In a new column at his own site, Professor Jonathan Turley takes up the case of Rep. Ro Khanna and his “outing” the names of six men — four of whom had no connection to Epstein whatsoever — found in the Epstein files made public under the Epstein Files Transparency Act that Khanna himself “wrote” with Rep. Thomas Massie….
I have paid as little attention to the Epstein files as possible. But Barry’s post reminded me that Holman Jenkins recently wrote something that made me raise an eyebrow.
But the Epstein story now has little do with Epstein. The increasingly radical Rep. Ro Khanna is the Democratic co-author of the Epstein disclosure law with Republican wild man Thomas Massie. Mr. Khanna’s stated goal: “fundamentally change the economic and political structure that has shafted the working class.” “We need a clearing, frankly, of the elite governing class . . . whether they were Democrats or Republicans,” he has said. “We need a generational change.”
That unnerves me a bit because it seems like the kind of thing that populists on the left and right might agree with.
Which raises an “interesting” question:
Who has done the most over the past 15 or so years to “[SHAFT] the working class”?
@Mike Plaiss:That unnerves me a bit because it seems like the kind of thing that populists on the left and right might agree with.
In their defense, the Epstein correspondence has shown that our “elites” are morally bankrupt clowns who exploit their connections. They don’t have to be in a pedo ring to be unfit for what they are trusted with. After Epstein was convicted in 2008 they were still sucking up to him, asking him for favors, wanting to party with him, asking for help with money or connections.
What they are showing us is that it doesn’t matter much what you do, when you’re in the big club (which we ain’t in) you’re in it forever, and they may pretend that they care about the morals of those they associate with but they really don’t.
Five examples:
Noam Chomsky asked Epstein to help him with his retirement funds.
Soon Yi Previn, Woody Allen’s wife, asked Epstein to help her get her daughter into Bard.
Elon Musk wanted to party at the island. He didn’t actually go, but he asked about it.
Larry Summers wanted advice on how to convince his mentee to help him cheat on his wife.
Kathryn Reummler, former White House Consel for Obama, accepted gifts from him, let him pay for her travel, and asked him about job prospects as well as continuing to spend time at his house.
A lot of these people sucking up to Epstein were huffing and puffing about Trump’s low character.
Which raises an “interesting” question:
Who has done the most over the past 15 or so years to “[SHAFT] the working class”?
— Barry Meislin
The question ‘who’ implies a plurality of choice.
In reality, the elite Democrats and the elite Republicans form a single power elite, they compete with each other over who is going to be head of the club, but it’s all the same club. The ‘Uniparty’ terminology is a cliche for a reason.
That’s why, no matter what happened with elections from 1992 to 2016, nothing ever seemed to change very much except on the margins. The people running both parties wanted open borders immigration, corporatist economics, globalized power, hyper-secularism, disarmed populations, etc. It’s true the elite class differed on the fine details, and argued over which of them would be #1 and which #2 within the club, but always within the club.
The Republicans would run on social conservatism and American nationalism, but never acted on it in power. Instead, they would pursue ‘free trade’, immigration amnesties, and business interests. The Democrats would run on economic populism and labor interests, but in power they pursued ‘free trade’, immigration amnesty, and (slightly different) business interests, plus social liberalism.
Hate the Democrat social liberal agenda? You can vote in Republicans who will stop advancing it, but do nothing to reverse it, and in the meantime will pursue economic policies you hate. Hate GOP economics? You can vote in Democrats who will pursue more or less the same policies but quietly, while advancing a social agenda you hate.
I remember the 2014 Senate race in Kentucky, between McConnell and Allison Lundgren-Grimes. It degenerated into each candidate pointing at the other and chanting ‘pro-Amnesty!’ over and over. Both were telling the truth.
BOTH parties would pursue globalization. The GOP finally, reluctantly, began to really stand for gun owner rights out of sheer political necessity, but they were dragging their feet all the way, their hearts were not in it.
Discontent built up and built up and the dam broke in 2016. But ever since the Uniparty has struggled to rebuild the dam and get back to 2015 (or better yet, to September 10 2001).
