"There's a Sucker Born Every Minute."

     There's a story about PT Barnum that changes in its iterations depending on the source but I'll relate my favorite version. It was said that one of his most infamous swindles was selling tickets to view one of the most amazing things ever seen. The unwary victims, of course, were never told what this thing was but they happily paid their nickels and dimes just to see what it was. Fraudsters such as Barnum have known for centuries that human curiosity is one of the most powerful and lucrative things to leverage into money.

     They were then told to walk through a long series of halls seemingly leading to nowhere until they finally got to the terminus: An empty room with a single light containing nothing but a box. And when they opened the box, it turned out to be completely empty.

     If there was a moral or a point that Barnum wished to impart aside from lining his pockets it's that it's the journey that matters, not the destination. Or maybe that's what Barnum told himself as he happily took their hard-earned nickels and dimes to the bank.

     If this story's more than apocryphal, then it would've been Barnum's masterpiece of fraud. With just the power of suggestion, the lure of a promise of something extraordinary and very little overhead expenses, Barnum took in who knows how much money selling people something that didn't exist. Barnum's very name is synonymous with trickery and swindles like this, which is perhaps an unfair and absolute tarring and feathering. 

     Barnum was also a local politician, serving two terms as a Republican in the CT House of Representatives, in which  he advocated for the ratification of the 13th amendment that outlawed slavery. He also served one term as the mayor of Bridgeport, CT in which he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. After his term, he also helped found Bridgeport Hospital and became its first president.

     So, PT Barnum was not a man whose entire life was dedicated to fraud and chicanery. Unlike latter day Republicans, Barnum worked to make life better for the citizens.

     The Jeffrey Epstein client list is the empty box. Donald Trump's army of 77,000,000 dupes paid handsomely through campaign contributions to be led down dark hallways promising transparency and something... extraordinary. Then months later, they found nothing but that empty box.

     Unlike many of Barnum''s victims, who probably sheepishly laughed at being taken in by such a palpable ruse, MAGAworld isn't amused nor should they be. They were promised a bill of goods only to be told that they won't arrive,after all, and we don't want to talk about it, anymore. And it's fracturing MAGAworld neatly down the middle. 

     Lauren Boebert is calling for a Special Counsel (although her choice, comically, enough, is accused pedophile Matt Gaetz). A week ago, Steve Bannon called for the same thing and even warned House Republicans that they could lose up to 40 seats in next year's midterms if the files aren't released. Even reliable ventriloquist dummy Mike Johnson is criticizing from Trump's lap how the administration is handling it. Dan Bongino is ready to resign from the FBI over it and, if he does so, he'll automatically be the highest-ranking official to resign over the Epstein files and at how poorly-handled the matter has been.

 

     And Donald Trump, the guy who's screaming for everyone to stop talking about the Epstein client list, seems to be the one talking the most about the Epstein client list. And Trump, whose name is obviously all over the client list, the Lolita Express's flight logs and Epstein's phone records, is still fanning the flames of conspiracy theories whether he knows it or not.

     Trump's exposed but that's not to say he's not getting any cover. Yesterday, House Republicans shot down Ro Khanna's bill (Co-sponsored by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie) that would've forced the DOJ to turn over the Epstein files. So the call for transparency is, at least technically, bipartisan.

     The Epstein files, this zombie scandal that never dies, isn't just the one that could take Trump down forever. It's the thread that, if forcefully pulled, could undermine his credibility regarding everything. As if it wasn't already obvious, virtually all of Trump's campaign promises have remained unfulfilled after six months. 

     The biggest deportation effort in history hasn't materialized, although over 100,000 migrants have been arrested, detained and deported. The wall still isn't built, inflation's gone up partly as a result of his batshit tariff policies and manufacturing jobs aren't coming back. The list goes on.

      But, stupid and gullible as Trump voters generally are, they're already wondering what else he's lied about, even if they still don't know why. They still can't bring themselves to believe that Trump is, like Barnum, a carnival barker and huckster who only looks at the bottom 90% as if they're marks (which they've unfailingly proven to be). And the minute they stop heeling to, he snarls at them and lets his true colors show. 

      Because loyalty to Trump, and it's always unilateral, is everything. And, when he loses that, he panics. Since Trump and Putin are on the outs these days, maybe Putin's spies will somehow get their hands on the Epstein client list and skillfully leak it to a liberal publication just to let him know who's still calling the shots.

     So, Russia, if you're listening...