Both the LA Times and WaPo were cowed out of endorsing Harris by Trump’s threats. Can you smell the stench of fascism wafting across the country? Unlike the title of the Sinclair Lewis novel, it can happen here. Let’s stop pretending any of this is normal. We need a coalition of the sane to stop Trump.
Just how much money does Bezos need, for cripe's sake? This is what happens when an oligarch (and let's call him what he is) runs a respected national media outlet. Rupert Murdoch is another one. Russia's got nothing on us for oligarchs.
Exactly. Bezos has more money than he could ever hope to spend, but apparently that's still not enough. As far as I'm concerned, he's no better than Donald Trump. Chris says that Bezos made a business decision, and I agree, but to paraphrase a guest post by Benjamin Wittes in The Bulwark this evening, if Bezos is going to prioritize his business over all else, he has no business owning a national news outlet as a side gig.
I agree completely. And somebody like Elon Musk, with all his business, has no place anywhere near a government office, but trump is going to give him a high position. All the guard rails are truly gone.
Integrity matters... apparently Bezos has none. If another onlione shopping option opens up I'll move away from Amazon. I gave up Facebook in 2017. I will NEVER buy a Tesla because of Musk. I will boycott with my money.
Musk would never separate himself from his businesses enough to take a full time position. He wants influence. Doesn't need a job for that. The question is whether Trump will jettison Kennedy, Musk , and the others once he wins and no longer needs their help.
You're sounding like you think Musk would actually be working at a gov't job. He would be around enough to influence the policy. And remember this - if trump wins, the plan is to fire 50-60 thousand career employees and fill the slots with trump loyalists. They would do whatever is asked of them. To your other point. if trump is re-elected, he will be governing even less than he did the last time. His minions are standing in the wings, ready to run the show. Vance will be the de facto president, and Stephen Miller will be his aide-de-camp, and run everything, while Vance gets up to speed.
You make some good points, but I don't share your views about exactly what another Trump would look like. In particular, I think Trump would be very active in ending his legal troubles and seeking revenge. He also loves tariffs , always has, in part because he can impose those on his own . (That a POTUS has this unilateral power is nuts, btw). He also love pardons , which he can also do on his own, and would use that power broadly. So no, I don't think he'd just be along for the ride. But the most important things are that we need to step up , turn out the vote, and stop a reprise of the Trump nightmare from becoming reality
And I agree with you, too. However, all the things you mention are related to himself - big surprise there, right? His legal problems, his revenge, his pardons. He will just say what he wants, and he can do that from the golf course, and the admin staff will perform None of this relates to actual governing, like transportation issues, or education, or federal employment, or housing, or tax structure, or pick the next two Supreme Court justices - if he gets in and the Senate flips to the GOP, you watch Alito and Thomas retire on Day 1 or 2, so they can put in two more extreme judges who would be about 40 years old and last for decades. And I also agree with your conclusion. I live in North Carolina, and believe me, we are pulling out all the stops.
Go get em in NC! I had a weekend home in Cashiers and offices in Charlotte and Raleigh for years. I know a lot of "normie" Rs there . My hope is that they won't turn out b/c they are turned off by Robinson and Trump or better yet will vote D. As I've said often on this site, we need a coalition of the sane.
I empathize with folks that are sad and/or scared, but American culture created Trump’s rise to power and Bezos’ vast wealth. And now half of American voters are saying “let me off this crazy ride” and “this is not who/what America is”. The left seems eager to put all the blame for our predicament on MAGA, but we are all complicit in creating this America. Electing Harris might make us look “normal”, but it will promote even more division and hate on both sides, mark my words. A (R) house and/or senate will not allow her to govern. There will be overt and inflammatory misogyny. IMO the only path to unifying America and reevaluating American culture is for Trump to implode, fail us all, and the separation of powers to oust him as a demagogue, welcomed by a substantial majority of Americans. That is what I would like to see happen.
Chris you got this call WRONG. The problem is not Jeff Bezos. The PROBLEM IS DONALD TRUMP'S authoritarianism and Fascism. This is just an example of what Trump would do if he ever gets power again( he will not). Tell me how is this different from Russia or Hungary or North Korea where Journalists are scared to publish facts for fear of retribution from Trump. Trump is a threat to Democracy. LA Times owner out fear also shut down his paper's plan to endorse Harris out of fear of retribution from the Cult leader.
This is how Authoritarian starts. They shut down good and Independent Press. Win over Oligarchs(like Elon Musk, Rupert Murdock and now JJeff Bezos. )
Trump Derangement Syndrome -- a mental illness where people support Convicted Felon Trump despite the overwhelming evidence that he's a liar, grifter, criminal, bigot, authoritarian.
also racist, hater of transgender people, and basically everyone in this "garbage can of a country" which isn't white and wealthy. My God, how I hate this man for what he's doing to this beautiful America of ours.
