A more accurate way of saying “liked having sex with underage girls” is “liked raping children”. Under the law, certainly in New York, to be below the age of consent is to be a minor, and for Epstein, or anyone else, to have sex with a girl below the age of consent is to rape her.
Let’s call this what this is: child rape.
30
Trump goes out of his way to stick it to the American people. He finds the worst possible person to represent venerable American, democratic institutions. Is there no limit to his cruelty in playing out such a ruthless hoax on his ardent supporters. Will they finally wakeup and will the GOP finally call him out?
10
Great analysis, great writing and great satire, Gail! Keep up the unfettered, unbridled, and unabashed commentary.
7
Trump runs the Presidency pretty much like he ran his business. He doesn’t appear to be disturbed by the ineptitude of his cabinet members provide they continue to be loyal. William Barr the Attorney General was lavishing praise on the President for his mastery in handling the problem about adding a question to the 2020 Census. Instead the President is demanding that every Federal Department submit all documents with citizenship information. I wonder what the National Parks Department has on file. Mr. Barr seemed like a well meaning grandfatherly guy before he became Attorney General. Now he appears to be a boot licking sycophant. My neighbor tells me that he sees a spot on his nose that wasn’t there before he joined the Trump Team. If his allergies are like mine, he must be using lots of Kleenex. Well, Gail that is enough from me. I like your columns. You are one heck of a truth teller. Keep up the good work.
7
Will we have an opportunity to vote for Acosta in Gail's "Worst Cabinet Member" poll or will he be gone too soon?
Also, does malfeasance, incompetence and stupidity prior to taking office count, or are we limited simply to the car wreck created while holding the office (looking at you, Wilbur Ross)?
Somewhat confused about whether Mulvaney is being described as looney-tunes or the guy (Acosta's former chief-of-staff) Mulvaney succeeded in forcing out of office.
Finally, does it really matter?
4
Does Trump even have real friends?
4
Was Acosta appointed labor secretary because he went very light on Epstein? Was this some sort of payoff because he might very well have learned discomforting truths about Trump in the course of his investigation of Epstein? Face facts: this looks like a mob payoff to keep someone quiet. It would be going too far, because of the known facts, to say that was what it was but it looks as clear as 1+1+1=3.
I have been following the sordid details of this mess for three years, since I more or less accidentally encountered James Patterson's (and other authors) book called "Filthy Rich" which was focused on Epstein with a brief mention of Trump. The book came out before Acosta was named labor secretary but the moment that appointment was put forward the appearance of a direct payoff was made undeniably clear. We, the voting public, need answers.
Under some state laws, anyone who has direct knowledge of the sexual abuse of children is required by law to report it. In Florida, those "mandated reporters" do not include golf course owners but that does not relieve anyone of a moral obligation, does it? IF Trump knew, as apparently half of mega-rich New York and Palm Beach knew of Epstein's proclivities, then a failure to act would be...what? An unforgivable moral failure of responsibility? Decency? Simple caring for other human beings? A disqualification for any public office? Make someone a passive participant? Take your pick.
There is a lot more to this and a lot more coming.
10
"About Jeffrey Epstein. He sounds like one of the worst people imaginable, so we are, of course, stunned to hear he used to be tight with our current chief executive."
Don't you mean our former chief executive -- very tight?
1
I read Gail Collins and think at least some of the press is doing its job.
7
Why are Americans so thrilled about the Women's soccer championship? Because anything is better than ythinking about this nightmare of an administration.
6
Acosta resign? He should be charged with misconduct or whatever the correct legal term is; debarred and locked up.
5
Yes, a lot of threads weave back to New York. I want to know what NY district, state and U.S. attorneys were doing when Trump was wheeling, dealing, chiseling, lying, self-promoting, declaring bankruptcy, and otherwise abusing people (and the law), before he got the Presidency. Given everything we know about Trump's character leads me to suspect he committed misdemeanors and felonies that should have been investigated and perhaps prosecuted years ago in New York.
13
If our president is not one of the greatest men of all time, he is clearly the greatest of all the Presidents, including Lincoln. So far as wisdom, he probably ranks somewhere between Socrates and Aristotle.
I don't know why you people can't see that.
5
@Richard W. King; thank you for the joke. I needed that laugh.
9
Keep in mind that the donald has never worked a day in his life. Not suprising he has no idea what the Dept. of Labor does. He also has no clue as to the work which most Americans do including those who voted for him.
9
This could be the "thing" that pushes America past critical mass on Trump, past the point when even his most ardent supporters decide partying with a jet setting child molester ain't cool.
Probably not but I can always hope.
68
I realized Epstein's sentence---sleep in his cell, leave for work six days a week and spend all day Sundays in lock down---perfectly described my mid-late adolescence. I even complained to my parents that it felt like I was in prison. My sweet yet unsympathetic Italian mother countered with "Yes. But the food is better."
11
@SurlyBird; you got a cool mom.
3
trump has ever put in a day of labor (manual or otherwise)?
7
As said of a Labor Minister by Winston Churchill, "He loves the working man; he loves to see him work." Trump loves to hear of people working, he doesn't actually get to see them unless they are pulling weeds at his golf course. He does not love to hear of them receiving health care or decent wages as that, he believes, would come from the pocket of the workers' bosses.
So, Trump knows all he cares to know about labor.
14
So extreme vetting for immigrants, but no vetting for cabinet members...
21
@Kathleen
Or a US President.
5
Thank goodness for NY prosecutors, despite the fact that they tried to lower the level of Epstein's sex offender registration. Acosta did no one any favors by allowing such a lenient deal because he was afraid to prosecute Epstein years ago. How many girls have been molested or raped since then? Acosta should go and so should the entire Trump administration. They are all complicit in harming people one way or another.
12
"The punishment Acosta wrangled with his alleged best possible efforts involved 13 months in prison, during which Epstein was free to spend most days at his office as long as he slept overnight in the clink."
When are you going to clean up this misleading charge? Acosta is a fed. The state made the decisions about jail conditions.
Or is all fair in love and war and politics?
2
I think the NY Times and other media are soft pedaling this case. Constantly referring to the victims as "underage women" is sugar coating the fact that they were CHILDREN. The media should own up to it and not gloss over the fact that Epstein (and maybe the Grabber In Chief) is a child molester, plain and simple. Oh, and by the way, Acosta should be fired and disbarred.
19
Is their a reason you chose to make glib statements about Epstein like “a rich guy who liked to have sex with underage girls” Instead of calling him what he actually is, a pedophile who would routinely rape young girls?
21
FYI
Whether or not it matters.....
And whether accurate....,
A wiki bio of Acosta states .....
He was a strong advocate for victims of trafficking and encouraged prosecution of pimps and Johns caught trafficking in underage sexual encounters.
In his previous positions in Florida leadership he was respected by his colleagues and had a good non partisan reputation and was honest.
I was surprised that he seems by this wiki bio to be a man of good character.
IMHO he was pressured by powers we now see at work daily to cut that deal for Epstein. And it was true that some women feared to testify against Epstein so building a solid case was impossible and Acosta had no other choice because the accusations needed to hold. He didn’t want an Acquittal.
With all future scandals I plan on watching MSNBC and Fox . Yesterday’s take on each cable news network was interesting.
Acosta is being sacrificed at the altar of trumpian pedophilia.
He should have reconsidered taking the labor sec. position.
Trump associations destroy good and bad career government attorneys et al.
Acosta has two little girls. I think his true intentions were to help the victims.
But he bargained w a devil and now he is burning in hell too.
2
@nurseJacki@l Wiki bios are notoriously inaccurate, many having been submitted by the named individual.
4
"...Jeffrey Epstein, a rich guy who liked to have sex with underage girls."
Correction:
"...Jeffrey Epstein, a rich guy who liked to rape underage girls."
21
Ivanka Trump: "There’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children"
Where is this self proclaimed protector of women now?
Does she feel the same now that daddy seems to have acknowledged an awareness of Epstein's child molestation and statutory rape and did nor said nothing to protect these young girls, thereby enabling it?
18
I'm just waiting for the hidden tapes to show up from Bora freaking Bora or wherever. You know they are out there.
3
His victims were underage and could not or did not consent. Epstein didn’t “have sex” with them. He sexually assaulted (and raped at least one) of them. Please call this what it is: sexual assault and rape, not sex.
16
Acosta will be gone by the end of this week. His replacement will probably be even worse, given Trump's track record of hiring. Has any US president ever had so many close friends, employees, and colleagues in jail during his first term? At some point, one of these criminals will flip on the president, and our nightmare will finally come to an end.
389
@markymark - we'll end up with an "acting" Secretary of Labor. And somehow, Trump manages to hire really bad actors... must be something from that TV show he's carried over.
25
@markymark I hope so. I'm waiting for the telfon to wear off.
17
@Markymark
I wish you were right. However, Michael Cohen flipped and yet the nightmare continues.
34
Acosta's proposed Labor Department budget for FY 2020 cuts funding for the International Labor Affairs Bureau -- the federal agency charged with, among other things, combating the sex trafficking of children, by 80 percent, from $68 million to $18.5 million. Speaks volumes about how hard he must have tried to prosecute Epstein to the fullest in 2008.
948
Gail, since you are speaking of soccer, didn’t you think the Women’s Soccer Team parade was much more exciting and colorful than Trump’s thing on the 4th? These women rode down Broadway through the Canyon of heroes with bagpipes and motorcycles and a police escort.People stood and cheered and there was lots of confetti and happiness.That was a patriotic parade. The army didn’t have to be called up to impress the crowd and there were no fly overs.Women’s Soccer makes America proud-Trump and his corrupt cabinet, not so much!
1056
@JANET MICHAEL: Trump just announced that his take-over of the 4th was so sublime, airports in the Revolution and all, that he's doing it again next year! Aren't we all so tickled to hear that?
I had the best 4th I've ever had in my 68 years, celebrating in a Maine back yard with friends, food, fireworks and fireflies. Hundreds of fireflies in a lush back yard filled with grasses and wildflowers. And no Trump. I look forward to doing it again next year.
110
@JANET MICHAEL
Didn't cost $4 million either.
61
@JANET MICHAEL
And they were invited to be honored by a parade. They didn’t demand it and then take it over.
70
Haven't you heard? Trump doesn't talk to that Trump anymore, "early in our acquaintanceship we learned Trump is a guy who bragged about being so important he could get away with grabbing women by their private parts. "
4
Horrible journalism! How can she write this article and not mention Bill Clinton took over 20 flights with Epstein including 5 where he did not allegedly take his Secret Service detail. Blind obedience to any political party or official loses credibility for any journalistic. That is what Fox News does and why it is a poor news outlet.
2
As long as the inept are in-step with King Donald, they'll survive this abomination of a cabinet. It shocks me to see how far we have fallen. Thanks Putin.
16
@Mark R.
I wouldn't lay all the blame on Putin & Gang. There is a lot of festering rot in the heart of our country.
8
Totally agree - spineless Congress comes to mind.
3
This soccer fan is always "cheered up" by the presence of a great sport and the great champions that are our World Cup winners. What would cheer me up more, however, is a good, cogent, poignant appeal that would help build the consensus needed to remove "The Great Divider" Trump from everyone's sight. He is, as Gail seems to agree, ubiquitous.
Maybe we need to appreciate how our national disgrace is all too like us--at least the "us" that finds so much to like about our national culture. Too hard to believe? Well, we are a very materialistic people, prone to egocentric perspectives. We trivialize so many things that we can't see the trees of what's valuable for the forest of chaos forever engulfing us. And we like a good manipulator, a good salesman who convinces enuf of us to pay attention to him/her that . . . we sometimes elect him/her president! And we did!
Donald Trump epitomizes we the American people so much that before we finish recoiling in horror at what we've begat, we need to look in the mirror to see the materialism, egocentrism, trivializing nature, and manipulation that's in ea of us and resolve to be a better people. Then we'll more truly withdraw from Trumpism and his party in the disgust that all responsible citizens should feel. We'll all feel even better about ourselves--esp after we impeach His Sickness or landslide him at the polls.
5
When are lifelong Republicans going to realize that their beloved party has been usurped by a corporate elite that is happy to have the ignorant incompetent Trump in the White House so they can call the shots. Our democracy hangs in the balance while they worry about Bill Clinton's misadventures. These are desperate times when 40% of the people in this country can stand behind someone as unstable and dangerous as wannabe dictator Donald Trump. It is no longer about the liberal/conservative divide it is about the collapse of the two-party system. Where has their sense of patriotism gone?
10
It is frightening to imagine how many underage girls Epstein might have "recruited" in the 12 years since Acosta let him off the hook. The current indictments in the Southern Manhattan district include cases that happened after Acosta ignored the 53 page indictment & basically put Epstein back on the streets again. The category of "sex offender" that Epstein was given by the state prosecutors was the most severe both in the seriousness of the crimes he had already committed & in the liklihood that he would continue to commit these types of crimes. Yet, even after the state indictments, when Acosta received the massive federal list of indictments, he chose to ignore them & give Epstein unfettered access to young girls again. Heck, in states where the age of consent was 16, Epstein didn't even have to register as a sex offender since his state convictions involved "prostitution" with a 16-year-old (and not exploitation & sexual assault). Every one of these victims since Acosta turned Epstein loose is a victim of Acosta just as surely as a victim of Epstein.
5
"Under age women" should be referred to as children!!!!
10
Gail’s columns are always a breath of fresh air. Thank you for being you, Gail. 😊
5
Stop calling them "underage women." Call them as they are ... children.
12
@Ed Macnab
Blessings upon you, Mr. Macnab.
I am deeply disappointed by this article. Many people, most of them smarter and more intuitive than me (and, it appears, Ms. Collins) have noted;
"sex with underage women"= "the rape of a child".
7
The rank hypocrisy and plain hideousness of this administration’s personnel is astounding. Never in my life did I ever think we’d have these types of third-string imbeciles running the US government.
11
I'm still jangled because yesterday I almost got caught in the middle of a "bar" fight. One of the customers objected to the racist epithets a Trump supporter was loudly declaiming, so the Trump supporter picked up a chair and tried to break it over the customer's head.This would have been bad enough had we actually been in a bar. In fact, this happened in a coffee shop at eight o'clock in the morning.
At what point are we allowed to admit that racists are not nice people? At what point are we allowed to say that people who are more aligned with child molesters than with their victims are not the right people to defend America's workers?
14
Believe it or not, nobody really cares about this story. Trump has no connection to Epstein and Acosta isn't going to get fired. It's such a stretch and a weak play to hurt the president.
This is not about Trump. This is about Acosta. It wouldn’t matter who is president. There are more people than you may think whose call for Acosta’s resignation has nothing to do with politics.
3
This administration perfectly illustrates the workings of the Peter Principle.
3
I suppose focusing on adults who are very successful at playing a children's ball game is one means to avoid thinking about President Trump, but it hardly seems like it would help for more than a few minutes.
Determining who is most likely to win in 2020 would seem to be a more productive use of time. Otherwise, we may end up living through four more years.
2
How many trips did Bill Clinton take on Epstein's private jet to his private island? No mention in the article of the fact that Epstein has been barred for over a decade from Trump properties over allegations of sexual abuse.
Where were the excellent NY prosecutors 15 years ago when Epstein and Weinstein were committing felonies.
Acosta at least got Epstein jail time, while NY was ignoring the problem in NY.
Dang, Gail, what about the NY DA's office trying to get the sexual predator tag removed from Mr. Epstein? Oh, and how about all those trips Mr. Clinton took with Mr. Epstein, they must have been great fun considering their both reputations. Anyone? Anyone? But of course that's not news, being democrats and all. It's much more fun to always look for the negative spin with anything "Trump".
Just looking at your headline, unfortunately Democrats are the ones that know nothing about labor, outside of government bureaucracy wanting more control. It's true, read something other than the left's propaganda.
1
Those soccer players.
They're women!! They're lucky they're not working as waitresses. Don't want 'em in the White House!
Anyway, one of them is a lesbian, with colored hair! Yuch!
Acosta's my guy. Great man!!! Cut inflation! And he made Epstein do hard time! Can't satisfy the socialists! And he protected the girls from bad publicity for being prostitutes!
I liked his presentation. Classy! In front of an arrangement of big flags!!!! Really classy and patriotic!!!!!!
5
What is truly, truly sad is that he is certain to be re-elected. Nobody cares about this stuff. Access Hollywood proved that.
6
Much ado about more of the same. We know how bad the Trumpists are; tell us how to bring them down. That's the real news; the rest, sadly, is just "ain't it awful."
6
Gail, Do love your amusing thoughts and your whimsical way of writing. However, sometimes I believe you are selling your self short of your capacity to really impress people with your ability to seriously drive home a point. When you make light of things yes it does make us laugh, and God knows we need to do that. However, it also minimizes the seriousness of the sad shape this country is actually experiencing. We need to wake up, stop laughing and do something about all these tragic occurrences instead of laughing and joking as if they are not truly frightening and way past time for in needing fixing.
3
Gail, I appreciate your column, but this whole affair is so sordid and sad when I think about the exploitation of those girls that it seems wrong to laugh.
I long for a world where there is support, protection, and encouragement for our girls and they never need succumb to to the manipulations of men like Epstein and Trump.
2
For Republicans, these sorts of shenanigans are a feature, not a flaw.
Their view of government is that at best, it is a necessary evil. You know, the less government the better. That this attitude lets all sorts of bad stuff (you know, workplace injuries and deaths, unsafe products, uncontrolled releases of toxic materials into the environment, exploding factories that kill people in surrounding communities: minor stuff like that) happen is simply an unfortunate side effect of leaving capitalism to manage itself, and allowing rich people to become even richer. Let’s face it, that is the Republican brand, and it is the cynical reason they support Trump.
We need markets to be relatively free to allow reasonable profits and incentivize investment in growth. Nonetheless government has a vital role in limiting the sort of unfettered greed that disadvantages regular folks so that a relatively few can become wealthy to an unseemly degree. Not only are the growing disparities between the wealthiest and the poorest of us harmful, but so are many of the processes (manufacturing and extraction) that dangerously cut corners to maximize profit.
The Republican story that all of their policies make it better for all Americans needs to continue to be exposed for the greedy lie that it is.
5
@Marshall Doris
"The poor object to being governed badly, while the rich object to being governed at all."
- G.K. Chesterton
6
Even for a member of Trump’s Cabinet, Acosta seems uniquely unqualified for his position.
3
Think Trump is an unindited co-conspirator?
5
@Karen Reed Trump is referred to as "Executive 1," his cover name that doesn't cover anything.
2
Can we really say anything more, besides repeating ourselves, about how utterly corrupt and incompetent everyone in this administration is? Maybe just constantly remind everyone that the entire crew are best described as sociopaths. But, that is what the Republican Party represents nowadays, so I guess they are just serving their ultra right wing constituents in the way they want to be served.
6
When will the New York Times start pumping out stories, one after another, about wage theft, unpaid overtime, mis- classification of employees as contractors, mis-classification of workers as supervisors, corporate under-funding of pensions, corporate looting of pensions, the erosion of the right to organize, the erosion of collective bargaining rights, wrongful termination, and age discrimination? That's where the federal government has failed American workers. That's where states, mostly the southern states, have hurt working people outright.
8
Has the American Bar Association made a statement?
Can they revoke his membership? Cam somebody revoke his license as an attorney?
Please!
3
The operative words in the Epstein sentencing recommendation is "unindicted coconspirators". If Epstein had gone to trial those names would have come out and you can bet they would have been a group rich white men who run the Palm Beach area. Acosta is a Trump acolyte who genuflects before the rich and tips his cap and says yes sir, no sir to whatever they want. But how about our World Cup soccer champions. Brava ladies, women, heroes??!! They were better games than any of the men's World Cup games. Now if the fossils that run FIFA could join the 21st century and pay them what they're worth.
8
@markd, equal pay for the women's team would be a good objective for the Department of Labor. I doubt Acosta is up to that, though....
Inept people in positions of power can still do grave harm to others
4
A friend of mine actually , in a serious manner, told me after the election that "now the grown ups are in charge". You can't make this stuff up. It's a good thing republicans have no memory, or they'd be really embarrassed all the time.
7
Are you tired of reading editorials like Ms. Collins'? There's only one way of stopping them, and that's to vote Trump and his cronies out of office on November 3, 2020. Nothing else matters. Stop whining and complaining. Spend your energy on making sure everyone you know registers and then votes next year. We need a victory so overwhelming that even foreign interference can't top it.
8
After Donald Trump was boasting what a great job Alex Acosta has done as Labor Secretary, I wish one reporter had the brains to ask Trump to name one thing Acosta had done.
10
Wry as always. What do you think about impeachment? Foolish, self-defeating gesture or morally imperative action? Or election? Dem’s nominee must be a woman or shouldn’t under any circumstances be a woman?
1
"LABOR was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver (CAPITOL), but by labor, that all the wealth of the world was originally purchased."
- Adam Smith*, Wealth of Nations, * - yes THAT Adam Smith
"LABOR is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is the mere fruit of labor, and could not exist but for labor, which is (therefore) superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration."
- Abraham Lincoln
- albeit from a time when it wasn't so embarrassing to be a Republican!
5
Gail: There is no such thing as "underage women." Before political correctness ran amuck, they used to be called "girls."
9
I read elsewhere that Acosta proposes cutting his budget by something like 75% for combating underage sex trafficking. You can't make this stuff up. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/09/labor-secretary-alexander-acosta-sex-trafficking-budget-cut
9
Sounds like we are edging closer and closer to 1789.
3
Dear Mitch McConnell and GOPers.
This story is not going away.
And wait as more details are revealed about the
private party Trump threw when he flew in 28 young girls just for Trump and Epstein, alone.
Why is the press not hammering Trump about this
incident?
14
Forget about that question, "What would Jesus do?" and, instead, ask, "What would I do . . . " if MY children were taken from me and locked in cages; if MY child was lured into prostitution; if MY health insurance was suddenly yanked away; if I became uninsurable altogether; if my daughter was raped by a man who reached high officer; If any of my children decided the behavior of the President of the United States sets a standard for him/her? if I became afraid to speak up for fear of reprisals?
Honest answers would lead anyone to empathy and should set our hair on fire.
13
Gail, I find the implication of 'the Trump Acting Chief of Staff For Life' too unsettling!
2
Just a reminder. Sex with underage girls was for quite sometime called statutory rape.In the 60s any female thinking about
Prosecution of an offender was warned by psychologists and
Psychiatrists that a defense attorney would attempt to put the blame on the young female,Remember Lolita? This was the
Reason a dear friend of mine never pursued her rape.
Keep in mind the frontal lobe is not completely developed until
early 20s and why some predators rely on young girls who are subject to seduction, so are a number of young males.
5
I attended a political event recently where I learned that retaking the Senate is a must to stop the horrors unleashed upon us in 2010. (This has been building for a while.) In that spirit, I say SPQR: the Senate and all of government belongs to the people, not the deranged.
2
Welcome to the United Kakistocracy of America - a system of government that is run by the worst, least qualified, and/or most unscrupulous citizens.
10
"Stunning banality" would probably qualify as an oxymoron. But add "of evil" and you're pointing at Trump's corps of empty-suited reprobates. This administration has rendered many of us children again: astonished that there can be so many bad men in one place.
5
A district AG disregarding the judicial system? Just that alone is enough 'credentials' to be Trump's cabinet member
3
I am always taken aback by the phrase: put into office thanks to Russian manipulation of our election. The Russians did not manipulate the election--they manipulated the electorate-the voting public-by trolling the internet and influencing how the voters thought about candidates and issues. Manchurian Candidate anyone? How sad our voters are so gullible and feel no responsibility to do their own fact checking before checking the boxes on a ballot.
8
"Lock him up!"
