Is Trump Killing His Movement and was Epstein Running a Mossad Blackmail Operation?
Paul Craig Roberts
Nima and I discuss these issues. We do not discuss whether Epstein was murdered, which is the question at the heart of the matter. If he was murdered, why? Was Epstein murdered because he threatened to reveal that he was running a blackmail operation, not a sex-trafficking operation? Was he murdered because he had the dirt on too many elite Americans? Did the CIA have him murdered as revenge for Israel’s spying on the US?
The circumstances suggest that he was murdered. A high profile prisoner, he was in a suicide-proof cell watched by two guards and by security cameras. For the brief period during which he died, the guards happened to wander off the job. The security cameras malfunctioned or were turned off. In other words, not just part of security failed. All of it did.
There is no evidence of suicide. There is only assertion by authorities. How often do authorities tell the truth? President John F. Kennedy’s assassination? His brother, Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination? 9/11?, Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction? Assad’s use of chemical weapons? The lies about Gaddafi? The examples of authorities saying the opposite of the truth are endless.
If Epstein was running an Israeli blackmail operation to ensure American conformity with Israel’s policy of expansion in the Middle East, it is unlikely any youths below the age of sexual consent were present involuntary. Israel would hire young women rather than jeopardize an important operation by kidnapping underaged girls and holding them in sexual bondage, which could lead to an investigation. Moreover, whether or not 17-year old Virginia Guthrie was underaged depends on her state of residency. In the 50 US states the age varies from 16 to 18 years old. In 31 of the 50 states the age of consent is 16. In eight of the states the age of consent is 17. In eleven of the states the age of consent is 18.
The age of sexual consent is arbitrary. In 1871 Delaware lowered the age of female sexual consent from 10 to 7 years old. In the rest of the US at that time the age was 10 to 12 years old. Today in some South American and African countries the age of female consent is 12. In Austria it is 14. In France, Poland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Greece, Denmark and Iceland, the age of consent is 15. In the rest of Europe the age of consent is 16 or 17. In China the age of consent is 14. In Japan the age was recently raised from 13 to 16. In many Muslim countries sexual intercourse outside of marriage is prohibited. In Iran males can marry at 15 and girls at 13.
In the US the age of consent was raised partly to reduce teenage pregnancy. Today this problem is combated by mothers having 12-year old daughters on birth control pills. Moreover, whether or not sex with an underaged female is a criminal offense depends on the age of the male. As long as the male is not 21, the arbitrary age of adulthood, it is not a criminal offense.
Consider the paradox, an 18 year old American, a non-adult, cannot purchase alcohol or a gun, but can be sent as a soldier to kill and die abroad. This shows how arbitrary the age definitions are.
The narrative that Epstein was running a sex trafficking operation for pedophiles appeals to MAGA-Americans who see the elite as a corrupt class. As many MAGA-Americans are Christian Zionists, they don’t want to hear that Israel was entrapping Americans for blackmail purposes. Male-hating feminists also prefer the sex-trafficking narrative as it lays the blame on men. Emotions and indoctrination predispose much of the public to see the Epstein saga as an underage sex-trafficking business. This predisposition protects Israel by dismissing a blackmail operation as anti-semitism and a conspiracy theory.
The question is whether there are sufficient Americans free of indoctrination and brainwashing who are capable of rational analysis instead of emotional responses to ever reach the truth about anything. If a person reads comment sections on articles and podcasts that are posted, he sees a lot of emotion and little thought. A person also discovers that people follow websites, podcasts and social media that support what they already believe. There are not many whose beliefs are based on objective analysis of facts. Indeed, what the actual facts are is becoming harder to ascertain. How likely is it that a majority can arrive at the truth of any issue?