It's treated like pantomime while lives are ruined innocent people die, institutions crumble and everyone ends up worse off other than the dickheads in positions of influence who are just playing along like it's all a big game. It's a big charade, just ongoing cowardly bullshit.

But if we reveal that reality it provides everyone involved with a massive problem and a fallout that will be far too complex, shameful and damning to deal with.

So best we don't talk about it for everyone's sake (apart from the victims, their families and the wider public interest obviously)

The Epstein files clearly have major players from all sides of the political and wider "elite" class - everyone knows it, it's just a case of the evidence being made public and people actually behaving like it matters.

We can't possibly get into this, because that would be tricky to deal with, especially given the contributory factors include senior political figures in the UK from various parties, who don't have the skill to face it and are just desperate to gain or stay in power.

But if we treat her like the disgusting racist she is, it reveals a greater and more difficult truth about why she feels able to speak in this way now

That disgusting Reform MP being blatantly racist during an interview, but the language dancing around it in the immediate aftermath, the linguistic gymnastics people were performing to explain it away.

We need to pretend it isn't, cos that would create a very difficult situation that we'd have to deal with if we face it as a reality, cos there's loads more of them all doing the same thing.

Wes Streeting is in charge of the NHS and takes a load of money in donations from private healthcare lobbyists, which we can all see is basic corruption and a major conflict of interest.

Opposition to the Israeli state committing genocide in plain sight of everyone is framed as anti-semitism, when it clearly isn't.

But if we talk about it in a grown-up way it creates a very tricky situation which we'd have to deal with if we publicly admit to what is real.

"Apologies from the BBC"

Again, it creates a difficult situation that Very Important People (and any remaining 'serious' people in the US) would have to deal with if we all admit this is all real. Imagine the problems it'd cause if we accept there's a dickhead toddler in charge.

This mad editing mistake by the BBC is framed as upholding standards or some shite

Everyone can see it's pandering to the whims of an unpredictable, power-crazed man-baby, and the rich US far-right movement coming for British institutions.

Was expecting another 8 posts in this thread before I realised it was a rating

Conor Bradley is the player Trent Alexander-Arnold wishes he was

Dunno, but he seemed really good at it, so probably!