7
Super proud of our World Cup team!!! As for Acosta, Starr, Dershowitz, Trump, Epstein, and today’s GOP in general, they are a perfect example of cheats, liars, self-dealers and people who think that their money, and the political power structure that protects them, puts them above the law and any requirement that their public and private lives be anchored to any moral code.
This same power structure is packing the court with ideologues far more loyal to the Federalist Society than to the rule of law, precedents, and despite their protestations, anything our founding fathers had in mind for our constitution. Why? To make the courts the servants to their quest to impose and maintain an extremely unpopular minority rule. SCOTUS has been permanently and irrevocably reduced to a political arm of powerful people to the right of Ayn Rand.
I can’t be shocked anymore. I live in a permanent state of sadness and with a profound sense of loss. It was a nice democracy while it lasted.
201
@Ann Lenhardt. Where have you been? Have you looked at past 5-4 rulings over the past 10 years? Whether it was Obamacare, Gay marriage, defending Roe, Kennedy, or recently immigration, property rights, census, vagueness of deportation laws, or Indian Sovereignty, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, Aiito, Thomas, O’connor, or Roberts, Federalist judges joined the liberal block to rulings favorable to liberals by 5-4. When is the last time a liberals crossed the line to gain a 5-4 decision favoring conservatives? The liberals on the Court have proven to be more political than the Federalist. Federalist are free thinkers, who may disagree on politics and interpretations of the law, but have no fear of voting their conscience. Show me a liberal on the Court willing to do the same.
1
@Jay Sorry Jay, but why is it the conservative stance always equates with regression, repression, suppression, and benefiting the most privileged in society thus contributing to its un-equalizing and destabilizing outcomes?
41
@Andrew. Because lower Courts refuse to make legal decisions that might be controversial. They leave the tough decisions to the Supremes. That’s why they are appointed for life. They don’t have to worry about public opinion or sympathy, only what the laws says.
3
One aspect of the Epstein abomination 10 years ago that has not yet been addressed publicly is what has happened since. Considering that a true prosecution would have put Epstein in prison for years, Alexander Acosta is responsible for every minor girl abused and/or raped by Epstein over the past decade. Maybe Epstein will go to prison, but Acosta will never be properly punished for all the new victims that he has helped create.
5
All kidding aside, Trump, his cabinet, and all his appointees have to go. It's horrifying to think that ineptitude is all that stands between us and full blown ruination of our country (granted there are segments that need ruining). Sure we can wait until 2020, but every day that passes increases the chances of Trump doing something truly damaging and irrevocable. We need impeachment and Trump deserves to be punished. My only question is will he be allowed to return to New York after prison?
7
Inept cabinet members? Well, they and the administration must be doing something right -- the U.S. economy is the best it's been in 50 years.
Go watch soccer, Gail.
We’re going to assume you’re kidding. If not, take a look at the national deficit. We’re going to pay through the teeth for it.
Democratic presidents, time after time, have gifted the incoming Republican administration with an iron clad, healthy economy, only to be plundered the next four years (or more if we were beset by another Republican term).
Trump and his sycophants in Congress will do backflips in order to take credit for Obama’s fiscal prescience and responsibility. Only when the bottom drops out of the economy in 2020 will Americans wake up to the nearsighted, bottomless Republican alchemy they call a “great economy.”
5
Looking forward to spring of 2021, when my wife and I exit what's become this loony bin of a country. But as she's pointed out, it will still affect us to some considerable extent. However, we won't be helping to fund it.
2
Time for a Woman’s Party . Democratic, fighting against inequality and no sleaze. Men with clean records can join. The 2 party system is not working - one gives us Trump, the other Clinton. Enough!
2
Jeffrey Edward Epstein, operating from NYC to FLA - see we as Americans do have more in common than we have differences.
Trump doesn’t know about labor because he hasn’t done an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay in his entire life. Not one day.
8
"More Love, Less Hate" is a catchy slogan. Megan for President!
the really sad thing—the disgusting thing that I only heard mentioned once in the radio and newspaper reporting—is that the epstein deal had him pleading to prostitution charges, effectively characterizing his underaged, sex-trafficked victims as prostitutes.
why that is not the lead to every story on this—and acosta’s part in painting these victims as prostitutes rather than victims—is beyond me.
how much time he actually spent under his work-release pales in comparison
5
It is past time to judge our past, present and future present by the cabinet he had, have and will keep!
1
Don't forget that Epstein had over 20 different B Clinton telephone numbers and at least 1 of the victims was prepared to subpeona Clinton.
Trump knew all the good people,all terrific and all doing great jobs ....he can tell us that! Birds of a feather flock together.
Take a breath. Kelly Ann Conway made a good point ==> that the media is in a feeding frenzy over Acosta's job. Focus people. Epstein in in the slammer. The justice system is at work. There should be others indicted, other high rollers. Then the entire state and federal teams from the case in Palm Springs will be investigated. Laws were broken by them including Acosta. He should be charged for those violations of informing the victims and also for granting immunity for the other perpetrators. That is more important than Trump bashing in THIS case.
the agreement gave immunity to unknown conspirators
That is a stunning anomaly that no one has even tried to justify or even explain. Basically, unless I am missing something, Epstein was purchasing through his own joke of a plea, prosecutorial immunity (at least in Southern Florida) for those others, prominent or obscure, who could have otherwise also been prosecuted and thereupon flipped against Epstein and his pals and accessories. One hand washing the other. Courtesy of U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta. Negotiated offsite. In secret. He needs to resign.
3
@Alan M
negotiated with his former law firm.
When? What is enough?
Lying, fraud, rape, bribery, collusion with the enemy, constant threats of war, obstruction of justice, defying Congress, defying the Supreme Court, redefining human rights.....
But still in power. now protected by other criminals such as Barr, Ross, DeVos, Acosta, Pompeo and the rest.
And 40% of America remains blindly loyal .
5
@Donald Bermont I'm old enough to remember when Ronald Reagan was called "Teflon" because no matter what bad thing happened on his watch, people still loved him. Trump is Teflon on steroids -- thoroughly vile on every conceivable level, and yet he never suffers even the slightest consequence for any of his reprehensible words and deeds -- never! We are truly living in Bizarro-world.
3
I like your column, Gail, but the seriousness of this story requires more than your usual breezy humor. There is nothing humorous here. As others have suggested, please stop talking about the molestation of under-aged girls and call it what it is: systematic statutory rape condones by the rich and powerful.
This administration does everything in its power to subjugate women. As a woman you should be outraged. As a journalist, you should be using your column to demand justice.
I don't think this is the place for a glib editorial about how we'd rather be thinking about soccer.
2
Meanwhile this administration is torturing children. Keeping lights on 24 hrs/day is even worse that no beds, no blankets, no food or water. This is torture, and now this administration is terrorizing all immigrant families.
The fact that a pedophile repeat offender like Epstein makes the news and was admired by Trump for his attraction to young children, really pales in comparison to the torture being perpetrated on small children (toddlers and infants apparently included).
Gail - you are funny and entertaining and wise and helpful, but I see no value in devoting our time and effort to considering the likes of thugs and criminals such as Epstein when our whole government has declared war on children and the most vulnerable and innocent people in the world. Get some perspective and get this garbage out of the news. Focus on a real atrocity happening right now that is harming thousands of children.
Trump believes the US government is just an extension of his failed family businesses. What we know about Trump's Cabinet and appointees is that they must swear a blood oath to protect Trump at all costs. Service to the nation, to the people of the United States is not to be given any priority in the least. Every member of Trump's circle is as incompetent and as corrupt as he is. Trump is the legacy of the Republican Party that has abandoned any pretext of supporting democracy as they fill the pockets of their super-rich owners.
3
Yay for women's soccer and their back-to-back wins! That's the kind of news we want to see on the front page. Maybe, Gail, you can get another conversation going with Bret Stephens about everything good that is happening ... (crickets...). Ok, so back to Trump and his constant train wreck of an administration. We all slow down to gawk at the traffic accidents on the freeway but hey, Mr. Trump provides a parade of traffic accidents running by us so we can just sit back and try to keep our jaw from hitting the floor.
I expect by August 1, 2019 we will have an “Acting” Secretary of Labor.
acosta will join price, zinke and pruitt in DJT’s hall of shame.
Vote 2020
1
What do you call yourself if you are repeatedly placed at the scene of multiple child rapes?
But of course, "Mr. President"!
1
football not soccer (-;
"How To Attack Trump" To-Do List:
o health care
o climate change
o misogyny
o racism
o abandoning our allies
.
.
.
... hmm ... condoning underage girls being sold as sex slaves? Well, I suppose we could add that to the list ...
1
Trump doesn't know about labor as he rapes his victims and isn't around for the labor pains--he probably pays for abortions too. Up is down, dumb is smart--welcome to idiot America.
1
Labor is only equal to capital in a communist economy. The Labor Secretary should be a reasonable barrier to the leftist tendencies of organized labor. Otherwise, there is a grave risk that anti-business attitudes, like Obama’s “No one who works full time should live in poverty.” The value of one’s labor and the cost of living are separate, discrete and unrelated economic issues.
1
"Very embarrassing that Acosta is one of the people who’s supposed to protect underage women from being sold as sex slaves."
Underage women? Women?? How can you be both a woman and underage? Don't you mean, children? Girls?
3
Trump cabinet picks are "inept"? Inept? Gee, has Gail Collins been colluding with the British ambassador? Or does she just figure if the word fits, use it. Someone on BBC America commented that as usual, the British are masters of understatement. "Inept" just brushes the surface.
5
The media needs to take a lot of the blame for Trump 24/7,
Everyone of the NYT’s columnist including you Michelle, your columns are always, always about Trump.
Please , take the summer off, all of you.
2
With is amount of cabinet level buffoonery, I do wonder who is making sure the nuclear stockpile isn't leaking somewhere.
Presumably, Obama's cabinet left things in order, sort of like when you move into a new apartment and everything is clean. But then you live there for four years and never clean. What does the apartment look like then?
That's our country right now, only with nuclear weapons, broken alliances, crumbling bridges, and concentration camps.
6
to think that some facebook ads by russia, literally a drop in the bucket when considering all the time and money spent on the campaigns, helped trump got elected, is shameful and just plain dumb and absolute insult to the intelligence of the american people. just shows you how disdainful she is, like hillary, of all the deplorables who elected him.
Great article
1
Is Acosta related to Stephen Miller?
3
In the photo, every one of those American flags behind Acosta has been mocked and shamed.
4
Me Acosta, would it have killed you to say you’re sorry to the victims? You do realize you were on their side, not Mr Epstein’s, correct?
3
How long, oh Lord, how long?
2
Really all this trivia... FOCUS.. the something went over 3000 today.... that's all that really matters (not)--anyway....
The gift that keeps on giving....
"God help us all, everyone."
You have to wonder why a federal prosecutor with a background of handling sex crimes in Florida is Labor Secretory in the first place. THe work experience doesn't scream labor activist to me. Of course, Jared Kushner is apparently the Middle East Peace Tsar right now so apparently HR is on vacation.
2
“Have you heard anybody in the Trump administration apologize for anything?”
Like reopening the case to prosecute this child rapist to the full extent of the law?
Where is fair reporting, viz. under Obama this molester walked. Under Trump, he is facing life in prison.
Any questions?
#MAGA
Yes, what does Obama have to do with any of this? Acosta, Trump, Epstein, Dershowitz... they were at the center of this saga then and are at the center of it now.
5
@EWG Acosta was appointed federal prosecutor by GW Bush, Acosta brokered the plea deal during the Bush admin, and he was appointed labor secretary by Trump. Spin the logic any way you want to to make yourself feel better about the corruption of Trump and his swamp creatures, but this has nothing to do with Obama.
6
@EWG Acosta was appointed federal prosecutor by GW Bush, Acosta brokered the non-prosecution deal during the Bush admin, he was appointed labor secretary by Trump, and it was the Southern District of New York that reopened the case (and obviously not at Trump's behest). Spin the logic any way you want to to make yourself feel better about the corruption of Trump and his swamp creatures, but this has nothing to do with Obama.
2
Acosta will be gone by Friday. Cyrus Vance Jr will be gone by the end of next week.
1
Take heart, Jeffrey. Roy Moore needs a Campaign Manager. How's your "y'all" y'all?
1
Brilliant column!
"People who care about workers are naturally outraged that he’s [Secretary of Labor Acosta] been trying to water down everything from mine safety regulations to the rules that prohibit restaurant managers from grabbing a piece of the waiters’ tips."
Oh dear, another Trump cabinet appointee doing the exact opposite of his government agency's mission.
Since it is the working class that provides a good chunk of Trump's base support, it would be helpful to have a tally sheet for:
(1) what Secretary of Labor Acosta has done for the working class in his job;
and then subtract out
(2) what Secretary of Labor Acosta has done for the business class that has taken away and made it more difficult for the working class.
Since this is the Republican Trump administration, my guess is Secretary of Labor Acosta's score would be well in the minus range for doing things that actually support the working class.
Of course, Trump will tell his base the opposite is true, but when has trump ever told the truth--seriously??
4
Actually, I understand Acosta's argument. With four young, scared victims who were probably pretty messed up by the time the case was brought on one side and a team of high-powered attorneys on Epstein's side, Acosta had to make a choice between getting a plea bargain or fighting a righteous battle he knew he would lose. It _is_ a very hard question, and one on which he presumably would have made a different decision in today's climate.
I also agree that Epstein should be hung by the thumbs and Acosta is probably a terrible labor secretary. I agree with Gail every time I read her, but in this case there may be a little overreach.
There is always football (not soccer, please)
“ crack team of cabinet members “. Very droll, Gail. Does crack refer to human anatomy, a street drug, or just Trumps posse of future felons, convicted or not ? It absolutely could be worse. If not for extreme incompetence, abject stupidity, laziness and unending boot licking, they could be dangerous. It’s like the Gang that couldn’t shoot straight. With Nukes.
Thank, TrumpGOP. 2020. 🌪
1
Underage girls = children.
8
Who is Bill Clinton?
Washington Examiner review of flight manifest records show Clinton took 27 flights on Epstein’s private jet during at least six different trips.
Court documents outlining the trips and the individual flights were filed as an exhibit in a lawsuit by Bradley Edwards, an attorney for some of Epstein's accusers.
On the first Asia trip, the logs show Clinton and Epstein were joined by top Clinton aide Doug Band, wealthy socialite and Epstein's onetime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell, former Epstein assistant Sarah Kellen, women listed only as “Janice” and “Jessica," and a few others.
According to the Miami Herald, court records show that Maxwell “has been described as using recruiters positioned throughout the world to lure women by promising them modeling assignments, educational opportunities, and fashion careers" and that “the pitch was really a ruse to groom them into sex trafficking.”
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/flight-manifests-reveal-bill-clinton-traveled-with-epstein-six-times-not-the-four-times-he-admitted
Yep. There are lots of villains in this story. None of them deserve a pass.
1
According to Labor Dept. studies, after the Revolution there will be no shortage of qualified applicants for the job of Guillotine Operator.
Surprising that Trump hasn't invited Dershowitz to join his cabinet.
As Trump the Great Negotiator has always advised: "Make the deal!" Make the Deal!"
1
For self-admitted sexual assailant, like Donald Trump, sexual assault is a non-issue and as such, should not be a disqualification for any ripple in society. Regardless of the facts, the leniency shown by Acosta was completely inline with Donald Trump's view of the world and women.
4
"Who was put into office thanks to Russian manipulation of our election. "
Although there was (and shall be ) Russian interference in the election, Trump was put into office by a large swath of Americans who accept his behavior, love his behavior, defend his behavior, and are mini-Trumps. All of them. They know what he is and what they are voting for. Trump is what the Republican Party and its supporters have been since post Nixon. He is not the problem, he is the result. These people will be with us after he is gone, as bad, oblivious, hateful, and ignorant. The press seems to want to ignore this
15
I look forward these days to reading the morning papers and seeing which Trump Cabinet member is being accused of doing something disgusting. Who will be the next one?
3
The Qs in order: 1) was Acosta's appointment as Labor Secretary payback from Trump? 2) what does Acosta know about being a Labor secretary? 3) has Acosta properly regulated human-trafficking as Labor Secretary. 4) was Acosta taking orders when he was US Attorney when he brokered a good deal for Epstein 6) why did Acosta willingly violate DOJ rules regarding victim-witness impact statements?
4
I seriously doubt there is no connection between Acosta's protective prosecution of Epstein and his selection by Trump himself to be Secretary of Labor.
Just think about the multitude of much more highly qualified candidates, none of them with Acosta's serious political liabilities. Why did the very credibly accused rapist Trump pick Acosta?
2
The slime and muck surrounding Trump exceeds all expectations.
Can anyone point to a decent member of his cabinet who is not inconsequential? We should be thankful that most of them are so inept that the demolition job is proceeding very slowly. Nevertheless, at the current pace four more years are bound to be catastrophic.
5
“He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.”
2
The days of being screamingly angry and depression over the rebuplicans only proves we they have won the ‘base’ game-not by growing human but buy growing more inhuman, just like the wretched nation.
1
Gail, what follows is not an informed, intelligent question. But neither is it disingenuous. In other cases, those who knew of sex crimes and were in a position to act but did not, are considered criminally liable.
I would appreciate an explanation of how and why it is that Mr. Acosta is not legally (criminally) accountable for victimizations that occurred after Mr. Epstein's "sweetheart deal."
Might this be a topic of a future column?
2
As an aside let'so forget that in the mid 60's AG William Barr's father was head master of a prestigious prep school for girls and hired Epstein to teach there. He had no college degree.
That must have been a veritable smorgasbord for Epstein. Barr at first reputed himself from the Epstein case but now he has reversed that decision. There's certainly something rotten in the state of Denmark.
8
You know, reading this wonderfully written piece makes me pine for a Senate that actually believes in the rule of law, a duty to hold errant government officials accountable for their graft and corruption and reflects the public outrage concerning the stinking morass into which this presidency sinks deeper and deeper.
When "our" Republican senate goes to work, do they actually have the guts to look each other in the face or do they look away in shame? How about the bathroom mirror? How's that face to face going each morning?
4
of course rich, powerful men get away with sex crimes, witness the President himself, and in New England we now know about Patriot's owner Robert Kraft.
But Americans knew Trump did sexual assault and exploited his workforce (and contractors, Trump U students etc) and somehow elected him anyway. Hard to feel sorry for Americans being hurt by his swampy cabinet, as a people we are getting what we voted for.
2
Over the past 2 1/2 years, the world has learned that Trump doesn't know about anything that is worth knowing.
Vetting Trump's cabinet nominations: "Do you like me? Am I a great-maybe the greatest- guy? Will you pledge eternal loyalty to me no matter what I do? Do you think I'm the smartest person in the world? Do you think I should be in charge of the WHOLE WORLD? Do you have the experience to lead your department? No? Perfect. Approved."
6
Trump has bred a culture of lying that was unimaginable three years ago. Guaranteed that this is trickling down throughout our society. The best way to deal with this is to impeach him but the democrats have chosen politics over country. Sad.
88
@Joe. Why not capital punishment ?
3
@Joe
Joe,
Trump is the result, not the cause. Place the blame where it belongs: it's the electorate, stupid.
Oops, maybe that should be it's the stupid electorate.
17
@Joe - Not so much "the Democrats," as the elite Democratic establishment led by Pelosi, Shumer, & the Clinton team. Many of the newly elected Democrats are more in the mold of the Democrats of FDR's, JFK's, LBJ's (Vietnam aside), & even Jimmy Carter's eras. The grassroots of the country show in every poll to be progressive or beyond in all major current issues. Democrats by a wide margin, Independents by a slightly less margin, & even Republicans by 40% or more. Issues like climate instability & other environment issues, single-payer insurance, LGBTQI equal rights, gun control, registration & background checks, free public college, livable minimum wage, strengthened trade unions, protecting & strengthening Medicare, Medicaid, & SocSec all poll from 2/3 to 3/4 of the total population & much higher in the Democratic grassroots. One of the reasons we don't have a Democratic president today is that the Democratic power structure (the Clinton campaign, the DNC, & the Pelosi-style corporate-funded neoliberals) worked overtime to undermine the Bernie Sanders campaign, alienating the very progressives who most closely align with the base. As a result of denials of services to Bernie by the DNC, blanket endorsements of Hillary (as if she had already been coronated), the anti-democratic SuperDelegates, the will of the people was thwarted, or at least the base saw it that way. That's why 20% of Bernie supporters voted for Trump, as the only grenade-thrower left. Many others sat out.
3
I am also enjoying hearing that Epstein was hired by Donald Barr, our beloved Attorney General's Daddy, to teach math at Dalton where Barr Sr. was Headmaster. Even though Epstein was a college dropout. Plus, Bill Barr has recused himself as his law firm defended Epstein in Palm Beach which means he dealt with Acosta. So William Barr didn't suddenly appeared on the White House scene out of nowhere.
9
When things are bad, when people are in pain, their own, or as they identify with the unnecessary created and experienced pains of others,close by or distant, humor can, it is believed, take the edge off. Temporarily. At some point in time, in the English language, this became known as “Black humor” (PI now). The term was coined by the Surrealist Andre Breton not too long ago in his book Anthology of Black Humor (Anthologie de l'humour noir) in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathon Swift. Long after our WE-THEY violating culture, and world, was created. And enabled. BY… Daily.This literary process transmuted the demanding weights of cynicism and skepticism, and their sense of personal helplessness, impotence, into a “lighter” state of being. In “gallows humor,” a semantic relative, comedy makes fun of the targeted victim. Today’s article’s style surprises me. Even outrages me. Much as I generally enjoy Gail’s writings. Generally. There is no humor in children being violated. There is nothing funny about violators-whoever they are- getting away with doing this.There is nothing to laugh at when law and justice are abused. Raped. Georgia’s former Gov. Roy Barnes reminded us: “The law should be a shield for the weak and powerless, not a club for the powerful.” Many people WERE actively responsible for the Acosta-Epstein violating. They should be held accountable. Many local, state and federal systems as well. To be accountable. As well. US too for our Silences!
3
Cruelty, incompetence, ignorance in 45 and his cabinet.
6
I like Gail Collins column. But the lack of nuance on the Acosta case is unfortunate. As head of the civil rights division at the DOJ, Acosta increased the number of convictions for human trafficking. He intervened in Oklahoma to secure the right of a student to wear the hijab and he reopened the case of Emmet Till. Clearly he is capable of progressive action on civil rights, and understands what his new job entails. I would like to see a more thoughtful assessment of what went “wrong” with Acosta, and an investigation into his work to see if he is more than incompetent, but actually holding Mulvaney at bay.
3
Sometimes I think Trump prefers people he is able to blackmail. Bannon once declared to be able to destroy every Republican marriage in the Senate. Who has all the stuff of the National Enquirer.
4
Acosta claims that facts matter and people are not looking at the “facts” of his sweetheart deal for Epstein. If facts matter to Acosta, why is he working in the Trump Administration? He can’t have it both ways but that is what corrupt people like Acosta always want.
2
Spot on, of course.
You know something, though? It's not funny anymore.
Trump could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and he really would get away with it. Heck, I'll bet he could kill Mike Pence at a cabinet meeting, claim that Mike was resigning to spend more time with his family, and no one would bat an eye.
Oh, sure. Susan Collins would wring her hands and claim to be considering calling the cops but would then fall into line with all Republicans, who would claim they never heard of Mike Pence, and if they had they wouldn't have been fans.
Nancy Pelosi would reiterate that impeachment is off the table. Or on the table. And that the House is holding hearings one something or other that will result in nothing. Or maybe something.
6
Okay, if this administration ever leaves office, an event I personally have serious doubts will happen, we are going to have to fund a total fumigation of government buildings complete with gallons of bleach. New drapes probably wouldn't hurt.
6
YES YES - the donald's ignorance is a benefit for our country!
