Can You Hear Me Now?

Sometimes it’s necessary to beat a reanimated horse. The Epstein “situation” is about more than the horrific crimes of that man, Trump’s best buddy for years, who once received a wink-wink birthday letter from him. His denial of sending it floated like a Sherman tank in his birthday parade. The salience of the Epstein affair isn’t only the criminal exploitation and trafficking of young girls. That’s been known for decades. Nor is it news that Trump palled around with him; speculation on the extent of his involvement is understandable, but, for now, unprovable.

What’s more important is that even the most successfully MAGAfied Trumpists can no longer deny he’s a shameless, recidivist liar. Or that he and the people with whom he’s surrounded himself for protection, and his media enablers, are trying, as if everything depends on it, to hide what’s in those files. People don’t do that for something that, according to Trump’s cravenly obedient Attorney General, never existed. MAGAs are starting to notice.

Releasing Grand Jury testimony is a distraction attempt, a scam, more proof that Trump considers his voters stupid. If a judge allows the unlawful release of the testimony, it’ll contain nothing about Trump. That’s why, unlike the actual files, he ordered Pam Bondi to release it. It’s transparent non-transparency. Publishing the MLK, Jr. files, though, is transparent, proving how desperate he is to change the subject.

If Trump didn’t fear the Epstein files, he wouldn’t be calling them a hoax created by Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton. Moreover, calling it a “hoax,” which it clearly isn’t, explains every not-hoax he’s called a hoax. Till now, lies as idiotic as that would be swallowed by Trumpists like cheeseburgers he forces on college athletes. Knowing the lies dropped from the same place as cowpies, Congressional Rs would nevertheless feed them to their constituents like strawberry shortcake. No longer. For once, some seek the truth. 

Trump doesn’t just think his supporters are stupid. He’s saying it out loud. So desperate is he to squirrel MAGA into looking the other way that he posted a fake video of President Barack Obama being arrested by ICE, hauled out of the Oval Office, and imprisoned. And another, akin to his picturing himself as Pope and, later, as Superman, as lead guitar and drummer for the rock band Journey. In addition to proving his dread of the truth, it’s a national embarrassment. For worse and worser, he’s President of the United States, and he’s beclowning himself and his voters. Having gotten away with lies all his life, he’s panicking at the thought of not, changing the subject any way he can.

Other presidents have had scandals that invited investigation. Reagan, Nixon, Clinton, for three. In those bygone days, Congress wasn’t controlled by people intent only on taking the dictations of their president. Those offences had special prosecutors and/or congressional investigations, whereas Trump’s DOJ and his congressional facilitators are doing everything they can to quash his. To avoid voting on a bipartisan demand to release the files, presumably told to do so by God, Holy Mike Johnson shut down the House prematurely, for months.

Via Pam Bondi and Kash Patel, Trump fired the prosecutors and agents who did their job by pursuing his and the J6ers’ criminality. Presumably following orders, Tulsi Gabbard, his obedient Director of National Intelligence, wants President Barack Obama and his team tried for treason, for the crime of investigating how Russia helped Trump become elected. Which, non-hoaxally, it did. Do it, Tulsi. Do it, Pam. Show us what ya got.

Democracy’s survival depends on the willingness of its citizens to follow the rules, for reasons bigger than themselves. It stumbles when people in power realize courts wield only words, not swords, and it dies when they conclude courts have no means to stop them. Trump, who knows nothing about many things, does know what to say when judges order him to stand down: “You and what army?” In increasing numbers, he and his administration are brazenly ignoring judicial orders. 

When will their Epstein-based recognition of Trump’s lies awaken MAGA Republicans to the danger this represents to every American, including themselves? For the good of the country they claim to love, when will they join the effort to vote the current crop of Republicans out of office?

Freed from judicial restraints, Trump is ending more than the rule of law. What looks like cruelty for its own sake, or, maybe, payoffs, he closed the office in charge of combatting human trafficking; federal buildings will no longer need accessibility ramps; HUD will stop investigating housing discrimination; The EPA will end research into dangerous chemicals; Homeland Security will begin deporting child victims of domestic abuse, previously protected as “Special Immigrant Juveniles.” (Links provided on request.) Is this what MAGAs voted for? Are they all as inhumane as Trump?

MAGA has finally stopped hiding its meaning: Make America Go Away. It was always the point.