WHY HAS TOLERATING VILE BEHAVIOR BECOME THE GOP NORM?

The DOJ is in talks to settle Trump’s $10B lawsuit against the IRS for damages after a contractor leaked tax info, including his, to the media. The NYT reports that one of the options for settling with Trump would be for the IRS to drop any audits of him, his family members, or his businesses. Or a big fat check. Or both. He continues to disprove the adage that cheaters never win. And speaking of the special treatment certain people enjoy that enables them to get around accountability…Epstein survivors testified before a panel made up of Dems on the House Oversight and Reform Committee. Where a new report called “The Price of Non-Prosecution” was introduced. It explained that the sweetheart deal negotiated with Epstein in FL to protect him from federal prosecution left him able to continue his sex-trafficking operation. And even expand it. One survivor detailed how Epstein sexually assaulted her over three years when he was supposed to be serving a jail sentence. She recounted how the DOJ under Pam Bondi continued that favoritism, exposing her name publicly while leaving the names of perpetrators’ names redacted. “I woke up one day with my name mentioned over 500 times. While the rich and powerful remain protected by redaction, my name was exposed to the world. Now reporters from across the globe contact me. I cannot live without looking over my shoulder. I can only imagine the long-term impact this ‘mistake’ will have on my life.” Where are Republicans, who are supposed to be moving heaven and earth to get justice for these women? More recent reporting makes it clear where they were, are, and always seemingly will be… Max Miller, a sitting Republican congressman with close ties to Donald Trump, has been accused by his ex-wife of horrific physical abuse—including allegedly grabbing her during a custody exchange in front of their two-year-old daughter and, in a separate incident, throwing boiling water at her chest. The woman accusing him is the daughter of GOP Senator Bernie Moreno—a sitting US senator from the same MAGA movement Max Miller belongs to. Miller is a former Trump aide. He’s deeply embedded in the MAGA world. He got married at Trump’s golf club with Donald Trump in attendance. Trump endorsed him. Elevated him. Helped build his career. And now, after years of allegations from multiple women, after reports of violent behavior, after photographs of bruises, after accusations that incidents happened in front of a child, the GOP still closes ranks around him because proximity to Trump acts like a shield against accountability. Even having a US senator as your father apparently still isn’t enough protection from this culture. So if the daughter of a Republican senator can allegedly be treated this way while the party circles the wagons around the accused, what message does that send to every other woman watching? When they won’t even protect one of their own? The instinct is still to defend a powerful man connected to Trump instead of demanding accountability. Even when some of these alleged incidents happened in front of a two-year-old little girl. This is not a one-off event in the MAGA universe. Voters need to stop excusing behavior they would never tolerate in their own homes. And stop excusing any political party that fears losing power more than they fear protecting abusers. When will enough ever be enough?