Underage girls are children. Say "children". Do not sugarcoat this or give it any leeway. These people are children, plain and simple. Say it this way because it is the truth. If they are underage, they are children.
6
@bkane8 Exactly! Hello media, that means you. Stop using term “underage girl”. A 14 year old is a child. Any person under age of 18 is a child. Have any of you heard of statutory rape laws. I’ve heard of 21 year old men who had a 16 year old girl friend get more punishment than Epstein got. This is ridiculous. Acosta did not put this to rest. He should resign immediately.
1
Trump definitely knows a lot more about labor than the previous president and readers here. All of Trumps employees love him and he openly asks opinions from everyone includes low level employees. That’s the way it should be.
@JOSEPH
You forgot the /s after your comment. FIFY.
What really bothers me with all these stories coming out with the admin is that I can't shake the feeling that these are just the tip of the iceberg! The rich and powerful (ok, there are exceptions) have been raping everything and everyone literally and metaphorically and I am afraid many of them are still continuing to do so unless they get caught ... in which case there is a good chance they can get away with it with a slap on their hand.
2
Cabinet? Oh Gail, you mean China and glasses.
Every day almost brings some new stinky, smelly matter like the cat bringing in the rat to show off its skills to its master as revelations from Trump's world to us are offered, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. Acosta is not the most reprehensible. I reserve that honor for either Scott Pruitt or the cowboy from Montana, or...This is hard to keep straight. For Trump who's been in office for about a year and a half, can't we say time's up? I wish I could add his goose is cooked, or the jig's up, but it isn't. Epstein particulalry nasty. Roy Cohn, one of Trump's mentors back in the day, would win the contest for the nastiest. Manafort a close second. Nice company the prez keeps and has kept throughout his seedy life.
2
Trump doesn’t know about Labor?
I hate to tell you Gayle, but Trump doesn’t know from nothing..,,
2
The USWNT can visit the W.H. after 2020, vote for something to be proud of.
Were Acosta's lips moving today?
1
"B) Something about getting good people to, you know, mow the lawn and stuff."
Given that we are nearing Fire Season in California, we need the Secretary of Labor helping us staff the people needed to rake the forests to prevent fires.
Goodness knows we didn't have good enough help to rake the forests the last couple years!
2
Oops, Gail. That punishment wasn't "wrangled" by Acosta -- unless he got into a wrestling match somehow with it. He "wangled" it. Still a crummy thing to do, but without rope.
2
We are appalled and disgusted by trump's behavior. Don't let's talk about the monstrosity Epstein, though they are peas in a pod.
But trump's base isn't shocked and won't ever be by his perversity and colossal stupidity and vulgarity. 80 plus percent of republicans think trump is just fine because of the wunnerful economy. Wunnerful for some.
Whatever happened to that sanctimonious party of family values? I guess it must have gone back under its rock.
5
I heard somewhere that Acosta was doing away with a lot of sex trafficking oversight and surveillance and regulatory programs in DOL. Is that correct?
1
Trump! TRUMP!! T R U MP ! ! !
I get it. Acosta works for Trump, QED, it's Trumps fault. Epstein lives in Palm Beach, like Trump. They know each other. Epstein's sweet plea deal was from Florida. I do not know the names of the Florida prosecutors. I would like to know their names. And, how many people of color get 13 months in jail, with 8 hours a day/6 days a week time off to work. I did not need to read Mr. Blow's treatise to learn anything. MSNBC was non-stop Trump/Epstein all day.
What I haven't learned, how many times did Trump fly on Epstein's plane. I do know, from multiple sources, Bill Clinton flew 26 times on Epstein's plane. The manifest also lists the other passengers. I'm sure there a number of non-deplorables that also flew PedoAir. Their names WILL come out.
Don't let your heart be troubled. Let's see, what's on the schedule? FBI IG report(some day). Mueller, reading selected passages from the Mueller report, next week. There is the Gang of 24 debate, scheduled for the end of the month on CNN. August is slow. Perfect time for a full expose of "America's Concentration Camps", but, the network is TBD.
More than anything, I would like to know, how many "Trump-killer" stories, books, expose's and eye witness accounts have come out in the last 4 years, that were actually true. I wouldn't say none, I would say not very many.
1
@Mike
Sorry, but to me, that means you are simply not paying attention.
1
“We’ve got?”
This is what Trump learned at Roy Cohn's knee: "Never apologize."
3
My wonderful wife has always pleaded with me not call people stupid.
2
Speechless !!!
2
Gail, I am surprised that you did not see the irony that one of the Epstein lawyer was Kan Starr who, while having condemned Bill Clinton for having consensual sex with an adult woman, defended Epstein for having non-consensual sex with underaged girls.
7
Ms. Collins, to whom was the official referring?
“Or, as one former administration official told Politico, “There are times when he goes completely loony.””
Trump, Mulvaney, Acosta?
Your column didn’t make that clear!
Of course, the answer is “all of the above”!
2
I keep worrying that we are where Trump wants us....totally numb.....anything goes!
2
Pres. Obama's cabinet wasn't much better. Trump has put businessmen in charge and, unfortunately, they know business but not so much how to run a government agency. Economy is booming so they must be doing something right.
@Julia, please list for us the scandals of the Obama cabinet.
2
Thanks in large part to the things Obama done to bring it back from a recession after another Republican administration.
I find it tragic that Acosta basically let a rich guy walk free and now heads up the Department of Labor which seems to be undermining workers rights.
3
@Julia
Economy is booming for wall street gamblers and CEO's. Others are working two or more part time jobs and living in their cars, if lucky, because they can't afford housing.
Still others are hanging on paycheck to paycheck. Economy is better for some, but not all. The huge gift to the wealthy voted in by Ryan has mostly trickled down yellow stuff to the people who actually work for a living.
2
A friend in his 80s who is appalled by Epstein told me "the last time I was interested in a 14-year old girl I was 15." Epstein has to be one of the most disturbing public figures in a long time.
6
It is beyond belief the amoral character of trump and his chumps. So immoral and unforgivable, it appears America is over.
The country’s morality has quickly bled out and is dying.
Great empires have faded with history; America is joining the list.
1
If (praise!) Hillary Clinton were president, she would be forced to step down over Bill’s alleged involvement with Epstein.
1
@Matt
Marrying Bill Clinton was the worst mistake she ever made, I can agree with that.
However, I believe Mr. Acosta works for Mr. Trump. You know, the guy who can just walk up and grab a woman and get away with it because he is famous. The one who would date his 'hot' daughter. The one who threw parties at the Plaza for business prospects that featured child models and cocaine.. but no cigarettes of course. You know. The one Vlad Putin worked so hard to get elected.
2
My god, I find it so interesting that a lot of people surrounding trump are turning out to be such pathetic losers. But for the sake of time lets just look at two.
Here is Epstein, one of trumps old buddies, that apparently everyone (even trump) knew was sexually abusing children. Or according to trump...Epstein likes his women on the "young side", but he was such a 'fun guy to be with'. Now the president acts like he barley knew him.
Here is trumps cabinet appointee for Labor, Mr Acosta who, as a prosecutor in this case, worked so hard to ensure that for the crime of sexually abusing young girls Epstein would get 18 months of jail time...if you call visiting the jail for a few hours each day jail time and, as it turns out, was cut sort by 5-months.
This list of losers could continue if you add on the "questionable" behavior of most of trumps Cabinet, many of the White House staff whose names begin with "former", and a large number of GOP senators who will not let themselves see the pain and suffering being inflicted on the country be this administration.
What a crew!
5
Acosta is as bad as described, but I still think he's above average for ethics in the Trump cabinet.
2
Acosta will be fired, not for his ineptitude or his past failings on the Epstein case (though those things may be invoked when he goes.
No, he will be fired for the unforgivable sin of upstaging Trump in the press with his scandals. Trump has to be above the fold every single day or he gets insecure. Acosta has been in the news too much. Trump is jealous. Trump is angry. Trump thinks Acosta is making him look bad, both for what he has done, and for his hogging the headlines.
This is how our government is being run, folks! I have given up on the MAGA-heads and the evangelicals. They close their eyes and stick their fingers in their ears whenever another Trump outrage happens (every day!). But there must be a few people out there who haven't been paying attention to Trump's insane incompetence who might catch a glimpse of this latest scandal and think a bit about what happened in 2016.
7
Trump knew. The oversight of Human Trafficking is exactly why he chose Acosta for that job.
4
Trump would not recognize a competent Cabinet member or any other person in the Administration with the kind of experience necessary to do their jobs. He is a prime example of incompetence.
But Acosta is beyond in-experience. He is a sleaze of a man, a sleaze of an Attorney and should be disbarred. I mean between Acosta's plea agreement with Epstein and is defense of this disgusting Plea Agreement and down without the girls knowledge, he should be put in jail.
The thought of Acosta being in charge of the Labor Department and not stepping down, tells us a lot about his lack of conscience and morality. It also shows us the total disregard for the public interest by the Senators who let him off the hook and confirmed his nomination.
With a Senate like this, who needs enemies of the Country. It is the Republicans in Congress, the GOP, the Administration and personally Trump himself who are making sure that Justice will never be done while they are in power.
If Trump were a man with any decency in his bones, he would fire Acosta. After all, Trump has Grandchildren. Would he want them to be sex trafficked, molested or abused?
3
Although it's unbelievably good, Gail, to read your column and have something in hand that is understandable, there are maybe two issues that I wanted to mention: 1) Since it is probably impossible to expect Trump to do anything truthful and in the public interest, why spend so much "ink" on raging against his filthy rich gobbling at the public trough?
And 2) We're really not better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all. For example, we could be in a state of one-sided conflict with an equally stupid adversary whose only goal is to aggrandize himself at the expense of his enslaved population. Fortunately, one is too greedy to spend lucre on anything, the others are too poor to spend a night at a diplomatic summit. Standoff.
But for our needy and for the preservation of our heritage from sea to shining sea, we need a Cabinet and a Senate and Congress who are eager to stand up to the malfeasance of neglect, which is all we have been proved to be the case with this ugly regime.
1
Everybody knew that Epstein was shifty and everybody knew that Bill Clinton is a friend of Epstein. It was the Miami Herald who did not stop investigating and like Acosta said , all of it is public records.
2
Perfect picture up top in this Opinion. The Man Behind the Curtain
1
And yet, somehow Trump and his deplorables are doing great things for the economy and putting more money in the pockets of laborers of color and investors and homeowners and even journalists. Not bad for incompetents.
Yeah a little more money but longer hours and maybe working another job to make ends meet.
We’re doing great
1
Even our wonderful Gail Collins can't make this story amusing. I'm just very, very tired of everything.
3
Someday, historians will find it a challenge to find an area of the Trump administration untarnished by corruption. Till then, the rest of us must hold our noses and avert out eyes. And do everything in our power to rid the nation of this awful stench. Everything.
2
There is a trace of presumption here that Trump says stuff he actually thinks, which erroneously attributes “thought” as a possible activity of this cipher, now our President.
2
As much fun as it is to throw rocks at Trump regarding this Epstein nightmare, his Jan. 18, 2011, hearing took place during the previous administration
My Dad used to say, "Tell me the company you keep, and I'll tell you who you are." Doesn't say much for our current president. Most of his friends and/or former friends are in jail or in trouble.
681
@Jane
Yes!
My parents used to say, "If you lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas."
32
@Texan Well, I get your point. But isn't this insulting to dogs? My dogs manifest an infinitely higher standard or morality, ethics, and intelligence than Trump and his cabinet of curiosities. And I'm not exaggerating by using the word "infinitely," since Trump and his people rate a zero in ethics and morality.
40
@Jane
Trump supporters have forgiven him for his support of Hillary and his long term friendship with Democrats. Note, when you go down the list of Jeffrey Epstein's pals, they are uniformly Democrats, including Trump at the time he was a pal.
3
Epstein has something on Acosta and Trump.
3
Leave it to NYT to make the claim that the left "gets" labor. LAWCHA doesn't get labor, either. No one does.
I wish we could bring back the boring Obama family to the White House.
5
Yeah like many people in the party of and for the rich the end game is not governing, it's getting to rub shoulders with mucky-mucks, kiss their rings, and imagine that all the glitz means they're good. I, too, think the best outcome for the country is them just enjoying redecorating, reveling, and rewriting their memoirs about the titles they've held and flesh they've pressed, editing out all the nasty bits about little girls, of course.
1
Love ya, Gail, but I have to admit that it's getting harder every day to chuckle about any of this. I'm not criticizing your clever take on our current state. I guess I'm just saying enough is enough. We need to get rid of this pack of jackals -- Acosta is just another loser in a breathtaking example of Trump's collection of idiots.
4
Gail knows News extinguishment.
Bye Rupert.
Bye.
so, we’re willing to prostitute our children, and to have them gunned down in their schools, all for the benefit of the rich and powerful...
...ain’t America grand again....
9
Imagine the Hispanic community's horror as it heard this Acosta lizard, who from his looks, home state and accent I suppose is Cuban American, trying and failing to speak Spanish. They should have called in Buttigieg or Beto to translate for him. But I'll help you out here, Alex: Say "acoso sexual de una menor de edad o sea, una niña."
2
When Republicans talk about "entitlement reform", is it people like Epstein they have in mind?
4
"Trump Doesn’t Know About Labor"
Sadly, his demeaned, kept wives do.
3
Trump was put into office thanks to the Electoral Committee.
Too facile to blame extra-territorial powers when it was an internal swindle.
2
Our former game show host president will see Acosta as a distraction from Trump's need to be the topic of conversation but it may take a few more days....long enough for Trump to say Acosta's departure had nothing to do with the Epstein debacle. (Where is Sara Sanders when you really need an outrageous distortion of the facts?)
Now if Acosta coughed in the oval office that would be grounds for immediate dismissal.
3
It's nice that the women's soccer team won the World Cup.
It would be nicer if the women's soccer team got paid as much as the men who don't seem to win much of anything.
It would be nice if we had something to cheer about other than sports.
I cheered when the former UK ambassador called POTUS "inept" and "dysfunctional".
Really, there's not a lot to cheer about these days but thanks for trying.
3
Good column today, as always. Keep up the good work!
1
There is an element of truth to the “scared and traumatized” witness problem. If these girls would not be compelling on the stand, then Epstein could have been acquitted.
Gail hit the nail on the head twice in this article.
1. We ARE very fortunate that only incompetents can work for The Donald. The damage to our Nation is mitigated by their lack of ability to execute Trump's dastardly agenda.
2. The US Women's soccer team shows us precisely why there is still hope for our once great nation. Women like these 23, AOC and their generation are the future - once the mean old men finally time out. I hope that I am around long enough to see the America that Roosevelt, JFK and Obama tried to give us.
5
@bobbybow
Well said.
1
Trump depends on support from working-class racists and xenophobes. He can't afford to antagonize them with too-obvious moves by the Labor Department. He and Republicans in general depend more on Supreme Court decisions and executive and legislative moves (which Democrats often join with) to empower big business.
The important question in my mind is, Why? Two whys, actually. Why did Acosta barge in on the case, ignoring the 53 page indictment prepared by his own Justice department team, in order to work with Epstein's lawyers on the sweetheart deal he actually got? And why did the judge in the case sign off on this illegal- because the victims were never notified before or after about it-deal? As Ms. Collins pithily puts it, Epstein was/is filthy rich. Is there a money trail to be discovered?
5
About your comment "virtually everything that happens in this country winds up in the hands of New York prosecutors.", allow me to say: Thank you, New York!!
3
What a travesty Justice has become in our country. This rich fellow with an army of lawyers can threaten to slowdown a criminal indictment in court for years, and a Federal US Attorney probably more interested with career advancement offers a deal instead for a minor guilty plea which allows the felon to spend the day away at the "office", eat fancy meals, do a little sunbathing and who knows, keep in touch with some of the victims. Outrageous.
1
“The sad truth is that we’re really probably better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all.”
The sad truth is that nihilists shouldn’t be journalists, but that doesn’t do anything to alleviate the matter.
Meanwhile, Betsy Devos is quite adeptly pruning away at the Department of Education, because what could possibly go wrong in an educational system which is structured to maximize near-term profit?
Unless selling the souls of your children is a bad thing, of course.
1
My goodness I love Gail! Dear Gail, you've given the best reason I've heard about why I should care about or listen to the seemingly endless stories about women's soccer and why they're not being paid enough. Yes, ANYTHING is worthwhile so long as it provides even a second's respite from thinking about the charlatan-president and his cohorts.
2
Good. But surprised and angered to see you use the inaccurate term "underage women" in the last paragraph. It's girls or children. That difference matters.
3
We all get frustrated by the cost and bureaucracy of the federal and state governments. We pay so much money in taxes, yet there seem to be lazy government employees sipping coffee at some department that seems to have no purpose.
Lost in the gross generalizations is the fact that many government employees do serve a purpose. In a difficult environment that swings with the political winds, there is a professional class of public servants who actually perform necessary functions of a modern democratic society.
Steve Bannon and Donald Trump's attempts to "destroy the administrative state" may have sounded like it was going to result in well thought out, meaningful improvements in efficiency and cost savings. What it really has done is treated valuable government functions as a joke. Hey, government is bad, so who cares if rancid meat is being sold, coal power plants are dumping cancer causing toxins into the drinking water supply, or airport security is being gutted to pay for parades?
6
It is important to always keep in mind that Donald Trump sees everything as transactional. Everything. If this is one's mindset (and Donald has confirmed this time and again), you are predisposed to ignore ethical concerns or even legal requirements if a transaction otherwise benefits you. Quid pro quo is not something to occasionally suspect--it's the rule. It's waiting to be found.
5
Trump has wrought an era where lies, ignorance, and prejudice are virtues. He is ignorant, arrogant, narcissistic, without critical thinking tools, without empathy.
https://tinyurl.com/y2w8xdf3
Donald Trump talks to God:
https://tinyurl.com/yxfedf2e
[email protected]
3
Lets hope they can tie some of Epstein's crime to Trump. It would be great to see his name on a passenger manifest for Epstein's plane as it flew to his Caribbean rape island.
2
We need fewer attorneys in appointed positions and more workers who can actually get the jobs done well.
I always thought anyone jumping through law school hoops had to be smart. Every day I read of some attorney screwing things up only to cover their blunders with excuses and fingerpointing.
Acosta fits right in with the rest of trump's gang of bungling fools. Show me an attorney with integrity, and I just might change my mind.
2
Meanwhile, the T admin is gearing up to round up undocumented immigrants. Wonder how much Acosta knows about that
3
tRump is accused of raping a 13 year old child, while he was "partying" with Epstein, just the two of them--you know, the guy tRump doesn't know, even though there are dozens of pictures of them together. Seems like they took turns with this girl. Since tRump is a proven LIAR, and sexual predator (even to his own wife) I believe the girl. He is, after all, a P-grabber by his own admission, because he's a "star." The whole world is watching us, and wondering what in the world is wrong with Americans. I can positively feel the sucking...down the drain. We will all go down with him, if something isn't done right now.
7
"ethical beanbag"
Gail, you have a way with euphemism. Or a very polite spellcheck.
2
This title is hilarious. You could use the first four words with just about anything, except maybe screwing people over, not paying his fair share of taxes and not taking blame.
Trump doesn't know about...
diplomacy
treating people with respect
empathy
governing
telling the truth
saying "I am sorry"
admitting when he is wrong
sharing
being a good human being
staying married
helping others get ahead if they disagree with him
I could go on but hopefully you all get the point.
2
Marvelous! Hundreds of words about the slug that is Epstein, without a single mention of You Know Who, who spent a heck of a lot more private and travel time with Epstein than anybody else in the current Administration.
1
@badubois: This is it: “He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side.” That is all. It's weird that trump would say that, when asked his opinion of Epstein. Why bring up women at all?
This is so exactly trump's style of manly man talk; his MO for his whole life, his rich limo 80's glitzy life surrounded by 'beautiful women', it's unbelievable that you want to talk about Bill Clinton, who did NOT say that. Hey, look over there! A Clinton! At the same time, trump is actually the one in power, so why, if it's so disgusting to you, don't you ask for Acosta's resignation?
1
I guess "the fallout with him" was while Epstein had an eye for the young, Trump went for porn-stars and "models".
Real icons of morality.
2
Gail, you missed out 4):
Hmm. Before this week, what do you think Donald Trump thought the Department of Labor did?
A) Something about delivering babies.
B) Something about getting good people to, you know, mow the lawn and stuff.
C) Something
--------
D) We have a Dept of Labor? what for?
3
Bashing Trump again. Maybe some kind words Gail, otherwise it is getting boring.
Can we stop saying "sex with underage girls"? It is rape, by definition.
7
Underage women are girls - children. Please call them for what they are. Language matters.
7
Acosta should resign. There are all sorts of job opportunities waiting for him. He could move to Alabama and become Roy Moore's campaign manager.
7
Reasons why people voted for Trump:
1. Anybody but Hillary.
2. I always vote Republican.
3. He may have his faults but he’ll put conservative judges on the bench and Roe v Wade will be overturned.
4. I believe anything l see on social media (see “Pizzagate” and Russian interference.)
5. We need a great businessman in the WH. (see Business Week article re Trump and sale of the Plaza Hotel.)
6. He’ll shake up Washington - a place full of self servingy crooks & thieves.
7. Thanks Electoral College.
Despite all of the above, I, in my naïveté, thought the electorate would see through this man who lacks any common decency, wouldn’t recognize honesty if it walked up and smacked him in the face, and who views all events through the lens of “Its all about me”.
6
"Jeffrey Epstein, a rich guy who liked to have sex with underage girls." Past tense? Tense past? Did the "very lenient punishment" Acosta gift end Mr. Epstein's sexual addiction?
That's something we'd like to know. We'd also like to know the names of others who used the Epstein playbook to follow his lead. Yes, miracles may happen, and those 13 sleep-over months in the clink might have been a curative patent medicine. At least at last there's more to come.
Doug Giebel, Big Sandy, Montana
1
Yes, Mr. Trump, you do have so many inept cabinet members, all of whom were selected by YOU, perhaps the most inept and corrupt president in all of U.S. history!
2
I wish you could have spared a word for Acosta's move to dramatically cut funding for the office in his agency that works to combat sex trafficking...that seems relevant. And ironic, if not exactly funny.
5
Trump has previously talked about the fact that he and Epstein shared an interest in beautiful "young" women.
Is it possible that this shared interest had any influence on Trump's appointment of Accosta as Secretary of Labor?
Hmmmmmm
3
Gail Union rights are not the same as worker rights.
But, there are worker rights because of unions.
6
Sorry Ms Collins, I am a fan but I think that you are off on this one. I watched the Acosta Q and A. I was genuinely surprised. Instead of hearing the standard pathetic trump administration obfuscation I heard an earnest thoughtful, and perhaps even just, person doing his best to answer some reasonably hard hitting questions. There is plenty of garbage in this administration to go after so I urge you to think twice/objectively about where you aim your fire.
3
@PJM -- I suggest you do a bit more reading on this topic, perhaps even dig a little deeper. Sadly, all is not as it seems with Acosta's "earnest thoughtful" performance. Experienced prosecutors make good actors, especially when their job an reputation are on the line.
6
@PJM Acosta stood in front of that camera and bald-face lied to our faces. Earnest and thoughtful are not the same as honest and forthright.
4
@PJM, not sure why you would describe this as just, or even earnest. You allow a whole lot of unanswered questions to remain, and the State AG wrote unequivocally that Acosta did NOT tell the truth. Even I, certainly no expert, am skeptical:
Why Acosta said all the victims were too scared and traumatized to adequately testify, but there were more than a dozen who signed court documents agreeing to testify. Acosta LIED,PJM.
Why did his office confer ONLY with Epstein's lawyers about prosecuting? Are you kidding me? Imagine ANY trial where the prosecution meets in secret with the defense's legal team to come up with a process that benefits only the accused!
