Comment by wiether

They are being forced to release the files by a new law passed by congress. This is malicious compliance and they’re not actually releasing what they’re supposed to be releasing.

Rich people are hiding their crimes against children with corruption. This law seeks to reveal this corruption. Why is that wrong?

> Just to add a bit more context: after years of trials, one of our former President finally went to jail for a few weeks. And now, they're invited by media all over the country so they can complain about how unfair it was, they published a book about it, sold in the tens of thousands, their son is the new TV's favorite...

Haha I was wondering where this other side of the pond was. This leaves no doubt. Quelle indignité.

For others: it's Sarkozy they are referring to, who was sentenced to 5 years of prison but spent only 20 days in it. He's free until his next trial. For having colluded with terrorists.

It's interesting to see where the "too famous to prosecute" line lies. So far the highest profile casualty seems to have been Prince Andrew - as a result of the files, and NOT as a result of his actual court case with Virginia Giuffre, which he settled before her suicide.

Maybe it's possible. Berlusconi was brought down by his habit of young women eventually hitting one under 18.

There needs to be a RICO case on the entire criminal abuse network which operated as an open secret for over three decades.

Andrew Windsor needs to be extradited to the US and face trial.

We need a referendum about whether we want child rape to be a tool of US policy. I say no.

Sarkozy is free on appeal, not like he was pardoned or found unaccountable

I think your underlying question comes down to a relationship with the media, accountability and prosperity

By distraction, I think that’s media driven, can be ignored. State actions are transparent enough that you dont need the media to tell you what to pay attention to

In some religious dogma, Prosperity is tied to good deeds, conformity to what collaborative for society. With the expected contrary being suffering.

Seen as “Prosperity Preaching” in Christianity, the concept of karma outside of Abrahamic religions. This is a fiction that has never matched the real world so once that expectation is dropped it will be easier to navigate the world. There is no relationship to financial reward from conformity to a social collaborative behavior, in fact its mostly the opposite, maximum extraction is a core tenant of our system and what is incentivized. If the market is interested in something you can earn from it

And this goes finally into the relationship with accountability. The justice system acts on the rails of its own mechanizations. Its a perversion to want that to include total ostracization, total financial distress for an indeterminate time, I actually dont know the limits of what people want. It seems more so related to how it affects poorer people that way while wealthier and savvier people are exempt from distress, but it shouldnt be the case for poorer people either.

> after years of trials, one of our former President finally went to jail for a few weeks. And now, they're invited by media all over the country so they can complain about how unfair it was, they published a book about it, sold in the tens of thousands, their son is the new TV's favorite..

Yeah this is insightful. Another dictator went to jail in 1920s for staging a coup and used that time for writing his manifesto and getting sympathy from his followers. Some times (often these days) politics just lives on a plane outside the justice system. And it is really creepy.

The victims themselves want the files to be released. Also, we all know how terrible politicians are, but the whole of public opinion should be made aware of how low the bar is.

Do you know Berlusconi, from the Italian government? He was the Italian version of Donald Trump, and he was involved in a lot of scandals at the time, including being involved with the mafia and, you guessed it, underage girls.

I think for the duration of this four year term, at the very least, nothing will happen. But there's a bit of hope (possibly cope) that if these people accept an election loss in 2028 and voters keep this anger going, people involved may be charged and imprisoned.

History shows that it never happens in America and politicians always drop the "it's time for our nation to heal" line, but if the pendulum swings as far in the other direction as it did in the 2024 election, maybe things will be different. And the only hope of that happening is for people to stay pissed.

One thing I will say is the outrage about this has lasted longer than I initially imagined. America has had a lot of "this controversy won't be forgotten!" stuff that nobody remembers 2 months later. In contrast, I feel like this has been steadily ramping up and maintaining some degree of inertia for 2 years. Will it burn out by 2028? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised. It was washed out of the news by trans people playing sports and that was somehow the biggest issue in the world. 2028 will undoubtedly have some weird "problem" that we can't yet imagine.

Regarding this error:

> like repeating they decreased drugs price by 600%

The NYT and other media outlets like to point out that this claim is mathematically impossible. However, “cut prices by 600%” is understood perfectly well by most people (but not pedants) to mean “we undid price hikes of 600%.”

I suspect that this phrasing was chosen as a “wedge” to drive home to the MAGA faithful that the news media is biased against them.

I've had the same exact feeling for a while: several people known to be in the files are not the purest people we know and I'm not sure them being there will have any effect whatsoever. Taking Trump, what would really change to his image? All his supporters are already ok with the stuff he did/said and his opponents are already against him.

All his political/business allies won't easily switch as they stay his connections and money, not his clean image.

It just feels like a real-life reality show to keep the news flowing and people just enough bewildered and curious to keep coming back for more. Basically the perfect material for a while.

Especially with all the hyper redacted parts, groups can start literally reading between the lines and make unfounded allegations to create even more clicks.

Yes I‘m also watching with disbelief. Even more so since media attention in the EU about it seems higher than in the US. Although the recent trove I found especially disturbing.

I recently watched a documentary where elites from beginning of the 20th century were also portrayed. Self-portrayed as Philanthropists. Moral bankruptcy became obvious, although in other manifestations such as shooting members of worker unions. And the US government did something in form of the New Deal, splitting monopolies and other policies.

In an optimistic scenario I’d expect something similar. New ways to hold elites accountable and keeping extreme differences in wealth in check.

Decades of unresolved corruption scandals , finally a chance to confirm what we suspected about sleazy and deplorable elites . Slim chances, but what else do we have

Thanks for writing this. I also feel disturbing such morbid outlook to someone’s private digital life.

The victims themselves were asking for the files to be fully released so that their abusers are held accountable. This was a big "fuck you" to the victims when everything of significance was [REDACTED]

Foreign governments running honeytrap operations on powerful perverts like bill clinton is common knowledge amongst anyone interested in knowing about such things, but some people think it is a super big secret that needs to be revealed to the masses. Thomas Massie for instance. I don’t think it’s antisemitism but I’m pretty sure it’s not because of a sudden concern for teenage prostitution, which is a big ongoing problem that could be addressed by legislators crafting policy if they weren’t so busy slinging mud at each other looking for Epstein photos with their political opponents.