The House must impeach. The Senate must convict.

This photo, taken in 1997 at Mar-a-Lago, shows that Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein had past relationships. Creative Commons license

The Jeffrey Epstein scandal has become The Zombie That Would Not Die for President Vibrio vullnificus, and if you’re not familiar with Vibrio vullnificus I’ll save you the trouble of looking it up. Vibrio vullnificus is a flesh-eating bacteria, a name well suited for the current Kleptocrat in Chief.

Wired Magazine is reporting the Department of Justice posted to its website what it purported to be raw, unedited video footage taken from a camera near Jeffrey Epstein’s cell the night before he allegedly took his own life.

When Wired and independent forensic analysts looked at the video metadata they determined that (a) it apparently had been edited by an application similar to Adobe Premiere, (b) that it appeared to be derived from multiple sources, and (c) it had been saved numerous times.

Wired is not saying the footage was falsified in any way and they’re not saying anything was deleted. What they are saying is it’s not the raw, unedited video footage the Department of Justice purported it to be.

Meanwhile, MAGA faithful continue to lose their minds over the Epstein case. Numerous conservative commentators have called for the resignations of that bleached blonde ambulance chaser Pam Bondi, and Kash Patel, who has transformed the FBI into the Federal Bureau of Idiocy. At a Fifa soccer event over the weekend President Vibrio vullnificus was roundly and raucously booed by the crowd.

I find it odd MAGA would choose the Epstein case as its bridge too far. Most of us would agree the sexual trafficking of children is a horrible crime, and we, the people, deserve to know if our government is infested with pedophiles.

But MAGA has either supported or remained silent about other horrible actions taken by this regime such as the brutal cuts to Medicaid enacted by the president’s “big, beautiful bill,” the construction of the “Alligator Alcatraz” concentration camp in the Everglades, America’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accords, the allowance of corporate pillaging of our national parks, handing over our government to incompetent fools, running the economy off a cliff, ICE trampling upon civil liberties, the tawdry lying, cheating and stealing endemic to this regime – the list is depressingly long.

Has MAGA suddenly developed a conscience, or is something else compelling their anger? Could it be they’re less interested in seeing justice for the victims of Epstein’s abusers and more interested in checking his list for the names of prominent Democrats, ones which would validate their hatreds and their conspiracy theories? My guess is the latter is closer to the truth.

Richard Nixon had the decency to resign, but President Vibrio vulnificus? Not a chance.

Somehow, some way, members of the House and Senate must straighten their backs, square their shoulders, take a deep breath and do what’s right for America. They must rid us of this infection, once and for all.

They must impeach.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .