The Epstein Files, And The (REDACTED) Truth That Sets Monsters Free

In my travels across this country over the past decade both in person and virtually, I’ve often asked people a simple, elemental question: What kind of person does the world need right now?Regardless of their political affiliation or religious tradition, there has always been great commonality in their answers. People invariably use words like compassion, kindness, generosity, and courage.They also almost always use the word honesty. When asked what people value in the humanity they share this life with, they unanimously say they value truthfulness.Many of them are lying.Regardless of what they might say (or even think they believe), the truth is no longer of value to the people still supporting this President. Oh, it may be something they aspire to in theory, but practically speaking it is so irrelevant that they have no use for it even when it comes to the very sovereignty of our nation, the integrity of our electoral process, the criminality of our elected leaders, or the violent and despicable dehumanization of girls and young women.It doesn’t matter that their Messiah of Prolific Fiction is almost biologically incapable of full disclosure in even the most mundane of matters; that he takes credit for things he has no part in, that he affixes his name on endeavors he had no hand in initiating, that he conjures up crises that do not exist, that he effortlessly creates nightmare scenarios regarding migrants or Muslims or parents of trans children or Democratic opponents that have no basis in objective reality.It doesn’t matter that his Press Secretary regularly speaks falsehoods about moments of great national consequence, or that she daily manufactures lies, myths, and misdirection the way trees involuntarily produce oxygen.It doesn’t matter that the Attorney General of this nation (a woman charged with stewarding legality and Rule of Law) refuses to provide the full contents of one of the most important human trafficking investigations in our lifetime, but a heavily redacted version of it that is nearly 90 percent concealed.And here, in the face of a version of the long-withheld Epstein Files that is so riddled with black rectangles as to be completely unintelligible, his cultic disciples are treating it as gospel; willfully deluding themselves into believing a blatantly curated reality that makes them feel victorious even as it traumatizes, injures, and violates thousands of women all over again.Regardless of their self-righteous sanctimonious lip service, the people who are on the side of this Administration don’t want honesty; they simply want to win (whatever that looks like in their lie-addled minds), and everything yields and bows to that victory: facts, data, reality, truth—everything.In their bastardized version of the truth, pedophiles will be protected, predators provided cover, monsters given refuge, and they will cling to a reality shrouded in a manufactured darkness that obfuscates the most vile abominations human beings are capable of.Make no mistake, what the Department of Justice, this Administration, and the Republican Party are complicit in, is a second act of violence against survivors of sexual assault.And though many of these professed truth-lovers call themselves Christians, they operate with a fundamentally edited theology that reflects their current conduct:Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord—unless a Presidency or Supreme Court seat is in the balance. - Proverbs 12:22 MAGA Redacted TranslationYou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor—unless your neighbor is a Democrat, a migrant family, or a transgender teenager - Exodus 20:16 MAGA Redacted TranslationI hate and abhor falsehood, but I love your law (though falsehood will do in a pinch or if Fox News is reporting it). - Psalm 119:163 MAGA Redacted TranslationThen you will know the (heavily redacted, partially disclosed, selectively revealed) truth—and the truth will set you free. - John 8:32 MAGA Redacted TranslationThat’s the funny thing about the truth: it doesn’t require redaction, it does not need censoring, it is not afraid of full disclosure. The truth is the truth, because it conceals nothing in the shadows, and the people who really have respect for it, don’t try to either. They also don’t make excuses or shrug their shoulders or gaslight you when lies surface.The grotesque renovation of the Epstein Files and the partisan consenting to it is a crime against the humanity that we agree to uphold and defend in a humane society, and it again shows how morally fractured so many here have become.We are not who we say we are in this life; we are what we do with it. The values we espouse aren’t actually valuable to us unless we embody those values when it is most difficult, when it confronts our preferences, or when it elevates someone we disagree with. We can make every grand declaration and proffer the most virtuous responses with our lips regarding the traits we treasure, but at the end of the day, our convictions are the sum total of our choices. If we claim to love the truth and daily aid and abet people who traffic in lies, we’ve made our decision.With their votes and their allegiances and now with their willful ignorance in the face of a literal covering up of rapists and pedophiles, a good number of people who call this place home are telling us what they value right now—and it isn’t what they say it is.Trump supporters will tell us today with a straight face that they believe in protecting children, that they believe in making monsters accountable, that they fiercely covet the truth… and they will be lying.The Beautiful Mess by John Pavlovitz is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit johnpavlovitz.substack.com/subscribe