I remember a political cartoon from 2016 that really summed it all up: Jeb and Hillary carrying establishment flags, marching side-by-side, Hillary six inches to Jeb’s left and vice versa, with nobody following them. Meanwhile Trump and Bernie are leading huge crowds in different directions.
Even the left/right dichotomy is misleading under current conditions, it’s more of a commoner vs. aristocrat/oligarch divide.
Some years back I read an article about a candidate seeking a US Senate seat from West Virginia, who traveled to Manhattan, NYC to seek campaign contributions from some wealthy folks.
It got me thinking: how many of these big money city slickers had ever been to W.Virginia?
How many of them had the foggiest idea about the concerns of the denizens of W.Virginia?
My guess is that these city slickers could give a shiite about the people of West Virginia.
It used to be, prior to the enactment of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, that US Senators were appointed by their respective state legislatures.
Perhaps the 17th amendment should be repealed to avoid (or at least minimize) out-of-state interests and $$$ intruding into the selection of US Senators.
Just a thought.
Thanks!
Follow up query:
WHEN??
(That is, might it be possible that your description / assessment / analysis became less true after January 2021?)
– – – – – – – – –
Speaking of UNi-Party….
(AKA, Hey! Let’s go global!!)
Re Barry’s last post – interesting that the whistleblower was a Muslim woman. Maybe the exception that proves the rule but still …
The video made me laugh because my best friend has twin daughters. They look so much alike, sound just alike – very hard to tell apart. When they were young she had every possible test done: identical, mirror twins… Nope just fraternal. Only one had children. One twin had her sister visiting; they live in different cities. And her youngest (at the time) was in her sister’s arms, sure it was his Mommy. He didn’t want to go to Mommy! Oh, and these twins look so much alike that Face ID on their iphones will open phone to either twin! Go figure. (And wonder how safe Face ID is after all….
FOAF, very true. There are good people out there, e.g.,
OTOH, while the author of the article you commented on cites Oxfam’s decision to flee the scene of the crime rather than hold itself accountable (“…The Oxfam departure proves that you cannot build a sustainable aid model on a foundation of ideological fiction….”) I’m not sure he’s always right about this, since the GENOCIDE NARRATIVE is very much still alive!
Note that the UN hasn’t learned a thing—Guterres continues to froth at the mouth and UNRWA is still trying hard to force its way back into Gaza. Moreover, look at how Francesca Albenese’s been able to hang in there, spewing her toxic waste non-stop, for so long; in fact, the recent calls by several European countries(!) to have her fired has been met by a UN response of the “Trying to interfere with the work of UN Special Rapporteur is unconscionable!!” kind….
(Compare and contrast Albanese with the UN’s Alice Nderitu in the first link above…)
Related:
Turns out that that Oxfam story’s even stranger than one might have initially understand it to be—the “Former Oxfam CEO” in the link below is, in fact, the moslem woman who blew the whistle on them and she’s suing them for false allegations made against her.”
A former CEO has claimed that allegations are unfounded and is seeking to clear her name through legal action, in a case that has sparked serious debate about the British aid organisation’s internal culture.
Former director Helima Begum has taken her case to an employment tribunal after the organisation accused her of making racist, antisemitic, and sexist remarks, as well as behaving in a discriminatory manner during her leadership.
Begum strongly denies the allegations and says she is the victim of a “witch hunt,” claiming the accusations have seriously damaged her professional reputation and career.
You’ve never seen eight possums eating bananas together.
Now’s you chance.
Weirdly funny.
Huxley, Very odd yet funny, yep!!
Lol!
Some seemed way better at chewing them!
Maybe smaller pieces are called for, maybe.
.
Was there sound? I couldn’t get any.
Robert Duvall passed away today, 95, RIP.
Was there sound? I couldn’t get any.
Marlene:
I can hear it if I turn up the volume, but it’s barely louder than the ambient noise.
Opossums are omnivores and have a surprising number of teeth. They do like fruit.
In regards to identical twins. Many years ago I watched a National Geographic documentary about twins. One of the families presented were two pairs of identical twins that married each other and lived next to each other. This always fascinated me as all the children of the two families were brothers and sisters of each other not just cousins. The two couples said that their children never mistook the wrong parents.
