Staff Reports
Bill Maher’s recent on‑air take‑down of Hollywood’s sanctimony and the Epstein network should be a wake‑up call to every American who still thinks elites are beyond reproach. On his show and in conversations with guests, Maher ripped into the culture of celebrity entitlement and questioned the comfortable silence that let a man like Jeffrey Epstein prey on victims while rubbing elbows with the powerful. Conservatives should welcome anyone who pierces the comfortable narratives of the coastal elite; Maher’s disgust at the cronyism and coverups is the kind of common‑sense outrage the mainstream media so often refuses to show.
The fallout from the Justice Department’s release of Epstein‑related records has torn the mask off many self‑righteous institutions, and Maher didn’t hesitate to name names and call the parade of explanations for what happened “not good enough.” Hollywood’s moralizing has for years been a weapon used to shame working Americans while protecting insiders — now those insiders are being exposed as part of the same rotten club. It’s long past time for the right to stop being gaslit about culture: the elites lecture us on virtue while their feeding tables look more like crime scenes.
None of this drama would be complete without Bill Gates finding himself dragged into the mess; the newly public documents prompted Gates to say he “regrets” knowing Epstein, while his ex‑wife said there remain “questions to answer.” Billionaires don’t get the benefit of the doubt simply because they fund charities and expensive PR campaigns — and when emails and records surface that suggest more than idle acquaintance, the American people deserve answers, not evasions. Conservatives should demand transparency: regret is not accountability, and apologies that come only after public pressure are thin comfort to victims.
It’s telling that establishment media outlets and wealthy institutions pushed to protect reputations for so long; when corruption hits a certain class, the system reflexively leans toward coverup, not consequence. That’s why Republicans on oversight committees and principled journalists must keep up the pressure instead of letting this become another forgotten scandal wrapped in platitudes. If House members like Rep. Nancy Mace are right to push subpoenas and inquiries, then they should pursue them vigorously — the rule of law must apply to plutocrats as surely as it does to everybody else.
Some on the left will scold conservatives for cheering Maher or for scrutinizing Gates, but principled conservatism has always been about equal justice, private virtue, and public accountability. We should be furious that powerful men and institutions operated in secret while lecturing the rest of the country about our supposed moral failures; we should be relentless in demanding a full accounting of any ties to Epstein’s operation. The right must turn righteous indignation into action: investigations, subpoenas, and structural reforms to ensure predators can no longer hide behind wealth and influence.
This moment is about more than gossip about dinner guests or uncomfortable emails — it is a story about power, who wields it, and how they are allowed to behave when the cameras look away. Bill Maher’s unusual willingness to call out his own side gives conservatives a rare ally in exposing the hypocrisies of the ruling class; don’t let that ally be the last voice to speak. Stand with the victims, demand evidence, and refuse to let another elite scandal be swept under the rug while the rest of America pays the price.
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