday regain power the minority party might do this to them? If so, bring it on. If your policies are worthwhile, defend them. Not just in the halls of Congress but all over -- in person, on the street, online, on what's left of the MSM. And if they're not defensible, get rid of them. Don't get distracted by culture war nonsense. And for heaven's sake get some fighters out there!
Trumpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Trumpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the King's horses and all the King's men, yadda, yadda, yadda...
I sincerely believe that this may be the story that breaks the spell trump has over his cult followers. I can’t wait till it all comes out!
Is karma finally meeting schadenfreude?
There are no good days left in that miserable bastard’s life and I will be here for all of them
Corporate Media bears a huge responsibility for everything that has happened in the past 10 years since Trump bragged that he could "grab women by the pussy"
Every revelation should have been enough
Every crime he's been convicted of should have been enough
Every LIE should have been enough
Just maybe after 10 years of dealing with this psychopath
Even their minimizing, enabling & ignoring his behaviors both past & present will cause his final downfall
Maybe?
I hope so! I want him in jail for life
The end can't come soon enough. In the meantime, Don might wag the dog. (Venezuela) Or a Shetland pony. Or an elephant. Whatever it takes.
Certainly hope so. It's about time.
With the DOJ opening an investigation it would lead to Congress not being able to obtain files in an open investigation.
Despite that sleight of hand, Congress can subpoena Michael Wolff, etc. to obtain his alleged audio tapes of interviews of Jeffrey Epstein, his copies of their emails, etc.
Congress subpoenaing Bondi to testify about her prior statements to the media and to Congress may serve to foster distrust in the MAGA cult of any representations she may make going forward.
I hope you're right, Deborah. This is my own worry. Deflect, distract, delay....
It happened. Overwhelming number of votes coupled with rapidity of Senate passing bill.
Now let’s see if he signs it 😝
The last 36 hours have been so unstable. I do hope Republicans are frightened enough to bring an overwhelming number of votes for the release.
Absolutely NO to your question of is this going to be the undoing of Trump. The Republicans in Congress are too intimidated by his threats to go against him as they have displayed with everything thus far. Of course Putin knows and has the goods on him that’s why he caves to him continuously. I don’t think the complete Epstein files will be released. Trump will slither out of this as he has done with everything since 2015. This is what he meant when he said he could stand in the middle of 5 th ave and shoot someone and nothing would happen to him. Teflon Don.
His health contains in its decline; the public continues to be vocal in its anger at raising prices and impacts on Medicaid and the affordable care act premiums, a looming unwarranted war combined with all things Epstein files that he will collapse. His sycophants can only boost him up, cover for him and his ill crafted policies for just so long. In my humble opinion.
Maybe the Republicans will get smart and realize that once he’s gone that threat disappears. Trump is a once-in-a-lifetime aberration in our country’s history and will serve as either a poster boy for what a President shouldn’t be or in a “Not Wanted” poster in a Post Office near you.
I hope you are right, but I fear he is not an aberration. This country voted for him twice, unfortunately. In response to every story on the vile ICE gestapo, I see responses from readers who cheer it on and say "this is what I voted for." There was a story from a republican voter who showed a thread on X that demonstrated that republicans are turning against Trump as he has, but really the comments were that Trump was just not the guy to enact all of their own vile wishes for maximum cruelty. While Trump is the glue for MAGA, like every fascist movement, there are plenty of willing and happy sociopathic soldiers. This country is rotted by it. Absolutely shamed and rotted.
It's not just the intimidation. Too many are guilty AF and don't want others to know. There are Dems on that list who are guilty AF too. I'm not letting them off the hook. Given the stage of the dementia, the better question is how long he'll be alive. I'm surprised he's still alive.
So many people i know are that!
I hope you're wrong, Vicki, but I fear you're right. And slither is the correct verb.
You mention "imagination" on the part of Trump. His problem is the imagination of MAGAmericans. They're imagining what he could have been doing for hours with one of the victims - in Epstein's house, no less. That's when he loses them.
I hope it is finally enough. I haven't understood how any woman could have voted for the convicted felon after the bus tape and rape conviction, personally. Actually, even before that, as I lived in an area that got New York City news and saw what a cruel, depraved, and corrupt person he was decades ago.
I watched the Virginia Giuffre 60 Minutes Australia interview last night. It was horrifying and made me cry. The dehumanization of these children by Epstein and Maxwell and their 'clients' was absolutely heartbreaking. How anyone could watch it and then discount what happened to these girls is unbelievable. Don't these people have daughters? Of course, look what the felon has said about his own daughter, and his base has evidently been fine with that.
I recently read data about genetic testing in regards to ancestry and also crime-solving. The article said that it found that incest was a lot more widespread than was previously thought. Qasim Rashid recently wrote an article about the acceptability of children marriage in different societies, most notably in the United States. Both made my skin crawl.
Maybe we aren't worth saving.
So far, from what I have read, it appears that Trump has bystander status. Of course, his eagerness to deflect and distract may mean something more insidious and dark. If the Epstein files take him down, it probably will take down Bill Clinton and a few other people as well, but given the redactions, who knows what will be learned?
He’s only included a few carefully selected Dems or Dem connected names & Chase Bank to be investigated. Chase already settled with many victims. So did another bank. At least 4 banks are believed to be involved.
This is a distraction just as the Comer investigation is a distraction gone awry.
I think it’s clear that, at the very least, he knew what was happening. Personally, I believe he’s guilty as sin of participating in this heinous crime himself. But will it be enough to take him down? One can only hope. And if it also takes down a bunch of high ranking Dems too? Well anyone who was involved deserves to be punished.
DJT is finding out that he can break that bond with his voters. First he lost the ones his allied groups worked very hard to get to the polls. The disaffected, the intermittent or unregistered; the ones who were being harmed by the high cost of living. The ones who were never part of the maga core including most independents. Now it’s the maga base - the people who identify as maga which had grown to 39% in the past couple years. It shrank to 30% last month.
It looks like 2 things are in play. Voters are cynical and expect puffery from politicians. Some promises and actions are more important to voters than others. When voters are upset about one thing important to them it tends to color their view of the big picture. The bite at the cash register is a big part of their sour mood.
The Epstein Files reached crossed political affiliation at a time when there was a large anti-human trafficking movement. Trump embraced releasing the files. His appointees promised to release them & prosecute wrong doers. Bongino and others still out there fed it to their audiences and were left twisting in the wind when Bondi said there’s nothing there.
You don’t reverse what people think - and importantly - feel on a dime. Plus he offers nothing, no reason. Worse for him, his influencers, JD Vance, Massie & others know he is a lame duck. They are making their own plans for their future & what comes next.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/secret-gop-cabal-vance-thiel-174354830.html
He has no morals and his true character is being laid bare for the public to see; it is about time. One can only hope that this will be his undoing; the America people can decide his fate..
As previously stated by one responder "...morally bankrupt.." He is truly morally bankrupt and must be held accountable. All Americans must, as difficult as it is, accept his level of corruption and hope that he will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Mostly, STOP THE LYING...