Imagine for a moment that you first heard the name Larry Summers last week when he appeared on I Called. Planet Epstein. This planet is an information ecosystem where all major global events are related to the sex trafficking conspiracy that supposedly rules the world. It's a metaphorical place, not an imaginary one, and can be found on YouTube, as well as in some corners of TikTok and other social media platforms. As a moderately informed citizen of Planet Epstein, you recently learned that Summers set much of the economic policy for three presidents, including Bill Clinton, who you already suspected had his own list of mentions in the Epstein files that you eagerly, if not optimistically, wait for the government to fully disclose. You also learned that Summers, who corresponded with Epstein back in July 2019, was previously president of Harvard University and has used his considerable influence not only to raise money for pet projects, including a poetry initiative started by his wife, but to help shape the direction of higher education in this country as a whole. You learned that this lifelong liberal seemed to be looking for a romantic relationship with his ward and asked Jeffrey Epstein for advice on this matter. You have learned that the woman he appears to be pursuing is the daughter of the former Vice Minister of Finance of China. You even heard that Summers and Epstein had a code name for this Asian woman, Peril – possibly in reference to “Yellow Peril” (After the conversation between Summers and Epstein became public, Summers released a statement saying he was “deeply ashamed” of his relationship with Epstein.) And what have you learned about Summers' recent activities? Well, until last week he was on the board of directors of OpenAI, the company that you think will shape the future of all of America. And above all, you have learned that the most powerful people in this country are more pathetic, predatory and corrupt than you or any of your friends.
What conclusions do you draw from your brief introduction to Summers, which you presumably gathered from YouTube Shorts, Wikipedia and ChatGPT? Moreover, if you consider yourself a rational person who draws conclusions based on the facts in front of you, that must do you believe?
Over the past few months, I've been trying to gauge what portion of American society is now convinced that the world is run by a cabal of pedophiles. Polls showed that a large majority of the country believes that the government is hiding information about Epstein's clients and his death. But there is a difference between suspecting a cover-up and going full Pizzagate conspiracy mode, drawing connections between Summers, Epstein, Trump, Bill Clinton, Mossad and the sudden rise of the artificial intelligence industry that now appears to be powering much of the world's economy, and then concluding that we are all ruled by some shadowy group of oligarchs.
However, there are some signs that Planet Epstein has begun to eclipse our previous home. Congress, for example, voted 427 to 1 to require the Justice Department to release “all unclassified records, documents, communications and investigative materials” related to its investigation and prosecution of Epstein. That result owes much to Marjorie Taylor Greene, who used to attract national attention primarily as the butt of jokes but who, before her surprise announcement on Friday that she would retire in January, had become one of the most visible – and, yes, increasingly Dear– country politics. And the fall of powerful figures like Summers, who escaped scrutiny in earlier outbreaks of the Epstein story, suggests a capitulation is taking place. Oddly enough, I don't know a single person in my life who actually thinks this is the end of the story or that all the culprits have been exposed. More importantly, Trump, who can usually count on a third of the country to accept whatever version of the truth he offers, has found almost zero audience for his claim of the “Epstein hoax”—the narrative that the continued focus on Epstein is a Democratic plot to drag his great administration into scandal and distract from the “greatness” that Republicans seek. At the very least, elected officials – including those like Greene, who has spent the last decade serving as Trump's loyal lieutenants – have begun to fear public anger over the issue.
I believe we are living through a quiet revolutionary moment in this country that began with the pandemic and the protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd. (I believe this column is, first and foremost, an attempt to chronicle that revolution.) The contributing factors can be traced back as far as you like, but the shift became apparent during the quarantine, with millions of people taking to the streets and a show of perceived capitulation from members of Congress kneeling in front of the Capitol and major corporations meekly posting “social justice” messages on social media – which, of course, occurred simultaneously with the Reds' struggles states against quarantine. and, later, vaccination mandates. This moment did not lead to a change in the world order, but it destroyed all the power that the “establishment” had left in this country. The subsequent unrest took various forms, including a continuing and dramatic decline in trust in traditional media and attacks on universities by both the left and the right. It was also aimed at Trump's 2024 re-election campaign, which was not about any one issue, but a new and completely empty promise to drain the swamp again.
This insurgent energy sought a unified theory of the world, ideally one that did not rely on partisanship – or, indeed, on policy at all. Epstein provided it. Lest we forget, Epstein died more than six years ago, and while the story has certainly not been forgotten by the public, it has at least been relegated to the background under Greene; Thomas Massie, US Representative from Kentucky; and several other politicians began talking about the Epstein files again. The Trump administration's bumbling response certainly hasn't calmed the situation. Also playing a role was the fact that a growing number of Americans, spurred on by the Gaza war and new media commentators across the political spectrum, began to question the influence that Israel exerts on Washington, DC.
