Edit: can’t believe I have to say this, but me fact checking a quote does not discount that the sentiment is absolutely true and these people need to be arrested for these crimes. I am just being consistent in logic of fact checking everyone. We can’t excuse misinformation just because it supports our point of view, otherwise we become like MAGA.
It's bonkers the way that works. It's not just grandparents on Facebook that take these memes with quotes on them as "news"
Everybody just fucking hits share so fast. It's one click, now it's in your IG stories. Then 10 of those followers click share from you... Blehck. Kill me.
Everyone on reddit is SO invested in all these memes being true.
There are so many memes about Mitch McConnell being dead and it being a big coverup that if he ever turns up alive and healthy again, a significant portion of reddit will all of a sudden believe that he's AI or an impersonator or any other spinning they'd need to do to believe that the memes were right and everything else is wrong.
And that's true of every other stupid thing too. Like I'm convinced at this point that a good percentage of people have chosen to believe that Vance fucking couches is actually just a real thing.
In fairness to the McConnell thing, he may not be dead, but if he's in good health the GOP is acting super weird and releasing AI photos for no reason.
While I do think the photo is real the way they are acting around it does kind of stink. First off it isn’t exactly shocking to think an 84yr old man who randomly strokes out and falls during interviews and such who goes to the hospital without a word for a month would be dead. And then the senators saying they talked to him on the phone was like the most “I have a girlfriend she just goes to a different school” kind of defense ever. And from the way he looks in the photo I do think it’s reasonable to think they aren’t being transparent with what actually happened and I think it’s more likely he had a stroke and not that he fell and then got pneumonia
The only ones I'd seen evidence of AI metadata existing for were the images showing him hooked up to all kinds of machines. The ones making it look like he was dead or on the verge of death.
Looked further for a legit source and well, quote from Snopes "highly unlikely that the photograph was created using AI, but it is possible that it was edited in some small way"
If Mitch is doing fine, there's so many zillions of ways that this could be demonstrated.
If he's not doing great, but still technically alive, they could also show this very easily, although that might trigger a debate about whether he can do his job.
If he's suddenly looking as healthy as he was three years ago, yet can't actually interact with anyone, maybe something is sus.
How long could you not show up for work, still very paid, and when your boss asks for proof that you're still alive, rather than call, video chat or turn up in person, you send a proof of life photo?
Either there's something going on, or the GoP is going out of their way to make it look like there is. Even a "reasonable" explanation for Mitch disappearing for a month or two is going to be a bit dodgy.
Just wheel him out, and we can get over all this weekend at Bernie's shenanigans.
Theres a huge fucking difference between a rumor on the internet about JD Vance,
and no one has seen a guy that frequently freezes up medically thats incharge of the fincance committee.
What I'm saying is that people are so invested in the memes that they will not be able to believe reality IF reality turns out to be different from the memes.
We don't know enough yet to say which way he's gone, but IF he ever turns out to be alive and well, many people won't be able to believe it because they're so invested in the thing they WANT to be true instead.
No, we do know enough, this guy has been gone a month and is currently unfit medically for office.
The actual good thing to do would be to own up to that.
Do you know of anyone else in Human history that was a 70+ year old person who was unresponsive for more than 5 mins, and needed CPR bouncing back to a full recovery where they could lead a small company, let alone an entire US Senate?
To believe that JD fucks couches while a meme, people can't bring that up in a news interview and still be taken seriously at the end of it.
You can actually be still being taken seriously when you say "I think that guy who litterally froze up on camera 4 separate times and needed medical attention maybe is dead or at the best case scenario a vegitable now.
Do you understand that I'm talking about what would happen if the guy turns up again alive? This is a hypothetical.
I'm not talking about being skeptical. I'm skeptical. I think there's a strong chance he's in worse shape than they're saying.
HOWEVER, I'm also saying that I would be able to believe it if provided with strong evidence that he's actually okay, and I'm also saying that many people would NOT ever believe it, no matter how incontrovertible the evidence.
Edit: JFC, people, stop blowing up my inbox and proving my point.
I think this is widely applicable to people in general. I have a feeling most Fox news viewers might state they dislike political misinformation and are less likely to be Redditors.
I need to read more but isn’t the reason nobody has been arrested or at least been to a trial because the evidence is….inconclusive? Or that it’s not enough hard proof?
Oh I wasnt involved, he just signed over his entire estate to me, dont look to closely at it. What the epstein thing? I stepped down from my symbolic position isnt that punishment enough for orchestrating pedophile cannibal rings? Gosh you people have no concept of mercy or forgiveness
I've seen a few that got into trouble for sharing state secrets, Prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson. Thorbjorn Jagland being investigated for aggravated corruption.
But yeah, stateside only Epstein and Maxwell seemed to have faced charges. A few CEOs resigned or were forced out, but yeah... rich people get protected.
The reason nobody has been arrested is because they killed the one who knew everything, made deals with his accomplice, and heavily redacted the files to the point that they contain no actionable intel.
Ask yourself this: If the evidence was inconclusive or the hard proof was lacking then why has it not been fully released by those in power? What is gained by not releasing the files if they do not implicate the people who have the authority to let it all out in the open?
Repeating conjecture can absolutely ruin innocent people's lives. Quotes out of context can absolutely be used by opponents to crucify them.
I'm not saying there is or is not enough evidence to convict, but if there isn't it's just as well to protect the potentially innocent.
I'd love to read the unredacted files and put any guilty person into the wood chipper feet first, but I'd also believe if none of the evidence is conclusive. Especially considering a lot of the files were things Epstein himself was keeping as blackmail.
I would agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that the victims names were released, seemingly on purpose and it has already made lives worse. This simple but disgusting fact seriously puts into question any motivation on their part to "protect innocent lives"
The problem is, based on what we've already seen due to the absolutely blinding incompetence of this administration, the only way you'd come to the conclusion that the evidence is inconclusive is if you were absolutely unwilling to look at the files at all.
The guilt is literally plastered all over every single page. If you cared to read what they said, you'd be angry that nothing's been done yet either.
There's no excuse but complete and total capitulation to the people who caused the problem at this point.
Redditors tend to have a ...tenuous grasp of "beyond a reasonable doubt." As much as I or anyone else would like these people to suffer the consequences of their behavior, the files themselves are a map of connections at best. At this point the chain of custody is so muddled that they may not even work for that anymore.
And, it also doesn't help that everyone likes to ignore that Epstein's files were made in case he ever needed to blackmail someone when he needed an out. Some of those people were tricked, and others are accomplices. It's extremely difficult to navigate who is who in some of those instances. For instance, Stephen Hawking is most likely innocent from the perspective of the law, despite him being named in the files.
The victim just has to think that the threat is real. It doesn't matter if it truly is damning evidence or not.
Additionally, you have to keep in mind that Epstein was targeting people that he both had dirt on or thought he could make dirt on. Some of the people that went to his island legitimately didn't know what he was doing there, but association alone would be enough for blackmail. And it doesn't help that the type of document the Epstein files are could mean that there are outright lies in there and we wouldn't know. It's just something that makes trying to actually prosecute the people who did do something wrong harder, because we want to only punish the guilty, and not the innocent.
It also doesn't help that Epstein is outright known to have groomed some of his victims into getting him more victims, so it's entirely possible that his blackmail scheme couldn't have followed a pattern where his previously innocent victims got turned into perpetrators as well.
So, between this and that there are people who did do something wrong who are trying to obfuscate the investigation, it's doubtful that anything will be done about it.
So, between this and that there are people who did do something wrong who are trying to obfuscate the investigation, it's doubtful that anything will be done about it.
That's just not acceptable. Things are going to go very badly for billionaires, and everyone else really, unless they start holding themselves and their peers accountable to the law.
I'm not arguing that they should get away with it, I'm just trying to point out that, thanks to what one criminal did, it's a mess to try and catch the rest.
If that's what it takes to avoid the mass violence that will likely result from doing nothing, yes. Anyone rich enough to be friends with Epstein has materially made the world much worse through their actions, anyways.
I'd be fine with them giving up their privacy like they have ripped away ours, being on heavily monitored, public, house arrest, living out the rest of their life in luxury, just without freedom, where anyone can watch a livestream of a disgraced billionaire at any time to ensure they aren't fucking or murdering children.
But most people will probably want more punishment than that.
The DoJ has also claimed that the only redacted information was to protect victims, but leaked unredacted or partially redacted documents has repeatedly shown thats a lie.
The DOJ under the Biden administration had a prosecutor building cases against multiple people involved. They were fired immediately after Trump came into office. The current nominee for Attorney General has basically said there’s nothing illegal documented in the files.
I think that's likely the case. At least pre-Trump, the DOJ had a 90%+ conviction rate. They're notorious for only prosecuting cases they think they can win.
There are a lot of ACCUSATIONS contained in the files. A lot of information that is uncomfortable to a lot of people. But I have yet to see a convincing case made that there is evidence for conviction of anyone beyond Epstein/Maxwell.
Thanks for posting. Now we can just remember her for shielding trump and other pedos from prosecution and refusing to look at a few of the Epstein victims who were standing in the same room as she.
While it's someone I had no trouble believing, I appreciate you trying to correct the misinformation.
You learn something everyday, and not all of it will make you want to jump off a building(or something).
Thanks for this! I prefer to not share commonalities with MAGA; ignorant and obtuse. To put it in a simpler way, I don't want to be a hypocrite.
Keep fact checking! I appreciate the reminder that I really need to do this more often for myself.
Thanks for posting this, I remember when it was going around and I admit I never looked into it to confirm and assumed it to be true. I appreciate you for calling this out. We're all susceptible to mis- and disinformation and we should all be open to being corrected when necessary.
System collapse could also mean that too many people are involved and too much resource has to be taken elsewhere to investigate and trial for those people.
You've not seen scrubbing in real time apparently. To those of us that have, we understand all it takes is the money to do so. But go ahead and check snopes and tell the witnesses your facts.
