Miranda Devine authored an op-ed for the New York Post today on "How Trump can fix the Epstein mess that’s ripping his party apart." In it, she notes that "the Epstein scandal is symbolic of the absence of accountability for past crimes against the American people," but "[t]he president, who won in part by echoing deep distrust in the institutions and stoking legitimate grievances, hasn’t delivered heads on pikes." I think she is correct and that the President has grossly misread the room, so to speak, in believing that the Epstein controversy is unimportant. Moreover, MAGA did not back the President just to try and right the ship--they want revenge on those who persecuted and, in some cases, prosecuted them. But even some justice will suffice.
It may be true that in the grand scheme of things--the border, expelling illegals, dealing with Russia, China, and Iran, trade negotiations, cutting the size of government, etc.--that the Epstein issue is but a minor distraction. But, if nothing else, it has a strong symbolic importance. Devine notes in her piece a Rasmussan poll showing that "[r]oughly two-thirds of every political category — 68% of Democrats, 66% of Republicans and 69% of unaffiliated voters — reject the idea that the Epstein case is closed and instead believe that there are dozens of powerful and wealthy offenders who need to face justice." So what is at issue here is government legitimacy. Not a trivial issue.
While we will always live in a society where there are different rules for the elites and the common people, legitimacy in a modern Democracy requires that the people at least believe that the elites are broadly subject to the same laws. Refusal to prosecute Epstein's clients (or visitors or whatever you want to call them) only emphasizes that the elites enjoy different rules.
Even worse for purposes of maintaining legitimacy, the failure to prosecute plays into the speculation that Epstein was an intelligence asset working for Mossad, the CIA, "Management" or some other organization, to collect blackmail on powerful people in government, finance, and industry in order to control them and, by extension, shape U.S. policy. Does Trump really want a super-majority of the American people wondering if Israel is controlling U.S. policy by blackmailing key figures? I don't know. Maybe he does.
And who knows? Maybe the speculation is true and a proper investigation and prosecutions would free the United States from the clutches of tyrants?
It's the "read my lips, no new taxes" level of trust.
ReplyDelete