Skip to main content

The World In Which We Live: Praetorian Edition


Serial child rapist and all around weird guy has died while in custody. Alleged cause of death is suicide by hanging, but needless to say, not everyone is buying it. And by "not everyone," I mean a great many people, some famous and well-respected in their fields, who preface their opinions with "I'm not a conspiracy theorist but...". Go to Twitter in you need further evidence.

The question of how did a man on suicide watch (with one failed attempt under his belt) successfully commit suicide in one of the most secure holding units in America?

As has happened so many times throughout history, the parties responsible for protecting were off duty or stood down. I call this the Praetorian Pattern.

The Praetorian Guard was a unit responsible for guarding the Roman emperor. Formed by Augustus to act as personal protection, the unit lasted for three centuries, during which time it developed a pattern of intrigue and interference with Roman politics, capable of undermining or advancing the emperor's plans. Knowing this, I define the Praetorian Pattern as any event in which a functionary of the security apparatus intentionally fails at his task, individually or by order, resulting in the downfall of the guarded.

A few examples of Praetorian Pattern in action included:


These are just a few examples in which the guardians were absent or turning a blind eye at a crucial moment. There are many more examples and this writer would advise a cursory glance through distant or recent history for more (Pablo Escobar? Jesus Christ? Think big and small, good and bad guys).

Ok, you say, but what does this have to do with Epstein? Good question, and herein lies the pattern:

  • Epstein was held at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. Administered by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the MCC is a highly secure facility, and Epstein was in a secure holding unit, denied bail due to flight risk. This is the same facility that held El Chapo. Isolated, Epstein wasn't going anywhere.
  • In late July, he attempted suicide or was assaulted by another inmate. Most agree it was a suicide attempt and he was placed on suicide watch after returning to his cell.
And then things get murky:

None of this is to lay blame or charges of murder; there were numerous theories floating around within hours of the announcement of his death. The points above, however, are my attempt to point out a pattern of behavior that seems to repeat again and again. 

Maybe Philip K Dick was right and the empire never ended. Perhaps we have neo-Praetorians exerting their personal influence on the empire. But fear not, I'm sure the son of the man who gave a young Epstein a job teaching at an elite Manhattan school despite of his lack of degree, credentials, or experience will get to the bottom of this.  
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In Memorium: Shaun Mullen, A Most Generous Man

Author, editor, blogger, and so much more Shaun Mullen has passed. Noting his blog  Kiko's House  hadn't been updated in a while, I did a search and discovered his  obituary . My friendship with Shaun goes back to 2006. While living in Australia, I'd discovered his blog when searching for informed commentary on US foreign policy in the Middle East. Sadly, much of that policy remains unchanged 14 years later, but that is for another post. Shaun  had noticed that his blog wasn't rendering correctly in Internet Explorer and asked if anyone could suggest a fix. I, being a bit of a tech head at the time, suggested Firefox or similar browser, and the problem was solved. We kept in and out of touch, finding common ground in music (I mentioned my love for the Grateful Dead and Shaun sent a dozen CDs of concert recordings. By International mail. The man was generous to a fault.), worldview, and more. My old site got its greatest number of hits when Shaun linked to a few of m
Post a Comment
Read more

The World In Which We Live: Safety Is An Option Edition

In a world in which Fight Club , The X Files , and the complete works of Phillip K Dick have collided into one twisted reality we call normal (with a dash of Black Mirror and The Big Short for flavor), we now learn that software upgrades that could have prevented the crashes of two Boeing 737 Max passenger jets were available... at a price . "Want your passengers to live to fly another day? Sure, but it'll cost you." And I'm unsure who is more evil, the manufacturer for making safety features ON A FLYING MACHINE optional at additional cost or the airlines for declining to install the features. This is a stunning failure of human decency in the eyes of this writer. Perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised. This is business as usual in our extortionary economy. In the US, medical bills are the leading cause of bankruptcy , a real-world manifestation of the "your money or your life" ethos of the street thug in literature and film. The hand wringing over w
Post a Comment
Read more

It's Been A Bad, Bad Week

I lost my Dad this week. At 82 years of age, he'd lived a long life pretty much on his own terms. Congestive Heart Failure kept him in and out of hospitals for the last six months, and in ICU for two weeks. It was in ICU where he realized the end was near. We had our most meaningful conversations there, in spite of his growing weakness. Lots of "Remember when" stories, a few "What if" stories, and sadly, very few words of final wishes. Fortunately, he'd mostly settled that with my stepmother. I and a few other family members were present at the moment of his passing. There is no greater closure than to be holding the hand of a loved one as the end comes, and I'm forever grateful to have been there when the end came for Dad. A few hectic days followed, mostly involving legal documents and such. Tonight, my wife, son, and I went to see a ballet and returned to find our cat of 17 years dead on his blanket. I'm one of those "pets are family to
Post a Comment
Read more