I want to be hopeful but...

Everyone seems to be excited about the release of the Epstein files tomorrow. I understand the anticipation, but I’m afraid that the expectations are overblown and out of control. 

I’ve learned through my 61 years orbiting the sun that the politicians we have now are nothing more than highly accomplished and professional liars who care only about their own self-interest. Whenever the curtain hiding the entire corrupt system reveals the cesspool behind it, the genuine outrage is quickly channeled into controllable channels that guarantee that nothing significant actually changes at all. 

I was 10 years in 1974 when my parents told me about Watergate, and the cowardly refusal to prosecute President Nixon. They explained the background to me what had started years previously. I was just as outraged as my parents were. Sadly, that was just the first example of institutional corruption that I remember. 

The undeclared war in Vietnam. The harassment of civil rights advocates such as Dr. Martin Luther King, and the anti-war advocates such as John Lennon.  There was another secret war in El Salvador and the Iran-Contra coverup. 

I remember the near disaster of the Savings and Loan collapse. The Clinton-Lewinsky affair, and I’ve probably overlooked several others. 

But nothing prepared me for the blatant corruption that we have seen this century. The stolen 2000 election, and I blame the Democrats for refusing to fight to the end and simply melt away. I remember the hateful and vicious racism that crawled out into the open when President Obama was in office. But nothing prepared me for the total disregard for our alleged democracy more than Donald Trump. His transgressions, both real and alleged, are a horrible stain on our nation. 

Our society has lost any semblance of civility. Now we only have conflict. I am tired of our ship of state being constantly run onto the rocks. I have little faith that this time will be any different. If we allow the same topical bandaid approach from the past, it is guaranteed that things will never change. 

Our only hope is to bring in fresh leaders with the radical left ideas that we need to break the cycle. I say left because right equals conservatives, and their goal is to hold onto power as long as they can. 

So, go ahead and pop the champagne when the Epstein files are released. I’ll be quietly watching and waiting for the system and its sycophants to manufacture a way to minimize or erase anything in the files. 

I hope that I’m wrong, but experience has taught me caution.