I'm going to preface this post with an assertion that I am against the death penalty. That being said, if anyone deserved the death penalty, Jeff Epstein would have been a contender... he ruined hundreds of lives for personal gain, for the sating of his base appetites, for the power trip that a sociopath feels when destroying a helpless victim. Epstein was a monster, and he never should have seen the light of day again, but a society's support for capital punishment is a reflection not on the morality of the criminal, but on the morality of the society.
Okay, with that preamble out of the way, I certainly cannot mourn the death of Jeffrey Epstein, purportedly by suicide. While the world is a better place without him, the very idea that such a high profile prisoner (who reportedly tried to kill himself previously) would be able to end his life is appalling... it reeks of either incompetence or corruption. I would have preferred seeing Epstein go on trial, to see his web of connections to the rich and powerful unraveled. Epstein was an acquaintance of Donald Trump and Bill Clinton. He was rumored to have served as a pimp for Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz. Early in his career, he was a protégé of Bill Barr's father. With his death, a thousand conspiracy theories were launched. Righties will claim that the Clintons had him killed, lefties will claim that Trump had him killed. The more outré elements of the conspiracy theory fever swamp will claim that his death was faked, and he was whisked off to have extensive plastic surgery so he could pursue a new life. Trump himself is disseminating conspiracy theories regarding the death of Epstein.
Thankfully, Epstein's death means that the search warrants for his abodes won't be challenged in court, so hopefully the extent of his sex trafficking will ultimately be revealed. I'm not holding my breath, though, the ultra-powerful tend to cover for each other. It's up to the public to make sure this story doesn't disappear. Throughout this whole horrorshow, the one consistent heroine has been Julie K. Brown of the Miami Herald, who was unrelenting in her search for the truth. Hopefully, she will ensure that Epstein's sizable estate will be liquidated in order to pay some restitution to his victims.
It's a gorgeous day, and I think I need to log off for a while in order to clear my head of this whole sickening business. Last weekend, I had a couple of New Agey bros (nice guys, but a bit loopy) tell me that my workplace had 'positive energy'. I think I'm going to bask in it for psychic cleanse.
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3 comments:
I'm not worried about anybody 'covering up' for him. Most investigators are straight shooters, and if anything they are sickened by child rape. Many have daughters. They have all the images, videos and audio recordings. They know where the cameras and microphones were in the house. They are still reaching out to victims to come forward. The only people who are going to cover for this piece of shit are other pieces of shit, and many of them will roll over to try to cut a deal.
As they put together the evidence - identifying the rapists and victims in each of the images and videos - they are going to have lots of opportunities to offer various immunity deals.
I don't think there's any chance he was murdered - hell, in his position I would have worked relentlessly to kill myself. Just think about Aaron Hernandez - another millionaire facing a future of grey concrete, steel doors and squalor. And HE was a tough guy, not a dilettante.
Lastly, I want to sign up with - or push back on - your death penalty statement. I agree with you that no state should ever put it's people to death, and I disagree with your contention that he 'deserved' it. Depending on your outlook, LOTS of people 'deserve' to be killed. But the death penalty is not about those upon whom it is meted out. It is instead about US. It infuriates me that my nation can arbitrarily decide to murder one of its citizens in MY NAME and claim it is an act of justice.
The whole thing is sordid, and will spawn conspiracy theories for decades.
I wish I had more confidence in our Justice Dept. both state and federal. The top directors are beholden to their big money contributors for their office so I suspect that we will never know the true extent of the immorality of Epstein's customers. If anyone goes down over this it will probably be low level sacrificial lambs. Either that or there will be a total coverup from the DOJ and various state agencies. Money doesn't talk. It swears.
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