Author: Tom Fitzpatrick

Life

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I might be barking up the wrong tree here but something that rarely gets talked about regarding the Epstein Files really bothers me. Why didn’t the Biden Justice Department take action on these files when they had a chance in those long years between 2020 and 2024? It is baffling.

What is even more baffling is that until MAGA Republicans made an issue of releasing the Epstein Files, I was blissfully unconcerned about their existence or what should be done with them. I can’t recall it being an issue until the 2024 election which, in and of itself, reveals a lot. Nobody wanted to talk about it, so nobody was making an issue of it.

The question is why. I will take a wild guess here and say that they were protecting Democrats and Democratic donors from embarrassment.

Thanks to a bunch of MAGA yahoos the Epstein Files regained notoriety during the 2024 Election. They thought they could use them as a cudgel to swing at Democrats during the election. And swing they did. So hard, in fact, that Donald Trump, who probably thought he would never be forced to release them, joined in the swinging. It became an issue.

So Trump got elected, and some of his supporters continued to campaign, much to the chagrin of Trump, to see the Epstein files. Democrats, now in the minority and desperate find their own cudgel to knock Trump and the Republicans around, decided it was time for their release. Forced to do so by his Republican allies, Trump and his Justice Department redacted the files in such a way as to protect Trump and his allies while pointing the finger at the Clintons and their allies. Unfortunately for Trump, even the redacted files held a trove of information implicating Trump in Epstein’s crimes.

Now this is where things gets tricky for me. Thinking that I am a smart person and a political realist, I thought there could be nothing in the Epstein Files that actually could serve as hard evidence that Trump committed a crime. Why would the Biden Justice Department sit on evidence that could, if nothing else, damage Trump’s campaign for the presidency and elect a Democrat. Politics is rough and tumble enterprise. If you have to throw dirt on your opponent, your throw that dirt — particularly if the election is going to be close as the 2024 election was.

Yes, your allies might suffer some embarrassment or, even, God forbid, some legal trouble, but it would be worth it in order to defeat Trump — a right wing ideologue who’s personality was ill-suited for the presidency. You throw in everything plus the kitchen sink Well, apparently, I was wrong, you keep the most damaging information possible from the public.

Someone somewhere in the Biden Justice Department realized that they couldn’t just release files that were damaging to Trump. They would have to release all the files, even the ones damaging to Democrats, or nothing. Surprisingly, they opted for nothing. Protecting their allies was, then, more important than defeating Donald Trump.

Now here we are in the second year of a mad man wrecking the world all because people were afraid to reveal the bad behavior of their allies. To say that these people have distorted values is an understatement. They are willing to prop up a rotting system with an array of bad actors. Why? Well, maybe, we might be about to find out.

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TSA agents are no longer being paid due to a partial government shutdown. This is ridiculous. Really ridiculous.

First government shutdowns are ridiculous to being with. Taxes are being paid. There is money to pay them because, if there was no government shutdown, they would be paid. It is an accounting problem. Members of Congress are being paid. Since members of Congress are government employees and they continue to get their paycheck, there must be some accounting trick that makes this possible. Why not use this same trick with TSA agents.

I would argue that TSA agents are actually more essential to public safety than members of Congress. Millions of people travel by plane every day. Even I go to the airport on occasion and in order to board a plane I must go through TSA to get there. This matters to me.

On the other hand, I can’t tell you the last time I needed a member of Congress to do, well, anything. I think it is safe to say never. It would seem that the government would prioritize the TSA agents’ paychecks over, how shall I say this politely, unnecessary government employees like members of Congress.

It is down right irritating that Airports are begging for money in order to help TSA agents through this shutdown. I get that they are just trying to help out people who are having a hard time through no fault of their own. Yeah for their good intentions but this is a very bad idea and fails spectacularly to deal with the real problem — the ongoing congressional stalemate regarding budgets.

Trying to help these people through private charity only encourages Congress to continue in their intransigence. Why settle now when we can hold out longer to potentially gain the upper hand? Right. I can’t remember a time that this has happened but OK, hope springs eternal. The food banks and the gift cards only delay the inevitable, why not just cut to the chase.

Holding people’s paychecks hostage in order to get your way on something that you don’t have the votes for in Congress is quite simply wrong. The idea is that the Republicans will be shamed into giving into the Democrats. I’m sorry to say, I don’t think the Republican Party is capable of shame. So holding out for a win here is pointless. The party in the minority never gets their way and the only thing that really happens is a lot of hard working people are inconvenienced.

