“There was no integrity in that room today, it seems like, when it came to Epstein and Maxwell,” Teresa Helm said after Wednesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing.
Six survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse and two members of another accuser’s family said they felt “degraded” during Wednesday’s contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing, at which Attorney General Pam Bondi refused to face them and apologize.
Several Epstein survivors and relatives were on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers grilled Bondi for over five hours about several matters, including the Justice Department’s handling of the Epstein case. She was specifically questioned about why released files were heavily redacted and why several survivors’ names were not.
“There was such a lack of empathy today. There was such a lack of, honestly, humanity today,” Dani Bensky said on NBC’s “Hallie Jackson NOW.”
20% of people outright lacking empathy is a lot. With such a large percentage, how can you be sure you aren’t one of them?
Yesterday I helped to clarify why AIPAC fucked up in the NJ special election. When my response was followed with the joke “Ah, thank you for not explaining that while literally walking out the d”, it started collecting downvotes. The “not explaining” seemed to stand out as negative, and I admit I was a little confused myself. However, instead of throwing shade or downvoting it myself, I just asked a simple question about what they meant. The response: “(I was walking out the door, like the author while writing the article)” put everything to rest. It was a joke about how the author of the posted article trailed off without coming to a clear conclusion.
Yet even after this clarification was posted, you jumped in with the worst negative assumption about the interaction. You weren’t seeking clarity or offering anyone support, you were looking to attack. Even after being respectfully asked to re-read the conversation, you double and tripled-down on this incorrect negative assumption. I feel that this attitude is evident here, as you challenge your “detractors” and charge that they are the ones lacking empathy. Don’t forget that every accusation is a confession.
Ultimately, I don’t agree with your 20% statistic. Mostly this is because I don’t believe in binary assignments, such as having or lacking empathy. We are all capable of making positive assumptions about each other’s intentions. Some of us just choose not to in certain circumstances, but there is always room for change.