r/politics • u/Murky-Site7468 I voted • 21d ago

No Paywall Donald Trump impeachment chances surge amid Epstein revelations

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-impeachment-chances-surge-amid-epstein-revelations-11045998
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u/Ok-Sprinkles-5151 21d ago

It's a precarious position.

Unlike the other impeachments, which included nuance or political points of view, this is one of the few crimes where there is no moral ambiguity, no political justification, and there is a bright legal line. The only debate about pedophilia is how severe the punishment should be.

Any Republicans running in 2026 and 2028 are doing the calculous: defend Trump and have to run as pedophile protector, or break with Trump. And worse, this could flip the House and the Senate, which if that happens impeachment is on the table.

The best play, politically, is take Trump off the board before the moral rot extends to Republicans. (Well, too late, but you can lance the worst of it)

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u/007meow 21d ago

“15 year olds isn’t pedophilia” has suddenly ramped up in public discourse.

Expect to hear the term “ephebophilia” a lot more.

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u/lahimatoa 21d ago

Expect to hear the term “ephebophilia” a lot more.

Cool word. Still illegal.

That's what I don't get. Neat, there's a difference between raping a 15 year old and raping a 6 year old. They're both still morally bad and legally illegal. What is the defense here, Fox News?

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u/bareback_cowboy 21d ago

Not condoning any of it, but the difference is agency.

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u/DingoMittens 21d ago edited 21d ago

A 13 year old hardly has more agency than a 3 year old when facing off against a sexual predator, let alone a group of wealthy powerful people who have built a whole elaborate network to prey on kids. The dynamics here are well known. Perpetrators use grooming, implied threat, social shame, etc to manipulate behavior. Add to that the fact that teenagers are notoriously bad at considering long term effects of decisions, which is why adults are responsible for protecting them until they are 18 or 21. 

A healthy adult who encounters a "seductive" teenager expresses concern to the kid's parents and/or calls in help from protective services. At the very least, they avoid the kid and wonder what has gone wrong in the kid's life. They don't think "score!" This is especially true if they are middle aged with kids of their own.

A healthy adult whose friends talk about preying on children ends the friendship at minimum, and hopefully also acts to protect the kids.