The Custodians Are Corrupt, and There’s No One Coming to Fix It

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SPECIAL NOTE: This blog normally posts on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. But every once in a while the blogger gets a spur in his sock and is compelled to post something immediately. Such is the case today. Welcome to your bonus content! Whether you want it or not!

By LONNIE KING

I saw the headlines and the letters, the official inquiries and the predictable silence that followed.

Senator Dick Durbin has accused Attorney General Pam Bondi of pressuring the FBI to assign roughly a thousand personnel to comb through the Jeffrey Epstein files back in March—not to seek justice, mind you, but to flag every mention of Donald Trump.

That’s not the allegation of some crackpot in the dark corners of the internet. That’s coming from a sitting U.S. Senator.

And sure, I get it—being a U.S. Senator and being a crackpot from the dark corners of the internet aren’t mutually exclusive anymore. But Dick Durbin’s tenure on Capitol Hill predates the current madness. He’s been around long enough to know how the machinery is supposed to work — and how badly it’s working now.

Whether you believe the claim or not, I already know what’s coming next: absolutely nothing.

There won’t be answers. There won’t be accountability. There won’t be transparency. And even if some version of the truth does eventually surface, the people who support Trump will simply deny it, deflect it, or declare it a badge of honor that the deep state was “after him all along.”

Glenn Beck is already laying that groundwork. On his podcast, he’s apparently suggesting that Democrats had control of the Epstein files long enough to doctor them to make it look like Trump was in there.

I doubt he actually believes that. But he knows plenty of the foolish people in his audience will. That’s the playbook: don’t disprove the facts; just dirty the water enough that your side refuses to drink from it.

I’m not writing this because I think I’ve stumbled on some grand insight. I’m writing this because it feels like a confession: I don’t believe the Department of Justice, the FBI, or any of these agencies are functioning as the custodians of the United States Constitution.

They’re just his henchmen now.

And I don’t trust them to be anything else.

We’re Not the Same Country Anymore

I wish that was hyperbole. And I realize I’m starting to sound a little like the conspiracy theorists, but with a left-leaning tilt instead of firm dogleg to the right. But the truth is, I don’t think we’re living in a United States of America anymore—at least not in the way we like to pretend.

We’re not united at all. These aren’t the United States. They’re the Divided States of Trump. Not the good old USA — the new and unimproved DST.

His imprint is everywhere. On the agencies that should serve the nation, on the people who once swore oaths to the Constitution but now pledge allegiance to him instead. Every appointment, every loyalist, every compliant agency head is another layer of insulation to protect the man, not the country.

And his imprint is also on the hearts and minds of millions of fools.

And if you think I’m just saying that because I don’t like Trump, you’re damn right I don’t.

But it’s deeper than that. It’s not just distaste. It’s the resignation that nothing within the system will hold him accountable, not because he’s innocent, but because the people who are supposed to hold him accountable are in on it.

And the base they appeal to won’t deal with the ultimate problem: they’ve sold their souls to the devil but won’t admit it.

The Henchmen Know, But They Won’t Turn

I don’t think people like Bondi, Patel, or Bongino are oblivious to this. In fact, I’d bet money that they’re deeply disillusioned right now. And, even if I think they were idealistically way off base, they WERE idealists and this was one of the issues that fueled their idealism.

They were loud about Epstein’s files during the campaign, and even before that—demanding transparency, promising revelations, feeding the myth that they were the ones who would finally deliver the truth. And then Trump handed them these positions of power. They probably believed they were there to influence the process, to pull back the curtain.

But if they’re honest with themselves—and I doubt they are—they’d admit the real reason Trump appointed them: because he believes he can manipulate them. Because he knows they’ll choose loyalty over integrity.

And here’s the sad part: I don’t think any of them will crack. Not because they’re still true believers, but because they’re cowards.

Yep. I’m saying it:

• Kashyap Patel is a coward.
• Daniel Bongino is a coward.
• Pamela Bondi is a coward.

But honestly? I’ll give them this — their prior devotion to Trump at least explains their current cowardice. They hitched their wagons to him a long time ago. That doesn’t excuse it, but it makes it predictable.

The bigger cowards? The ones whose political careers predate Trump by decades — and still bowed. I’m talking about career politicians like Marco Rubio, John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham, et.al.

These are the men who spent their careers posturing about principle and patriotism, but when the test came, they flunked it with flying colors. And it’s the screaming Bondis, Bonginos and Patels of the MAGA world who exposed them for what they are.

They are the ultimate cowards. And the country knows it. Most people just don’t care anymore.

The Middle is Dead

I know there are people who would say I’m being too cynical. That the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. But here’s the problem with that: the middle is dead.

Trying to occupy the middle in this climate is like standing on a bridge that’s already collapsed — both sides see you as naïve at best, complicit at worst.

One side accuses you of being a secret Trumpist; the other mocks you as a weak-kneed liberal. And meanwhile, the bridge you’re standing on is nothing but rubble, because the middle only works when there’s shared ground beneath it.

We don’t have shared ground anymore. We just have battle lines that you’d best not cross.

I’m Not Naive Anymore

There’s a current meme that actually just used to be an old joke that was shuffled around: “I used to be young and poor…but after years and years of hard work…I’m not young anymore.” It’s funny, but it’s also a nod to the way time has a knack of stripping you of your naïveté.

And it, in a way, sums up my feelings about this nation today. I used to hope that the system would eventually correct itself. That truth would work its way through the cracks. That decency would make a comeback.

I don’t think that anymore.

When Bondi, Patel, Bongino, or any of the rest of them speak, I hear propaganda, not policy. I see protectionism, not public service. And I have zero expectation that they will ever voluntarily release anything that implicates Trump, his cronies, or his enablers in any meaningful way.

I’m not naïve enough to think otherwise. And honestly, if you still are—I envy you.

Oh, and just to be clear — I don’t doubt that there are Democrats in the Epstein files. Bill Clinton immediately comes to mind. But, I would still advocate for the release of the full files, even if it implicated people who are politically more like-minded to me than the current regime.

And I’m sure that’s what all these crusaders thought they were signing up for when they got close to power.

But, imagine how disillusioning it must be to realize that the one you thought was going to take down all the billionaire pedophiles…is actually the ringleader.

What Happens to a Country Without Referees?

We like to think that even when the game gets ugly, there are referees on the field. People tasked with enforcing the rules, even if imperfectly. But what happens when the referees throw away the rulebook and put on one team’s jersey?

What happens is exactly what we’re living through. A country where facts are optional, power is absolute, and the people who still believe in the rules are treated like suckers.

I wish I had a hopeful ending to this post. I don’t.

Because the truth is — I think the current political state of this country is just real life WWE. We’re all living inside a pro wrestling script now.

The villains are obvious. The heroes are scripted to lose. The outcomes are predetermined. And the whole thing only works if the crowd keeps cheering, booing, or just buying the merch.

And like every wrestling storyline, it’s not meant to fix anything. It’s just meant to keep us entertained—and distracted—while the people in charge cash the checks and hold the belt.

So no, there’s no grand gesture of optimism to finish this off today. I’m just spilling my guts right now.

Because when you feel powerless to do anything, sometimes the only thing you can do is state exactly what’s on your mind.

Maybe all we can do is say it out loud, in hopes that we find others who feel the same way, and learn that we’re not alone in how we see things.

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Grace and grit (LOADS OF GRIT) to you! — LK