Belonging to a political party is a lot like being a college football fan. When the other side wins, you are convinced that they didn’t do it honestly. When they are accused of cheating, you proclaim them guilty immediately. And if they are guilty, you advocate for the worst possible punishments, including the death penalty. But when it’s your party or team, you do everything to minimize, deflect and deny. You then proclaim the rules weren’t fair and when you get hit with a punishment, you are clearly being persecuted unfairly.
Trust me, I am an Ohio State Buckeyes fan and a Democrat.
As President Trump continues to deal with the fallout of his broken promise to release the Epstein files, Democrats have been trying to take advantage of his mishandling of the matter. While it remains to be seen just how badly this affair will hurt Trump and the Republicans in the midterms, current polling shows that only 17 percent of all voters and 40 percent of Republicans approve of his handling of the matter.
Add to that the Wall Street Journal’s story on Trump’s letter to Epstein drawing more scrutiny to their relationship and you would think that the Democrats, at long last can finally have something that might penetrate Trump’s seemingly invincible armor. But there is one major issue the Democrats need to come to terms with.
They have people associated with Epstein too. And if they really want the Epstein files fallout to stay centered on Trump, they need to act sooner than later. Now, this is not a “both sides are bad” argument but instead a warning that this situation can easily be turned into a both sides argument by the Republicans.
We know that Jeffrey Epstein had many friends in high places which included politicians, business tycoons, celebrities and other big names. It stands to reason that some of these people are Democrats. Now I have to stress, just because you had a relationship with Epstein, doesn’t mean you committed crimes. I also have to stress that even with the Wall Street Journal publication, there is no evidence of Trump committing any crimes.
But like college football, you don’t have to actually cheat to be considered a cheater. The Democrats need to be rock solid and unified in this situation. And that means taking the ammo out of the gun before it’s used to shoot you. You have to expect that what ever Trump finally chooses to release will only paint the Democrats in a bad way. His attempt to call the files a Democratic hoax penned by Barack Obama, Joe Biden and company failed. So his next step will be to release only the files that will paint the Democrats badly.
The Democratic establishment needs to come out before this and disavow any Democratic politician, donor or associate who may be named. Sounds easy, except for the fact that the Democrats have former presidents on down associated with Epstein. Every senator, governor, representative, and DNC official should say they will disavow any Democrat that committed nefarious acts abetted by Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell. But then they need to challenge the Republicans to do the same on their end. The Republicans will balk because there is one guy we know for sure they won’t disavow: the current president.
MAGA supporters want there to be a conspiracy that protects the elites, but only if said elites are Democrats. And the Democrats need to make clear they will not protect anyone who is involved in this case who committed a crime. This is important because it would undermine any “both sides” argument that will surely arise when the files are released.
Some people might argue that the Democrats should do nothing, but I would tell you that the Democratic Party has gone out of its way to be hypocritical and it has come back to haunt them many times over. The best example of this is the aforementioned former president.
Bill Clinton’s affairs during his time as governor of Arkansas and president were diminished and defended by the Democratic establishment during his impeachment. Gloria Steinem’s now infamous defense of Clinton was the perfect example of this. While Clinton survived impeachment, the stigma stayed. So, when Hillary Clinton took Donald Trump to task over his “Access Hollywood” tape, Trump and company had plenty of ammo to argue the Democrats didn’t seem to care about women either. It worked.
Trump has time and time again weathered storms because he is adept at accusing his accusers of doing the same things he has. There is no reason to believe that this time will be different. Trump has his back against the ropes and needs to “prove” the deep state and Epstein clients are only Democrats.
The only solution is for the Democrats to show unity and proclaim that anyone who committed crimes, regardless of affiliation, would not be protected by the party. In doing so, they would finally be able to break the “both sides” counter argument that is bound to be headed their way. Doing so will allow the Epstein fallout to hurt the only person trying to prevent its fallout, Donald Trump.
Jos Joseph is a published writer and is a graduate of the Harvard Extension School and Ohio State University. He is a Marine veteran who served in Iraq. He currently lives in Anaheim, Calif.
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