What Will It Take?

I'm angry.

I mean, that's not a real surprise right now, I'm angry most of the time. But right now I'm really angry. Like deeply angry.

We had the dem cave earlier this week and that sucked and pissed me off, but it wasn't unexpected, and it did lead to finally getting the last vote for the discharge of the vote on the Epstein files. Which, I know sounds like a really weird sentence, but that's because it is. People kept referring to it as releasing the files, but that's not what it was. It was the vote to CAUSE the vote to release the files.

Which even if it passes the House then will have to go to the Senate to pass and then if it passes there it will go to Trump to sign and well...

But to put pressure on the Republicans the Democrats released a group of emails they had access to from Epstein's estate. Which then the Republicans were like, Oh no you don't! Those are cherry picked to make Dear Leader look bad so here's a bunch more and deal with that. And well...those don't help their case that Dear Leader isn't up to his fucking neck in all of it, and speaking of necks does anyone still believe Epstein hung himself?

But not even all of that is why I'm mad. I'm mad because we are already seeing the "this is not a big deal" rehabilitation of Epstein and his vile enterprise.

You have the groups of people clarifying that it's not really pedophilia it's ephebophilia. Which is a whole different thing, or as Megyn Kelly put it, there is a big difference between 5 and 15. Even though as she said it she tried to say she wasn't justifying it, while downplaying it and justifying it. The talking heads at Fox are scandalized, scandalized I tell you at the leaked emails. Which, I mean, they weren't leaked they were released. And they aren't scandalized by the contents of the emails but that they are out there at all.

I'm angry.

I'm angry that we don't protect women and girls. And we never have.

Do yourself a favor and never ever look into your favorite rock star from the 60s, 70s or 80s and their behavior around underage fans. The fact that we even have the term Baby Groupie is damning enough.

I've got my fun story about David Lee Roth saying he wanted to marry me, and I will say he never touched me, and probably had no idea I was only 13, but the security guard who let Chrystal and I backstage knew how old we were. And let us backstage because he had a crush on Chrystal and did it as a favor to her. He had to have been in his 20s. And as I said, we were 13.

We don't protect our girls.

Let's circle back to all of those pedants out there correcting everyone on their use of pedofilia. The word ephebophilia originally comes from older men preferring sex with late teen boys. There isn't a word that is distinct for older men who have sex with teenage girls because...well...that's just fine. Think I'm wrong? Look at how many states refuse to pass child bride laws. New Mexico is one of the states that has no floor on age. I went to high school with someone who got married in 8th grade. Or sidestep marriage and see that "barely legal" is a whole class of porn.

When we were in New Orleans Penthouse had a Barely Legal bar. I told Brent I felt like standing outside the door and saying, "Shame on you" to every man who went in or came out.

But it's normal. It's fine. It's no big deal. Young women are attractive, and nature says it's normal and... And that's the first step, you use young women instead of teenager, or kid, or she's still a child, you asshole.

But I'm really mad because the Republican party, the MAGA won't someone think of the children contingent, the we can't have a book about gay penguins because it will sexualize our children zealots, they will now talk about how it's for grown ass men to have sex with teenage girls. They will normalize it. They will treat it like the girls in question had a choice. Like they were somehow the ones that "were asking for it" or who were doing it consensually.

Consensually.

The trafficked girls. The ones Epstein and Maxwell doled out to their buddies and pals and future blackmail victims. Those girls are going to be master seductresses who were very mature for their ages, old souls really, and poor them, they had no choice.

And even if you paint the information released in the most positive way possible for Trump, if you say, you could read these emails as he told Maxwell to stop recruiting girls from Mar a Lago, that he revoked Epstein's membership because of the girls. If you tried really hard to imagine him spending hours with one of the victims and not abusing her as well. If you did all of that then, HE STILL FUCKING KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON AND DID NOTHING TO STOP IT.

Knowing someone is running a sex trafficking ring and the best you can do is say, stop hiring our spa girls away is not enough. It's just not.

So the most charitable reading you can give is that he knew and did nothing allowing those girls to continue to be trafficked and other girls to be recruited and trafficked. He did nothing to stop it.

That's the most charitable.

And it's not just him. There are already a lot of other names that were in that collection of emails that should be investigated and punished as well. The web of people that knew and did nothing. Or warned him (thanks, New York Times, stellar work) about investigations. Or worked with him. Or giggled with him and sent him hugs, Ken Starr you were a piece of shit and I wish I believed in hell because you deserve to be there.

So I'm angry right now. And I'm hoping that a lot of other people are angry as well and they don't let the machine around him get away with wishing this away. But hope is (as you know I believe) the worst thing that was in that fucking box.

I'm just so angry.

What will it take to finally start protecting our girls?