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Texas Legislators are discussing how to keep Furries out of the schools. Furries, in case you are unaware of what they are, and why should you as they are a complete figment of the right wing imagination, are children who identify as animals, specifically cats, and, therefore, require a litter box in their classroom in order to use the toilet. That there is no evidence that this is a problem in any Texas school is beside the point. Never mind. Some child could and, because of this highly remote possibility, the Texas legislature needs to act.

Now a Republican Congresswoman is fighting to keep strippers out of the classroom — a problem, again, with no reported occurrences. No matter the insignificance — the nation must act now because strippers in g-strings are camped outside schools just waiting to perform. It is sad, to say the least, that so much of what is troubling the right wing are not even remotely problems for our schools. But, by all means, lets spend precious time protecting children from strippers and furries when we could spend more time discussing an actual existential problem for pupils — something like, I don’t know, school shooters.

Think about it. If you can only protect children from one thing, who would your rather slip through the protective net for children — a school shooter or a stripper?

What’s the problem you may ask. These legislators are acting preemptively against a possible problem in this crazy world we live in. It isn’t hurting anyone and, if lighting strikes and it actually happens, there will be laws in place to protect children from the experience. But this isn’t some harmless ask from a publicity seeking legislator, it does real harm. Every moment these officials spend protecting children from these monsters under the bed is time, money and energy taken away from actual problems. It is a waste of time which isn’t harmless.

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A couple of weeks back I saw this Facebook post regarding a dementia cure. Since I knew people dealing with dementia, I watched this video of Sanjay Gupta talking about his father’s remarkable turnaround from dementia with a very simple and natural tonic — honey and some spices all cheaply available without a prescription. The video had an additional warning about how I had better watch now because Big Pharma was going to have the video taken down soon because they didn’t want this cheap cure available when they are spending all this money on research for dementia medications and will fight anyone messing around with their profits.

Sanjay Gupta. Big Pharma as the villain. Cheap cure readily available. Somehow all these ingredients fed into my gullible mind so I sent this link onto some people who were dealing with dementia issues. I did give the caveat that I hadn’t researched it much but, hey, Sanjay Gupta, it was worth a look.

Only it was a large pile of bull shit. In the following days, I began to receive Facebook posts from Clint Eastwood, Michael Caine, Bruce Willis and Steve Martin all making similar claims as the Sanjay Gupta video. And all with the same warning about Big Pharma. At this point, I began to get a little suspicious. These big name individuals could collectively fight Big Pharma if this was genuinely a problem, why haven’t I heard about this? Why isn’t this on the news? So I investigated and found out it was a scam (see link above).

I don’t think of myself as a gullible person but, there it is, I fell for a scam. The scammers fed into my prejudices (Big Pharma) and hopes (an easy cure for dementia). Instead of checking out the information, I let my hopes get the better of me. I saw it, I gave it some credence and then passed on the information to other people. If these people clicked on the link, they are now being flooded with Facebook posts regarding this false dementia cure.

The internet is full of bull shit maybe more bull shit than actual truth. Most of the time I can tell the difference but sometimes a whopper gets by me. I should check out anything before I pass on information. Message received.

Still this experience scares me. It was so easy for me to believe in something that was completely false. As I am getting older, I realize that the scammers are a bit more sophisticated about modern life and more knowledgeable of the latest technology than I am. I feel like I am one Nigerian Prince away from falling hard for these crafty mother fuckers. I feel vulnerable.

Worse still, there is apparently nothing that can be done. The crafty mother fuckers are going to get away with selling their snake oil as they can use all their technological know how to hide themselves and geographical boundaries to protect themselves from the law. They are free to use famous people’s images without their permission. They are free to bilk gullible people out of their money. All we, as a society, can say is you better learn how to take care of yourself which is really no help at all.

In the mean time, I am glad to report that the state of Texas is going after the imaginary problem of children identifying as cats, otherwise know as furries, so that schools are now required to put litter boxes in the classroom so the furries can eliminate their waste. That there is no, and I mean no, verifiable cases of this every happening is besides the point. Action is needed about the furries and action was taken. Deep sigh.

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I need to clarify one of my blogs – A Stopped Clock is Right Twice a Day.

