The first part of this particular blog is basically a reprint of my Omaha World Herald article published in the public pulse section on 7/17/25 and is italicized.  I mention that because this is a tediously long blog and skipping that part will save you some time.  The remainder is related stuff to a subject I can not seem to let go of- which is my quest to try and understand how so many people in this country have become disinterested in objective truth.  I do consider Trump to be the catalyst of the spiraling decline of factual observance, but still feel there is so much more to unravel.  It is a tortuous journey for me.

You could argue President Trump’s power is his cunning ability to manipulate.  I’m not sure where that comes from.  He has that “deal maker” image that was perhaps honed and embellished as a TV personality. Regarless he does have that uncanny knack to persuade large groups of people to believe whatever he says. They let him get by with all sorts of flip flopping- the Tic Tok Ban, legalizing marijuana, crypto, abortion, opinion of Putin, to name a few.  But currently he is attempting to push the credulity envelope further with the ever tricky flip flop FLIP maneuver.  Example one: his on, off, on again tariff policy. Example two: his circling stance on deporting essential immigrant labor.  Initially, he was in the Steven Miller camp of ban all the brown, then it was let’s let those doing all the back breaking work stay awhile, but within 24 hours he changed his mind again and decided Miller had the right idea.  Example three: his Epstein file position.  In his second term, he has stated, somewhat reluctanly at times, that he would approve the release of all of the Epstein information.  Then, at the 11th hour last week, he had a change of heart and declared the files AG Bondi had on her desk really didn’t exist.  Then in an effort to deal with vitriolic backlash from his conspiracy starved base, he issued a disjointed social media post in which he admits that the Epstein documents do exist, but were created by his usual antagonists- Obama, Biden, Hillary Clinton and ex-Cia chief Brennan.  A conspiracy engineered by the ultimate conspiracy promoter. Will his clever slight of hand once again go unnoticed by his minions? 

A  more consequential question is how did we even get to this point with this Epstein mess?  Sadly, what it all points to is what founders like John Adams and Ben Franklin knew to be one of the  most important condition for the survival of of democracy- an informed public.  For years, pictures and video snippets of Trump cavorting with Epstein circulated freely on almost all of mainstream/network media.  It’s been everywhere.  Everywhere that is except right wing media.  Ok I can’t say I know that for sure, because the only expoure I have to right wing media is Fox News, and I only watch that while channel surfing during commercial breaks or out of curiosity to see what Fox is currently reporting.  But that conclusion only makes sense.  If all that Trump/Epstein revelry is readily presented on right wing media, surely the loyal MAGA crowd would understand the last thing Trump would want is to be exposed to embarassiment, or worse, criminal entanglement.  The logical conclusion is that information has generally been absent from or glossed over by right wing media.

Of course his supporters have to be confused.  Up until now Trump has said he would see to it that all the Epstein details would be released.  That’s because he had to.  When all the Epstein conspiracy and  predation stories initially took flight years ago, they  almost always involved some kind of “deep state,” or a  cabal of  pedophilic elitist Democrats who  nurish themself with the blood of children.  Sensing  politcal opportunity Trump went right along promoting them.  So Trump has no one but himself to blame for his awkward predicament.  He knows there is a good chance his name could be prominent in some of the sordid Epstein minutiae.

So now Trump is drawing hard on his powers of persuation, hoping he can make this story disappear.  That power is amazingly potent.   Persuading Fox News to stop their reporting on the issue will be high on Trump’s agenda, but that will deplete little energy from his power pack.  Other actions will prove to be more energy consuming.  After all, this is the guy who promised he was different.  He was going to drain the swamp and strip away the cover of the “deep state.”  He projected himself as the country’s savior, and decked himself out in a digitilized Superman costume to prove it.  All the things the conspiracy theorists were concerned about, he would expose.  He professed to be a straight shooter who would humble the powerful elitists and make them suffer.

All that has worked, up till now. The Epstein business has turned all that on its head.  Now from all appearances Trump is the one with something to hide, the one not telling the truth, part of the “deep state.”  In the scheme of things, it is hard to figure in a way.  I mean, after all Trump’s verifyable, factual offenses, the lying and grifting,  instigating an insurrectin and all the other horrible assaults on democracy and his dismissive moral conduct, and head scratching policies that contravene the best interests of his political base,  the Epstein saga is the thing that is jamming him in the ass?

But people want answers.  Not just entrenched members of MAGA, but almost everyone.  The word Epstein is synonimous with sex trafficking and pedophilia and I feel sorry for anyone with the last name Epstein right now.  Even prominent Trump deciples House Speaker Mike Johnson and VP Vance want answers.  What’s the deal there?  I know they probably only watch Fox News, but they can’t be totally clueless about Trump’s connection with Epstein.  I have a feeling Trump will be using his compelling powers of persuasion to convince both to remove the Eptein entree from their political plates.

It took awhile, but here is my point.  If our country had a generally informed citizenry, Trump would not be in this mess.  If MAGA fanatics had exited their information silos occasionally they might  have seen enough of the Epstein-Trump connection to conclude that if they truly still believed in the double standard diety of Trump, the last thing they should do is insist on any kind of investigation concerning it.  After all, they have consistently ignored Trump’s rancid amoral behavior in the past.

And even more to the point, If we had a generally well informed citizenry, our country wouldn’t be in this mess.  That’s because outside of a minority of anarchists, a well informed republic  would never have elected a narcissistic authoritarian who’s main concern is enriching himself  rather than the affairs of governing.  The bombardment of conspiracy saturated  right wing media is what got us here and entwined us all in this convoluted Epstein scandal.   Like never before, our 21st century existence offers  hundreds of choices when it comes to selecting our sources of information.  But paradoxically many people have limited their options to a narrow set of preferences.  I think most of us are guilty of resorting to the comfort of our own information silos.   We are now experiencing the danger in that.  We’ve become less tolerant of different opinions and unaware of critical facts.

It is more important than ever to carefully choose our information sources.  Support, not vilify, the free press.  Without it we loose the most important hedge against political corruption.  Professional journalists working for traditional media companies will present the truth, and if they make a mistake they will own up to it. Support your local newspaper and make your local TV news stations a primary source of infomation.   Programs offering different viewpoints are usually good choices.  Be careful not to get sucked into social media propaganda.  Take the time to fact check suspicious stories.  Rueters Fact Check, Associated Press Fact Check, and Snopes are reliable fact checking sites.

Going full circle, the Epstein business appears to be a significant threat to MAGA solidarity .  But Trump is a master at extracting himself from  a treacherous morass, and honestly, he is possibly the luckiest SOB to ever walk the planet.  His fanatical base will not desert him. That is explained best by one of Carl Sagan’s most famous quotes-  “One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we have been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle.  We are no longer interested in finding out the truth.  The bamboozle has captured us.  It’s simply too painful to acknowledge, even to ourselves, that we’ve been taken.  Once you give a charltan power over you, you almost never get it back.”

But the Epstein saga is a very serious matter that does need closure. Trump has the power to make that happen.  The fact that he is squirming like a fresh worm on a fish hook over this is not a good sign that he will effectually cooperate.  You would think if there was nothing nefarious about his relationship with Epstein, Trump would want any documentation related to it released to clear his name    Unfortunately we are probably in for a classic Trump siege of delay and diversion.