Lastly, why did Acosta seal the plea agreement so the victims would be legally unable to know about it? That's ILLEGAL, and Acosta represents the LAW! He was a federal prosecutor, actively working for the defense. And you find this persuasive, earnest and even just?! Please address the obvious doubts we have. We'll wait.
5
‘All opinions are theory’, some argue, so one is caused to wonder what moulds opinion, such as: ‘You know how this administration feels about good deals’; you are meant to bite on the inference here and swallow it whole. But what if you regurgitate with, ‘...yes, I recall the supine Obama non action well; Iran, NATO, N. Korea et al.’
Then we have, ‘...have you heard anybody in the Trump administration apologize for anything?’ A fait accompli statement if ever there was one; which causes one to think when did one last hear the Clinton/Obama administrations apologise. Politicians don’t recant they are Masters/Mistresses of casuistry, truth is a tool for their advancement, or as some would argue, pathological advancement. Besides, on a humorous note, hasn’t Trump repeatedly apologised to the American people for the Obama administration? As to Soccer – yes, the World Cup, something for the US to be very proud of, yet, one wonders if the loud hailering by the media would have be a little more subdued if the Captain of the team was a Trump supporter? Only my opinion, but no offence, it is only a theory.
Why isn't Nancy Pelosi calling for a House inquiry on this?
1
@MickNamVet And why are Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham silent?
4
@MickNamVet I wonder about that as well. Maybe her plate's full with all of the other trump-connected scandals.
4
The kids Trump has kidnapped and imprisoned would, I'm afraid, be really glad to be turned over to Epstein right now. As horrid as this is, it is the tip of the rotten Republican iceberg.
2
Can we call it molesting underage girls? That’s what it is. He is a child molester. The press has been far too kind and demeaning to these women and girls by calling them adolescents and suggesting they were prostitutes, as if a 14 year old would willingly and responsibly choose that path for herself if not coerced by Epstein and compromised by life circumstances.
1
Great article! Agree 100%
Calling this monster who exploited, manipulated, sexually assaulted, raped and traumatized over 70 children and little girls "Jeffrey Epstein, a rich guy who liked to have sex with underage girls" is a huge understatement. Shocking any journalists would still be portraying this criminal this way. And we may be only aware of the tip of the iceberg. Did any of these victims go missing? Were any murdered? We may never know the full extent of this criminal enterprise. Obviously every criminal involved had no concern for the lives of those they victimized. Truly disgusting.
1
Let’s be honest. No Republican cares about these girls. It’s pretty obvious that the men of the party have no respect for women and see them nothing more than the breeding sacks.
The women of the party are even worse. Nothing but doormats who have it drilled into them by the monstrous variant of Christianity that Republicans practice that they are nothing more than helpmeets to their men.
While I appreciate Gail’s humor, we should never lose sight of what awful misogynists Republicans are.
5
I wish I could laugh.
1
Asked by reporters if he [Acosta] had any regrets, he just said that was “a very hard question.”
Maybe Acosta doesn't know what the word "regrets" mean. Bear in mind that Attorney-General Bill Barr struggled with the meaning of "suggest."
2
Gail's beloved Barack Obama practically RUINED the employment picture for Black America.
Why?
Socialists ALWAYS want the poor workers to lose hope and go on gov't assistance to build up the central state's dependeny class.
It's really that simple.
But we voters found us an outsider, alien to the thinking of big-government types, and Donald Trump has SAVED the economic situation especially for Black America, Latinos, and women.
But Gail always supports women, right? HA. Show her a conservative woman, and stand back a bit.
When the family is preyed upon for profit and not honored as the foundation of our country, with excellence in parenting, nutrition, health care, education, honor and respect for the law of the land... Everything crumbles, as we see all over our sad country today.
The money condenses in the pockets of the few and they are not going to let go of it, as you know.
Ethics, Morality, Honor, Respect for The Law, Dignitas, all are in retreat. Witness Acosta, The Shackler Family and the list goes on and on and on. Understand our President's seedy past and present, with law suit after lawsuit calling him to justice and he's lying every day, faster than a dog can trot.
The poet Arnold captured the descent of all that is good;
..."now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night-wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.
...And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.
- Matthew Arnold, 1867 -
1
If politics mirrored mathematics, there might be some hope with all the buffoons in the Trump administration: as a negative times a negative equals a positive.
Does an unfit buffoon, times another unfit buffoon, equal a seasoned statesman or a buffoon, squared? I fear it is the latter.
"Hmm. Before this week, what do you think Donald Trump thought the Department of Labor did?"
I have to go with (D), Trump thought he did the primary job of ALL his cabinet members:
- Publicly sing the praises of their master when prompted (with extra points for working God into the exaltation).
- Never waiver from their insistence that the Emperor Trump is actually "fully clothed" despite what is apparent to all.
- Lie under oath to congress when commanded. Lie to the press as a matter of course. Lie to the public just for the fun of it.
- Never, ever, have your private emails hacked, or phone conversations recorded, where you tell your friends what you really think of our President's intellectual and emotional capabilities.
- Don't worry about doing your job. Trump doesn't care, and couldn't tell the difference if he did.
p s. If you let a rich guy whose main hobby was abusing and sex trafficking young girls off the hook whether for money, political power, or a nice letter of recommendation ignore the above and don't take the job. Best to fly well under the radar like the soulless criminal you are.
Acosta can try to spin this anyway he wants but there are no words in the English language or any other language that can justify what Acosta failed to do as a prosecutor.
2
What is it about being a powerful Republican that gives you the itch to lie, steal, and cheat?
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/1/11/1619079/-Comparing-Presidential-Administrations-by-Arrests-and-Convictions-A-Warning-for-Trump-Appointees
The Democrats should call attention to that chart. Especially since Republicans are always the ones to blather on about how moral and upstanding they are. Democrats have scandals of their own, but at least they rarely go to jail.
1
"And, good Lord, his crack team of cabinet members."
Collins, how about "on-crack team of alleged cabinet members"? It's clear that every one of them is on the influence of some strong substance, and I, like the silenced majority against the loser's "silent" (I wish) "majority" (nope), refuse to count this unwanted regime among the presidencies.
So Acosta is so weak-kneed and lily-livered that he allows his own chief of staff to be bulldozed by Mulvaney — who holds a position not requiring Senate confirmation. If Geale in fact needed to go, it should have been Acosta who showed him the door. THAT would have been some semblance of “leadership”. BTW Geale’s successor is almost setting a record for shortest tenure by an administration official, but The Mooch has that one covered.
I guess Acosta is used to being bulldozed, since that’s what Epstein’s lawyers did to him.
1
"...who appears to have erased the lot-of-fun-to-be-with period.".
Interesting that the grifter from Queens, the dotard in our White House, writes "revisionist" history whenever he is caught with his pants down (I hope not in front of adolescent children with his former "fun" buddy) and throws them under the bus.
Tillerson, Sessions, Kelly, Comey and many others were fine individuals, best of the best, until they weren't and they were flung from the swamp.
Trump has caused a lot of turmoil within our government and not much good has come from it. And Trump will defend a loyalist regardless of the issues, or dirt, the loyalist brings to the table.
Many question if Trump was a willing participant in the Epstein crimes or just an admirer.
But, many more ask if there are two different standards of crime-one for the wealthy contributors and another for the unwashed masses and if Acosta applied his standards equally. It appears Acosta deferred to the legal standard for the wealthy.
But, on to child labor, mine safety and the stealing of tips, which is much more important than child rape and child sexual trafficking.
I don't know what's worse: Trump throwing money around like it was his, appointing the worst cabinet in the history of the United States, befriending every smutty pervert in the known world or compulsively trying to destroy our Democracy.
2
Gail,
There are some powerful pheromones on the trail between NYC and South Florida that attracts some of the Nation's richest.
You are the best in the business at connecting the dots so I was surprised that you did not see the connection between the guest list at Mar a Largo, the massage business, and campaign donations.
Recall, the New England Patriots' owner and Trump supporter, Robert Kraft, and his efforts to suppress the massage video, and then there is the much publicized security breach of the Mar a Lago: A Chinese national attempting to enter Mar-a-Lago with a USB drive filled with malware was arrested. The Secret Service found that the woman was carrying multiple laptops and cell phones in addition to the malware. The woman was drawn to Mar-a-Lago by the massage parlor owner that has been selling access to high-profile Republicans Donors at the golf resort – the same woman who watched the Super Bowl with Donald Trump.
Clearly, the Trump 2020 strategy is too stir the swamp, capture most of the ink and leave very little for the 20 plus Democrats who seeking to get their name and message out.
You can't make this stuff up.
Great piece Gail , I sat and thought about this joke of an administration and thought ..yes thank goodness we have women's soccer to take our minds off Trump . Spot on about every one of his cabinet picks . clueless
Take a breath. Kelly Ann Conway made a good point ==> that the media is in a feeding frenzy over Acosta's job. Focus people. Epstein in in the slammer. The justice system is at work. There should be others indicted, other high rollers. Then the entire state and federal teams from the case in Palm Springs will be investigated. Laws were broken by them including Acosta. He should be charged for those violations of informing the victims and also for granting immunity for the other perpetrators. That is more important than Trump bashing in THIS case.
Inept cabinet members who bumble through the job of undermining their mission is what Trump wanted. What the GOP who feel that government (except for their own golden selves) is the problem not the solution wanted. What the Groverian or Norquistian, however you'd classify them, bathtub drowners wanted
Acosa, by that measure, is a success story.
Just now the Florida state prosecutor claimed that Acosta was trying to rewrite history and it was up to Acosta to prosecute but folded under influence of rich and powerful lawyers and politicians. Trump sent Acosta out there to do the Trump act when accused of sexual assault just deflect and deny ,Trump always stands by the rich and powerful accused of sexual abuse because that is how he operates as a sexual predator.
From today‘s Guardian: “Alexander Acosta, the US labor secretary under fire for having granted Jeffrey Epstein immunity from federal prosecution in 2008, after the billionaire was investigated for having run a child sex trafficking ring, is proposing 80% funding cuts for the government agency that combats child sex trafficking.”
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/09/labor-secretary-alexander-acosta-sex-trafficking-budget-cut
2
Being a NY Times commenter is becoming a frustrating experience. You write a comment in the early evening, and by morning it may be thin or obsolete.
Clearly the case with Epstein. Now we know his billions may have been an illusion, part of his Venus fly trap used to lure young girls to their psychological doom!
1
The rot is everywhere in this Administration, it started with Trump, Bannon, and Flynn and has for two and a half years been growing exponentially. Sessions, Barr, Price, Zinke, Bolton, Nielsen, Scaramucci, Huckabee Sanders………. and on, and on.
So now we have Acosta, and hopefully his days will be one misery after another as the heat turns up with Epstein’s legal case, while it continues to draw national attention week after week with his sordid stories of child molestation.
This is the sickest most corrupt Administration in my lifetime. And that goes back over 70 years.
1
"... I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you” the President will say when he figures out that having Acosta is actually an embarrassment.
Next week?
Gail,
Isn’t “sex with underage girls” a euphemism? Aren’t you referring to sex with a minor who is legally incapable of giving her consent?
“Rape” is the word you’re looking for.
2
Trump certainly is lying about his relationship with Epstein. How about Clinton, who reportedly went on 20 something trips in the Epstein private jet, some with girls who rated initials on the manifest, not human being names? Clinton, who lied about his sex behavior when he was President, says nothing happened. That connection, though, seems to me to be worth a mention and a little digging.
1
You had the A-team, then the B-team, C-team, D-team, E-team and so forth. The big question is, will the President use up the alphabet before he leaves office? Where do you go past Z? Maybe the Cyrillic alphabet next, from Russia with love.
1
That phrase - he liked to "have sex with underage girls" - doesn't quite get at what Epstein and company liked to do. With that phrase so much in use by reporters and columnists trying to deal with the Epstein case, it is starting to sound like "underage girls" is just a common preference. An underage person means, according to a quick Google definition, someone who is "too young to engage legally in an activity..." Thus Epstein "liked" to have sex with girls who were too young to give consent for sexual activity. That is what "underage girls" means.
3
The former British Ambassador was correct in saying that the Tweety White House is "inept, insecure and incompetent". This nightmare administration cannot end soon enough.
5
I always feel good after reading Gail Collins' work, even when the subjects are awful and despicable.
Which, come to think of it, they often are.
1
Gail should next focus on Elaine Chao, a fellow Harvard MBA, Sec'y of Labor under fellow Harvard MBA GW Bush, and now Sec'y of Transportation. She has nothing to show for either post, but she does have the distinction of being married to Mitch McConnel.
2
Yeah, Gail Collins, we know how Trump and his administrators feel about good deals and trampling on human rights. Trump's Labor Secretary, Alex Acosta, stood up for his sweetheart-deal for little jail time and a slap on the wrist for Jeffrey Epstein when he was Attorney for the Southern District in Florida in 2008. Why didn't the Secretary of Labor stand up for girls lured and used as sex objects by Jeffrey Epstein and his very important rich pals?
Obviously, Mr. Acosta didn't take into account Epstein's heinous crimes of molesting and trafficking in young teenage girls in Florida, He said the victims would be traumatized by testifying against Epstein. who abused them in Florida, Manhattan, Little St. James (his private island in USVI") and on his "sex jet" to Europe and wherever. How about the original trauma by the predator who was a friend of the rich and powerful?
Mr. Acosta defended his decisions against Jeffrey Epstein using time passing as his go-to excuse. Let's hope many important heads will roll to the SDNY Court that is bringing Jeffrey Epstein to justice now. Mr. Trump called Epstein a "terrific guy, who likes beautiful women like I do, and many...are on the younger side." Who can deny, defend and distract from those words? When will we get rid of our president who freely admits to grabbing women by their lady parts?
4
The best thing about the soccer ladies is listening to them ridicule Trump.
4
I am curious about any follow-up with respect to the proposed rule to allow employers to legally steal tips. Did the ruling that employers could redistribute tips (and of course, taking only an ill-defined percentage of this amount because of the administrative and security costs) become reality? Was Acosta labor secretary when this ruling was proposed. I am sure he would have approved, even if he wasn't.
I always tip with cash. The fight then is among the wage staff and not likely to involve the salaried staff.
1
Follow the money, there is no good feeling from this column, but Gail is right that the only legal entity in this nation willing to make things ‘normal’ again seems to be from New York. And if anyone was going to see what a creepy pervert Epstein was it would be our con-in-chief, a man who liked to walk unannounced into dressing rooms while running the Miss America pageant. Epstein was also a big pal of Clinton’s, so the whole mess is about to get worse.
1
“Are you shocked by any of this? “
What’s really shocking is after seeing all of this incompetence and corruption Trump’s poll numbers have gone up to historic highs in job approval, according to the Washington Post.
2
CILLIC defines the Republican party and the Trump administration.
Cruelty
Incompetence
Lies
Lawlessness
Ignorance
Corruption
3
Has anyone who works for Trump, voted for Trump, covered for Trump, or is named Trump, other than Michael Cohen, ever admitted they were wrong? About anything? Nearly half of our country is submerged in cognitive dissonance.
2
Hey come on so negative. Show some respect for our elected officials and those rightly confirmed cabinet members by Mitch and his tribe. Women's soccer team bad model for our youth. Rapinoe has as Fox news rightly points out dissed our wonderful president. Lock her up! Clearly she is not politically correct. You don't see our president going around dissing people. Probably though Epstein was doing those young girls a favor given his comment. As for Epstein lock him up and throw away the key.
1
Did Epstein bring his own mattress, sheets, pillows, towels
to the clink? Maybe a minifridge? Meals/snacks delivered?
1
Unfortunately, there is still a parallel between what happened to these girls (and they are girls) and women’s soccer. We simply do not value the female in this country.
The little girls in the Epstein crime were considered worth less than a powerful male and the women’s soccer team, although wildly more successful and popular, are also considered worth less than their male counterparts.
And the added bonus for the girls in the pedophilia crime was they were poor which in this country puts them at the very lowest of any consideration.
Now, Mr. Trump, that’s sad!!!
1
What are the right words? Venerable children, underage girls or underage women? Gail uses all three but does using the word women provide a connotation of adulthood? I’m hearing from several women that they think it should be made clear the victims were minors and that Epstein is a pedophile.
1
Acosta was very lawyer like in his presentation today to explain away his involvement in the Epstein sweet plea deal. He failed bigly in attempting to shift the blame to Florida state prosecutors and to protect underage girls, who were denied the opportunity to seek justice against Jeffrey Epstein. The question now is how long will Donald J. Trump wait to accept Acosta resignation, or to do absolutely nothing. We know POTUS doesn’t fire anybody personally. Not a good position for Trump to find himself in. Increasing negative public opinion will surely hurt him in his quest to be re-elected. On the lighter side, hilarious that our current President doesn’t know basic knowledge of the human anatomy. During remarks today after signing an order to advance American Kidney Health, Trump said “The kidney has a very special place in the heart.” He added “It’s an incredible thing.”
Unbelievable, this man is the President of the United States.
1
With ineptness jumping out at us right and left regarding Alex Acosta’s performance in plea-bargaining with Jeffrey Epstein’s lawyers, we should look at how Donald Trump’s Labor Secretary Acosta got his previous job as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida.
Alex Acosta is the son of Cuban refugees in Florida and had a very good record at Harvard College and Harvard Law School. After becoming a lawyer, Acosta’s career got interesting.
The name of the Kirkland & Ellis office in Washington crops up, along with special counsel Kenneth “Whitewater” Starr, Samuel “Not True” Alito and Brett “I Like Beer” Kavanaugh. After clerking with Alito and with Starr and working alongside Kavanaugh, Alex Acosta was appointed by George W. Bush to a couple of positions and, finally, in 1998 to the job Acosta held when he botched or threw the Epstein deal.
Gail Collins is right. This is too depressing. Let’s think about women’s soccer.
1
I was at the ticker tape parade not so much because I’m a great soccer fan but because I was going to be in the area yesterday and well—why not?
That being said I had a terrific time. A wonderful, patriotic, flag waving time—even the police dogs wore sporting the red white and blue.
Now mind you I’m as liberal as they come. I have a Bernie sticker on my pickup truck and I’ve voted for every Democratic candidate since Walter Mondale. I’ve marched for more lefty causes than I care to remember.
Generally, I don’t do flag-waving but this felt right, maybe because there’s so much bad stuff going on in our country right now that feeling a sense of pride and belonging was somehow uplifting.
Maybe it was the looks on the faces of little girls and not a few little boys too looking adoringly at a group of strong, athletic beautiful, outspoken women that made me think that all is not lost.
Now of course there are the usual Debbie Downers on this thread. “How can you celebrate when.....?”
Well, in answer to that I give you the great American radical Emma Goldman who famously told some overly PC Soviet apparatchik “If I can’t dance you can keep your Revolution”. or was it “If I ccan’t dance to it I don’t want to march to it.” Either way the sentiment is clear.
Even liberals deserve a little joy in their lives.
1
Ah, the best justice that money can buy!
Thank you, Ms Collins! "Filthy rich" ~ that phrase does not get used nearly as often as it should, in my opinion. "Dirty money" is another. Let's bring them back into frequent use, please.
Why can't we just admit that the justice department was unable to stand up to wealth and power. That's why a wealthy perp got off so easily where a person of normal means would have done hard time.
Perhaps we can and should throw Acosta to wolves, but unless we fix the system, it will happen again and again.
To what extend does having resources affect the outcome in our justice system? That is a simple measure of how just it is, and as this incident shows, it gets failing marks. Until we level the playing field, expect more of the same.
Trump's cabinet looks like a collection of KMart blue light specials that were in the return pile. Talk about the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
3
I hear a new book is soon to be released by the Trump family. It is expected it will be a best seller in social elite circles. Titled: Degradation for Dummies 101.
Given everything I have read this morning about Epstein and Acosta I have to wonder if perhaps Epstein might have a lot of dirt on his wealthy associates stashed away somewhere. I guess that this is maybe what should be expected when we elect a government of billionaires for billionaires. What a sleazy world American oligarchs live in.
2
Given a chance to be in either Trump's "he's a good good guy" group or his "I am not a fan" group. I am proud that I would squarely fall in the "not a fan" side. Think about who is in those two Trump categories: One includes dictators, murderers, pedophiles, cheaters and bigots. The other is mostly people with a conscience and care about something more than their own well-being.
2
These 16 year old girls are”vulnerable children “ but a judge is being pilloried elsewhere because he did not want to try a 16 year boy as an adult. So what are 16 year olds?
1
This piece made my day with "ethical beanbag". I don't think Acosta will be around long. Not because he is inept or incompetent, but because he makes Trump look inept and incompetent.
Seriously though, soccer.
Megan Rapinoe's speech at the Women's World Cup celebration in New York was the best roadmap to "be best" that I have heard to date.
2
No such thing as "underage women." They're called children. Softening up the language for what are brutal and illegal acts is unhelpful.
4
The guy who promised to 'clean the swamp' was actually the King of the Swamp, and when he got elected he invited all the other swamp creatures in. Those who didn't fit the swamp profile either resigned or were forced to leave in disgrace for failing to cover their tracks like the Swamp King.
All good people. Terrific people. Yeah.
R.I.P. Washington (and not only George).
On the soccer subject: am I alone in finding the ‘brashness’ of the team too Ugly American? Boorish even? Maybe women get a pass but its all too Triumphalist to me. We are living in a time of global environmental crisis. Sports are contributing to it. Directly. What do you think that new sports field in the woods is replacing anyway? And all the air miles? Cmon man.
Trump knows all about Labor, are you crazy, he knows that after Labor does a job, they want their money but if you refuse to pay them, by saying you didn't like the job they did, you can stiff them, refuse to pay, and then settle for 50 cents on the dollar. Trump knows all about stiffing people, especially the working man, shame he was never taught to treat people fairly.
2
The whole clown show may as well be all deputized “Acting”, as it truly turns out that’s what they were doing, before being turfed
After WW 2 there was the label and stench of the collaborators... the same will apply to most of those who have aided and abetted this corrupt regime.
2
Questions never asked of any of the men involved even on the peripheral: Do you have a daughter and how different would you react should the same things happen to her? Guaranteed their ignorant answer would be, "It would not happen to her". Seeing Epstein entertained by underage girls would you address the issue, cut off the relationship and notify authorities to prevent future exploitation of teenagers? How would you react to a man grabbing the genitals of your wife, sister, girlfriend or daughter because the man assumed their status in life allowed them to try and take whatever they wanted in the moment? Sir, do you consider all females despite their age and unrelated to you personally to be prey?
No, no and NO. Acosta has GOT to GO!
4
Acosta is surely just the latest Republican who wishes he could hose off what Trump has covered him with.
1
@We'll always have Paris
Actually Acosta seems more like a magnet for that stuff.
Whenever Trump says “that I can tell you” we know he is lying. Bigly.
2
This article made me smile and reminds me that I'm sane. Yay, women's soccer team World Champions! You all made me feel positive here and there over the last couple of months.
1
Women's soccer gives us something to cheer about...thank god. I am absolutely astounded by the "cluster" of imbeciles in the White House. Sure glad that Trump is draining the swamp. So much winning.
4
Friends, the plot sickens: "Jeffrey Epstein claims he introduced President Trump to wife Melania as it is revealed the two men were the only guests at a part with '28 young swimsuit models' at Mar-a-Lao"... hmm. Should we doubt this knowing that Melania was in the states violating her tourist visa by doing nude layouts for Penthouse? Maybe the question should be: How low does our country go before we implode on sleaze?
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7233199/Jeffrey-Epstein-claims-introduced-President-Trump-wife-Melania.html
7
This column is a wonderful example of left-wing media bias.
The reason Gail Collins is focused on Acosta is because she hates the Trump administration. At least the Florida authorities tried to prosecute Mr Epstein.