Agreed. If Trump does win and ushers in true fascism, all of us will need to rise against it. They can't lock up half of the country. If too many of us fear it and shy away, it will spread that much wider and faster.
No one is going to rise up. Instead, people normalize and pretend things aren't that bad. Even after people saw 1/6, heard the evidence in the hearings, saw the adverse jury verdicts for fraud and sexual assault, a perhaps winning plurality concludes Trump isn't that bad and doesn't mean the crazy stuff his says. (Of course, some like the crazy stuff in particular.)
Robert Reich has just now posted a Substack which explains clearly enough why the Bezos decision was a disgrace. Your faux adult rationalisation of the decision does you no credit.
Any “business” reason is not the story here. The story here is what Timothy Snyder calls “obeying in advance” one of the classic facilitators of fascism.
A Substack focusing on a “business” reason is a foolish distraction from what is important that’s happening here, ie doing what the dictator would make you do if in power and thereby assisting him towards that power.
We have all seen the convicted felon completely take over the Republican party. Even the wealthy among them cower before him, even though he’s not even in office. If re-elected, tRump has promised to use our Justice Dept. to prosecute the people he doesn’t like. He has also promised to use our military against innocent citizens. Bezos doesn’t want to be on tRump’s “enemies,” list, thus his fear.
Wonder how Bezos would have handled the Watergate break-in and Woodward and Bernstein. I’m guessing things may have played out a bit differently. It also feels like our country is going to need to learn some hard lessons before we wake up to what’s going on.
If Trump wins, I hope those people who vote for him will suffer the consequences as much as the rest of us who can clearly see the warning signs. This election might be our final chance to get rid of him.
Some will. But his sycophants will A) be largely safe, and B) be gaslighted into believing it isn't really happening (as will most of the GOP). In other words, it will be just like January 6th.
"This is how business works. The lone goal is to make money. " Uh, maybe. But maybe Chris again misunderstands the moral compass by which people are drawn to this community. And I'm a retired businessman. Bezos surely didn't buy the Post to make money. Major city newspapers don't make much money these days. The NY Times makes some money. The Post maybe -- maybe -- puts fuel in the Bezos yachts. The only reason for a billionaire to own the Post is because the billionaire believes that "Democracy dies in darkness." Bezos has today turned out the lights. And no amount of Chris Cillizza rationalization will light a new candle that will illumine the darkness.
Maybe thinking that a President who thinks Hitler was a good guy isn't such a smart decision? or maybe only caring about the bottom line isn't a smart decision, see Boeing, Nike, Starbucks. Anyway, this decision is evidence that the people who run the Post can't be trusted, so I cancelled my subscription today.
Chris when I first subscribed, you made a comment to the effect of “Don’t panic about a Trump victory. The media will help to keep him in check.”…. Still feel that way…?
Bezos sees around corners, blah,blah,blah. It’s understandable he pulled the Post endorsement of Harris, blah,blah,blah. How about you take a stand here, in the strongest possible terms, as other substackers I read and admire have done, that this is wrong and unacceptable. How about, instead of whitewashing what Bezos did here, you point out that acquiescing to bullies only emboldens them more. Bezos is just another Trump quisling now. It would have been nice to see you report that
That's what one would have expected from him (Chris) who wants people to believe that he's objective, independent ans transparent. He is trying to rationalize and and whitewash the Post's decision
Both the LA Times and WaPo were cowed out of endorsing Harris by Trump’s threats. Can you smell the stench of fascism wafting across the country? Unlike the title of the Sinclair Lewis novel, it can happen here. Let’s stop pretending any of this is normal. We need a coalition of the sane to stop Trump.
Yes, I smell the stench of fascism.😷
Just how much money does Bezos need, for cripe's sake? This is what happens when an oligarch (and let's call him what he is) runs a respected national media outlet. Rupert Murdoch is another one. Russia's got nothing on us for oligarchs.
Exactly. Bezos has more money than he could ever hope to spend, but apparently that's still not enough. As far as I'm concerned, he's no better than Donald Trump. Chris says that Bezos made a business decision, and I agree, but to paraphrase a guest post by Benjamin Wittes in The Bulwark this evening, if Bezos is going to prioritize his business over all else, he has no business owning a national news outlet as a side gig.
I agree completely. And somebody like Elon Musk, with all his business, has no place anywhere near a government office, but trump is going to give him a high position. All the guard rails are truly gone.
Integrity matters... apparently Bezos has none. If another onlione shopping option opens up I'll move away from Amazon. I gave up Facebook in 2017. I will NEVER buy a Tesla because of Musk. I will boycott with my money.
I do the same locally. I do not patronize small businesses whose politics I don't agree with.
Another thought. Wonder which cabinet position he is angling for? Commerce?
