US House speaker shuts down chamber to block Epstein vote
31southernplaces7157/23/2025, 12:56:51 AM bbc.com ↗
Comments (15)
k310 · 17h ago
In case you forgot: The Streisand Effect. [0]
> The Streisand effect is an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information.
> The term was coined in 2005 by Mike Masnick after Barbra Streisand attempted to suppress the publication of a photograph showing her clifftop residence in Malibu, taken to document coastal erosion in California, inadvertently drawing far greater attention to the previously obscure photograph.
Hey, Mikey. Your congresspeople will have to go home and answer some pretty hot questions asked by constituents. Said legislators might not be so happy with your decision. As always, be careful what you wish for; you might get it.
And this gets flagged, despite being no less relevant here than any number of other non-tech posts that go live frequently with zero issues. It's curious how on a site where the general trend of opinion is against the current administration, posts critical of its policies and activities often still get flagged in no time.
red-iron-pine · 3h ago
people finding out real quick who really calls the shots in this government.
they just voted for 400 billion for ICE -- more than the FBI, more than the Russian military.
the police state is coming, and now they just shut down the government. Trump will be their fall guy and go down in history as the shadiest guy ever, and by the time he finally gets removed ICE will be ready to start arresting any real opposition.
duxup · 17h ago
Congress and the courts should be the counterbalance to the Executive branch.
But congress is controlled by the GOP and seems downright afraid of Trump, and the majority of SCOTUS has decided the executive branch is both immune from the law, and not limited by the law in much of any way, including laws established by congress.
If anything the saving grace here should be congress asking questions in a situation like this, but instead the majority there are just sycophants.
This is very bad for democracy. The executive branch should be challenged by the other two, and same goes for those other branches.
jschveibinz · 14h ago
The constitution guarantees a counterbalance.
Roughly 50% of the time the control of Congress is with the opposing party to the President--and the rest of the time Congress is with the President. So it's not unusual at all for Congress to pass a majority of legislation that is proposed by the executive branch.
But your last paragraph is troubling: democracy is not at risk in either case. Democracy is what puts the leaders in place. Voting still matters.
The only current problem with US democracy that I see is the lack of voter engagement. We only get 60+% of voters to turn out for elections.
duxup · 3h ago
I think the details I reference, such as the existing laws not being followed or respected, exceptions carved out for specific branches / people in the courts, are in fact a problem for democracy.
techpineapple · 17h ago
I’m trying to think of a response to this that’s hacker news-worthy,
But it’s kind of astounding, if there goal is to get a group of conspiracy theorists off their scent, it seems like they’ve perhaps handled this in the worst possible way? Could this look any worse?
What would you do differently if you were trying to appear more suspicious?
anigbrowl · 17h ago
I think their bet is that in the nearly 6 week recess, the Epstein story will die on its own and when Congress reconvenes there'll be a lot of talk about 'moving on' if they're asked about it at all.
I don't know if this will work though. People who are motivated about this have been patient for years, and after the administration threw them a bone in February they remained patient for months. Now they smell blood in the water.
rolph · 17h ago
say things like "those events never happened."
PaulHoule · 17h ago
Oh, don't worry, odds are something happens to Ghislaine Maxwell and then we'll never hear the end of it
She might be cutting a deal with the most corrupt government since the De’ Medici’s.
PaulHoule · 17h ago
She might. And it could still go terribly wrong.
Cheyana · 17h ago
I believe she’s going to come down with a sudden case of Epstein-Barr Syndrome.
southernplaces7 · 13h ago
>What would you do differently if you were trying to appear more suspicious?
From what I've seen so far, very little. They couldn't do better to promote even the most radical conspiracy theorists as seeming legitimate even if they tried.
red-iron-pine · 3h ago
it's a distraction from the Big Beautiful Bill, which annihilated social services and allocated 400 billion to ICE.
people ought to be rioting in the streets but everyone is watching trump burn down. by the time Trump gets hit with the 25th and removed ICE will be poised to arrest anyone who blinks out of turn.
the final stage of human intelligence asset management is to either evacuate, or burn, the asset. Trump has achieved his primary use case -- the BBB -- and had the chance to manipulate the market enough to make his heir rich. now he's gotta go.
> The Streisand effect is an unintended consequence of attempts to hide, remove, or censor information, where the effort instead increases public awareness of the information.
> The term was coined in 2005 by Mike Masnick after Barbra Streisand attempted to suppress the publication of a photograph showing her clifftop residence in Malibu, taken to document coastal erosion in California, inadvertently drawing far greater attention to the previously obscure photograph.
Hey, Mikey. Your congresspeople will have to go home and answer some pretty hot questions asked by constituents. Said legislators might not be so happy with your decision. As always, be careful what you wish for; you might get it.
In the end.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect
they just voted for 400 billion for ICE -- more than the FBI, more than the Russian military.
the police state is coming, and now they just shut down the government. Trump will be their fall guy and go down in history as the shadiest guy ever, and by the time he finally gets removed ICE will be ready to start arresting any real opposition.
But congress is controlled by the GOP and seems downright afraid of Trump, and the majority of SCOTUS has decided the executive branch is both immune from the law, and not limited by the law in much of any way, including laws established by congress.
If anything the saving grace here should be congress asking questions in a situation like this, but instead the majority there are just sycophants.
This is very bad for democracy. The executive branch should be challenged by the other two, and same goes for those other branches.
Roughly 50% of the time the control of Congress is with the opposing party to the President--and the rest of the time Congress is with the President. So it's not unusual at all for Congress to pass a majority of legislation that is proposed by the executive branch.
But your last paragraph is troubling: democracy is not at risk in either case. Democracy is what puts the leaders in place. Voting still matters.
The only current problem with US democracy that I see is the lack of voter engagement. We only get 60+% of voters to turn out for elections.
But it’s kind of astounding, if there goal is to get a group of conspiracy theorists off their scent, it seems like they’ve perhaps handled this in the worst possible way? Could this look any worse?
What would you do differently if you were trying to appear more suspicious?
I don't know if this will work though. People who are motivated about this have been patient for years, and after the administration threw them a bone in February they remained patient for months. Now they smell blood in the water.
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/just-like-epste...
From what I've seen so far, very little. They couldn't do better to promote even the most radical conspiracy theorists as seeming legitimate even if they tried.
people ought to be rioting in the streets but everyone is watching trump burn down. by the time Trump gets hit with the 25th and removed ICE will be poised to arrest anyone who blinks out of turn.
the final stage of human intelligence asset management is to either evacuate, or burn, the asset. Trump has achieved his primary use case -- the BBB -- and had the chance to manipulate the market enough to make his heir rich. now he's gotta go.