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OK, now let’s do, “Which one’s yer daddy….
“WHY KHANNA CAN DO IT”—
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2026/02/why-khanna-can-do-it.php
Opening graf:
I have paid as little attention to the Epstein files as possible. But Barry’s post reminded me that Holman Jenkins recently wrote something that made me raise an eyebrow.
When the Epstein Levee Breaks
https://archive.fo/lTSJh
That unnerves me a bit because it seems like the kind of thing that populists on the left and right might agree with.
Which raises an “interesting” question:
Who has done the most over the past 15 or so years to “[SHAFT] the working class”?
@Mike Plaiss:That unnerves me a bit because it seems like the kind of thing that populists on the left and right might agree with.
In their defense, the Epstein correspondence has shown that our “elites” are morally bankrupt clowns who exploit their connections. They don’t have to be in a pedo ring to be unfit for what they are trusted with. After Epstein was convicted in 2008 they were still sucking up to him, asking him for favors, wanting to party with him, asking for help with money or connections.
What they are showing us is that it doesn’t matter much what you do, when you’re in the big club (which we ain’t in) you’re in it forever, and they may pretend that they care about the morals of those they associate with but they really don’t.
Five examples:
Noam Chomsky asked Epstein to help him with his retirement funds.
Soon Yi Previn, Woody Allen’s wife, asked Epstein to help her get her daughter into Bard.
Elon Musk wanted to party at the island. He didn’t actually go, but he asked about it.
Larry Summers wanted advice on how to convince his mentee to help him cheat on his wife.
Kathryn Reummler, former White House Consel for Obama, accepted gifts from him, let him pay for her travel, and asked him about job prospects as well as continuing to spend time at his house.
A lot of these people sucking up to Epstein were huffing and puffing about Trump’s low character.
— Barry Meislin
The question ‘who’ implies a plurality of choice.
In reality, the elite Democrats and the elite Republicans form a single power elite, they compete with each other over who is going to be head of the club, but it’s all the same club. The ‘Uniparty’ terminology is a cliche for a reason.
That’s why, no matter what happened with elections from 1992 to 2016, nothing ever seemed to change very much except on the margins. The people running both parties wanted open borders immigration, corporatist economics, globalized power, hyper-secularism, disarmed populations, etc. It’s true the elite class differed on the fine details, and argued over which of them would be #1 and which #2 within the club, but always within the club.
The Republicans would run on social conservatism and American nationalism, but never acted on it in power. Instead, they would pursue ‘free trade’, immigration amnesties, and business interests. The Democrats would run on economic populism and labor interests, but in power they pursued ‘free trade’, immigration amnesty, and (slightly different) business interests, plus social liberalism.
Hate the Democrat social liberal agenda? You can vote in Republicans who will stop advancing it, but do nothing to reverse it, and in the meantime will pursue economic policies you hate. Hate GOP economics? You can vote in Democrats who will pursue more or less the same policies but quietly, while advancing a social agenda you hate.
I remember the 2014 Senate race in Kentucky, between McConnell and Allison Lundgren-Grimes. It degenerated into each candidate pointing at the other and chanting ‘pro-Amnesty!’ over and over. Both were telling the truth.
BOTH parties would pursue globalization. The GOP finally, reluctantly, began to really stand for gun owner rights out of sheer political necessity, but they were dragging their feet all the way, their hearts were not in it.
Discontent built up and built up and the dam broke in 2016. But ever since the Uniparty has struggled to rebuild the dam and get back to 2015 (or better yet, to September 10 2001).
I remember a political cartoon from 2016 that really summed it all up: Jeb and Hillary carrying establishment flags, marching side-by-side, Hillary six inches to Jeb’s left and vice versa, with nobody following them. Meanwhile Trump and Bernie are leading huge crowds in different directions.
Even the left/right dichotomy is misleading under current conditions, it’s more of a commoner vs. aristocrat/oligarch divide.
Some years back I read an article about a candidate seeking a US Senate seat from West Virginia, who traveled to Manhattan, NYC to seek campaign contributions from some wealthy folks.
It got me thinking: how many of these big money city slickers had ever been to W.Virginia?
