“They’re hiding that there’s nothing to hide.”
Yet again, I fell into a fascinating conversation at my satellite office – the Ellinikon Café, in Highland Park, New Jersey. When I walked in, four people sat around the back table discussing what could be the reasons for “covering up” the Epstein Files. And once again, Douglass Umi, the “Octogenarian Curmudgeon,” had a riveting theory.
Remember, Douglass is very opinionated. You have to take his theories with a big grain of salt. But he consistently applies perfectly logical twists to flip the script on many conspiracy theories. His opinions are not necessarily the same as mine. But I share them because they are challenging and fun to think about.
A segment of the conversation went like this:
HIDING NOTHING
Douglass: They are refusing to release the Epstein Files because there is nothing there.
Spook: You know that as a fact?
Douglass: Of course not. You walked in in the middle of a conversation. The predominant theory is that the files are not being released because there’s something in them they want to hide. But the question was asked, “Why else would they refuse to release the files?” And I am suggesting we explore the possibility that they are hiding that there is nothing to hide. This explanation is unlikely, but giving it due consideration uncovers a fascinating aspect of MAGA.
Spook: But, why on Earth would they hide nothing?
Douglass: Because the entire MAGA-verse is built on one big lie. One big lie made up of hundreds of small lies. MAGA is so deeply invested in the lie that they have to live the lie, and they have to hide any evidence that shows it’s all a lie.
LIVING THE LIE
Spook: How is MAGA living the lie?
Douglass: After a while, you have to start acting as if the lies you are telling are actually true. Otherwise, the lies lose credibility.
Suppose the real reason white rural red-state populations keep falling further and further behind has nothing to do with immigration, but instead is because of Republican tax cuts for billionaires. Add to that funding cuts for programs to rebuild their local economies, and social service cuts to programs that give them a hand up while the new economy is being built.
THE JOBS ARE NOT COMING BACK
Remember when Bill Clinton famously said in his 1992 campaign for president that “your jobs are not coming back?”
Spook: Did he really say that?
Douglass: No. He didn’t. But Trump claims he did. However, Clinton did say that certain manufacturing jobs were unlikely to return to America because of globalization, automation, and trade policy. And he was telling the truth.
REAGAN TAX AND SPENDING CUTS
There are many reasons factory jobs, coal mining, and such started disappearing in the 1970s and 80s. But one factor that exacerbated the problem greatly was the Ronald Reagan tax and spending cuts.
We should not have been selling America to the highest bidders. (Many of them were foreign companies, by the way, just as Trump is doing today.) We should have been investing in the future the way we did in the 1930s, ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s, and later, under Joe Biden.
Spook: How does this relate to the Epstein Files?
THE VILIFICATION OF BILL CLINTON
Douglass: Hugely. Bill Clinton also identified the Reagan tax cuts as a reason manufacturing jobs were going away. The future-MAGA Republicans had to counter that story even before Clinton showed up on the scene. They fabricated fake stories that the reasons these jobs were going away were “welfare queens,” immigrants, and government programs, not tax and spending cuts.
Remember, Reagan told us Government was the problem and that tax cuts for the super-rich were the solution because all that money would “trickle down” to the small guy.
Pre-MAGA also found it easy to vilify Bill Clinton because Bill had many flaws. Pre-MAGA inflated these flaws with stories about Bill stealing French Fries from customers at McDonald’s, pot parties at the White House, Hillary murdering her secret lover, and Bill cheating at golf. How could you believe a man of such flawed character?
Spook: Was Clinton really that bad?
Douglass: Probably not. It’s more likely he was vilified because he promoted necessary policies that slowed down the billionaires’ treasury raid. But in the minds of pre-MAGA, the Monica Lewinsky scandal proved he was. He cheated on his wife and then lied about it. Therefore, he must have lied about Reagan’s tax and spending cuts
Spook: That was twenty-seven years ago.
BIDEN BUILDS ON BILL
Douglass: Yes, but let’s look at what happened in just the last five years. President Biden created A LOT of new jobs. Good jobs. High-paying jobs. Biden finally extracted us from Bush’s war in Afghanistan, as sloppy as it was. But that allowed him to be the first, and so far, only president to seriously deal with China. Biden created millions of jobs to build computer chips, solar panels, electric vehicles, etc. Jobs of the future.
Spook: Millions?
Douglass: When you consider that it’s going to take twenty or more years to get back in the game after Reagan, W, and Trump squandered our role in it, yes. Look, millions of people worldwide will get these jobs. Biden laid a path for a lot of them to happen here in America. But Trump is killing those programs.
Spook: Why?
