A ghost story falls in the category of fantasy. And former ABC reporter Tara Palmeri's Halloween-in-February hot take in Vanity Fair on Thursday, "Epstein’s Ghost Is Calling All the Shots in Trump’s White House," certainly falls within the realm of fantasy. She updates Banquo's ghost to the 21st century and engages in the fantasy that Epstein's ghost is somehow haunting Trump's every move. Since no incriminating facts in the Epstein files could be found about Trump, Palmeri performs the pretense of somehow channeling the president's soul and concluding that his every waking (and sleeping) moment is being haunted by Epstein's ghost. So let us now join Palmeri with a few laughable excerpts from Vanity Fair's Fantasyland: He bristles. He huffs. He snaps. You can feel it: incredulity boiling into ire as the president confronts the expectation that he must answer for a pedophile. ...The president who relishes causing offense now takes offense at the ongoing intrusion from a ghost of his past. ...Epstein’s shadow has darkened nearly every corner of Trump’s first year back in office, from DOJ inertia and congressional paralysis to personnel decisions and sinking poll numbers. Inside the White House, the issue is treated less like unfinished business and more like radioactive waste—something to be managed, contained, and cleared away daily. And it has clearly rattled a president determined to shape the narrative of his legacy in what is ostensibly his final term. ...Now, in death, Epstein has achieved something more enduring. He has hijacked Trump’s presidency. ...Trump’s presidency has become about Epstein. For proof of this, look no further than the New York Times homepage, where the layout of coverage of the administration paints a clear picture of what matters: “Epstein Fallout” comes first, before news about his official policies or his geopolitical maneuvers. So there you have it. Palmeri's sole "proof" is that the New York Times (and the media), not Trump, is obsessed with uncovering something, ANYTHING that might link Trump in a deleterious way to Epstein, whether ghost or not. This is the media touting its own haunting power.  "The Epstein files tell a number of stories about the president," she insists. And obviously none of those stories are damaging to Trump since if they were, we would be hearing about it 24/7 from Palmeri and the rest of the ghost-story media. Palmeri pulls this final highly laughable fact-free fantasy from her fervid imagination: To say that Epstein is haunting Trump from the grave doesn’t quite go far enough. Epstein has effectively risen from the dead to dominate Trump’s presidency and threaten his legacy. Trump can start wars, deploy troops, manufacture crises, but none of it shakes Epstein loose. Ironically, if anyone should be haunted by the ghost of Epstein, it would be the folks at Vanity Fair since they were the ones who published this generally upbeat story in March 2003 about the one supposedly haunting Trump, "The Talented Mr. Epstein."