First, Jeffrey Epstein and His Collaborators Violated These Women. Now, Republicans Are Violating Them.
As I watched a group of survivors of abuse standing outside our nation’s Capitol vowing to release the names of the monsters who collaborated with Jeffrey Epstein in their violation, I had two immediate thoughts:
The first was: the courage of these women is beyond measure.
The next was: this is a second act of violence against them.
Let’s be absolutely clear about what we are witnessing in these moments because it almost defies credulity: women who have experienced unspeakable trauma, women who have largely had to carry their injuries in silence and solitude because of the way our culture so often blames the victim, are having to step out into the raking light of the entire world’s invasive gaze, because our government is fighting like holy hell to protect their abusers.
President Trump and his Administration have spent the entire first nine months of his second term relentlessly working to block the release of the names of some of the richest and most powerful men, who leveraged their wealth and position to dehumanize girls and young women, even going so far as to draft legislation concealing the Epstein files’ contents.
This fierce obstruction is a full confession.
There is no conceivable reason to go to these lengths to obfuscate the truth unless you are certain that the content of these files will implicate you, and the fact that this President is wielding the unprecedented power of his office is about as damning a course of action as there is.
The Conservative hypocrisy we’re witnessing here is incalculable: self-identified “pro-life” Christians whose Bible-pounding performative religiosity is tireless, sanctimonious men and women who never shut up about the supposed dangers of the groomers on the Left, are the only thing standing in the way of rapists, pedophiles, and human traffickers facing accountability under the law.
Worse, these America First, flag-waving alleged patriots who claim to believe in Law and Order and to treasure women’s rights are violating these survivors a second time by forcing them to bear their souls before a massive, sneering, violent mob of trolls, MAGA cultists, misogynists, abusers, Right-wing pastors, partisan voters—not to mention a Government that can and seems ready to marshal its resources against them.
What does all of this say, not only to those survivors standing in front of the nation to demand a justice that is being denied, but to the millions of others who themselves live inside the forced isolation of wounds that they did not deserve, knowing that so many who live alongside them refuse to stand for them?
There have been a few thousand times over the last decade when I hoped we’d reached a point where supporters of this President would finally awaken from the sycophantic stupor that has mysteriously engulfed them; a moment of such undeniable immorality and illegality that their long-dormant humanity would kick in and bring repentance from their partnership with someone who embodies all they outwardly claimed to oppose.
And every single time, I have watched them defy reason and evidence and reality and empathy to remain tethered to him, and in doing so, they have loudly reiterated the darkness of their own hearts.
But I truly hope and pray that this moment is different; that our Conservative neighbors here will themselves finally step from the shadows of self-preservation, partisan politics, and toxic religion and stand with the rest of us in forcefully dragging the monsters into the light, so that no one who abuses will feel above the Law and so that no survivors carry a shame they should never have to carry.
Because if they refuse to speak now, these professed patriots and confessed Christians will be guilty of a second brutal act of violence against these brave, beautiful women—and there’s simply no way around that.
IMPORTANT: If you are a survivor of abuse of any kind and need support, please reach out to these organizations:
RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network)
National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC)
End Rape on Campus
Their courage is beyond measure. But such a public plea for justice should never have been necessary. There is no justice for women in Trump’s America. Sadly, I can attest to that personally.
Sadly, these people don't care. At this point, I am not certain they would care even if these were their own daughters. They would blame the victims and pay out to hush it all up.