KILL BILL
Douglass: This is how you live the lie. You see, Biden was building on the Clinton story that the old jobs are not coming back and that the solution is to create new jobs for the future. And you need to spend more to create these jobs. Biden reiterated that the reason we fell so far behind was tax, spending, and social services cuts.
But MAGA wants their tax cuts! And they don’t care who gets hurt to pay for it. Let the bottom 90% suffer. After all, the MAGA story goes, welfare – especially Medicaid, but also Medicare, Social Security, foreign food aid, public health programs, consumer protection programs, and more – these are the problem. Biden’s cutting child poverty in half is the problem. Spending money on science and technology is the problem. Everything Bided did is the problem. Government is the problem.
Spook: Why don’t the voters see through this?
VICES BECOME VIRTUES
Douglass: They bought the big lie. Have you heard of implicit bias?
Spook: Of course.
Douglass: We all have buried deep inside of us hidden beliefs and tropes that are racist, misogynistic, and greedy. But MAGA tells each other that these are not problems. The real problem is those bad people who are trying to deal with this bias. MAGA tells us greed is good. Anger is a virtue. Angry, greedy people marching in Charlottesville are good people. The Democrats don’t tell you that. They make you feel bad.
This supports the bigger story that you are not getting what you deserve because bad Democrats are taking away your air conditioners and making you drink plant-based beer. Immigrants are eating our pets while they’re not busy stealing our jobs. MAGA gets the church behind them by faking they are pro-life, thus giving moral weight to their false narrative.
Spook: And Clinton?
Douglass: Bill Clinton ran against the Reagan-Bush treasury raid in 1992. He raised taxes, balanced the budget, and fostered what is arguably the strongest economy America ever experienced. Of course, new problems popped up. They always do.
Spook: And Epstein?
LESS EVIL THAN BILL
Douglass: Trump won two elections partially by vilifying Clinton. He also vilified Obama, Biden, Kamala, immigrants, and DEI. He strongly suggested that Bill was hanging out with Epstein, having sex with 12-year-olds.
Spook: And MAGA believed him?
Douglass: The same way they believe Trump’s a messenger for God; that he alone can solve our fake problems; and that he’s tough on China, when in fact he’s Making China Great Again more than any president since Nixon;
Spook: And Epstein?
Douglass: Trump campaigned on the promise to release the Epstein Files because they would prove that Bill Clinton and other Democrats were having sex with preteens. That would prove the tax-raising, program-starting Democrats are bad people and make MAGA the lesser of two evils.
Spook: And you’re saying Clinton didn’t do the crime?
Douglass: That’s not what I am saying. I’m saying that the only evidence to support Trump’s claim – in fact, it’s not even evidence – is Trump’s claim itself - that it’s all in the Epstein Files.
But, if Trump lied about that, too, if the vilification of Bill Clinton turns out to be one big lie, Clinton’s reputation could get rehabilitated and people could start considering that he might have been right after all - that the reason white rural populations are suffering really is the Reagan, Bush, Trump 1, and Trump Squared tax and spending policies
Spook: And if that were to happen?
Douglass: MAGA turns on Trump the way pre-MAGA Italians turned on Mussolini.
Spook: I have no idea what that means.
FRIVOLOUS CHARGES
Douglass: If the Epstein Files do NOT implicate Bill Clinton, that’s a really good reason to cover them up. Don’t let them see the light of day.
And Pam’s in on it. Remember when (Ruddy) Guilioni claimed in court that he had evidence of voter improprieties in the 2020 election? He never produced evidence to back his claim. As a result, he lost his license to practice law in some states.
(Attorney General) Pam Bondi faces the same possibility. If she brings a frivolous action against Clinton, it could cost her her license. It would be amazing to have a disbarred Attorney General in the cabinet of a convicted felon. Wouldn’t that be fun?
Spook: Dude. You are radical.
Douglass: Thank you!
Author’s note: The very radical opinions expressed here are not necessarily the opinions of me, the author. They are, however, a fun mental exercise.
Keep the Flame Alive!
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A very hard conversation to follow. It is an example of American confusion that reaches bizarre assumptions by all the confusing events. Let's just start anew with grace and humility and peace. How about that? That takes hard work. That's another conversation and presents enormous change for America and the world.
The Clintons are long out of the picture and Trump will never stand for election again. Republicans have safe seats for now. Trump will keep any frivolous issue alive while he builds the fortunes of his family and company. Sen. Markowski voted under pressure from oil interests. Fantasy of return to a manufacturing economy comes from special interests. US is a service and technology economy. China is manufacturing and technology.