Probably as long as Mossad and the CIA.

The economic depression in Eastern Europe during the 90s created a lot of desperate people and vulnerable children that monsters like Epstein could prey upon. That’s why many victims of his trafficking operation were Eastern European.

Just because Gates is claiming that he slept with two supposedly adult Russian women doesn’t mean they were part of a Russian honeypot. Considering these admissions come on the back of the Epstein files release, I’m more inclined to believe it’s a limited hangout intended to soften the blowback from some of the sick shit Bill was alleged to have done with his friend, a known pedophile and child trafficker.

Relative to the money being spent on games it is incredibly cheap.

Unfortunately, I think most quality sources with broad coverage aren’t free. Even the paid sources almost always have a corporate bias. Of those the financial times probably does the least to editorialize. Beyond that I think you just have to find independent journalists or outlets with a narrower investigative focus that you can trust.

I don’t really disagree. My point is more that if Biden or his AG had actually pursued this with the degree of seriousness it deserves, Trump would likely not be president. People need better options than to vote for a pedophile rapist or someone who let pedophile rapists go free.

What are you talking about? Presidents have directed the DOJ to look into specific crimes and even have created special investigatory tasks forces all the time. Obama did exactly that after 2008 in order to investigate financial fraud. Don’t you think that a child sex trafficking ring involving some of the US’s most rich and powerful people, including former presidents, deserves to be prioritized in the same way?

At the very least Biden is responsible for appointing Merrick Garland of all people. Remember this was after Epstein’s apparent “suicide”.

Are we just going to ignore that the DOJ had all of these documents while Biden was president and just twiddled their thumbs apparently?

Even if he’s being disingenuous or ignorant when self identifying as a socialist, I don’t really care. What matters is that his actions do not align with any realistic path towards socialism.

This is what happens when you commit to reforming an irreformable system. For Mamdani not to be thrown out of office he has to play ball and do shit like this. That puts him in the awkward spot of defending things he actively campaigned against. This kind of hypocrisy will leave his base of support feeling jaded and demoralized which in turn leaves him without the political leverage he needs to enact progressive policy. All that will be left for him to do is more compromise.

That’s why I think any self described socialist running for office in the US has to be ready to play the role of an intransigent advocate for the disaffected. They have to be that stick in the mud that will not give in even if it means the powers that be try to destroy them. That’s doesn’t mean they have to neglect all the duties of the office or even be much of a firebrand. However, it’s the only way I think you can maintain the trust and enthusiasm of the working class people from whom you derive your power.

Too often I see self described socialists making the mistake of thinking that’s it’s the political office they hold which gives them power. In a political system designed for capitalism the tools at their disposal will almost never suit their purposes as a socialists.

So instead of using sweeps to keep the business class happy and at bay, Mamdani should be at the doorstep of every single real estate investment firm in the city making it readily apparent whose at fault for this humanitarian crisis. He should be highlighting the need for tenants unions, ending sweeps, supporting rent strikes, and ordering moratoriums on evictions until the city or state actually do something to end homelessness. He must be willing to make enemies of the wealthy business elite, the people who are the natural enemies of the working class.

If he can’t do that then it doesn’t matter how sincere he is about being a socialist. He’ll be nothing more than a bump in the road for a system that intends to consume us all.