The Inconvenience of Being Jeffrey

I've known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy! He's a lot of fun to be with. It has been said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side."
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Donald Trump, 2002
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I don't suppose that it's too much of an exaggeration to conclude that a lot of really powerful men (and perhaps a handful of women) are shitting purple yo-yos on this fine Thursday morn. One can only imagine what evidence and information the Feds uncovered when they raided Jeffrey Epstein's Manhattan mansion and had a peek into his safe a few days ago. If it were only one "underage woman" making the accusation that she had been sexually abused by a cabal of rich and powerful men, then there would be room for skepticism. But in this case, there appears to be a score or more of them. Fasten your seat belts, boys and girls. This is going to get interesting.

We were reminded this week - yet again - that there are two sets of rules in the "land of the free": one set for the rich, powerful connected (and white) and one set for all the rest of us. And I cannot underemphasize the racial aspects of this (O.J. lucked out and Michael Jackson was no longer black - let's be honest). As horrible as Bill Cosby's sins were against the woman whose accusations against the disgraced comedian sent him to prison for three-to-ten years, at least she was an adult at the time the crime was committed. Rap artists tend to do serious jail time regardless of the severity of their crimes. A decade ago, Epstein was "sentenced" to eighteen months in what can only be described as a comfy little apartment in a secluded section of some county jail in the state of Florida. He was allowed to be chauffer-driven to his office for twelve hours every day except Sunday, and ended up being sprung five months early. All the justice money can buy, baby!

The prosecutor who made this sweetheart of a deal possible was Alexander Acosta, who on Friday, was forced to resign in disgrace as the current administration's secretary of labor. The heat got too intense for the guy to remain in the kitchen.

For at least a decade - quite possibly more - Jeffrey Epstein operated an international child/sex trafficking ring that catered to the very high and the quite mighty. We need to know the people who benefited from these "services". They need to be exposed and taken down - regardless of their political party or the esteem in which they are held in the hearts of their public. The unveiling of the truth, however ugly or uncomfortable, always has a  medicinal effect on any democracy in the long run. Watergate was harmful to America, but we emerged from the political carnage a much stronger nation. Think about it.

We cannot predict when, where or how this nightmare is going to end, but at least we can be certain that it's not going to be a boring thing to behold. Call it one of those "best of times/worst of times" scenarios. Enjoy the shit-storm.

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY