26 Jul Epstein, Colbert and Truth

“What might the ‘Jeffrey Epstein files’ reveal?” – The Lonely Realist

Is MAGA skepticism about Jeffrey Epstein – his files and his suicide – justified? Or is President Trump correct in saying that “only pretty bad people, including fake news, wanna keep [the Jeffrey Epstein uproar] going,” calling it a Democratic Party “SCAM [and] Hoax, and my PAST supporters have bought into this ‘bullshit’ hook, line, and sinker.”

And why was Stephen Colbert fired canceled? Was it for economic or transactional/political reasons? Who should you believe, CBS or Jon Stewart?

In short, what is “truth”? And where (and from whom) should you seek it?

“Truth” is synonymous with “fact” – and, yes Virginia, there are such things as “facts” –, with the dictionary defining a fact as something that is provable. Yet everything everywhere today, whether or not fantasy, is presented as a “proven fact” by media champions, with too many people accepting their assertions as “truth.” Objectivity is treated as myth, “reality” is viewed as a fluid concept, the scientific method is treated as an elite fiction, and “truth” has become a matter of Party choice.

“Reality,” in the words of Philip K. Dick, nevertheless “is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Reality is out there for all to see and experience…, though only if they’re willing to take the time…, shine a bright light…, and look closely. The Jeffrey Epstein files apparently exist…, or they previously existed, evidence of which indeed is out there. The facts surrounding Stephen Colbert’s cancelation are out there as well. Historically, those who chose not to look at facts were divorced from reality…, and committed to an asylum. No longer. Today they find common cause through social media.

Today’s “reality” therefore differs from the late 20^th Century’s Golden Age when newscasters earned the public’s trust, successfully policing the activities of governments, businesses, and industries and, in so doing, affirming a common understanding of reality. They weren’t in the entertainment business. Their personal beliefs didn’t intrude on the accuracy of their reporting. Their integrity – and the public’s trust in that integrity – established “fact.”

That era is over. Media today provide opiated chat-fodder, the 21^st Century’s substitute for news. With truth no longer attracting the eyeballs necessary to pay reporters’ wages, America’s newsrooms have been eviscerated. Its so-called “stars” have become reciters of “truth-lite” partisan scripts. Media success is all about ratings that entertain preferences and prejudices. As a consequence, there no longer are media that the public trusts to distinguish truth from “truthiness.”

Truthiness is the term coined by Stephen Colbert in 2005 – yes, that same “canceled” Stephen Colbert. It is “the belief or assertion that a particular statement is true based on the intuition or perceptions of some individual or individuals without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination or facts…,” Colbert adding that “[i]t used to be [that] everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that’s not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all.” Truthiness affirms entrenched beliefs…, whether or not grounded in fact. Bill Maher’s satirical version of the term is called “I Don’t Know it for a Fact, I Just Know it’s True.” His comedic routines assert a plausible personal opinion based on photos or rumors…, precisely what the media, and most politicians, assert as “fact.”

Philip K. Dick’s words resonate: truthiness, personal opinions and rumor are not reality.

What does that mean with respect to the Jeffrey Epstein videotapes? Attorney General Bondi has said that a gap in those videos is attributable to a nightly system reset: “Every night the video is reset, and every night should have the same minute missing. So we’re looking for that video to release that as well, to show that a minute is missing every night.” Two weeks have passed and the Attorney General’s office has not released any videos. Wired has a different understanding, reporting that “Metadata from the ‘raw’ Epstein prison video shows approximately 2 minutes and 53 seconds were removed from one of two stitched-together clips. The cut starts right at the ‘missing minute.’” Release of all versions of the Epstein prison video, as well as other videos that show the alleged “nightly system reset,” would enable experts to make a “factual” evaluation – that is, distinguish truth from truthiness.

The same approach should be taken with respect to the “Epstein files.” Although TLR is a disbeliever in conspiracy theories, the quantity of “Epstein-generated smoke” is impossible to ignore. The whipsawing twists and turns in the Attorney General’s accounts, the WSJ report that President Trump was told by the Attorney General that his name appears numerous times in the Epstein files, the unilateral statements of Alan Dershowitz that assert the non-existence of any and all Epstein files, the accusations made on June 5 by Elon Musk, President Trump’s request for release of irrelevant Grand Jury testimony, and the Trump Administration’s recent arguments for soliciting testimony from Epstein’s jailed co-conspirator, Ghislaine Maxwell (whose conviction currently is on appeal), rather than releasing the files themselves, argue for further steps to uncover “the facts” – perhaps via Congressional hearings. Although House Speaker Mike Johnson initially agreed, asking the Justice Department to release the files in the name of “transparency,” he backtracked early this week, adjourning the House to preclude a vote. Perhaps the passage of time and pyramiding of distractions will allow the Epstein issues to fade away?

“Truth” is based on fact-finding. The essence of fact-finding is shining a bright light on “the facts.” Doing so ought to be the rule, and not only for the Jeffrey Epstein videos and files, but also with respect to every action taken in a free and democratic nation.

Finally (from a good friend)