Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/13/malice-vs-incompetence.html
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Now why the fuck would I ever think that?!?
I know people who’ve been to prison, including my BFF.
It’s a shitshow of incompetent, corrupt horrors and inhumanity.
Malice has never had a better ally than the appearance of incompetence.
Well, US prisons, in this case. They don’t have to be dehumanizing. It’s just that Americans - on average - favor vengeance and “being tough”.
Being tough on crime is an easy populist flag to wave around. It doesnt mean that the majority agrees with that point of view.
ETA: politicians like to present the false dichotomy of “I’m tough on crime, so my candidate is weak on crime”, ignoring the spectrum of disciplinary and corrective measures that exist other than incarceration.
But…her emails?
Buttery males.
By no means do I think US prisons are a luxury resort. I doubt anybody does.
But it’s sort of a coincidence that a guy who clearly has compromising information linking the sitting President to pedophilic sex-slave operations would die in an unattended prison cell.
A fitting epitaph don’t you think?
(Took the liberty of past tense editing for, you know, a tombstone.)
I am confounded by the conspiracies that claim he must have been murdered.
Their argument is:
“This is a seriously secure facility, where major gangsters like El Chapo were put so that no one could get to them. Epstein was under constant scrutiny; there’s no way he committed suicide.”
“Well, how did he die, then?”
“He was murdered!”
They don’t see the irony.
There were many people who likely wanted Epstein dead. That list almost certainly included Epstein. Shit, I’d probably be suicidal if I was in that position too.
His death might yet be the result of a conspiracy, but it certainly wouldn’t require one.
I don’t think Epstein was murdered. Since everyone knew he’d tried committing suicide before, I think he was left alone with the tools to do the deed, and he offed himself.
The AP has a story up saying he was found with a bedsheet around his neck:
(And, as someone else once said, you have to be a sadist in order to be a “screw” i.e. prison guard.)
Absolutely. His suicide is even more likely now that we know how poorly he was being monitored. But it’d be hard to come up with a situation more open to being conspiracy-laden.
If only our national shame and horror ended there. We aim to be record setters across all of the cruelty olympic events this year.
In this case, with the level of attention that should have been focused on him, it’s… concerning… that he managed to kill himself. It tempts the thought that it goes beyond the run-of-the-mill incompetence permeating our prisons, whether that’s a fact or not.
Due to the high-profile nature of the case, one would think “not fucking up” should have been the goal of everyone involved in his incarceration. But that’s obviously putting unearned faith in the key holders. Because here we are.
One would think that populist views are, well, popular. But it’s not that people not only keep voting for these politicians, attorneys, sheriffs, etc – though I’ll concede that this partly due to hindering “undesirables” to vote – but it’s a common feature of your media and online content. Up to the point where I will limit my kid’s exposure to US media on a far higher rate than I will with French, Japanese, or Canadian productions. Not just because of the violence, but the casual acceptance of it as a viable means of problem resolution.
Yes, as conspiracies go it’s an interesting mix of “many are possible, none are required.”
Much like Princess Di getting killed in a car crash while neglecting to wear a seatbelt or Michael Jackson dying of a drug overdose, this is the kind of death that happens all the time to less famous people but we only tend to assume it’s a conspiracy when it’s someone whose face has been all over the tabloids.
True… But MJ & Lady Di didn’t (allegedly) have a metric fuckton of dirt on TPTB, either.
Bottom line?
We will likely never know the actual truth about Epstein’s death.
Oh, I know the truth. But I’m the only one who does.
Rich white man dies in jail, nation reacts in shock and suspicion
Maybe because:
- Previous suicide attempt
- High profile case
- Number of influential people involved
Just saying, this was not just a regular street criminal and some very influential people benefited from him dying before the trial which would possibly implicate them.
Too late now. We will hear conspiracy theories for a while, then maybe year later there will be nothing left to say. Case closed. Justice not served.