Just for giggles, take a moment to Google “quotes on Jeffrey Epstein.”

With one exception, you won’t find any.

That exception will be an endless parade of regurgitated Epstein quotes from – surprise, surprise – Donald J. Trump. 

Not so surprisingly, those quotes will be echoed by the usual suspects — The New York Times, ABC, NPR, The Washington Post, etc.

The repetition is so nauseatingly similar that, if one didn’t know better, one would swear there was a conspiracy to use the Epstein affair to paint Trump in a negative light.

Surely not. 

This now all-too-familiar equation goes way beyond Trump, Epstein, client lists, the Deep State and our relentlessly corrupted local and national media outlets.

We’re living in a time where none of our society’s bedrocks are what they seem.

May I point out a few?

• Political parties — Elon Musk is a busy guy. His desire to create a new party does not come from boredom or obsessions with personal gain. He rightly recognizes that both of our parties are, at their heart, corrupt, and that neither can secure a safe landing for America. I remain a Republican, celebrate this party’s recent success, hold hopes that the good guys within will defeat the bad guys, and recognize the elephant as the far lesser of evils. Unfortunately, that’s like saying dying from emphysema is better than dying from a gunshot. How can evil – big or small – ever take us to a good place? Think I’m being unrealistic about the ability of man to walk taller? Look what happened when our Founding Fathers – mere mortals all – came together and aimed toward higher purpose.

• The rule of law — A crucial pillar for any healthy culture is rule by law versus rule by power, preferences, personality and/or politics. The Epstein cover-up from the beginning to today; Weinstein’s decades long freedom to pillage and plunder an endless array of orifices with impunity and elitist indifference; and the systemic, hyper-aggressive, and voluminous persecution of Trump reveal a systemic rot in our justice system that is nothing short of profound. For local example, look toward Asheville. Ponder the lack of oversight by media toward widely known county corruption and subsequent judicial hand slaps for those involved. Reflect on the fact that the Biltmore Estate uniquely benefits from a liquor by the drink permit without annexation and higher taxes normally required for such. Witness the elitist gentrification, hoteled skyline, and drug-user infested culture that has converted a conservative, affordable, Christian and safe place into a city of fantasized normalcy. Note the systemic dismantling of our police department and the total lack of accountability for those who did it.

• A nation of borrowers and consumers — The biblical suggestion “Neither a borrower nor lender be” stands on good purpose. The role of lender is addictive and, judging by the rates, policies and practices of credit card companies, highly corruptive. Being a borrower combines bondage to your debtors with an addiction to spending. There is an enslavement irony in accumulating things we don’t need with money we don’t have. The solution? Creating, contributing, saving, building  and loving offers infinite potentials over consuming things on a borrowed dime.

It’s been suggested by many smart, patriotic and well-grounded people that America is at a crossroads. 

May one differ? We barreled through the intersection of good and evil long ago.

What’s happening now – and I credit Trump, his champions, and those who voted for him – is a reversal of course that will hopefully take us back to the crossroad and the potentials of redemption.

The Epstein case has become an unfortunate pause in this broader cultural U-turn.

After all this time and all these promises, for Trump and members of his cabinet to suddenly claim there is no client list or smoking gun is the height of insincerity.

To the extent that Trump has taken Epstein positions on all sides – from “There’s nothing to see here” to “I will make sure that list is released immediately” – it’s hard to understand where he stands and why.

Is he on the list? Is he protecting people on the list? Or is he, as he suggests, just tired of the distraction?

It doesn’t matter.

Trump and his administration need to leave no doors unopened, facts concealed, lists burned or confusions unaddressed.

Why? Well, it’s not because most Americans enjoy sex-laced soap operas. 

We need those things because the average normal, responsible, mainstream American has lost faith in our systems of governance, criminal justice, healthcare, finance, academics and most everything else.

That faith has not been eroded by our indifference. It has been drowned in tons of after-the-crossroads deceptions, cover-ups, and mushy-mouthed nonsense by those who lead the institutions mentioned above.

Why is that important?