First, I give the impression that I thought bombing Iran is a good idea. I don’t.

What I want to say is this: Since Trump has starting bombing Iran, I am going to hope for the best — which is a non-religious Iranian government takes over and the Mullahs are overthrown. Since the military intervention is a done deal, I am hoping for the best result especially for the Iranian people and the American military.

This doesn’t mean I like what Trump has done. I think he is rolling the die here and he doesn’t impress me as someone who knows what dice game is being played much less how to win the game. He didn’t consult Congress and he is doing a piss poor job explaining why we are at war. If it all goes wrong, it is his bag of shit to hold and no one else’s.

With that said, since he has gone ahead with the war, I want him to succeed even though I hate his guts, have no confidence in his ability to successfully pull this off and think he is an asshole. It also kills me that if he does succeed that he has all the diplomatic finesse of an adolescent boy getting laid for the first time. He will be talking about this for some time to come. Endlessly talking about it.

It will be annoying but much more preferable than a disaster in Iran which results in a stronger more authoritarian leader in Iran and more restrictive Islamic fundamentalism foisted on the Iranian people. It is a bad choice but a choice nonetheless.

Finally, I am amazed, yet again, how I can write something, reread what I’ve written to make sure it is what I want to say, publish it, only to realize it isn’t exactly what I wanted to say. My apologies and I endeavor to do better in the future.

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I have mixed feelings about Trump bombing Iran. I have to give him credit for again choosing his enemies wisely because, whether I like Trump or not, and I don’t, I think the Iranian government’s treatment of women and gays is horrible. They are assholes, and if I have to choose, which I am afraid I must, then the Mullahs are bigger assholes than Trump.

But least we forget, Trump is still an asshole. He should have consulted Congress before taking military action — something he had plenty of time to do as he has been considering bombing Iran for some time. There was no imminent Iranian attack or even an increase in Iran’s nuclear capability which Trump assured us months ago was annihilated. He also needs to explain what exactly our goals are here. Again something he has failed to do.

It undermines our world position. For instance, how can we complain if China were to invade Taiwan? We can’t refer back to International Treaties and diplomacy as the proper avenues of action when the U.S. kidnaps one country’s president and kills another’s supreme leader. Yes these processes make quick action difficult, but, then, that is precisely what they were intended to do. Stopping people from acting rashly. You can’t pick and choose which treaties you will honor and which you will ignore.

And, saying that nobody complained when Obama and Clinton did the same thing is hardly a credible defense. It is just saying I know it is wrong but if your side can do, so can our side. It is a 10 year old’s response for getting her hand caught in the cookie jar. The fact is, this time, your hand is in the cookie jar so explain it.

In the meantime, I am hoping for the best for Iran who now have a chance to get rid the Islamic fundamentalists while also pissed about Trump’s continued bad behavior. A stopped clock is right twice a day and all that.

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Daniel Markovits explaining why the idea of meritocracy is just a way for rich people to keep their advantages. It is only a meritocracy if everyone starts out with the same education. People who get better schools get advantage. Now if all students went to schools of equal quality than yes viva the meritocracy. But that isn’t the case. Don’t tell me that parents who are paying $50,000 a year to educate their child think that this education is equal to a basic public school education. They pay to give their child a leg up. This isn’t meritocracy.

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It is easy to scoff at all these rich and powerful men found in the Epstein Files who claim that they didn’t know what Epstein was up to. How could they not know? It is kind of willful ignorance that protects humans from the horror going on around them. It allowed Germans to deny knowing about concentration camps and Southerners to overlook their neighbors lynching of a Black man.

Plausible deniability. I had my suspicions but no real facts. How embarrassing for me if I made a scene about my friends being involved in a crime and then everything turns out to be on the up and up? What would my friends think of me? The bigger concern is how will I fit in afterwards if I am wrong and not justice for the victims. This reasoning, as ruthless as it is, is sound. Rich and powerful men can help me while trafficked women do nothing for the balance sheet.

It is easy when looking in the rearview mirror to say you would do the right thing now that all the Epstein horrors are revealed. But, in the actual moment, would you make that same decision? What would I do if I was at a private island with lots of young women and powerful men, how would I act? More importantly, even if I did nothing except enjoy the man’s drinks and food, what does that say about me? Some of these men didn’t personally take advantage of any girls. On the other hand, they failed to protect any of them from these predators.