Until this year New York authorities have taken no action against Mr Epstein. Why was there no attempt to prosecute Mr Epstein in New York in 2008, when the charges in Florida became public? Why has it taken 10 years for New York to catch up with Florida?
Most of all, why did New York DA Cyrus Vance try to get Mr Epstein's sex offender status reduced? His Florida deal was already extremely lenient, but the New York DA apparently felt it was too strict and he tried to water it down even further.
Cyrus Vance has a track record when it comes to sexual predators. He refused to prosecute Harvey Weinstein despite strong evidence of his crimes. He also dropped charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn when he was accused of sexual assault. Cyrus Vance has a clear record of letting the rich and powerful get away with sex crimes. New Yorkers should be ashamed to have such a man as their district attorney.
Despite this disgraceful record, Gail Collins fails to call for Cyrus Vance's resignation in her column. Do Ms Collins and the New York Times feel that Cyrus Vance has served them well as district attorney? Here in California, the judge in the Brock Turner case was successfully recalled for giving a too light sentence.
Why is Gail not calling for a recall of her DA?
4
@Schrodinger: Of course Gail hates the trump administration.
Everyone in their right mind hates the trump administration.
1
@Schrodinger
Why in heaven's name don't you know what is going on. There is nothing but sleaze in the White House.
1
Danger: Chubby Billy Barr--recused from the followup investigation into the Acosta/Epstein dance--is not recusing himself from the new Epstein indictments. Just in case one of those pesky search warrants turns more Epstein-Trump connections. At ready if needed to quash the truth, eh Billy?
6
The only thing partially saving the country at this time is that the minions serving 45 truly are incompetent and basically stupid. Could you imagine the damage they could do if they were intelligent? It's bad enough the things they're doing, but if they had working brain cells, it would be even worse.
2
He drained the swamp. Then he loaded it up with real criminals, not just inept pols. Sure glad the Red folks elected him. I would hope they've learned a valuable lesson by now, but many supporters still love him. Even the inept can't legislate stupid.
3
Not enough footy in the world, these days, to cheer up this American. Not enough pink hair, purple hair, confetti, floats, Gail Collins, to win out against the overwhelming, daily sewage tide of corruption, ignorance, cruelty and never-ending, shameless, smirking, bald-faced, taint-spreading lies. I passed some sort of cheerless Rubicon yesterday, between the news from the border and the news from DOJ.
4
Is it just me? I don’t find any humor in ANY of this. And, no, it doesn’t make me smile through my tears, nor do I find it a welcome break from the Tawdry Trump Show.
Child porn and child sexual abuse, the most heinous crimes this side of murder, just don’t lend themselves to Gail’s breezy style.
Miscarriage of justice doesn’t either. I compare it to one of the pallbearers telling a dirty joke at my Mother’s funeral.
Some things are just not funny.
4
“Drain the swamp”. And Trump did. Then he filled it with Perrier, built luxury condos and a golf course around it, put up an electrified fence, and turned it into a gated community. The only red hats to be seen are worn by the dupes picking up the trash...USA USA
3
Even Gail is running out of chirpy humor.
1
I have thought the same thing for a long time Trump and his band of brothers are truly so incompetent that the damage they have so far accomplished is probably less than it could be if they were competent.
The problem with this line of thinking is that one day something is going to happen that requires competency and then we are all in deep doo doo as a nation. I try to remind myself to not laugh to loudly at the incompetence and stupidity that Trump displays daily because in the end the joke maybe on all of us not just Trump voters.
1
‘You wrote: “Jeffrey Epstein, a rich guy who liked to have sex with underage girls”
This should read “Jeffrey Epstein, a rich guy who liked to rape children”.
Please stop using nice words to describe raping of children. You know better.
7
Gail,
you forgot to mention that a year ago, Accosta requested an 80% budget cut for the department that combats child sex trafficking
5
Hey Donald, I hear SDNY footsteps. Don’t you?
2
I find it suspicious that these events, which have been occuring for decades, are suddenly deemed worthy of being persued. It is almost as if Democrats care only when they can attack Trump. Epstein was raping children during many Democratic Presidencies. A Democratic NY Attorney General pushed to down grade his Epstein's sex offender status. But why hold Democrats accountable when we can blame Trump?
2
@willt26: I so agree! Because of his own boorishness and low-grade, immoral mind, trump is the most obvious one to blame.
Find a quote from President Barack Obama, or even poor old W, that calls Epstein a “terrific guy” and “lots of fun to be around,” and just maybe you can find some traction for your theory.
2
Ms. Collins:
Not so sure the down-home gentle humor works so well with a monster like Epstein, or Trump—
"the clink" "nah" "used to be tight with" "a rich guy" "hey" "yeah" "grabbing a piece" "sort of" "um" "playthings" "filthy rich" "beanbag"
1
Perhaps for the next World's Cup tournaments the ball can show a picture of a certain orange menace.
OMG! well put!
People need to be careful Ms. Collins what you wish for. The very fact that a safe was found in Mr. Epstein's home and things were found. Being that we all know that Mr.Epstein was a very big supporter of the Democrat party, have to wonder what pictures or evidence was found and on whom.Why is no one asking, why during the previous administration, of 8 years no one thought Mr. Epstein was a problem,that needed to be dealt with? I personally have to wonder if they found another stained blue dress? As for President Trumps supposed inept cabinet, with his administration daily attacked by the democrat party and its proxy the media, if you had any caring for the American people you would have to admit as has Mr.Johnson,the founder of Black Entertainment Television.Who has said he gives" the President an A+for the economy,"African-American unemployment is at its lowest level,as well as the Hispanic community.It seems the only ones who are inept are the Dem party who really think that the people of color can always be bought with free, come 2020 election we will see.
1
I am waiting as patiently as possible for the fun day when Trump will throw Accosta under the bus and claim that he hardly knew him. It's going to come. Wait for it.
And I will let out a big guffaw to see the look on Accosta's face as he slinks off stage and back to his family from The Shining.
Trump doesn't know much about anything, other than lying, infidelity and how to bamboozle the public.
That is why his base loves him.
6
While we're talking about harassment and abuse of young girls let's not forget Trump's own words from the Howard Stern show.
I’ll tell you the funniest is that I’ll go backstage before a show and everyone’s getting dressed,” Trump told Stern.
“No men are anywhere, and I’m allowed to go in, because I’m the owner of the pageant and therefore I’m inspecting it. … ‘Is everyone OK?' You know, they’re standing there with no clothes. ‘Is everybody OK?’ And you see these incredible-looking women, and so I sort of get away with things like that.”
6
Ethical beanbag.
Love it. What a great way to evoke the childish, shapeless, frivolous lack of any moral content in our president.
But it does miss the menace -- the unethical brass knuckles of greed.
5
Sadly, there is only soccer.
1
Hey, Gail. We’re now past the halfway point in Trump’s term. Do me a favor. Try to stop saying things like Trump “appears to have erased” his memories of the fun times he had with Epstein.
The memories are not erased. Trump is just lying about his relationship with Epstein, just as he lies about his past relationships with Michael Cohen, or Don McGhan, or Trump University, or Trump steaks, or Stormy Daniels, or the 10,000 (and counting) other lies documented since his term began.
I think it past time for giving our President any benefit of doubt in whether he’s intentionally lying. He is. In the furtherance of good journalism, please forget the euphemisms. He’s a liar who lies and lies—and then he lies about his lies. Honest.
8
Remember, Trump was only going to get the best people.
In Acosta's case it turns out that Trump was looking for a person to fill the Dept of Labor whose main qualifications were that of an inept, toady wimp without a any detectable streak of a conscience. Also turns out that most of Trump's appointees have a lot in common.
2
Florida, again, Florida. What a place. Any chance they could trade with Puerto Rico and become a Protectorate or Territory and PR gets to be the State? Or why isn't there a Florida independence movement like there always is in Texas. Of course, being Florida, they'd fumble that, too.
3
What does a former prosecutor know to be Secretary of Labor? That's right, nothing.
1
Thank you so much New York...
5
“Very embarrassing that Acosta is one of the people who’s supposed to protect underage women from being sold as sex slaves.” Underage women are girls. Girls are children. Let’s lose this euphemism. Also substitute “boys” for “girls” and see if you feel differently about it. Sorry to say doing that helped me empathize more. I was programmed like a lot of men, but exercises like this can bring you closer to the terrible cruelty at the center of this story. Lock him up.
7
Well written and on point. Although Acosta seemed sincere and not duplicitous, I wondered how he got from his position then as a prosecutor to his position today. And his “work” as Secretary certainly sounds par for the course with this administration...in other words, destructive of achieved improvements in terms of laborer health and safety? But then there is that one end of paragraph sentence, and ah...the subtleties of language...”he’s been trying to water down everything from mine safety regulations to the rules that prohibit restaurant managers from grabbing a piece of the waiters’ tips”, where the change in one LETTER in that last word addresses Acosta’s Epstein case and Trump’s bragging about his interactions with women. Love your writing Gail Collins!
5
“Cheer up. There’s always soccer.“
Where winning means you get paid less than losing, if you’re a woman.
4
And? The men's team would beat the ladies 100 times out of 100. They're paid based on the skills they posses not based on the skills they posses relative to their competition.
1
"the outrage that’s been building since people learned that, as a federal prosecutor in South Florida, he had brokered a very lenient punishment for Jeffrey Epstein"
This was widely reported when Acosta was first nominated for Secretary of Labor. But as usual, Republicans and sadly some Dems still confirmed him.
I am not sure what a Trump nominee would need to do to not be confirmed. Oh, yeah. Acosta's predecessor, the Carl's Jr. guy, Pudzer, got shot down b/c he was too friendly to immigrants for the Repubs, though their cover was his spousal abuse.
2
The best cabinet members, by far, are Rick Perry and Ben Carson, and a third one I can't remember (oops).
2
But “among such sublimities it is wisest to suspend comparison.”
Trump believes that the Department of Labor creates jobs.
More specifically they visit work place and tell folks how they can keep their jobs, "Psst! Hey buddy, wanna job? You gonna vote for Trump and put this sticker on your bumper, right?"
"The purpose of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote, and develop the wellbeing of the wage earners, job seekers, and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights. "
Now how is a guy who stiffs contractors, declares bankruptcy after every bill he receives, hires illegals to work at his golf course, going to appoint a proper individual to manage the department of labor.
Maybe he's still laboring away at it?
3
Among Trump's cabinet secretaries, Acosta is not even among the very worst. Which is very sad.
2
This whole administration makes me sick to my stomach, every day a new revelation. But what makes me much more nauseous are those who still support Trump. Where are their heads?
7
I have an idea, but it’s not fit to print.
Trump's cabinet of inept criminals is a feature, not a bug. Like any mob boss, Trump wields all the power when underlings are compromised.
Bottom line, all "the best people" are "not his type."
This sexual predator will likely receive life in prison given his age and not be pardoned by Trump or anyone else.
Epstein knew this could happen given the mural he had painted on the wall of his home depicting him being incarcerated.
He chose not to stop his obsessive addiction to sexual predation so he knew it was only a matter of time.
The pressure on the prosecutor to not fail in this indictment is enormous.
Finally justice will be served.
Now if we could just do something about Trump!
1
Trump was going to drain the swamp which he promptly replaced with a cesspool. This cabinet from top to bottom, is filled with men and women least qualified tot occupy the position. It's the Legion of Doom, either committing willful acts of destruction, or stumbling incompetence.
2
The facts regarding Epstein's initial sentencing deal will come out shortly. What Gail conveniently fails to mention is that this miscarriage of justice did not occur during the Trump Administration's watch. This is just another liberal rah, rah, lets trash Trump piece devoid of facts.
1
In spite of the fact that this administration is full of incompetence ,it is said that the Democrats must find the “perfect “ candidate to run against him. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
1
Thank you for making the connection between Sec’y of Labor and sex trafficking of teens who were mostly from poor backgrounds and lured by a couple hundred dollars to do a “massage,” only to be molested or raped. This is what a Labor Secretary is supposed to help stop.
2
Sure was a lot of heavy sex traffic in the vicinity of Mar-a-Loco. And now that he’s President could our “ethical beanbag” pass your Dept of Labor quiz? Sure cuz the right answer is “Something”. Same answer as that of the question: What does a sitting president do when he’s not watching Fox?
1
Southern District of New York, the FBI investigators who worked on this case, and Julie Brown, the Miami Herald journalist who did not relent, thank you.
3
Gail and the rest of the "fake News" media need to remind us that it is not just Trump who hired Cabinet members who dismantle the very protections their offices were created to enforce. It is the practice of every Republican administration since Richard Nixon,
The pattern: Trump nominates the most ethically challenged and incompetent individual available (e.g., Scott Pruitt). He nominates a smart corporate lobbyist for the #2 spot: someone who knows the most efficient ways to poison the American people and tilt the playing field in favor of the powerful and wealthy.
When #1 is forced out, #2 slides right into place as "Acting," pending Mitch McConnell's rubber stamp. So it'll be here, when we get a Labor Secretary last seen on the edges of the the notorious Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.
5
We spend so much time laughing at the ineptness of this president ("the Moon is part of Mars,'" "Wind causes cancer," Our army manned the air, rammed the ramparts, took over the airports," "many fine people on both sides,") that we are missing the big picture.
He has appointed so many unqualified, incompetent or corrupt persons to the cabinet and to work in his administration that we have lost count. An EPA administrator who sued the EPA numerous times before he was appointed to the post (not to mention his ethics violations). Secretaries to HUD and Education who had NO experience that qualified them for the position, in fact the Secretary of ED never even went to public school. Secretary of HHS and Interior with ethics violations. What labor experience did the Secretary of Labor have before he assumed the position? The Republican senators did a horrible job by approving these people for cabinet positions.
Government employees are encouraged to not even acknowledge climate change. His proposals to reduce benefits for past, present and future government employees is an indication that Republicans don't care about Federal workers.
It is like the Republicans wanted people appointed who would destroy the agencies from within and thereby result in conservatives being able to achieve their dreams of eliminating the departments and reducing taxes for the wealthy.
Meanwhile, the effort to repeal the ACA will be successful if we are not vigilant. Vote in 2020!
9
It’s not like Democrats care about labor, beyond unions. Their abetting of illegal immigration has been instrumental in lowering working class incomes in manufacturing, landscaping, construction, and home improvement the last few decades. The current candidates intend to double down on illegal immigration failures by decriminalizing and offering free health care and higher education to twelve million illegal immigrants. For citizens competing against legal immigrants (skilled positions like in tech, engineering, ...), Democrats have been the leading force in significantly growing guest worker programs (such as h1b and h2b) which are primarily used as a source of cheap labor to replace citizens or for lower cost initial hiring. Corporate jobs in these areas have seen declining wages, relative to inflation, for the last twenty years or more. Most salaried tech jobs pay hardly more than when I graduated almost two decades ago BEFORE considering inflation. Contracts are paying a pittance compared to what was offered in the past, as the worst visa abuse occurs there due to lack of transparency.
4
@DC c You cite things about Democrats that you don't like (some of them untrue, particularly the myth that illegal immigration -- which no one supports -- drives down working-class wages) so you, what? Vote for Republicans whose policies are exponentially worse?
1
“The Palm Beach state attorney’s office was ready to let Epstein walk free,” Acosta said in his calm, sort of toneless voice.
Is that true? I don't recall hearing that statement before.
5
@Dan Murphy
The state attorney's office responded immediately yesterday to this accusation by Acosta stating that this was patently FALSE.
As I read this piece, I was reminded of the guy in New York who was found to have a menagerie of king cobras and other slippery serpents in his house.
3
@James Murphy Slippery serpents can be found in Trump's swamp.
Acosta said if it wouldn’t have been for him Epstein would not have gone to jail at all....
No jail? Oh, really? Being let out for 12 hours a day, to go to an office, transportation provided, for 6 days a week, what kind of jail term is that?
Bet there are many, many, many people in jail who would love to have that sweet deal.
Oh, but they might not be a billionaire, messing with the lives of little girls....
14
@MIMA
The "office" was in his home where he was still inexplicably allowed to have "guests".
He was also stopped once far from the office and made up some excuse he was "walking to work".
@MarkyMark
Really? Would it matter if somebody flipped on him? Cohen did and where did that get us? If Pence turned, if Bannon and McGahn produced dirty pictures, if his wife took his darkest secrets to The View — would any of it matter for more than the 15 seconds it took the media to report it? His worshipers are sticking with him and it doesn’t seem complicated. He embodies their anger and they embody his. They hate the club that won’t invite him to join because they know what its members think of them. The club of the educated, prominent, rich, sophisticated, and stylish, and of Barack Obama who drops by for an occasional drink, have contempt for his voters and they know it. Wouldn’t you be angry? I would. The MAGA-hat-wearing struggling victims of the collapse of the middle class need him as much as he needs them. After years of feeling stepped on and spat at, there’s Trump spitting back on their behalf, or at least they think so. God help us if by some miracle he loses. God only knows what they’ll do then.
5
@ADN Maybe they’ll start focusing on asking their President and representatives for real solutions o their problems.
3
@Doug Lowenthal
Maybe. It might save the country. But that’s the scariest part. When you think of what their president and representatives have gotten away with so far, what are the odds of them waking up and noticing? To me, that’s the thing about anger. It smothers everything else so that they can’t see what’s happening right in front of them.
Look like another Pandoras Box lid has been lifted in regard to the administrations overwhelming chaos. More to come on this issue I'm sure. Stay tuned. Keep in mind that Trumputin only picks "the best". There are better choices and better people out there. But, clearly and understandably unwilling to ruin there reputations and future careers by stepping into the septic tank with our Supreme Narcissist.
5
Trump must have a fleet of Super Buses. He and aides like Acosta have thrown so many staffers under the bus that a lot of really big buses are needed.
NYC can’t be proud of its two local boys: Trump and Epstein. No matter how many puff pieces were written about them over the years, somehow the smelly feet of clay weren’t uncovered. Maybe all the NY society page editors should have investigative reporters on their staffs. Looking good in tuxes is noteworthy but not if it is a gent’s only virtue. (And poor flabby Trump can’t even claim that virtue anymore.).
3
Gail, soccer isn't enough. It falls short.
Did you ever wonder who would replace Acosta? There are few good choices left so the next one could be worse.
2
But the Evangelicals love Trump and his finest people. So does Fox News. When did abuse of children become acceptable to Republicans?
15
@Pat Choate
Dems need to make the Health, Safety and welfare of our CHILDREN, and children"s children, the focus of their 2020 Platform!
Trump has exploded our deficits with his tax cuts for the already filthy rich.
Our children and children's children will pay dearly for this.
Trump has severely slashed funding and undermined public education standards.
Trump has ignored all the science, denied climate change and decimated environmental standards to enrich his friends in the fossil fuel industry.
Trump has routinely ignored the devastation gun violence has wreaked on our innocent vulnerable children and refuses to support even common sense gun safety laws.
Trump appointed a Cabinet official who has demonstrated no compassion for sexual exploitation of underage girls to be in charge of protecting victims of sex trafficking many of which target young girls.
Trump administration has done absolutely NOTHING to stem the scourge of opiods and increasing drug addiction in this country.
Hundreds of our children and children's children ARE dying everyday in this country.
Trump is directing the cruel and inhumane treatment of LEGAL asylum seeking migrant children, separating them from their families, withholding medical treatment and storing them in cages.
Our children and children's children are watching and learning about intense cruelty from our President of the United States, the so-called Leader of the Free World.
2020: "Fighting for our Children!"
Oh shucks, Gail. I was hoping somewhere in your column today you might add the diehard evangelical religionistas who represent a rather large trump fan base, some of whom happen to be or have been inept and unqualified cabinet level trump appointees. By the way, is Pence still the v.p.?
5
@michael
Yes, where are our moral "faith leaders"?
1
Given how many corrupt, illegal, unethical and downright sleazy things that trump's cabinet secretaries do it is easy to forget that they are all also guilty of rank incompetence. Sometimes that is a blessing, but often it just compounds the misery of Americans and others.
6
Apparently almost everyone Trump knows or hires is either amoral and/or incompetent. All this proves the adage “You can judge a man by the company he keeps.”
7
Maybe we need to invert your last quotation. “You know the company by the man they keep.” For the modern GOP, power is everything.
I can't wait to hear what the state's attorneys have to say.
I know what the victim's attorneys have said; the victims were subjected to extreme cross-examination, invasive and persistent harassment. Threats.
But hey, the perp's rich so who cares what the victims wanted, right?
We're all victims of Reagan's, Bushes', and every too-wealthy-person's idea of what we should be to them. Trump has his own agenda for us and it's the same one he had before anybody dreamed the US would become the uber-wealthy's ghetto.
And it's going to get worse. If there was a fly speck's worth of integrity in the US Acosta would be gone.
9
The list of "Things DJT Doesn't Know About" is infinite.
9
A)
I vote for A.
don't we all know labor includes delivery?
painful sometimes, always a joy the next day ..... oh! wait. no joy with Acosta.
OK, I vote for B.
mowing laws is really hard labor, if one pushes a manual mower around. But nowadays, most "landscapers" use gasoline powered equipment, and make lots of noise with those awful blowers.
OK, I vote for C.
4
It seems that one-by-one, cabinet secretaries either quit in disgust (the competent ones) or are forced out because they are inept and incompetent, although the latter qualities are admirable as far as Trump is concerned.
Acosta will go eventually, to be replaced with someone equally inept but he/she will not have their day in the Senate.
3
@athenasowl Given that the dotard apparently would rather have an "acting" secretary of something he would not appoint one who needs Senate advice and consent.
After all, Trump can run any organization-into the ground.
2
Acosta stands in the shadow of some truly remarkable labor secretaries . One comes to mind. Mitch McConnell' wife ,current Transportation Secretary and former Labor Secretary Elaine Chou. As labor Secretary Chou went where none had dared go before, to the source of labor unrest in this country. The fact that American laborers smelled awful. The cure she suggested was simple and low cost. American laborers must bathe more often. Her solution helped solve labor problems that had been around since Joe Hill and her leadership reduced the very need for labor unions. Perhaps she can bring the same thoughtful and lowcost solutions to our infrastructure problem. Acosta has some very big shoes to fill.
7
I have always enjoyed Gail Collins column. As far as I can remember, there was always a four-legged man's best friend in the white house. Until now.
Dear Gail, I loved the way you managed to find a way to include one such 'friend' of a presidential contender who ended up being tied to the top of said contender's car.
There is little to laugh about in good humor.
3
Thank heavens for Gail Collins, as she always starts my day with a laugh, which America needs now more than ever.
"Ethical beanbag" is as funny and as spot-on a phrase to describe the current leader as I've seen in quite a while.
Unfortunately, it is also a sad state of affairs for the leaders that somehow manage to gain temporary power as well as the party in charge that cravenly kowtows to them, to the detriment not only of the narrow slice of America they form their destructive policies to, but everyone who has to live through them.
Thankfully the exercise of corrupt and incompetent national leadership is coming to an end, and the adults will take over once again.
4
Let's be clear. Epstein did not go to prison. He was in a county lock-up for 12 hours a day for less than a year. That is NOT prison. In fact, it's barely doing time at all. He was also held in a segregated housing unit so he didn't have to be in contact with Bubba, Leroy and Pedro. I have been a policeman/Detective for 20 plus years. No "ordinary" person gets a deal like this. I have people who plea bargain for a 30 year sentence for lots and lots less than this man has done. Trump didn't drain the swamp, he just brought in new predators... How did Acosta get a job in this administration after having engineered something like this.
18
I believe Epstein's youngest victims were 13, not 14.
The good news is that he probably will not walk free again... even Trump won't pardon him, if only because they had a falling-out on a business deal... Trump would get plenty of press if he pardoned him, but even Trump doesn't want that press.
