You don’t have to be an old soul hanging about the planet like this humble spirit to know your classic movies, and I’m willing to wager that most of you have seen Casablanca, one of the great movies from Hollywood’s golden age, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The movie contains numerous iconic lines, but perhaps the most amusing comes when the Nazis force Captain Renault, played by Claude Rains, to shut down Rick’s (Bogart’s) bustling nightclub.
Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I’m shocked! Shocked to find that gambling is going on in here.
[At that moment a croupier approaches and hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: Oh, thank you very much.
Doesn’t this remind you of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick denying that he had any contact with Jeffrey Epstein after 2005? Lutnick originally stated that based on a visit to Epstein’s NYC townhouse he concluded that Epstein was “gross” and “I will never be in a room with that disgusting person again.” But according to the latest batch of 3 million pages released from the Epstein files, it turns out thatLutnick brought his family to Epstein’s private Caribbean island in 2012, well AFTER Epstein’s 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor. He got caught in a ridiculous lie, just like Captain Renault did, only the secretary’s lie wasn’t the least bit humorous.
Even if Lutnick didn’t get caught lying, why would he take his family to an island owned by a convicted sex offender? (On top of that, supposedly one of the “nannies” later went to work for Epstein! How creepy is that?) Never mind that while more than half of Americans work paycheck to paycheck and more than a third don’t have $400 available to cover an emergency expense, the secretary of commerce is so wealthy (his net worth is estimated at $3 billion) that he brought his kids’ and their nannies (yes, plural!) on his yacht for lunch on a private island. Talk about another painful illustration of America’s economic inequality! Talk about the “Epstein Class” on full display in all its glory!
And Speaking of Trump Cabinet Members Who Lie Like Rugs and Should Be Impeached. . .
Testifying before Congress last week, Trump’s Attorney General, Pam Bondi, didn’t even attempt to answer questions about the Epstein files. When asked why she hadn’t indicted any of the wealthy and powerful men exposed in the files, Bondi changed the subject to how well the Dow Jones Industrials were doing. Besides being a non sequitur for the ages, the response once again confirmed what we already knew—what matters to the Trump Administration isn’t seeking justice for a sexual predator’s victims (mostly middle-class women whose presence at the hearing Bondi refused to acknowledge) but making sure their rich and powerful supporters get richer.
Bondi embarrassed herself in front of Congress and the American people and didn’t have much to say for herself or the DOJ other than to declare Donald Trump the greatest president America has ever had. (At least her first non sequitur was true, however irrelevant to finally winning justice for Epstein’s victims.) Bondi’s only utility for the administration is that she provides a welcome distraction from Trump’s chief of homeland security, Christi Noem, the other overly made-up fascista. Talk about drowning in the Cool-Aid, or smoking it, or whatever these MAGA Trump sycophants do when they’re not kissing Trump’s ass in a cabinet meeting.