Various sources are reporting that the corrupt, lying Trump administration released a faked photo allegedly from the Epstein files. MAGA's intent is to smear Democrats with a fake photo. The reporting says that the photo was taken years ago at a Democratic Party fundraiser. The photo shows Bill Clinton, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross and the redacted images of two children. The redactions were allegedly "to protect their identity" the children's identities as victims of Epstein sex trafficking. The reporting says that it's a lie. The reporting claims that children were Diana Ross' kids and they were at a Democratic Party fundraiser, not sex trafficked minors in some hellhole sex den.
Here's the reason for fury. I was unable to find the original photo online, so I have no way to verify that MAGA scumbags working for Trump lied about the origin of the photo. It is perfectly believable that Trump and his morally rotted scumbags would try such a dirty trick. But given decades of constant disinformation that MAGA and its predecessors have poisoned American society with, I want to see the original, unredacted photo for myself as proof that MAGA scumbags tried to lie to us by smearing Clinton and Democrats.
One can rationally be furious at years of MAGA's shameless, morally rotted lying and slandering. That created the conditions for deep distrust. Also, years of failure by the mainstream media's poor quality reporting is just enough to tip too many people into distrust of most or nearly all of what the MSM reports.
Absent the proof of seeing the original photo, one is left to form an opinion without that evidence. The track record of constant, shameless mendacity of Trump and his MAGA scumbags is crystal clear. Yes, they lie to us all the time. So despite too many inexcusable MSM failures, one can still reasonably believe the MSM's reporting that Trump is yet again again insulting us by lying to us with his faked photo.
But, take that belief with a grain of salt.
Irrational cynicism or rational skepticism?
With a "no conclusion without primary evidence" mindset, it's a matter of of intellectual humility and "evidence‑first" thinking. Some experts now argue is necessary to resist demagoguery and motivated reasoning from any side. One can argue that fury at this situation is appropriate.
The erosion of public trust is not just random cultural drift. The state of moral rot in American politics is the result of years of bad choices by parties, media corporations, and demagogic actors who accumulate wealth and power from a public wandering in a permanent epistemic fog. As Steve Banon eloquently puts it, the demagogues' mind fogging tactic is called
flooding the zone with shit.
That society-bamboozling tactic dates back at least to the 1800s with the rise of mass media sources.
Recent research on demagogues and social media reveals that demagogues weaponize platforms by constantly generating controversies, lies, and outrages so that fact‑checking cannot keep up and citizens lose any stable sense of what is real.
The demagogue's goal
From a pro-democracy point of view, refusing to draw strong conclusions without seeing the original evidence is not irrational cynicism. It is rational, protective skepticism in a deliberately poisoned society.
Whose fault is all of this? My estimate:
Years of demagoguery by anti-democracy special interests (Fox News, etc.), MAGA and MAGA predecessors: ~45%
Years of MSM reporting failure: ~20%
Unwarranted public ignorance and false beliefs: ~35%
Obviously, opinions will differ.