But then, what is the right thing? Can I get away with just leaving the island? What if I have to ask my host for a boat off? What if he asks why? Do I confront the man? Or should I wait until I am off the island and tell the police? If the police do nothing, does this end my culpability or should I leak this information to reporters? Once you have committed yourself to looking the other way, you are pretty much out of options on how to continue. You are covering your ass from then on. That so many people decided to do nothing, speaks volumes about the difficulty of crossing powerful men.

It ain’t pretty but any rational person evaluating this situation would do the same. Who is more likely to win this battle — a billionaire with plenty of money, power and friends in high places or a teenager from a broken home and no money. If everyone is going along with something, why should I raise a stink about it? Who am I to protest? Why should I risk my life, my family’s position, my income to rescue someone I don’t even know?

I am not saying to forgive the people who failed to act here. They should have and, because they didn’t, they need to suffer the consequences of their inaction. What concerns me more is how easy it is for good people to be sucked into evil enterprises mostly because they are afraid what will happen to them and to their families. All those people, chomping at the bit, to be invited to Epstein Island where nothing is forbidden and now, 20 years later, finding out that dancing with the devil carries a horrible price.

What would I do if I were in their shoes? The question haunts me. I would like to think I would be a hero. Pulling the young girls behind me, guns blazing, picking off body guards left and right, commandeering a boat and speeding safely away from this den of iniquity. But, sad to say, this just doesn’t sound like something I would do.

It is damn difficult to do the right thing and I pray that I never am put into a position where I have to prove it.

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I have to give Donald Trump credit. He has an incredibly canny sense of self-preservation. Take the Epstein files.

His release has been pure genius.

First, he heavily redacted anything that could implicate him or his cronies. This can change, yes, but it has bought him time and given his age and health, he could die before any evidence directly implicating him is ever revealed.

Then, he is slow releasing the files which surprisingly works to his advantage. There is just too much evidence for any one person to evaluate. He is complying, at least partially, with the law. It may not be the names they want but Trump has delivered names. The media, who are just itching for names to splash in their headlines, are happy as larks going after Prince Andrew or whatever he calls himself now. They just wanted names and Trump gave them big names. Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson will keep them happy for the foreseeable future.

The names he has released are strategic. Mandelson and Prince Andrew are perfect targets since he could give two shits about the UK and Prince Andrew. Trump is more than happy to help bring down the British government that he sees is unfriendly to him. Prince Andrew is just collateral damage.

So Trump lives on to fight another day while living his trademark chaos for someone else to clean up after.

In the meantime, he has delayed any personal embarrassment the Epstein files might cause him. Time enough to start a war or cancel an election or do anything spectacular enough to keep the hounds in the press pool occupied while he continues to use the presidency as his personal credit card. For a man with such limited abilities, he seems to have easily out maneuvered the brighter minds that oppose him.

I think of this every time someone says we finally have Trump cornered. Well, yeah, OK, but, on a pretty regular basis, I remember people saying Trump is cornered (think grabbing their pussies, think Russiagate) and he always magically wiggles out with nary a scar to show for his trouble. So I will believe Trump is cornered when I see his scalp on somebody’s pelt. Until then, he isn’t cornered.

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The present American medical system is a mess. It is a system that nobody understands. Trying to explain the American system to somebody from a different country is virtually impossible. Co-pays, insurance approvals, denial of coverage, cost deductions based on different insurance carriers, Medicare versus Medicaid, write offs between the insurance company and the medical provider, it is head spinningly difficult to explain to any person from the western world. Yet Americans think they have the best healthcare in the world.

There is a disconnect between actual care and how the bills are paid. I am basically happy with the physicians, nurses and drugs I receive. What makes me unhappy is arguing with insurance companies about my bills. These are two very different aspects of the health system. I am happy with one and unhappy with the other. Care is not payment but when someone asks what do you think of your healthcare. You are probably going to think doctors and nurses and not the toll-free customer service representative who can’t explain your bill based on your understanding of your insurance and their somewhat different understanding of it.

Here is the thing, I, of course want the insurance companies to pay for everything. Knowing that is impossible, I would like to know going into any medical procedure, how much I actually owe and I want to understand what the division between my costs and the insurance company’s. I should be able to understand it so that when I look at my bill, it makes sense to me. Is that really too much to ask for? Apparently.