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I'm not saying Gates was a "victim", but it seems silly to ignore the role blackmail played in Epstein's operations.
Someone can be a thoroughly shitty person and also a victim.
Multiple things can be true at once. He was a victim of blackmail because he was guilty of whatever the fuck was going on at pedo island.
I think a lot of people were pressured into participating at pedo Island because of existing blackmail, which generated more powerful blackmail. Using blackmail leverage to create more blackmail leverage is like blackmail 101.
Correct - but he should still be held accountable for things like fucking children even if he did so under the threat of some other embarrassing info going public.
Blackmail only works when the one being blackmailed digs their own grave with a pattern of failing to do what they should do every step of the way.
Oh I never said he shouldn't be held accountable. I'm just saying there was almost certainly a pipeline of small steps to being fully implicated. There were definitely people who got involved with Epstein because he was a power broker that had his fingers in a lot of pies, and by the time they were past the point of no return it was too late.
Not saying that's the case with Gates, but it's important to recognize that part.
It does seem here like he's openly admitting he had multiple affairs, isn't particularly trying to hide it
He is, and generally something like an affair demands only social and civil repercussions; that it happened on Epstein island tells me the affairs he had were with sex slaves (who are not allowed the right to consent, so "affairs" in this case is short for "people he raped") - who were likely children given what that island is known for. Admitting to it is not the same as being held accountable for it. Rape, especially child rape, demands criminal justice.
You're absolutely right, but I think some of us are worried about losing sight of how he managed to rule via blackmail: he blackmailed incredibly shitty people who did incredibly shitty things. Epstein was a monster of a human whose own proclivities will haunt most of our nightmares for the rest of our lives, but we shouldn't forget that he didn't coerce the people he blackmailed. Sure, he enabled and catered to them, but these people already had their own horrifying habits that they thought (probably correctly) they were rich or powerful enough to practice with impunity.
I know you already said that you're not calling Gates a victim. But also, focusing too hard on a (made up) quote like "Epstein blackmailed me into 90% of the crimes I committed," runs the risk of a large portion of the population forgetting that 10% of those crimes were catered by requesting using resources from other people Epstein blackmailed because they also wanted to do some shit that was so fucked up that only someone like Epstein could make it happen quickly, quietly, and conveniently.
Excellent comment.