Epstein Files | Patel: Trust us

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Keep your eyes on the prize. Theo Von isn’t the problem, he's the symptom. The real answer isn’t scapegoating him, it’s confronting the broader media ecosystem and building a culture that meets people where they are, both digitally and materially.

Democrats need a strategy rooted in narrative and infrastructure not reactionary finger-pointing.

Bernie going on Theo Von’s podcast proves the point. He didn’t scold or moralize. He showed up, talked like a human being, and reached millions of people, many of whom have never felt spoken to by mainstream politics. And it worked. The clip of Bernie explaining class politics to Von’s audience went viral. People respected it. That’s a roadmap, not a fluke.

This is what liberals still refuse to understand. The way to counter right-wing influence in the Rogansphere isn’t to sneer at it, it’s to compete in it.

Instead, they blame the platform and the audience. They hand-wave away real alienation and insecurity among young working-class men as if it's just a pipeline to fascism, but it’s not. It’s a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum. If the left doesn’t fill it with solidarity, community, and material hope, the right will fill it with resentment and fantasy.
 
Paine said:
Keep your eyes on the prize. Theo Von isn’t the problem, he's the symptom. The real answer isn’t scapegoating him, it’s confronting the broader media ecosystem and building a culture that meets people where they are, both digitally and materially.

Democrats need a strategy rooted in narrative and infrastructure not reactionary finger-pointing.

Bernie going on Theo Von’s podcast proves the point. He didn’t scold or moralize. He showed up, talked like a human being, and reached millions of people, many of whom have never felt spoken to by mainstream politics. And it worked. The clip of Bernie explaining class politics to Von’s audience went viral. People respected it. That’s a roadmap, not a fluke.

This is what liberals still refuse to understand. The way to counter right-wing influence in the Rogansphere isn’t to sneer at it, it’s to compete in it.

Instead, they blame the platform and the audience. They hand-wave away real alienation and insecurity among young working-class men as if it's just a pipeline to fascism, but it’s not. It’s a vacuum, and nature abhors a vacuum. If the left doesn’t fill it with solidarity, community, and material hope, the right will fill it with resentment and fantasy.
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For me pointing to Rogan and Vonn isn’t blaming them personally it’s recognizing that America has devolved into a nation that values the opinions of carnival barkers.
 
Bigs23 said:
For me pointing to Rogan and Vonn isn’t blaming them personally it’s recognizing that America has devolved into a nation that values the opinions of carnival barkers.
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That’s a fair observation, but it’s also incomplete.

Yes, America has shifted toward valuing entertainers and “carnival barkers” as cultural authorities, but that didn’t happen in a vacuum. It’s the product of decades of political elites failing to connect with everyday people, ignoring economic struggles, and relying on technocratic messaging that doesn’t resonate.

This next part isn’t directed at you specifically.

It’s just weird how most liberals didn’t even know who Theo Von was five minutes ago, but now suddenly he’s the scapegoat for every political problem. It’s classic deflection: blame the messenger instead of confronting why their message never connected.
 
finesse said:
Mountebanks and charlatans are so much more inclusive.
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That’s a clever line but also misses the point.
The problem isn’t just who’s inclusive or who talks the loudest, it’s that the liberal media often fails to address real economic and social concerns. That’s why folks drift to Rogan, Von, or others who might be “mountebanks” but speak in a way that feels authentic or relatable.

It’s less about polish and more about connection and substance.
 
I dont know who Theo Von is and don't want to know. I've yet to see any podcast that I can stomach....even those I mostly agree with. Its all pandering one way or the other it seems to me.
 
wmheel1287 said:
I dont know who Theo Von is and don't want to know. I've yet to see any podcast that I can stomach....even those I mostly agree with. It’s all pandering one way or the other it seems to me.
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What media doesn’t pander? It seems a bit blinkered to ignore a massive and growing segment of the political information economy because you feel like they “pander.”
 
For my part, I'm highly uncomfortable in a world where perception seems so much more important than experience, training and statistics. It's not that perception isn't important but the data you get is so unreliable and easily swayed.
 
finesse said:
For my part, I'm highly uncomfortable in a world where perception seems so much more important than experience, training and statistics. It's not that perception isn't important but the data you get is so unreliable and easily swayed.
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I think the problem isn’t that perception has replaced expertise, it’s that people lost trust in the institutions claiming expertise.

People often turn to figures like Rogan or Von not because they reject truth but because they reject gatekeepers who too often used truth selectively.

That’s the real crisis: who gets to interpret experience and represent reality.

After years of elite failure, folks are looking for truth-tellers outside the club. That’s not ideal, but it’s understandable. Rebuilding trust means showing results not just citing credentials.
 
Paine said:
I think the problem isn’t that perception has replaced expertise, it’s that people lost trust in the institutions claiming expertise.

People often turn to figures like Rogan or Von not because they reject truth but because they reject gatekeepers who too often used truth selectively.

That’s the real crisis: who gets to interpret experience and represent reality.

After years of elite failure, folks are looking for truth-tellers outside the club. That’s not ideal, but it’s understandable. Rebuilding trust means showing results not just citing credentials.
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The problem is that they lost that trust, not because of outcomes, but because so many of these "truth- tellers" lied implicitly or explicitly about these outcomes. No small part of the problem is that many people have either have professional restraints about how they can respond to those misrepresentations or lack the platform to debate on a level playing field.
 
finesse said:
The problem is that they lost that trust, not because of outcomes, but because so many of these "truth- tellers" lied implicitly or explicitly about these outcomes. No small part of the problem is that many people have either have professional restraints about how they can respond to those misrepresentations or lack the platform to debate on a level playing field.
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That’s fair, but part of the issue is that the “experts” often earned their platforms through elite gatekeeping, not public trust.

When they misled or filtered reality through institutional bias, they forfeited credibility. The rise of podcasts and alt media didn’t happen in a vacuum: it was a direct response to legacy voices failing to meet the moment.

None of this is ideal, but it’s understandable. When institutions are caught lying or spinning key issues, people are going to lose faith in them even when they’re actually telling the truth later. That’s the cost of broken trust.
 
If Dems have any sense (which probably not) they would have Dem adjacent social media hammering this relentlessly. The Epstein Files is where Trump has a real frailty with MAGA and Q — don’t allege anything. But demand, day after day, the truth. This is a very rare opportunity to undercut the MAGA/Q/MAHA support of Trump. Not top down — not via political leaders. Bottom up.

FFS. See the opportunity, let the MAGA and Q sharks do the work but feed them chum daily until they cannot do otherwise.
 
A lot of older liberals seem to want the 1950s back: a time when (white) Americans could trust that the government and its institutional allies had their best interests at heart. The experts were in charge, and that was enough.

I want to trust institutions too. It would make my life a lot easier. But they’ve shown us over and over that they don’t have our backs. Trust has to be earned, not inherited.
 
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