Dan Kravitz
5
Why should we expect this one to be any different?
4
Their defining feature is NOT that they are inept. Their defining feature is that they are evil. Add up all they have done -- the myrad lies, the daily malfeasance, the deliberate chaos, the overt racism, the theft of government funds, the demonization of the media and people of color, immigrants and women, the scapegoating of liberals, the kidnapping and child abuse on an industrial scale, the utter corruption of religion for political power, the destruction of democratic principles, the hour-by-hour gaslighting of the public, the collusion with Putin, the praise of the worst despots on the planet...
EVIL. Quit minimizing it with mild comedy, Gail. This nation is in deep denial and sliding into tyranny day by day -- a weak laugh is the last thing we need. In fact, it helps them diminish our outrage.
11
@TS I don’t like it when people say bad things are evil. Saying something is evil implies that the evildoers are compelled by some force greater than themselves; in a sense it lets them off the hook and absolves us of the need to discover why people go bad and do bad things. There’s no magic or mystery to it; the Devil didn’t make them do it: people like child-raping Epstein and crotch-grabbing Trump are conscious actors who knowingly make their choices and knowingly cause harm, and as such they need to be held fully accountable and know in no uncertain terms why they are being held accountable. And anyone who provides aid and comfort—or votes—for these people is equally guilty, and certainly not Christian (not that that means much anyhow).
2
I would actually like to see Acosta's bank account and whether it received any substantial deposits when he gave Epstein that sweetheart deal. Come to think of it, those of Barr, Kavanaugh, Dershowitz and other prominent alumni of the Kirkland law firm.
11
It is hard to believe, but everyday in some new way our government gets more and more loony. But then again, I guess that with a massive orange fountainhead of creative looniness at the top of our administrative branch, it has become the new normal. Our press doesn’t need to make up fake news, it just needs to report the truth and it’s so absurd that folks think it must be fake. No, the truth is that our president and his minions are fake and nothing any of them say is real or true. 2020, 2020, 2020 or suffer the consequences.
10
Inept, no unscrupulous. It doesn't matter if they are inept in a position of power, they can then do the most harm. Incidentally, they are doing it. Every single person who is beholden to Trump is doing Trump's bidding. Hang the cost to the people, the rule of law, the environment, the National Security, our allies, established precedent in diplomacy, (through tried and true experience). Trump thinks he can flatter Kim Young Un into abandoning nuclear arms? That shows you where the level of ineptness is at its worst. Kim Young Un has made that promise again and again, to only do whatever the heck he wants. Our country has never been in such chaos ..and in such danger.
4
Even a mediocre President would fire a shady guy like Acosta. Even a mediocre group of Presidential Advisers would make sure Acosta was fired. Unfortunately Acosta is representative of the people in the Trump’ administration.
7
Somehow, the fact that Trump's vile intentions are stymied by the utter incompetence of his hirelings is not making me feel better about the whole situation. Remember when 'public service' had a luster and resume impact that attracted the "best and brightest" - even if they too made some 'boneheaded decisions'? Remember when ''boneheaded decisions' were rare and infrequent, and followed by the swift exit of those culpable? Remember when vile cruelty and execrable and disgusting conditions were a bug, not a feature of government policy? Remember when "public servants" actually tended to the public's business, instead of serving themselves from the public's plate? Well, we still have the "best and brightest" soccer team, there is that!
7
I marvel at Trump’s, um, business acumen in the face of obscenely brutalized children. I was especially taken by his recruitment of new victims for Epstein through his Trump Model Management agency. Most pimps conceal their identities with a street name, but only Trump would see this atrocity as a branding opportunity.
8
Acosta will be gone very soon. I was embarrassed by running up the score against Taiwan and the blatant flopping to draw a penalty
I’m even more embarrassed that Ms. Purple hair appears to bully her teammates and hates America.
Not a fan
@hawk
she doesn't hate America and you know it !
she simply said she wasn't going to the efffin' White House . Is America the WH ?
hope not
1
Apparently, Epstein got started on his road to riches while teaching at The Dalton School. How is it that a guy who did not graduate from college winds up in the faculty of an allegedly prestigious school? Was there another Acosta-like figure there to help old Jeffrey past another nasty hurdle?
5
@Frank
Well, we can start with Bill Barr's father.
He DID inexplicably hire non-college-educated, non-certified Epstein to teach at the school for some reason.
1
"The sad truth is that we’re really probably better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all," says Gail.
The sadder truth is we are definitely better off with a Congress too inept to accomplish anything at all, let alone a new president. As bad as the current one is, the Dem challengers have brought dumb-downed to a new low.
I'm not a great fan, but I'll stick with soccer.
2
Apart from this apaling Epstein case which the N.Y. prosecutors are finally dealing with properly, why is a former Florida prosecutor running the U.S. Dept. of Labor? Stellar qualifications for this rle as seems to be the case with most Secretaries in this admin. in 2019.
2
THE US SENATE CONFIRMED THIS MAN. He's not one of Trump's Acting Secretaries for Life, as you so chillingly put it. The US Senate failed to do its due diligence, because it is in the hands of partisan hacks who are every bit as vile as Trump and, unlike him, some of them are not inept.
We must must must send Mitch McConnell packing. We must get the irredeemably corrupt Republican Party out of power. This is a national emergency of the highest order.
9
@herzliebster
The GOP Senate robots simply fell in party line to confirm...all at Mitch McConnell's command.
Dem Senators brought up Acosta's lightweight
plea deal several times. Acosta had glib responses like he did in his press conference.
President Trump should have fired Acosta long ago because he's been a terrible Secretary of Labor. He has spent his time dragging his heels on the president's deregulatory agenda, focusing instead on appeasing the unions and their allies in Congress and the bureaucracy. It got so bad that Chief of Staff Mulvaney had to intervene and force the Department of Labor to start writing regulations to undo some of the worst of the Obama-era regs. So by all means, get rid of Acosta, as soon as possible.
Yay women’s soccer!!!!!!!! Finally have something to feel proud of as an American. Sad!
2
'... Asked by reporters if he had any regrets, [Secy Acosta] ... just said that was “a very hard question.” ... '
To those who may be considering whether Secy A did not show a shred of decency, then or now, in regard to his involvement, a vote here for the above response, as perhaps, indicating one shred.
He might have responded, "Given the terrible sexist culture abroad in the land of that-by gone era, and the fact that but for his involvement Mr Epstein might have gotten no jail time, no, I have no regrets."
A "no" might well have obliterated the "hard question" shred.
1
I've just been reading that Epstein's fortune, like Trump's, turns out to be mostly illusion. Neither of these men is a billionaire, as they've claimed. But, they manufactured a fortune for themselves and the gullible public bought it. Why are Americans so in love with the rich? We think a rich person is a smart person. Millions of people voted for Trump because he was rich and a "businessman." Now we find we fell for Epstein's story, too. How many other fake-billionaires and millionaires are out there, influencing and manipulating the naive? How many other fake fortunes have we been impressed by when in reality the people claiming them are just charlatans? We've let rich people run our politics and our government, we've believed they were the experts, we've trusted them instead of ourselves and we've never asked for any proof that they are who they say they are. Trump's "businessman" success was all in his head and we now know that he's lost more money than he's ever made. We've been made fools of by these guys. The next time you're impressed by a "rich" person, think again. That person may, in reality, be just a fake.
6
Very few people in top government positions have any experience with actual work, and certainly not the cretins in this administration. That is a big part of what is broken in this country.
Trump's supporters got it right in seeing that they are getting abused by the US political system and they took a chance on a con man who promised to fix it all. Unfortunately they chose poorly and are worse off now than they were before.
Luckily for Trump his followers are cultist who can never admit that their champion is a crook and abusing them at every turn. I can only assume that is why they continue to support him despite his lack of real concern for them.
The women's soccer team is the shining example of what America can and should be, while the clowns in this administration are one of the best examples ever of what is wrong with the US today.
4
Trump is the uber-Epstein. He doesn't just do it to women, but to the whole country and by extension to the whole world.
6
@SA
And to every GOP Senator who ever had a teenage daughter, may they rue the day they ever supported this Epstein Co-Conspirator, Acosta, to actively weaken the laws protecting women in this country.
"Trump doesn't know about....." could be a running daily installment for any news outlet. Just change the subject and research which crackpots and/or offenders are advising him in the applicable area.
When this Administration shows some glimmer of insight you know they accidentally took a call from someone who USED to work there.
2
thank you, Gail.
the faces i make as i read the headlines belie the constant horror and astonishment that confront me each time our vapid and clueless President utters his ill-informed, ill-tempered and largely unsolicited (or perhaps just, what’s that word... wacky?) opinion
thank you, Gail, again, for reminding us all that no one even need spin his constant gaffs, no need to make this stuff up... how many feet does this guy have to blow off?
3
I didn't see Acostas briefing, but am wondering....did anyone ask him why he broke the law by not notifying the victims of the sweetheart deal?
@Steve
I too want to know.
And why did Acosta break all protocols by not including his LEAD prosecuting attorney in his secret plea deal meeting with Epstein's defense attorneys.
What did Acosta not want witnessed by his lead attorney.
A secret meeting outside the federal offices is not only egregiously inappropriate, it is outrageously stupid according to multitudes of federal prosecuting attorneys.
In other word, it reeks of corruption.
Maybe the SDNY should interview Michael Cohen about the Epstein enterprise. Might be worth credit for good behavior and a reduction in his sentence.
Cohen seems to be a treasure trove of information about “the rich and famous”, which seems to be accurate.
Time to throw Trump and all the miscreants (the immunized and unnamed) under the bus!
5
Come on! Focus! There are more important things to say about Sec'y of Idiocy Acosta... Just for instance, this was The Guardian's headline today:
"Trump labor secretary who cut Epstein deal plans to slash funds for sex trafficking victims
"Democrats condemn as ‘amoral’ Alex Acosta’s proposed 80% funding cut for US agency that combats child sex trafficking"
Do we think people need to see more headlines about Acosta's tepid response to Epstein's case 10 years ago, or some headlines with teeth about his plans for tomorrow (again, quoting The Guardian):
"Acosta’s plan to slash funding of a critical federal agency in the fight against the sexual exploitation of children is contained in his financial plans for the Department of Labor for fiscal year 2020. In it, he proposes decimating the resources of a section of his own department known as the International Labor Affairs Bureau (ILAB)."
Coincidence my Aunt Fannie.
8
Please stop referring to the victims as "under age women," they were children.
9
Well said.
1
"Judge not, lest ye be judged." Matt. 7.1.
1
Epstein, Cosby, Clinton, JFK, Trump, ...... the list of sex cronies goes on. The well connected 'ole boy club for the wealthy and politically powerful. Obama was not only a good leader but a moral man. How do we get back to that in our country's leadership?
9
@Roger, We do that by electing a Democrat for President, and also flushing the filth out of the Senate! Easier said than done.
1
Please be advised, it is women's FOOTBALL you are talking about. Not 'soccer.' It is FOOTBALL to the entire rest of the world, America, get with the program! American football is a ridiculous game (all that padding! omg.) created by aliens from outer space that only Americans took seriously. REAL football is a fast moving and quite dangerous game that requires vast quantities of speed, endurance, and skill from its participants.
5
Gail Collins is leaving out our other President who’s also elastic with the truth beginning with the rhetorical definition of “is.” Bill Clinton socialized with Epstein and traveled on his planes. God only knows what other VIPs are also implicated. Epstein was also on the board of the Council for Foreign Relations and the Trilateral Commission. See who’s dictating our foreign policy? Iran war anyone?
3
"Trump Doesn’t Know About Labor".
And how much do YOU know about "labor", Ms. Collins ?
How many jobs have YOU created in your brilliant enterprising life ? And how many has HE created ?
1
Thank you, Gail for the additional info concerning Alex Acosta. One more sleazy person in dt's cabinet. We can only pray that the democrats get it together and rid the White House of this shameful dishonesty.
1
Gail, the Epstein story is not funny.
You disrespect the victims. You do not provide comic relief for the voyeurs, like ourselves.
The Trump Administration and its cronies like Epstein have not only ceased to be entertaining. The Trump Administration and its cronies have also ceased to be news.
The only honorable role for writers at this point is how to bring an end to the Trump Administration.
Write about why Nancy Pelosi isolates and disses AOC and 4 other recently elected Democratic women of color in the House. Why would Speaker Pelosi do that! That's worth writing about.
Why does Speaker Pelosi call AOC's Green New Deal a dream which is irrelevant? That makes no sense. It hurts Democrats. Why would Speaker Pelosi do that. That's worth writing about.
Alex Acosta and Brian Epstein are both creeps, unworthy of humorous exaggeration. Why would you sugarcoat them?
1
I don't see anyone who worked with Acosta in Florida allowing him to drag them down with him without a fight; there must be plenty that's still left untold about this sordid affair. The knives are out.
5
I must apologize in advance ('all the while' and deservedly self-flagellating) for my 'illicit' priorities … 'given' that I would give Jeffrey Epstein, a predator of children, a get-out-of-jail-free 'card,' if he would just testify ('honestly' or not) that he and trump, together, committed the worst of sex-assault crimes against underage "women."
P.S. Maybe not "together" with him -- but it wouldn't surprise me at all if Jefferey 'honestly' could testify that the donald otherwise 'did as much.'
4
Acosta is revolting. He defends sending a sex trafficker of teenage girls to a year of “time” that’s effectively a day camp with a personal driver - a “deal” negotiated by said trafficker’s attorneys - with a straight face. There’s much more to this story, and IMO Acosta’s boss is implicated as is usually the case. When this administration implodes, as it will, the resulting stench will be unbearably epic.
5
Acosta has proven one thing. Trump cannot hire upstanding ethical people for his cabinet.
2
*sigh*
Hey, how about that women's soccer team?!??!
So was Acosta bribed into setting up Epstein's sleepover sentence, or blackmailed? With this administration, either scenario seems plausible.
3
The odds Acosta would have won were quite low. He very likely would have drawn a jury that thought the girls were nothing but opportunists, who were trying to extort Epstein.
Can we stop calling these girls "underage girls" They are CHILDREN. Let's call them what they really are. Don't sugar coat it.
3
Gail,
I know Bill Clinton was never one of your favorites - I saved your columns! How about being appalled by the Clinton Foundation taking big bucks from Jeffery Epstein?
5
When organizations begin, they often put together a mission statement to clarify their purpose and goals. Even hospitals and car sales businesses do this. I've read a few myself while waiting for the car to be serviced or even a loved one to get emergency medical treatment.
What do you imagine Trump's administration's mission statement might say? One can only guess.
Linda Selvia
3
@Jack Selvia
Trump and Mitch McConnell's Mission Statement is obvious:
Rescind every single good thing the first black President, Barack Obama, did for our nation during his 8 years!
Sadly, no trump supporter knows these things. They don't know trump and his cronies are not only fighting minimum wage increases but would prefer no minimum wage standards at all.
They don't know that they are trying to enact laws where it is perfectly legal to steal part of a tipped worker's wages who count tips as part of their budgeted income.
In Massachusetts waitstaff earn $2.40 per hour. So now the employer who gets to pay slave wages and pays into SocialSecurity benefits and Medicare calculated on these slave wages would now be allowed to pick the pockets of the slave wage earners. But they don't know.
They don't know about the OSHA deregulations, they don't know about the overturning of Obama's regulations for "salaried" workers where the minimum pay of salaried workers was raised substantially in order that those making poverty wages could no longer be denied overtime pay by being labeled as "management".
They don't know about the attacks on-hard won gains like overtime pay, earned sick-time, trump's desperation to further destroy unions, the recent policy change that would take pensions from postal workers, that those who work for the government they despise as federal prison guards, homeland security, etc. will probably be the next attacked.
In fact they don't know much at all, or worse, couldn't care less, somehow believing they will be immune to all the destruction.
Our biggest challenge is how do we inform them? Or, far more difficult, convince them?
9
@sharon They only know what Fox or other biased news sources tell them. They won't use a variety of news sources because they are told the others are evil. They are easily led, and easily duped. (And those that aren't will support Trump because it benefits their pocketbook and/or confirms their racist views, even if they don't openly profess such views).
1
In the midst of all the other Trump chaos and scandal, are we going to war with Iran, or not? Or is the other stuff a distraction from preparations for war? Does Trump even know what Bolton and Pompeo are doing?
4
Gail,
Nice that you mentioned Labor Pains as part of option one.(childbirth). In that sense, Acosta is creating pains for out labor force. After all , Trump only hires the "best" people.
5
If reports are true, Epstein is a serial child molester and statutory rapist. Around here, he would have spent the rest of his life in prison. Acosta would have us believe that, before he stepped in, the Florida state prosecutors were about to let him walk. Personally, I don't believe that. Anyway, the sentence approved by Acosta was next to nothing and basically only required Acosta to sleep at the local jail for a year or so. It's hard to believe that the Trump administration even bothered to vet any of these people Trump appointed to important government positions. Also, I am curious about the circumstances under which a judge chose to approve the sweetheart deal given to Epstein. Was the judge fully informed about the facts of the case by the prosecution?
294
@Clark LandrumI’d like to know who put Acosta’s name in front of Trump. And afterward, they must have mentioned this before going before Senate.
After Michael Cohen’s testimony, it is very clear that Mr. Trump blackmails people into covering for him or doing his bidding. I still think Justice Kennedy’s retirement is suspicious based on his son’s involvement in fraudulent loans to KUshner and Trump while at Deutsche Bank.
99
@Clark Landrum
I, too, am wondering about the judge. Regardless of Acosta and his office failing to notify the victims of the plea deal, where was the judge. Usually, when accepting a plea deal, there is a protocol followed by the court and the parties. The judge should have asked about whether the victims were informed, etc. and gotten a real answer. Not, well, um, yeah, they didn't care. Something is really wrong here. And am I correct in understanding that the plea was hammered out between Acosta and Epstein's attorneys at a hotel, not at the government office. What is THAT about? And did it involve suitcases with cash, or what?
80
@Clark Landrum The judge was fully informed of the facts. Oh, and the payoff was fully adequate.
29
All this media indignation about Epstein and Trump, but the public is scarcely interested--Why? Politicians are the lubricant of the political system, they're not like throwing sand in the gears--by which I mean people of fixed moral principles, they're like grease, people more interested in facilitating smooth operation, deal-making, than defending some vision of moral rectitude. On close examination most of them turn out to be people we don't admire. This may be regrettable, but try having the morally hard, granular, uncompromising kind in the machinery, see how that works. BTW, the voters understand this--move on to the next topic.
20
@Ronald B. Duke In other words, government would grind to a halt without the child rapists and their enablers?
This Trump appointed government perhaps. But they aren't doing much that any rational person would want, anyway.
62
@Ronald B. Duke: Perhaps if we publicly shame some of them occasionally, the rest will pretend that they do have some morals, and our civilization won't degrade into something like Imperial Rome quite as quickly.
49
@Ronald B. Duke. The only deal making I can see is the self-dealing kind.
33
Throughout the history of my life, there are times in politics, and society in general, that just don’t make a lot of sense, where each day feels a bit loonier than the next. I surmise that I am in that cycle.
6
@PBM
It helps to comment on NYTimes articles and opinions. But it's best to complain to your 3 Congressional representatives who are the ONLY people who can do anything about it.
You can access their email "Contact form" on their website by googling "Contact (name)".
Most important:
Don't forget to complain to Mitch McConnell and Nancy Pelosi. As Leaders of the Senate and House, they must accept emails from outside their state and districts.
Pelosi:
www.speaker.gov/contact/
McConnell: www.mcconnell.senate.gov/.../index.cfm/contactform
1
" The sad truth is that we’re really probably better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all."
I disagree, competence matters. For example.
Former Texas Governor now Dept. of Energy head, Rick "Oops" Perry is the one responsible for safeguarding all of our nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons facilities. Or, as I like to say it:
Nukes and "Oops" should not be in the same Department.
11
I have gone out of my way to ignore and avoid every lurid detail about Mr. Acosta and Mr. Epstein because it's just a repeat of everything we all know and have seen already when it comes to anything involving this administration.
Whereas our parade for the U.S. Women's Soccer Team made me proud to be an American -- something I haven't felt in over two and a half years.
I'd rather think about that.
10
@N. Smith
Totally understand how you feel.
Our soccer champions are a ray of sunshine during this very dark storm we've endured for the past 2 1/2 years.
And now with the Trump's decimation of ACA and millions of Americans losing their healthcare looming large, we must brace for even darker days ahead.
Write, contact, email, tweet, call your Congressional representatives and demand
they do something!
Demand that Pelosi IMPEACH TRUMP as a start!
Pelosi: www.speaker.gov/contact/
Another of the "best people." However, DJT's poll numbers are not down. Apparently the American people do not care that we have no one competent in charge.
I heard Acosta speak shortly after his DoL appointment. He described himself as a second generation American. The audience members primarily 40 - 65 year old attorneys looked at each other and said - who isn't second generation?? Like that's a big deal? He went on to say exactly nothing. He is all about biography. Very light on experience.
4
“Thank god?” No, thank Trump. God doesn’t care - (if there even is a god). Look at our president, look at our government, look at our relationships with our allies. Trump coddles our adversaries.
If there is a god maybe he (yes “he”) thinks our experiment has run its. Purse.
6
@Daniel Grasso
According to Sarah Sanders, God blessed us with Trump.
1
The constant parade of immoral behavior, albeit some of it years ago, is simply astonishing and difficult to ignore even for Republicans. It's like we should push a reset button and re-examine what kind of country we want to be and what we stand for. We must stop excusing shoddy behavior in the name of partisan politics. Whatever we might accomplish politically will ultimately fail without a moral foundation.
26
@jdp Republicans do not seem to be having a problem with all the immorality.
1
@jdp
Where are the "Moral Majority" GOPers?
1
The ineptness you sarcastically celebrate is still informing and shaping policy and administrative decisions, both of which are having adverse effects. We should be dismayed and outraged at the incompetence of those whose salaries our tax dollars pay.
14
@JBC
I think Gail Collins very artfully pointed out how low this administration has sunk, when we long for the good ole days of just basic ineptness!
Depressing, but not surprising.
We all should watch more soccer!
10
@Marsha Congdon I never really could get into a game which could boast a zero to zero tie when the fat lady sings. But it’s all relative, no? Zero to zero competes favorably to our current set of bozos. And congrats to the futballers.
There is a big difference between celebrating women and using women, and even much greater between celebrating women and abusing women. Little wonder which side Trump and his Stooges (apologies to Iggy and company and Howard, Fine, and Howard) occupy.
10
@Lawrence Zajac Moe, Curly and Larry would understand. Even Shemp would give it the nod.
The first job of an incoming Democratic President is to fire everyone hired, and appointed, by this administration. We need competent people who care about the mission of the department where they work.
20
@exmilpilot
And bleach wash any thing they touched and any offices they occupied.
Maybe twice....
1
@exmilpilot
Someone should do a visual of each of the Cabinet Secretaries and show how they have rescinded or undermined all the consumer protections in the Departments Trump chose them to run.
@exmilpilot, spot on, fire all unless we can find one that is actually competent.
Trump's boasting about the economy and Acosta being instrumental in bringing it to its current state is simply this: Trump is playing the part of every politician who ever preceded him. Note: I said "politician" not "statesman."
The economy is strong because of the groundwork accomplished during the decade preceding Trump's ascendance to the throne. Trump is the rich kid born on third base who thinks he hit a triple. In fact, everything he has done since taking office has worked to keep the economy from achieving what it should be doing: re-invigorating the middle class. His tariffs have stabbed our farmers in the back, sent Harley Hog production to Europe, raised the prices of appliances and building materials, thus raising the cost of new home construction by double digit percentages. The rich (and the corporations) however, have seen their wealth grow so much it takes a scale capable of handling a semi truck to weight it; it's faster than counting it.