How many of them had the foggiest idea about the concerns of the denizens of W.Virginia?
My guess is that these city slickers could give a shiite about the people of West Virginia.
It used to be, prior to the enactment of the 17th Amendment to the Constitution in 1913, that US Senators were appointed by their respective state legislatures.
Perhaps the 17th amendment should be repealed to avoid (or at least minimize) out-of-state interests and $$$ intruding into the selection of US Senators.
Just a thought.
Thanks!
Follow up query:
WHEN??
(That is, might it be possible that your description / assessment / analysis became less true after January 2021?)
– – – – – – – – –
Speaking of UNi-Party….
(AKA, Hey! Let’s go global!!)
“When the ‘Genocide’ narrative becomes too heavy to carry”—
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/422520
Re Barry’s last post – interesting that the whistleblower was a Muslim woman. Maybe the exception that proves the rule but still …
The video made me laugh because my best friend has twin daughters. They look so much alike, sound just alike – very hard to tell apart. When they were young she had every possible test done: identical, mirror twins… Nope just fraternal. Only one had children. One twin had her sister visiting; they live in different cities. And her youngest (at the time) was in her sister’s arms, sure it was his Mommy. He didn’t want to go to Mommy! Oh, and these twins look so much alike that Face ID on their iphones will open phone to either twin! Go figure. (And wonder how safe Face ID is after all….
FOAF, very true. There are good people out there, e.g.,
“The U.N’s Anti-Israel ‘Genocide’ Purge – Alice Nderitu said Israel’s campaign in Gaza doesn’t meet the definition of genocide. She was fired.”—
https://www.reddit.com/r/geopolitics/comments/1h08c6f/the_uns_antiisrael_genocide_purge_alice_nderitu/
OTOH, while the author of the article you commented on cites Oxfam’s decision to flee the scene of the crime rather than hold itself accountable (“…The Oxfam departure proves that you cannot build a sustainable aid model on a foundation of ideological fiction….”) I’m not sure he’s always right about this, since the GENOCIDE NARRATIVE is very much still alive!
Note that the UN hasn’t learned a thing—Guterres continues to froth at the mouth and UNRWA is still trying hard to force its way back into Gaza. Moreover, look at how Francesca Albenese’s been able to hang in there, spewing her toxic waste non-stop, for so long; in fact, the recent calls by several European countries(!) to have her fired has been met by a UN response of the “Trying to interfere with the work of UN Special Rapporteur is unconscionable!!” kind….
(Compare and contrast Albanese with the UN’s Alice Nderitu in the first link above…)
Related:
Turns out that that Oxfam story’s even stranger than one might have initially understand it to be—the “Former Oxfam CEO” in the link below is, in fact, the moslem woman who blew the whistle on them and she’s suing them for false allegations made against her.”
“Former Oxfam CEO Takes Charity to Court;
“The ex-boss of NGO Oxfam has taken legal action against her erstwhile organisation—after denying allegations of racism and antisemitism made against her.”—
https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news-corner/ngo-charity-oxfam-ceo-helima-begum-lawsuit-court/
Opening grafs:
Can’t make this up…
–Wildlife Rehab, “Opossums eating bananas” (44s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRIVTEBaLkA
You’ve never seen eight possums eating bananas together.
Now’s you chance.
Weirdly funny.
Huxley, Very odd yet funny, yep!!
Lol!
Some seemed way better at chewing them!
Maybe smaller pieces are called for, maybe.
.
Was there sound? I couldn’t get any.
Robert Duvall passed away today, 95, RIP.
Was there sound? I couldn’t get any.
Marlene:
I can hear it if I turn up the volume, but it’s barely louder than the ambient noise.
Opossums are omnivores and have a surprising number of teeth. They do like fruit.
Glad you enjoyed the critters!
Again, Trans…
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2026/02/rhode-island-transgender-hockey-game-shooter-identified-replied/
In regards to identical twins. Many years ago I watched a National Geographic documentary about twins. One of the families presented were two pairs of identical twins that married each other and lived next to each other. This always fascinated me as all the children of the two families were brothers and sisters of each other not just cousins. The two couples said that their children never mistook the wrong parents.