Andrew Windsor and Me

Andrew Mountbatten Windsor was arrested this morning. More will be revealed.

What strikes me is not only the arrest, but the contrast. In parts of Europe, names connected to Epstein have faced consequences that actually land. Titles stripped. Roles removed. Invitations rescinded. Public disgrace that alters trajectory.

In the United States, the reaction feels different. Softer. Shorter. Easier to outlast.

What does that say about us as citizens? Why do we continue to give over our power to people who have already shown us that doing so is not the smartest move on our part?

Earlier this week I wrote about the ripple effect around Epstein’s circle. Deepak Chopra comes to mind today. Thousands of emails to his BFF Epstein. Comments about women that should make every woman who bought a ticket to his current tour pause and demand a refund. Why don’t we? Why does the tour go on as if nothing happened?

These icons seem to lose weight everywhere but here. Why do we keep putting men on pedestals that have already cracked? Why does the pedestal collapse and yet the audience remains seated?

We cannot pretend this is limited to royalty or former presidents. We have to look at Oprah. Dr. Phil. Dr. Oz. We watched The Wizard of Oz as children and learned that the great and powerful wizard was a fraud behind a curtain. Yet as adults we seem to forget the lesson. Deepak Chopra was elevated by Oprah. Dr. Phil and Dr. Oz were, too.

Is Oprah reevaluating her ability to measure people like I am?

I have spent a good amount of time looking hard at my own patterns. Who I elevate. Who I excuse. Who I give the benefit of the doubt to simply because they are polished, articulate, successful, charismatic. I see now how easily I have confused access with integrity. Visibility with virtue. Confidence with character.

That is not comfortable to admit.

But this moment is not only about them. It is about us. It is about the quiet ways we participate in building pedestals. The books we buy. The tours we attend. The clips we share. The way we say yes, but he’s brilliant, as if brilliance erases behavior.

Andrew. Pathetic.

Charles issued the correct statement, but the reason it needed to be issued should be examined. They knew who he was. These are systems of protection. Charles is not a bystander in that system. He is part of it. I believe it is a dealbreaker. He knew exactly who his brother was, and he protected him, and in a way he still does. When family loyalty supersedes moral clarity, it stops being loyalty and starts being enabling. In my view, he should step down.

His mother protected Andrew for years. Charles reportedly contributed millions toward a settlement connected to the woman who later took her own life. These are not random oversights. These are choices. These are enablers. They are accountable in a court of law? Why not in the court of public opinion?

And the smaller absurdities matter too. The stories about stuffed animals that had to be arranged just so. The culture of deference. The insulation from consequence. Why is there a royal family at all?

Why is Bill Clinton not staying home?

Why is Deepak Chopra’s tour not canceled?

Why is Leon Botstein still president of Bard College?

Why do we shrug?

We have to ensure accountability, even if it is uncomfortable. We have to look at our own ability to read a room. To judge character. To decide who we hold in esteem.

I am reevaluating who I hold in esteem. Not based on fame. Not based on proximity to power. Not based on who anointed them. But based on consistency. On how they treat people without cameras. On whether their private conduct matches their public posture.

Is American society so damaged, so compromised, so addicted to celebrity that we cannot course correct? I still hope not.

For more than a year I have said we are standing on scorched earth. What we rebuild will determine whether this was simply decay or a necessary clearing. Other countries have drawn firmer lines when trust is broken.

The only way that happens here is if we demand it. Not by sharing torrid details. Not by indulging the spectacle. But by standing tall and saying clearly, they do not get to sit in positions of influence anymore.

It means making an effort every day. It means being willing to say I was wrong. It means changing our patterns.

The culture we live in is not shaped only by the powerful. It is shaped by what we reward.

And we have more power over that than we admit.