I like to say that "politician" is how you spell "liar" when the "r" key on your computer doesn't work. Trump is a pathological politician.
19
Acosta has no qualifications beyond serving on the NLRB. So, how did he get recognized by Trump et al. to be the Labor Secretary. Go deeper on this. What was the quid pro quo? He should not have been approved because he lacked qualifications. As with so many appointees, the lack of qualifications or related employment does not seem to matter. Then add the Epstein sham - which BTW had to be approved by the judge-and one wonders the connection. And what was the judge thinking? I haven't seen anything about that.
16
@Hypatia
Obvious that Acosta is protecting some very high profile people and more likely some very high (or HIGHEST) public officials.
This certainly spotlights Acosta's inexplicable rise to a Cabinet position in the Trump administration.
It's all going to come out.
And no amount of Trump's desperate atttempts to distance himself from his good friend, Epstein (terrific guy who shares Trump's love of beautiful women/girls) is going exonerate this slimebag president.
1
@Hypatia apparently, both Acosta and Barr worked for the same law office. coincidence that they are both working for Trump?
" The sad truth is that we’re really probably better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all."
I take your point, Gail. But we (and our elected representatives) must continue to call for acosta's immediate resignation. And the Inspector General must be allowed to investigate acosta's role in the travesty of justice in Florida.
27
Our President's modesty prevents him from acknowledging his financially famous friends. So, it is most appropriate that it fall to his servants, like Acosta, to support the efforts of patriotic-Trump-partisan-parents to teach their preschool daughters (and sons) to love the President and his close "fun" friends.
16
I want to know who was Acosta’s supervisor at the time?
The prevailing reputation of federal prosecutors is that they are overly aggressive trying to make a career case for themselves. Why wasn’t Acosta doing that? Who assigned him to the case and why? Prosecutors have bosses, too; who and where was that individual (who had to be aware of such a high profile case)? Was Acosta purposely assigned the case knowing he was low level, mediocre, and unaggressive? It may be nothing, but I’m surprised no one is asking those questions.
33
@Neil Beyer Understanding all that, you are surprised no one is asking those questions? Simply think of what would be the answers. ( Surely not to their liking.)
2
@Neil Beyer
Everything Acosta did was abnormal, out of bounds or illegal according to dozens of former prosecutors commenting on the case.
His lone secret meeting with the defense attorneys without including the LEAD prosecuting attorney is egregious misconduct.
And documents state that after Acosta's staff had notified three of the victims of this sweetheart deal, Acosta stopped them and specifically directed them NOT to inform the remaining majority of victims.
So why did the JUDGE approve this plea deal with NO proof that all victims were informed?
1
Yes, it was great to watch the parade here in NYC. The team won the world cup fair and square and got a ticker tape parade and the keys to the city. Everyone seemed happy and having a great time, I didn't see any protests, counter protests or MAGA red hats. And yes, the women got to say their piece at city hall and I do believe they should be paid the same as men in all cases and we should all have the same rights and freedom, period.
35
The old saying goes something to the effect that “The voters get the leaders they deserve.” Perhaps we are all getting what we deserve—the unethical, the immoral, the inept and the incompetent.
Democrats took a lot for granted and took their eye off the ball for years (especially during the Obama years), while Republican strategists figured out how to gerrymander districts (now upheld by the Roberts SCOTUS), stack the federal courts with right-leaning judges, stall any piece of remotely forward-thinking federal legislation, and pass laws that benefitted their uber rich donors to keep them funding the party.
Gail, if you want to talk incompetence, the Democratic Party has been incompetent for many years as it forgot about or ignored huge swaths of voters, who found a welcome home in the arms of the Republicans. Democrats watched fecklessly as Republicans took over statehouses even in states where they had the minority of registered voters. Obama built his own brand but did nothing to help the Democratic down-ticket, and Hillary was no better. Too much focus on the presidency and not enough on the statehouses, where the redistricting lines are drawn by the majority.
Trump, Acosta and the rest of them may be incompetent, but Karl Rove and his Republican strategist ilk were not. To the incompetent victor went the spoils.
39
@Jack Sonville. Spot on comment. Sadly, what we are seeing from candidates in the run up to 2020 makes me think we will continue to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
2
With every day in every way: we see that Trump is the expression of the bottom half of America: in morals, in ethics, in knowledge, in respect, in civility, in a sense of justice and fairness. Don't blame Trump for being what he is; blame ourselves for how we have failed to lift 40% of our citizens from the depths of ignorance and vice. Public education, bourgeois morality, common decency have failed.
34
Man, it gets tougher everyday slogging through the news. And universal celebrations like the soccer triumph are becoming rarer. We cannot seem to even carve out a day to devote to another great accomplishment by women. We have to deal with a wealthy man using young girls.
And what will we do as a country. Well we can always go on blithely singing "Onward Christian soldiers marching....."
Or read another Gail Collins column to keep our spirits up.
18
"People sure did seem happy. I believe this is partly because the players are terrific and partly because many Americans are desperate to think about something other than Donald Trump."
Indeed. I was a witness. I work a few blocks from City Hall. As I was going to work in Long Island Railroad, there were many girls in the train--some quite young and none past their teens, accompanied by their parent(s)--voluntarily wearing red-white-blue and happy and excited to see the team that they rooted for and love.
As an old NY Yankees fan, I have seen a few of these ticker tape parades, but this was different. This was about the country and it was refreshing to see.
Let's hope Team Captain Rapinoe's message will resonate with not only the throngs gathered in NYC but throughout the nation:
“We have to be better, we have to love more and hate less. Listen more and talk less. It is our responsibility to make this world a better place.”
39
It was a badly needed time-out from the ravages of trump.
But he oozes back in and takes his place front and center once again. Nothing irks trump more than not being the center of attention.
17
Just one point: the people Epstein assaulted were not underage women. They were girls. Children. Girls under the age of consent.
46
Thank you!
While I hope Mr. Epstein spends the rest of his days behind bars, with no outside time for working in the office, please note that if Hillary had won more than just the popular vote, your column today would be taking a dig at Bill.
Can't say I miss the Clintons in a big way, but given who is spending time, between tee-times, in the Oval Office, I wish you're column was where you poked the President's husband, not the President.
6
I agree with Ms. Collins. The only thing the Trump cabinet has in its favor is its incompetence. Otherwise the cabinet's role in destroying American democracy would be making more progress. Trump could be finding more qualified people in the daily labor pools.
Trump is unable (like many people who have only worked in family businesses) to trust anyone outside his family. If only he had more children like Ivanka . . . Donny J and Eric can hardly make the golf courses profitable and keep the Trump name on buildings. Lucky they can do a good twitter insult.
6
Watched lots of world cup soccer.....to many calls made off the pitch. Thoroughly enjoyed the men's Gold Cup Mexico vs USA match where the officiating was kept to a minimum (no yellow cards) and the flow on the pitch proving what beautiful sport soccer can be. Great game. The US looked threatening in the 1st half.....not so much in the second.
.
..
When I finished reading the article about the World Cup parade I realized I was smiling. And then I realized that I'm almost never smiling when I'm reading the news of the day.
Thank you, World Cup Champions, for giving us something to smile about.
13
The president often uses the word terrific to describe people he thinks are doing a good job or that he likes.
I wonder if he is aware that the word is derived from a root that means to frighten, to cause terror, and of great size.
If we give him credit for knowing this, he may actually be using the word properly.
16
@Steve Ell
Funny....he doesn't know I am sure.
Love you Gail and excellent satire.
However the soccer team? Over the top, disrespectful etc.
That team is to be congratulated for the victory but mostly for the stands the players are making for equality.
But... you spend the most, you have the best players (systems for stars to play and nurture), you are expected to win. The favourites.
No reason to behave like you do in the rest of the world.
A little dignity for our opponent and yourself.
1
So far the depth and breadth of incompetence in the Trump cabinet is softening what could be the very rough edges of competently run agencies. But my experience in organizations is at some point systemic incompetence will bring down a division and/or the company. What that would look like on the national level should concern all of us---just think of a nuclear waste site springing a leak, in say Nevada, and, Rick Perry is the man called on to solve the crisis---
18
Hmmm, "in charge of collecting job statistics". Does that mean that the veracity of this information, like say info on global warming, is up to those in charge?
7
You must be kin to Molly Ivins, with whom you share a heritage of sharp, political humor delivered with a smile.
Her assessment of the Texas Legislature was that it was so much safer for everyone else when they got mired down in infighting so much that they couldn't get anything done;
And (as attributed to her in Wikiquotes and elsewhere)
"All anyone needs to enjoy the state legislature is a strong stomach and a complete insensitivity to the needs of the people. As long as you don’t think about what that peculiar body should be doing and what it actually is doing to the quality of life in Texas, then it’s all marvelous fun."
Easy substitutions bring you to where we are today: Acosta, Trump, the whole shady cast of characters appointed to those positions he thought were there to run the White House. . .
16
@cheryl Thanks for that. Just the mention of Molly Ivins made me smile. I still miss her. Times like this need a sharp wit and a sense of humor. Thank goodness we have Gail Collins.
15
Since you raise the point about what is known about the Department of Labor, once the Acosta debacle is over (and Trump says something like: I hardly knew him, some said he was Secretary if Labor but I am saying “you’re fired”), why not look at what that Department is supposed to do, namely train people to find new jobs and protect workers.
It would be interesting to see the data on how well those programs are working under the administration of benign neglect.
16
Are Scott Pruitt and Tom Price on the hook (being pursued by someone in government) to repay the treasury for their reckless spending practices?
49
@Ed Doubtful.
Sadly, it is not shocking that Epstein is connected to Trump and that a Trump minion protected Epstein. We have almost come to expect these types of discoveries. Just another example of the rich doing whatever they want in America. But, the religious right will continue to support the GOP, the party that protects the one percent.
55
@Anthony
You do realize of course that Bill Clinton was a lot more connected to Epstein then Trump was. Clinton was on his "Lolita Express" at least 6 times.
Funny how Gail makes no mention of that.
I'm reminded of Neil Armstrong, who was basically chosen to be commander of our first lunar landing because he proved beyond all doubt that he could keep his cool in a true life-or-death situation when he regained control of his Gemini capsule as it was spinning wildly out of control. In other words, he met death in the eye, he didn't blink, and he survived.
This is more or less the explanation for all of Trump's cabinet picks, with one, um, detail: it wasn't death they were avoiding, it was life-ruining scandal (that ultimately didn't ruin their lives). So if someone who did something so horrendous that this person deserved to lose everything but instead profited, Trump knew this was someone who would make the kinds of choices he would make.
46
Anyone want to take a bet on the next Sec. of Labor being an 'acting' Sec. of Labor?
75
The US women's soccer team, bless them all, perfectly embodies the circuses we value (and Juvenal highlighted in his famous comment in Satire X).
Unfortunately, for the vast majority of Americans, the bread is a little harder to see and between Trump's tariffs leaving much of it unsold and Sec. Perdue's shenanigans with his research department seeks to undercut the Agriculture Dept's very real contributions to our health and welfare. That department made the faux pas of actually talking about climate science and adaptation to a warming world. From their work, you might think temperature and growing conditions had something to do with producing food.
Our circuses are pleasing but it would appear our bread is moldy.
28
@Douglas McNeill
Hard to parse what you meant, but the women’s soccer team has been superb, both on and off the field. Rapinoe, in particular, has been smart, politically astute, and articulate.
The team’s push for equal pay is hardly a “circus”, but a major force for justice.
Their political stances and commentary have been telling and right on target.
Think you owe them an apology!
29
@Marsha Pembroke
I certainly endorse the women's team's call for equal pay. I was referencing them only in the sense all sport serves as a spectacle, part of the "bread and circuses" the Romans offered to the masses to quell their demands otherwise ascendant.
2
Once again! Amazing way of putting it which I like a lot. What perspective.
10
Trump is a moral vacuum. I pity your country as it copes with the moral sewer of his presidency. I know that history will not judge him kindly but I wish you all well as you struggle to come to grip with the consequences of his election. Please understand that there are good friends and allies in the world that care about your future and will help you to recover from this difficult time.
1
Actually Gail, I thought the US women's soccer team was a perfect reflection of the Trump Presidency. He is only about winning and so are they. The women's hyperbolic on-field celebrations were a perfect match for Trump's MAGA rallies and his denigration of his adversaries.
The women are being feted for dominating undermatched programs from nations that offer far less support to their national teams than the US.
The English and the French displayed the most skillful offensive sets, while the Japanese had Netherlands on its heels for most of the game, until a bad handball call led to a penalty kick and their eventual loss.
I am not a serious soccer fan and discovered that I could not readily jump aboard the US women's team's bandwagon. I rooted against them every single game. And I know I am not the only one. I support skill and sportsmanship.
Sorry to spoil your party.
9
@Chance
Do you judge other sports the same way? Baseball, basketball, golf, tennis? In the end the winner is the one with the best offense, defense, skills, take advantage of other teams mistakes and yes, the higher point count. This isn't 5 year old soccer clump ball. I watched the last 4 matches the US team played. They played well against determined and also talented teams and they earned each win. sour grapes . . . who's the good sport?
70
@Chance I think you may be a little too hard on the women's team. They are nothing like Trump. The US team was better than the other teams. It is better funded and better trained. Does that mean they shouldn't be allowed to play against worse teams? This isn't about establishing equity between all of the various national teams, it's about competing on the world stage. The US men's team is also well-funded, but they get beat on a routine basis by smaller, less well-funded countries.
25
@Chance, your comment about the US women's team dominating undermatched programs from nations that don't support their national team might hold for Thailand. England, France, and the Netherlands, not so much.
11
No Gail. The women's soccer team has been a spectacle in spite of what's wrong in this country, not because they provided respite from it. This women's team is considered by many to be best of all time on the planet. That is worth celebrating during the best of times - none of it is attributable to Trump fatigue.
108
@WJL I applaud and agree with your response, but do want to push back on one thing: that at least -some- of the coverage and celebration is due to Trump fatigue. It shouldn't be, and they are 100% worth watching and celebrating in their own right - but realistically, I don't think we'd see the same focus if we had a... more conventional... presidency.
It's something to consider, because when we are done with this era, we need to be careful not to revert to the patriarchal status quo, a la Rosie the Riveter post-WWII.
5
@WJL I don’t follow soccer, so I disagree. For me the womens’ team win was a welcome respite from “Trumpnews”
2
@WJL
At worst Gail is using the women's soccer team's triumph as a rhetorical device to bookend the column. What she is really doing is juxtaposing the true excellence of the soccer team with the complete dysfunction of the Trump administration; and she couldn't have chosen a better symbol of excellence. Don't take her literally where women's soccer is concerned. She is a humorist, and sometimes humorists make facile statements like this in service of the real point of the article, which is the sexual abuse of minors. Your complaint is telling, though, about you. Obviously you care more about a supposed slight to a sports team than you do about the exploitation of children.
1
As the moral morass of the Trump administration becomes ever more obvious, it takes a special breed of person to serve such an administration. Although we should never underestimate the lengths to which some people will go to achieve positions of perceived status, the reputational consequences of serving such a person must now have reached dangerous levels of toxicity. With tanks almost on the White House lawn, and a declared desire to remain in office for life, it might take more than an election to remove this administration and the collusionists who have served it.
215
@Tom
Have you taken a look at the cushy pensions a secretary in the federal government gets?
1
@CitizenTM
Yeah, if they last long enough to claim it
2
I did not vote for Trump. I cannot believe that someone with such intense narcissism can function at such a high level. (We have to begrudgingly admit that no one can occupy executive office without being highly functional, albeit in Trump's case, a much-to-be-lamented "highly functional.") At any rate, although I salute Gail Collins as a highly gifted wordsmith, I hope she realizes that there are large numbers of Americans who do not see her worldview as the inevitable, or most logical, alternative to Trump's. They may share her revulsion with Trump's behavior. But they certainly don't see the New York Times, or the Democratic Party, as standing up for them and their families. They probably do not view women's soccer as some kind of savior. And they probably view the entirety of American government as filled with "inept members." And finally, not that this matters, but you know that there are probably just as many "liberal" elites associated with Jeffrey Epstein's escapades as there are "conservative" ones. I simply cannot engage in this arrogant sense of rightness that many Baby Boomer liberals still embrace, a relic of the 1960s, a relic of a time when they country had a completely different (more functional) demographic and economic makeup. That country is gone. And so is the notion that opinion pieces like Gail's represent obvious "moral rightness." Be careful. I think Trump is going to win again if this is all that the left has to offer.
47
Except you had a non-baby boomer president in Barak Obama who was a leader the country could be proud of. Who fought tirelessly and risked his presidency on the notion that every human deserves healthcare who brought this economy back from the pits. A First Lady who argued for healthy lunches for our children who was also successful and caring to others. It is still good in America and maybe you are right that person isn't in the ranks of the baby boomer liberals.
7
@Chaparral Lover - Spot on. I know a number of Trump supporters, and this article would only serve to solidify their own beliefs that all liberals are biased, hateful mud-slingers who aren't worth listening to. It's basically the Holy Grail of Reasons to Ignore the Left. As much as I enjoyed reading it from a "that's my rage, too" POV, ultimately, articles such as these are a disservice. We need to be printing things that get Trump supporters to question their views, not further entrench them.
@Chaparral Lover Yeah, you sit on the sidelines and pout because the "demographic and economic makeup" of the country isn't to your liking. Hmmm. Sounds like a Trumpster to me...
2
Part of the plea deal was immunity for all the unnamed and unindicted coconspirators. Maybe one of those unnamed people appointed him to his current position as a way of saying thanks.
373
@Michael "... the unnamed and unindicted coconspirators. Maybe one of those unnamed people appointed him to his current position as a way of saying thanks."
Exactly what I've been wondering about.
49
@Tokyo Tea: Exactly what we've all been wondering about. But will we ever know if Trump was a co-conspirator? We know in our hearts and minds and souls he was. But legally? Sigh. Probably not.
The rich and wealthy who conspire to hurt middle school girls in unimaginable ways will probably never pay a price. I hope Epstein sings an aria to the SDNY DA's office, a very long one.
39
@sophia: "Me Too"
1
This story is just one more example of Trump’s amoral behavior. He knew what Acosta did on this case yet nominated him to be Labor Secretary anyway. The sad fact is most of Trump’s supporters will continue to support him and the deviants he surrounds himself with. The only thing that really surprises me is the number of people in this country who have a broken moral compass.
297
@Mickey Topol I suspect Trump knew of what Acosta did and that IS why he nominated him to be Labor Secretary which handles sex trafficking.
10
@Mickey Topol
...and call themselves Christians.
NOT my president
5
@Mickey Topol "This story is just one more example of Trump’s amoral behavior. He knew what Acosta did on this case yet nominated him to be Labor Secretary anyway."
"Anyway"? Or "because of it"?
Remember the talk about the underage-girl rape case against Trump during the election that mysteriously disappeared?
Trump may have had a lot to lose if Epstein's full story had come out in a trial.
3
Trump? Ethics? Beyond, "I'm rich and famous, so do what I say" and "Let's see what I can get away with this week", I'm guessing the concept is foreign to him.
130
@Andrew Trump's motto "Who cares what they say, just do it. What are they gonna do? "
2
@Andrew Agreed. Also outside his conceptual knowledge: Honesty, honor, self-sacrifice, decency, integrity, patriotism, humility, respect, .... The list is probably close to endless.
1
Gail, may I call you that?, there are issues too sad and harsh to give them the humor treatment, even if meant to make them more bearable.
41
@CitizenTM
Citizen, if I may call you that, Gail is writing about satire/irony, not what you call "humor."
4
Sorry, I disagree. I’m a member of the “Gail-can-write-anything-she-wants” club.
2
@CitizenTM, Gail's opinion about this sorry situation makes me think, just as your comment makes me think, and why I am responding to you, makes me think ... of Janet Michael's comment, telling of the Women's Soccer Team Parade in NYC, that was genuine, heart-felt, and well deserved. Contrasting that to trump's contrived and forgettable event in DC, just shows that virtually everything that happens in this country winds up in NYC.
2
Gail, since you are speaking of soccer and parades,didn’t you think that today’s parade for the Women Soccer Champions was so much more exciting than Trump’s pitiful parade on the 4th? These patriotic women rode down the Canyon of Heroes with bagpipes and motorcycles and a police escort and thousands of people cheering and throwing confetti.No need to recruit the military and have a flyover.Trump can’t throw a parade and for the life of him he cannot assemble a cabinet which is not conflicted and crooked.
63
How pathetic it is to think that soccer, ( such a trivial undertaking can serve as an anodyne to the White House circus of corruption and ineptitude) for the American populace. As his majesty would say “sad, very sad”.
Bravo, Gail!
Very thoughtful, and well written.
And, so very sadly, true.
Filthy rich indeed.
83
Its hard to think of anyone involved with Donald Trump's mad house of an administration who has not been not been subject to the Trump reverse Midas effect, the one that turns everything to garbage or worse. Perhaps Jim Mattis but even he had to quit before the smell over whelmed him. But on and on we go with the sleazy headlines and questions about whether someone can unseat this so called president and his cronies next year. There is almost nothing more to say. Perhaps taps for our sad country is what comes next.
131
@just Robert
Trump has performed one service, and that is to show how we really live in a kakistocracy. All these people did not come out of nowhere; they were all in positions of power before they entered the White House and were no less unqualified in their former roles. We just get to see them all assembled in the same place, like visitors to a zoo.
9
@just Robert I happen to believe that since 2016 the vast majority of our citizens have had a memorable and eye opening experience. Clearly the election was tainted. Clearly many voters were fooled. But, think the quote "Fool me once, shame on you -- Fool me twice, shame on me". Suspect what we will see now is a change of character to fool voters again. Would like to believe that voters are now immune to lies and falsehoods. They have - for the most part - now learned to recognize what a Snake Oil salesman looks like, and acts like. Repugnant and vile to the core. You cannot change the stripes on a zebra, you cannot make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Register, contribute, do your homework, ignore all polls, ignore FOX news, no apathy, vote. The ballot is our bullet - use it.
6
just robert,
Donald J. Chaos & Co. are the party of wrong. Highest corporate profits in history, solution? Tax rate cut. Result, bigger divindends and stock buybacks. Highest economic inequality in history, solution? Income tax cut. Result, more money held in off shore accounts. Mightiest military in the world, solution? Give them more money. Result, same mighty military at an inflated price. Federal prosecutor works out a lighter sentence for an old private party friend, solution? Give him a cabinet position. You can't get good fruit from a rotten tree.
Blue wave 2020!
2
And trump’s approval numbers are going up. We are doomed.
93
@Michael-Don't forget Trump directed Michael Cohen to pay for poll rigging ...
https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/17/politics/michael-cohen-poll-rigging/index.html
1
@Michael is that true?
@Michael
Not if people get off the couch and get involved in the hard work of self governing.
2
Let's not forget that this is about women. Women who continued to be valued as sex objects by certain men, and that value is easily bartered.
Women who rise up from the days of my youth back in the 1950's, when athletics for girls was considered "tomboyish", and too much of it could injure you for having babies, your only real calling in life.
Women who draw a large crowd of families to a theater in my town with children of every gender and age, plus every other member of our town's demographic as well as a few dogs, to watch them triumph over the world for the fourth year.
And especially, women who credit their victories to the cohesiveness of their TEAM. Cooperation always has been what creates abundance, and women instinctively know this.
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@Entera Emilys List - a shining light
3
@Entera, another reason for a woman president.
4
@Entera
The Democratic party should take lessons from the United States Women's Soccer Team: Unity, team work, and fierce determination.
3
If there was no plea agreement, Epstein would have hired the best lawyers money could buy and with the proper judge the likelihood of him ending up in jail probably would have been 50/50.
But let's not get lost in the hypotheticals and the malleable details of this case. Because the real story is this is just another excellent example of the rich having the dice loaded in their favor when it comes to justice.
Situations like this in our democracy occur everyday, but escaped unnoticed because the players are not that well known.
Moral reprobates like Trump, Clinton, Weinstein, and Epstein have been escaping real justice almost their entire lives.
Supposedly in America no one is above the law. It is something we like to tell ourselves. What a myth.
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@Babel Actually Epstien did hire the best lawyers money could buy and they were able to dictate not only the terms of the plea against a 52-count indictment, but to push aside the state charges. What one should be asking is how does Acosta, a once obscure fed prosecutor, become Secretary of Labor in the Trump administration. Trump may now claim his love affair with Epstein ended right about the same time the indictments fell, how convenient for him. But as we all now know, Trump is completely incapable of telling the truth, especially in matters concerning his behavior.
44
@Babel
so true. this should be a NYT pick.
watching the parade of rich, white men evade justice has made me realize just how lopsided our society is. It's been a wake up call.
4
When the judge in the Dr. Nassar case celebrated her sentencing of him, that was wrong. A judge who demonstrates that kind of vengeance violates the principles of sentencing often quoted by the same people who praised that judge. The judge who gave the 6 month sentence to the Stanford swimmer was a sex crimes prosecutor before he became a judge. His long record of championing women victims was ignored and he was fired apparently without review of his work as a prosecutor.
Something like 90% of rape cases go uncharged -- that is well known. And it has a lot to do with how the system treats victims. The federal prosecutor, the state prosecutor, Vance and Epstein's defense attorneys have all been accused of terrible wrongdoing here. The thousands of lawyers in the cases that never go to court remain in the shadows.
The justice system does not do well by sex crimes, and everyone knows that. If Epstein weren't filthy rich, his case would likely have gotten no attention like most of the others. The pervasive injustice in sex cases goes both ways. The ignorance of the public and its uninformed judgments, especially in lurid cases, does not serve the interests of justice at all.
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@michjas. Actually the judge who gave n that six month sentence was not fired. He was recalled by the voters who found that sentence too lenient. Was it fair to him? I don't know but there is no inherent right to be a judge, as he now understands.
46
If Epstein weren’t filthy rich, he would have had the book thrown at him.
1
All this and trumps approval numbers at 47%. And still near 90% among Republicans. It boggles the mind.
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@Vicki Ralls
I don't believe these numbers. I believe that just like Trump, people cannot stand to admit they made a mistake, so they double down. If 90% of one of our two political parties supports this person, it truly is time to split the country. I, for one, would be happy to never have to talk to someone who voters Republican and thus OWNS all of this cruelty and corruption again.
44
So...who do they really call for those polls? Is it still just land-lines?
19
@Vicki Ralls Current Republicans lack any moral bearing. They may pretend to be religious but that is just hypocrisy.
16
Trump re Epstein: “I had a falling-out with him. I haven’t spoken to him in 15 years. I was not a fan of his, that I can tell you." Anyone care to speculate as to what might have led to that "falling out?"
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@Ellen Freilich
so why did Epstein have 14 telephone numbers for Trump and his associates in his cell phone contacts?
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@Ellen Freilich Obviously, Epstein wouldn't "share". Besides it's clear that Trump like to take what he wants without paying anything.
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@Ellen Freilich As always money. Trump probably stiffed Epstein for 'services rendered' or 'product' used.
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If the majority of the Cabinet is beholden to DT, then they are unlikely to vote against him should the 25th Amendment be raised. Acosta is just another member of the DT Cabinet who should never have been confirmed in the first place.
I would like to know more of the timeline. If this terrible deal with Epstein took place in approximate 2007, why did it take until 2019 for Epstein to be indicted again?
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@Rkolog NY Federal Attorney , Vance was trying to reduce even the lenient sentence Epstein received. There was no one to protect the victim.
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@Rkolog: I think this is an entirely different prosecution. OMG! Acosta et al, are approved by the Senate which R's control.
1
@Rkolog
because money talks. He probably bought the judge, the jury, and even the prosecutor, and people in high places, that’s why.
Gail, thank you for showing us the humorous side of some of the dire news we’ve been having to endure for the past several years. I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds your outlook helps decrease personal stress over this presidency.
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@Liz C Thank you Liz. I too have struggled with the same personal stress and disgust. But have also become fully aware of narcissism and the Dunning Kruger Effect. Now I am hoping and praying that the American voting public has learned an abject lesson from the results of the 2016 election. Never again. Register, do your homework, contribute, no apathy, ignore FOX News?, beware ideologues, do not let polls keep you from casting your vote. Take our country back.
3
Someone's not telling the truth here. Claiming the high road, Acosta has tried to throw Florida prosecutors under the bus - and they are claiming a different version of the story. If Acosta held out for prosecution, why was it a secret? Nope, like so many Trumperies, this does not pass the smell test. Let's see the documents and we will discover who held out for what.
1203
@Honey Whatever state officials did or didn't do, federal charges could still have been brought. The Supreme Court has already ruled that it does not amount to double jeopardy. Acosta also said the victims were kept in the dark about the plea deal because he was afraid the charges against Epstein would have been endangered if they were told they were getting some compensation. That's false but even if true,notifying the victims is required by law and Acosta had no legal right to ignore it, whatever the reason.
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Honey: Someone in the Trump administration is “not telling the truth here”? A droll understatement! Thank you!
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@Honey-Why did Acosta crater his own career which included many distinguished achievements? “How in the world, do you, the U.S. attorney, engage in a negotiation with a criminal defendant, basically allowing that criminal defendant to write up the agreement?” said Bradley Edwards, a former state prosecutor who represents some of Epstein’s victims.
From “Perversion of Justice - Miami Herald - 11/28/2018
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article220097825.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Acosta
24
Anybody notice a pattern?
Trump hired Rick Perry (who as a presidential candidate said he would eliminate the Dept. of Energy… if only he'd been able to remember its name) as Sec. of the Dept. of Energy.
Trump hired Betsy DeVos (a gazillionaire who had spent her adult life undercutting Michigan's public educational system) as Sec. of the Dept. of Education.
Trump hired Scott Pruitt (who had spent years as Oklahoma Attorney General suing the EPA on behalf of polluters) as head of the EPA.
Trump hired Ben Carson (a surgeon who knew absolutely nothing about HUD except what he had learned growing up in an urban area) as Sec. of HUD.
Trump hired Alex Acosta (who had seriously flubbed, perhaps deliberately, the prosecution of a serial sex predator and trafficker) as Sec. of Labor… which is charged with prosecuting sex predators and traffickers.
Any chance that Acosta's sweetheart deal with Epstein in Florida made him even more appealing to Trump? Just another fun little irony?
Curious minds want to know.
2018
@A former Republican Thank goodness Trump campaigned on draining the swamp. Can you imagine what his swamp--I mean cabinet--would look like if he hadn't been focused on hiring only the best and the brightest?
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@A former Republican I used to be able to vote for what I considered the best person for the job and often enough that was the R candidate.
When we mostly were floating around on the same chapter of the same book even if not on the exact same paragraph or page.
But today, it's obvious, the GOP is existentially monolithically pointed away from modernity, and the principle/ideals this war veteran served for. They read from their own book and it is literary rot.
I know not every GOP candidate is individually bad or wrong about every issue.
That not every GOP candidate in their personal heart relishes every action/movement their Party/Trump takes especially if it inflicts pain on people.
\
Also, that most GOP voters are as good, kind, generous, intelligent, talented, moral, etc. as Ds are personally.
But I also know is this – most R voters today have a streak of admiration for authoritarianism!
Especially if that authoritarianism confirms and/or supports their more visceral instincts – their tribalism, their prejudices, their fear of losing place, their sense of religious and/or social superiority.
And I know the GOP has taken hyper-advantage of these human inclinations and cultivated a cult. Voters so focused on satisfying their Id that all else takes a backseat.
The GOP has a solid 42% of us. They will, like it or not personally, intentionally or not, allow theocratic plutocracy to take root.
The 58% that are not in the cult must stop that march in 2020!
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@A former Republican
trump appoints based on only one thing - obsequiousness to trump. Not expertise.
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The president has never “labored” a day in his life, unless you count working your twitter finger incessantly as vigorous exercise. But the smarminess around Epstein is a bi-partisan matter, as he was/is/might have been pals with both Trump and Clinton. It’s all pretty creepy and sickening, and the victims truly were just that.
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@Ellen
Oh...it's going to be more than just Trump 'n Clinton.
One doesn't get to be a billionaire in NYC without an awful lot of customers and acquaintances.
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@Ellen-Both Epstein and Trump learned from successful predator John Casablancas, founder of Elite modeling, who became notorious for recruiting, grooming, and exploiting underage girls. Naive underage girls could be brought to the U.S. under the pretext of modeling and sent to parties where alcohol, cocaine and older rich white men could prey on them. Chilling and worthy of serious investigation.
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/6/1578544/-The-Untold-Story-of-Trump-Model-Management-A-Daily-Kos-Exclusive-Part-1
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/10/25/1586568/-Daily-Beast-Inside-Donald-Trump-s-One-Stop-Parties-Attendees-Recall-Cocaine-and-Very-Young-Models
https://www.thedailybeast.com/donald-trump-used-model-parties-to-seal-deals-industry-sources-say
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@Dobbys sock
And, Woody Allen.
"A wall of the study was covered with photographs of famous people, including Woody Allen, and another that Mr. Epstein pointed out was of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia."
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/08/nyregion/jeffrey-epstein-nyc-mansion.html?searchResultPosition=2
https://www.vanityfair.com/magazine/1992/11/farrow199211?src=longreads&utm_campaign=buffer&utm_content=buffer0f6ce&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com
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I’m quite sure we ARE better off with inept appointees. I worked in a federal agency when this administration came in, and we were all very concerned about our mission, which involved doing good things for people. It was a relief that the lack of science savvy meant they had no clue what we did, so we were able to ‘fly under radar.’
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Well said!
The Improv just called and said that they need this slant, now, and forever.
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@Patrise: Didn't Trump just tell scientists (all the scientists) in Dept. of Agriculture that they had to move (I'm sorry, I forget where) or be fired. And they had to decide this in one month. This was a complete surprise. They just want to get rid of scientists so they won't talk about/work on climate change.
Trump is a national security threat and a threat to the entire world.
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@Patrise Have you red Michael Lewis' book The Fifth Risk? He seemed to think Trump has been damaging the research and enforcement abilities of critical federal agencies.
8
We need a functioning government.
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We haven’t had a functioning govt since Ike.
@ImpSeattle
Aye, but what we really need is for everybody (especially since over 100,000,000 sit out any given election) to take their future, the country's future, their children's future, and Democracy's future SERIOUSLY.
Of course that would actually require getting up off your duffs, putting aside the crisps and VOTING !.
Just a thought.
4
@ImpSeattle November 2020..
Warren & Pete 11-3-2020 lapel pins ready soon. Let's make REAL change happen.
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@Ruskin - My dream!
1
@Ruskin. Count me in !!!
1
@Ruskin
I think I'd rather go with Warren and Castro
Maybe it is time to not only have a non partisan commission to handle drawing of legislative boundaries, but another one whose responsibility is to vet anyone a president chooses to appoint to his cabinet, senior staff and to a court.
If anything can be learned from the Trump Administration is that there are a number of flaws in accountability within the Executive Branch. There are also too many "traditions" and "protocols" which have been abused. And, that the Executive Order ability has morphed into near dictatorship.
John McCain's 2008 campaign made it clear "Washington is broken". If it was "broken" then, it is in shatters now. Trump has managed to take, what he called "the swamp" and turned it it into a cesspool of lies, deceit, incompetence and ineptitude.
Let's hope Mueller's testimony, next Wednesday, is the beginning of the end for this blot on American History. We can't have this fester for another 18 months
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Something VERY BIG will happen on 7/17/19, or before to smother Mueller's testimony.
Or, if Barr has his way, Mueller won't testify at all. There is way too much on the line.
Remember, these traitors have REASONS for lying....
3
@Nick Metrowsky 90% of Republicans support Trump. There are many Democrats who have been hoodwinked by Trump.
"The sad truth is that we’re really probably better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all.
Cheer up. There’s always soccer."
Megan Rapinoe for President.
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DT’s standard response to any claim (or fact, for that matter) that impacts him negatively is to counterattack vigorously. He’s bluffing, but few challenge him. For example, when Pelosi called him on the State of the Union address/government shutdown he folded, and he seems to have eased up his attacks on her.
Sex scandals traditionally bring down implicated leaders or governments. DT has been able to evade consequences for his behavior thus far by counterattacking - Republicans are quite sheepish about challenging him - but this one might have a different outcome.
So many bad actors in the Most Corrupt Administration in US History; but, you know what they say about ‘Birds of a Feather’.
If DT winds up going to ‘camp’ for a while, maybe he can learn to play soccer....
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@The Observer Soccer has referees with score cards. Golf on the other hand has the score card in the hands of the player. Read Commander in Cheat. Trump has many flaws and disgusting venal afflictions. But, worst of all - the cardinal sin - he cheats at golf.
2
@The Observer But the bone spurs...
1
Let me get this straight: Donald Trump should fire Mr. Acosta as Labor Secretary because: (a) in 2006, Mr. Acosta, who was appointed by President George W. Bush as US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, brokered too lenient a punishment for child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein, a friend of President Clinton, while Acosta was the US Attorney; and (b) part of the job of Labor Secretary is to protect underage women from being sold as sex slaves?
I haven't seem a stretch like this since the Trump Administration claimed that including a citizenship question on the census form is necessary to enforce the Voting Rights Act.
26
@Jay Orchard Read the Census Law -- clearly Cadet Bone Spurs and his legal advisors have not. All personal information to be kept fully confidential for 72 years. Nobody from the Census Dept. can release any of that to anybody - even the FBI. So, adding the question can only be intended to the make the count of all "residents" deeply flawed. Supreme Court Justices know this.
25
@Jay Orchard - or, you could just get rid of Acosta because he's lousy at 'doing the job' of Labor Secretary. But, on the other hand, if you got rid of everyone in the Trump administration who was lousy at 'doing the job', there'd be nothing but empty posts. Starting at the very top. So, in the end we just 'keep calm and muddle through'.
3
@Jay Orchard: No, Donald Trump should fire Mr. Acosta as Labor Secretary because: (a) in 2006, Mr. Acosta, as US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, brokered too lenient a punishment for child trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. That's it. You can stop right there. All the rest doesn't matter. No stretching needed.
3
"The sad truth is that we’re really probably better off with cabinet members too inept to accomplish anything at all."
While this was offered up as a gag line, it deserves more serious respect. In the Trump administration the menu only offers various flavors of awful. Inept may often be the least nasty of the choices. Getting rid of Acosta probably means replacing him with someone worse.
If Acosta received a payoff or some other form of quid pro quo for going light on Epstein, then he should be shown the door. On the other hand, if it was simply poor judgment or lack of courage, maybe he should be given a pass.
In assessing Trump World ineptitude may at times operate as a virtue. Mulvaney is on Acosta's case because he has been dragging his feet in undoing Obama era labor and consumer protection regulations. These rules are seen as slowing down the aggressive business practices that Team Trump wants to promote. Among Trumpsters Acosta's lack of anti-regulatory zeal is seen as his failing. If Acosta is booted, this will be the real reason, not his earlier leniency regarding Epstein.
You can't have it both ways. Acosta's lax treatment of Epstein is ancient history; firing him now changes nothing with respect to Epstein's Florida victims. But Acosta's tardiness in sweeping away Obama era regulations is happening in real time, and his ineptitude here is a positive.
It comes down to a choice between symbolism and strategy. Righteous indignation is the indulgence of fools.
28
@woofer
Two negatives making a positive seems to be the only virtue of the Trump administration.
18
woofer,
Don't kid yourself, if Acosta gets to keep his position, he will gratefully carry the corrupt Trump administration water and help change those protections. Who is supposed to protect these type of innocent children?
Blue wave 2020!
2
Well, woofer, count me a fool.
Protecting people like the ones abused by Epstein is Acosta’s responsibility. It was then, and is now.
I’ll take the chance that Acosta may be replaced by someone competent. Just because we are, at present, “stuck” with an immoral monster in the White House, does not mean we have to tolerate similar behavior from someone we can have terminated.
My naïveté and lack of street smarts have been pointed out to me in the past. For some reason, I continue to believe that it’s fools like me who will save this country.
4
All it takes for evil to Trump is for regular people to talk about sports and be clueless about politics.
53
It was my hope that President Obama would send Cheney to The Hague as a war criminal, but that would have likely began an endless tit for tat. I was in kindergarten when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but even as a grade schooler, one could feel how united we were as a country. Then, everyone served, including children born into extreme wealth, movie stars, famous pro athletes, everyone. I am fortunate to have experienced America’s finest hour. Now, we might as well divide America into congenial segments. I blame exponential greed.
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@Jimbo This is very well said. The ethical underpinnings of this country need reborn.
2
@Jimbo Same experiences and conclusion.
1
@Jimbo, There needs to be a draft before any more wars. Then we would have either none, or accountability.
3
For most posts, Trump actively seeks people who are corrupt. He wants people who will deliberately sabotage the mission of their post if it benefits someone Trump knows. So he wants an EPA chief who will not enforce pollution laws, a Consumer Financial Protection chief who will not protect consumers, and of course a labor secretary who doesn't protect laborers.
That people with that sort of corrupt leaning have skeletons in their closet should surprise no one.
151
The problem is that this has gone on since day one of his administration, and now, more than halfway through his term, he, and his very sad and depressing persona, is as an object lesson, the New Normal.
Let every one of his supporters (especially the politicos) bear this awful, guilty, burden forever.
8
@Gus-This is Trump's mentor Roy Cohn's formula: dig up dirt on people, use/abuse them, call them names, lie loudly and often, threaten them legally via (Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, David Pecker) and a cabal of lawyers. And if that fails, pay them a little cash or send thugs after them to make them go away.
1
But Gail, the soccer is over! In its stead, in France no less, there’s “The Tour” as in professional cycling to savor. So, you can still avoid all things Trump for at least some daily respite. Unless you would masochistically rather watch yet another Administration official assert the king’s privilege and refuse to even state where their office was located in the West Wing. Just another day in the good old U.S.A.
27
@ John Grillo- this is by FAR the best comment I’ve seen here in days. Yes, the Tour is happening and I for one will Be excitedly watching. Vastly different than the women’s soccer, but much better scenery!! Not only do I get to clear my
Mind of the garbage news that seems to clog everyday but I get my virtual Tour of gorgeous France in HD everyday.
6
@Suzanne And should one care to spend the money, in the US the Tour de France is available in an advertisement free version as well as a version with ads and cute panel discussions every 5 minutes so the final minutes of the Tour can be without ads.
Given the Replay versions, one can view both but only the version with ads tells you the names of important buildings as the Tour rolls by courtesy of the favorite commentators in the US.
1
@Suzanne Well, I have tried that in the past. But all I can recall seeing is roads, roadside crowds, and bicycle riders. Scenery - not given much play. But, even that much better than the daily chaos and uproar evinced from the Executive Branch of our current administration.
2
Our biggest fear should be that this band of ne'er-do-wells, incompetents, and grifters, whose modus operandi is cold, austere, and clumsy, will one day be replaced (probably by a Trump successor) with those far more sly, competent, and under the radar, whose modus operandi is cold, austere, and chillingly efficient.
At least we can see this is an idiocracy. The next time out it may be a cabal that truly is enshadowed.
42
Trump may not know much about labor, but I suspect he knows that babies and underage teens don't vote.
43
Trump doesn't know about labor and he also doesn't know about diplomacy, war, economics, history, proper English usage, civility, decency, empathy, and everything else under the sun with one exception. He knows how to snow millions of his supporters with a litany of lies that stretch around the globe.
104
@nzierler Trump's just a manipulator of the dark side of human tribalism. The merchant of darkness and fear.
3
This Epstein story goes back many years and has been well known beyond Palm Beach. It was broadly publicized, as was Acosta's role in his deal, yet I don't recall much outrage if any during his confirmation hearing. The recent indictment doesn't make his deal any worse. All pedos are incorrigible and their recidivism rate near total.
39
Yes, labor is what Trump personally knows nothing about and doesn't do. No calluses on those little Trump hands.
Another meaning of labor to Trump is the people he or his organizations hires at the cheapest possible wages to do everything asked without question, and who must sign non-disclosure agreements when working for Trump because, Lord forbid, the American people should find out what really goes on behind Trump's closed doors, closed mind, and closed heart.
But as Gail indicates, maybe it is a good thing Trump is so lazy, uninformed, unfocused, and inept.
Of course many of the things Trump has managed to get done (between watching himself on TV and traveling to his resorts and rallies) have been horrible--like that unnecessary tax cut for the rich that blew a hole in our deficit, separating children from their parents at the border and putting the children in cages and disgusting detention centers, trying to take away health care from the people that need it most, and appointing his cronies to cabinet positions where they do the very opposite of the agencies' missions.
But think what might happen to our country if Trump were an eager-beaver, highly motivated policy wonk like Elizabeth Warren and actually got so many more of the awful things done that he wants. In the case of Trump, incompetent, disorganized, and chaotic sometimes does work in our country's favor.
The best thing for our underpaid American labor force and country would be to Fire Trump in 2020.
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@PB
Not so fast...
He hasn't start any wars. And the country, the whole of it, is back working again, not just the multi counties that come out of the "recession" richer than ever because no government worker or lobbyist ever feels the pain...
They get paid not to work during the shutdowns. Obama and Clinton gave us Libya, and support for the Syrian rebels. Bush gave us Iraq and Afghanistan. Do you jokers understand how many lives those wars of choice snuffed out?
Trump is a realist. Let him display our military might at a 4th of July parade rather than unleashing shock and awe, and whatever it is Hillary can claim to have done unto Moamar Ghaddafy to boost her hawk credentials before the country rejected her as our commander-in-chief.
Also, President Trump is not staining blue dresses while he's at work, I can assure you of that
@Midway OK, leaving aside your argument that Trump is responsible for all of the economic growth (most of which took place when Obama was President,, by the way), if not getting us into a war (though not getting us out of the wars you mention), then Gabbard should be your choice. But I suspect you aren't listening enough to actually discover what candidates are about.
1
The more we learn about Acosta's "prosecution" of Epstein, the more I think of an old "Sex and the City" episode where Samantha is asked by a client to handle his daughter's Bas Mitzvah (at age 13). You then see the "girl" at her party, having taken off her braces, hair styled in an adult manner, and wearing a slinky spaghetti-strapped gown and talking with her similarly attired contemporaries about "doing it" with their fathers' friends.
I thought of teen-aged Ivanka sitting provocatively on Daddy's knee, and Epstein's "targets." Even if these girls wanted to act out "Lolita," it's WRONG for ALL concerned, and even worse to ensure that there's a different "law" for the affluent, like Trump and Epstein.
38
@Carl Ian Schwartz - I know the episode you're talking about. They were talking about doing it with other teenagers, still wrong but definitely not the same thing as having sex with adults.
Epstein chose vulnerable girls to exploit and abuse. It's not fair to indicate that his victims were somehow playing.
@Carl Ian Schwartz
Aside from statutory rape, a lot of the girls were not willing partners for these men and were actually raped.
2
Trump surrounds himself with people he saw on Fox News, people he met some where and thought they would be able to play their part, people that bow down to him. Expertise at the job is a no no. They might oppose some crazy Trump notion.
We have scraped the bottom if the barrel with this administration. We have to do better than this, or we are doomed.
57
Lost in all of this is why an attorney with no experience head of the DOL?
47
A hallelujah to the too inept Trump selection for Cabinet members current and former. Great for USA, and cheaper in the long term.
5