By James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
Old school parents always reminded us to be careful about “the company we keep”. Further they said you will be judged by the companions around you.
Well like most kids, we listened to our parents and followed their advice. Their discernment was always right on and timely.
Looking back, that was one of the HT (home training) rules. It has served me well over the years. If you are in the fourth quarter of your life, you are probably thankful for that sage piece of wisdom.
Thankfully, most of us were in the right place at the right time. However, let’s just admit the truth and say we had friends no longer with us because they made bad decisions about the company they kept.
Many years ago, there was a record entitled, “the in crowd” sung by Dobie Gray. Some of the lyrics were, “I’m in with the in crowd and I know what the in crowd knows. We get respect from the people we meet. They make way day or night. They know the in crowd is out of sight.” He performed that tune in 1969.
This is 2025 and there is some relevance to that song today. Listen to the entire record and you will see what I mean.
There appears to be a situation in Washington DC, and it doesn’t seem to be going away. Smokescreens and diversions abound, but the Jeffrey Epstein files just won’t go away. They are the talk of the town and the world for that matter.
The new Commander-in-Chief went abroad to play golf recently and still had to answer questions about his relationship with Mr. Epstein. His answers were misleading according to reports.
The Epstein files were an irritant even before he assumed the top office. Now they are a problem.
His supporters, those you know about and those that don’t want to be identified, are frustrated. They point to his wavering and non-sensical responses to questions.
As we know, Jeffrey Epstein ended his life in jail so he can’t speak for himself. Those who are sleuths are probably wondering what would he be saying right about now? There are lots of people who are glad that he is not around to tell his side of the saga. You can only speculate that he would spill the entire pot of beans.
But hold on, his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell is present and accounted for albeit in jail. Just last week, she was moved from a Florida federal prison to another facility in Texas.
A Bureau of Prisons official said, “We can confirm Ghislaine Maxwell is in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons at the Federal Prison Camp Bryan in Bryan, Texas.” Reports say that this is a minimum-security camp exclusively for women.
We know that she met with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche to discuss a list of names allegedly in the Epstein files. At this moment, this is all that we know.
Ghislaine Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for child sex trafficking. She has made public that she will talk more if certain conditions are met. I suspect she wants a get out of jail free card for her testimony. She is not going to get it. This is my opinion.
In the meantime, the Republican Party is being tortured and tormented by this sordid affair. They don’t know what to do or what to say. For now, it’s just word salad without the dressing. House Democratic Leader, Hakeem Jeffries said, “Release the files so that the American people can make a decision on their own. This has nothing to do with a Democratic-led conspiracy theory. And the facts and the chronology make that clear.” The in crowd is now a lost crowd and they don’t want to be identified.
Dr. James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D. is a longtime educator who hails from Winston Salem, N.C. Ewers is a life member of the NAACP and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
