***. “In 2016, Trump with his outsized ego, his anti-immigrant and anti-trade positions, coupled with barely disguised racism and deep-seated sexism and a willingness to lie whenever it suited him, was a near-perfect fit.: [Bob Beckel]

This post presents excerpts from “The Real Epstein Cover-Up”. [ Rachel Louise Snyder; New York Times; 11/23/25] and “The Victims Who fought Back”. [Pamela Collofff; New York Times Magazine; 3/1/26]:

A]. “The Real Epstein Cover-Up”
6] “The misogyny that is such a casual part of Mr. Trump’s entire modus operandi gives license to systems that prioritize men’s freedoms over women’s lives.”

13] “..we are entitled to demand a life free from the violence of men. We are entitled to demand more from our leaders, to demand an open investigation into the Epstein files, to demand accountability for the perpetrators regardless of political party or cultural cachet, to demand justice for children and women trafficked by Mr. Epstein, and perhaps more than anything, to demand real change in which a broken system is compelled to reinvention.”***

*** “When societies go backwards and slide into authoritarianism, nationalism, and tribalism, machismo and sexism are also emboldened.” [ Elif Safak ]

1] “But the ..[Epstein]..emails are just a piece of the larger story: the lengths this country and the systems we’ve created – from the smallest jurisdiction to the national stage – will go to maintain the power of men at the expense of women’s bodies.”

2] “..#MeToo movement, when it seemed possible to reform the male-dominated systems that kept women down. The movement led to a handful of convicted men, but also fed a colossal backlash that reminds us how our country has never adequately protected women…contributed to the second election of Mr. Trump, who has overseen an era that might be unique in its willingness to sacrifice democratic institutions and American norms to control women.”

3] “…there is a White House proposal that aims to lower the Office on Violence Against Women’s stature within the D.O.J. and cut its shoestring budget by nearly 30 percent. This would devastate shelters, advocacy programs and violence prevention measures, and escalate the danger for victims of intimate partner and familial violence in all corners of the country.”

***. “The basic premise of math is about efficiency. And when you’ve got racism, sexism, and bigotry, that’s just standing in the way of efficiency in our own progress.” [ Glen Powell ]

4]. ‘..a report on violent deaths of girls and women from 2014 to 2020 noted that laws constraining abortion providers were associated with a 3.4 percent rise in the rate of homicides related to intimate partner violence. We are being killed for our own lack of choice.”

5]. “An estimated one in 20 women in the United States gets pregnant from rape or sexual coercion…a whopping six million women with violence-initiated pregnancies.”

7] “One night in 2012..Latina Ray, and her boyfriend, Lawrence McQueen, got into a fight. She told me that he had hit her many times…On this night, ms. Ray said, mr. McQueen used the handle on a gun to assault her…he beat her so badly that he broke a bone in her face, blinding her in one eye. They wrestled over the gun and she managed to get hold of it and shoot, killing him…Our defense laws say that if you are about to be killed or suffer grievous bodily harm, you are entitled to defend yourself. not Latina Ray. She was entitled to take her beating and be quiet about it.”

***. “The misogyny that is in every culture is not a true part of the human condition. it is life out of balance and that imbalance is sucking something out of the soul of every man and every woman who confront it.” [Jess Whedon]

8] “The same violence perpetrated on these real-life women is increasingly replicated across online platforms. Sora 2, the generative video tool released by OpenAI, is helping creators on TikTok and X create fake choking videos featuring teenage girls in which they are depicted as struggling, crying and falling.”

***. “I believe sexism in tech is a real problem.” [ Sam Altman ]

9] “Victims in deep fake technology are overwhelmingly women, and a 2019 study found that a shocking 96 percent of deepfake videos were were pornographic and nonconsensual.”

10] “Given that men dominate in technology companies, and as policymakers, judges, police officers and even players on gaming platforms, perhaps we ought to expect this, we women. Perhaps we ought to take out lumps and be quiet about it. Is this what we get for wanting a life beyond diapers and dinner?”

***. “Whether it’s repro rights, violence against women, or just plain old vanilla sexism, most issues affecting women have one thing in common. – they exist to keep women ‘in their place, to make sure that we’re acting ‘appropriately,’ whatever that means.” [ Jessica Valenti ]

11]. “..Helen Andrews, a recent guest on Ross Douthat’s “Interesting Times” podcast, wrote an essay in Compact magazine that claimed feminization of workplaces led to the rise of cancel culture and wokeness. That development, she said, signaled the downfall of many institutions, including our system of law….She writes this knowing, i assume, that the United states still has no federal law against marital rape, so if women are somehow running our legal system with all our messy emotion, we’ve been pretty slow to act.”

12] “Ms. Andrews ignored an inconvenient fact: Women may be attending law school in higher numbers, but their careers often stall in their 30s and early 40s, their childbearing years.”

***. “When a man gives his opinion, he’s a man. When a woman gives her opinion, she’s a bitch.” [ Bette Davis ]

B]. “The Victims Who fought Back…An Oklahoma law was supposed to help free women convicted of killing their abusers. Why are nearly all of them still in prison?” [ Pamela Colloff; New York Times Magazine; 3/1/26 ]

1]. THis article is full of stories like this: “..Moss described a pattern of abuse that began six months after their wedding, when her husband grabbed her by the throat and threw her against the fireplace…How she was knocked unconscious…How he repeatedly punched her in the stomach when she was pregnant…How he raped her multiple times, once with a curling iron…”I bled every day for five years until i finally had a hysterectomy.”

2]. THis article is. full of stories about brutalized women NOT being set free despite the law.

3] One explanation: “I grew up in the deep South, where sexism, racism, and homophobia were and still are alive and well.” [ Pauley Perrette ]

4] Another explanation – read the rticle, see if YOU. can see certain predispositions among the local prosecutors. – they just can’t accept the law.

***. “As women gain rights, families flourish and so do societies. That connection is built on a simple truth: wherever you include a group that’s been excluded, you benefit everyone. And when you’re working globally to include women and girls, who are half the population, you’re working to benefit all members of every community. Gender equality lifts everyone, women’s rights and society’s health and wealth rise together.” [ Melinda Gates ]