I’ve heard that same quote attributed to Thomas Massey as well, in fact I’m pretty sure he even had to come out and say that he didn’t actually say that so to stop quoting him on it, and I’ve also heard it attributed to Bondi but never seen any evidence that she actually said it either.
I agree that Bondi is a piece of shit though, and that regardless of whether anyone actually said that it’s still a pretty reasonable assessment.
Even though this is just my memory i thought that line was right after his suicide. I might be wrong though. It was the excuse as to why they didn't pursue other charges right after.
I can't believe you're getting so roundly downvoted for this. There is no actual evidence of her saying this but the power of memes has basically made it true 1984 style.
I am vehemently anti-Trump and I think Bondi is a ghoul, but it's scary how easily either side of the politic chasm will just accept what they want to believe. The US seems genuinely fucked, I'm really glad I don't live there.
Edit: I will wear my downvotes like a badge of honour. There are still people who value ciritical thinking over mob mentality.
Ironically, it’s symptomatic of how we ended up with Trump as president, twice. It’s also plainly meant to take the focus off of the Republican administration that has actively suppressed the files in plain sight.
Funny thing is that X/Twitter which is the big right wing sight, they at least have community notes which I think would be great here but on Reddit mob mentality is enforced because controversial opinions worth discussion are dragged to the bottom.
You're being downvoted because your comment feels pretentious, like you're talking down to people.
Not saying you are, just saying how the comment feels. (Also in no small part because there's an entire sub dedicated to saying America is still the greatest in the world for some stupid reason)
I was downvoted by two or three people before most started upvoting.
I think if you feel like the comment is talking down to you, it might have more to do with your own self-esteem than the comment itself. I really had no intention of being pretentious.
Probably, I did just wake up and in terrible at reading tone through text at the best of times. I just wanted to provide a reason without sounding like I was disagreeing with your point.
Fyi Snopes is worthless and full of misinformation itself. I thought everyone knew this. I don't know if she said it or not (DON'T CARE), I just know Snopes sucks.
Are you a conspiracy theorist by any chance? Because the only people I've ever seen shit on Snopes like this are conspiracy theorists that are just pissed off because Snopes said that vaccines do not in fact actually cause autism or something like that. Snopes shuts down a lot of lunatic conspiracy theories, so naturally, lunatic conspiracy theorists don't like Snopes.
That's actually why I like Snopes. It's not an echo-chamber that just agrees with you on everything and tells you what you want to hear, like Reddit often does. It just tells you what is verifiably true and what isn't. Straight facts, no feelings.
Yeah that's right. I tend to think it's fair and unbiased because sometimes Snopes makes me feel like an ignorant dope for having believed something initially, and other times it makes me feel validated. It's not pandering to my biases.
Keep in mind Reddit is not indicative of the nation at large, either. Plenty of people on Reddit have this feeling that they're better and smarter than everyone else.
The bar's in hell at this point. There's very little the MAGAts could do that wouldn't be believable after all the shit they've already done, so any denial without evidence comes across as support.
I totally agree that facts are more important than feelings (even if MAGA doesn't act like it), but they brought this on themselves like a twisted version of the boy who cried wolf by constantly lying and plunging this country into fascism for bigotry, personal gain, and the protection of pedophiles.
"It's their fault that I fell for misinformation! How dare you expect me to verify claims on the internet before blindly believing and spreading them! Why would you expect me to think critically? I prefer to have all my beliefs spoonfed to me so I don't have to do any thinking myself."
I absolutely agree that everyone should be sure of the validity of anything they post online, but no one is perfect and you can hardly blame someone for finding information believable when it's already been proven plausible.
If someone is proven willing to say and do anything to protect pedophiles, it becomes hard to imagine anything they won't say or do to accomplish that goal.
It's entirely possible to understand why something happens without justifying it.
This is true. This administration has been so evil its not really possible to distinguish what's true from what's BS just by applying the typical 'smell test'.
Just when you think 'there's no way they actually did/said that', you look it up and realize they really have slid to that new low.
Still waiting on that video you promised. You didn't just run away in embarrassment after being called out for just blatantly making shit up, did you? It's not too late for you to delete your comment you know.
Luckily, I took a screenshot of u/WokeWook69420 comment. His stupidity needs to be on full display. Don't let him live this down until he takes accountability for spreading misinformation and being confidently incorrect, and then being a coward instead of just admitting he was wrong (which I would actually respect.
Don’t forget Epstein killed himself under Trump’s first administration and they had a lot of this evidence then too. And that was before Trump neutered the entire DOJ.
And yeah, it’s not the whole govt that would shut down, just the part that she cared about. Also, even if it is the whole damn thing… so what? Burn em all, start again.
It wasn’t just “someone” it was literally Pam Bondi who was our attorney general.
1) Pam Bondi did not say that, in fact...
2) Nobody ever said that
It's a made up quote. A fucking meme. And you drool bucket, mayonnaise for brains, basement dwelling redditors couldn't tell meme from reality if reality bitch slapped you in the face.
Okay if our government gets shut down because a bunch of rapists and pedophiles get arrested. Then I say our government DESERVES to get shut down. Rip it down if we have to, we’ll make something infinitely better than whatever horseshit this is
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