Musk would never separate himself from his businesses enough to take a full time position. He wants influence. Doesn't need a job for that. The question is whether Trump will jettison Kennedy, Musk , and the others once he wins and no longer needs their help.
You're sounding like you think Musk would actually be working at a gov't job. He would be around enough to influence the policy. And remember this - if trump wins, the plan is to fire 50-60 thousand career employees and fill the slots with trump loyalists. They would do whatever is asked of them. To your other point. if trump is re-elected, he will be governing even less than he did the last time. His minions are standing in the wings, ready to run the show. Vance will be the de facto president, and Stephen Miller will be his aide-de-camp, and run everything, while Vance gets up to speed.
You make some good points, but I don't share your views about exactly what another Trump would look like. In particular, I think Trump would be very active in ending his legal troubles and seeking revenge. He also loves tariffs , always has, in part because he can impose those on his own . (That a POTUS has this unilateral power is nuts, btw). He also love pardons , which he can also do on his own, and would use that power broadly. So no, I don't think he'd just be along for the ride. But the most important things are that we need to step up , turn out the vote, and stop a reprise of the Trump nightmare from becoming reality
And I agree with you, too. However, all the things you mention are related to himself - big surprise there, right? His legal problems, his revenge, his pardons. He will just say what he wants, and he can do that from the golf course, and the admin staff will perform None of this relates to actual governing, like transportation issues, or education, or federal employment, or housing, or tax structure, or pick the next two Supreme Court justices - if he gets in and the Senate flips to the GOP, you watch Alito and Thomas retire on Day 1 or 2, so they can put in two more extreme judges who would be about 40 years old and last for decades. And I also agree with your conclusion. I live in North Carolina, and believe me, we are pulling out all the stops.
Go get em in NC! I had a weekend home in Cashiers and offices in Charlotte and Raleigh for years. I know a lot of "normie" Rs there . My hope is that they won't turn out b/c they are turned off by Robinson and Trump or better yet will vote D. As I've said often on this site, we need a coalition of the sane.
I empathize with folks that are sad and/or scared, but American culture created Trump’s rise to power and Bezos’ vast wealth. And now half of American voters are saying “let me off this crazy ride” and “this is not who/what America is”. The left seems eager to put all the blame for our predicament on MAGA, but we are all complicit in creating this America. Electing Harris might make us look “normal”, but it will promote even more division and hate on both sides, mark my words. A (R) house and/or senate will not allow her to govern. There will be overt and inflammatory misogyny. IMO the only path to unifying America and reevaluating American culture is for Trump to implode, fail us all, and the separation of powers to oust him as a demagogue, welcomed by a substantial majority of Americans. That is what I would like to see happen.
This!!!!
Chris you got this call WRONG. The problem is not Jeff Bezos. The PROBLEM IS DONALD TRUMP'S authoritarianism and Fascism. This is just an example of what Trump would do if he ever gets power again( he will not). Tell me how is this different from Russia or Hungary or North Korea where Journalists are scared to publish facts for fear of retribution from Trump. Trump is a threat to Democracy. LA Times owner out fear also shut down his paper's plan to endorse Harris out of fear of retribution from the Cult leader.
This is how Authoritarian starts. They shut down good and Independent Press. Win over Oligarchs(like Elon Musk, Rupert Murdock and now JJeff Bezos. )
This is the autocratic, kleptocratic, oligarchic darkness in which democracy will die. And many of our neighbors just don't care.
Exactly
TDS
Trump Derangement Syndrome -- a mental illness where people support Convicted Felon Trump despite the overwhelming evidence that he's a liar, grifter, criminal, bigot, authoritarian.
also racist, hater of transgender people, and basically everyone in this "garbage can of a country" which isn't white and wealthy. My God, how I hate this man for what he's doing to this beautiful America of ours.
As I've said previously, this is not a policy election. This is a Benjamin Franklin election: a republic if you can keep it.
🙏
Thank you!
Billionaires like Bezos cowering before Trump is exactly how fascism comes to fruition. It's cowardice, plain and simple, money be damned
Agreed. If Trump does win and ushers in true fascism, all of us will need to rise against it. They can't lock up half of the country. If too many of us fear it and shy away, it will spread that much wider and faster.
No one is going to rise up. Instead, people normalize and pretend things aren't that bad. Even after people saw 1/6, heard the evidence in the hearings, saw the adverse jury verdicts for fraud and sexual assault, a perhaps winning plurality concludes Trump isn't that bad and doesn't mean the crazy stuff his says. (Of course, some like the crazy stuff in particular.)
Robert Reich has just now posted a Substack which explains clearly enough why the Bezos decision was a disgrace. Your faux adult rationalisation of the decision does you no credit.
I think Bezo’s decision could be based on both business *and* fear of the convicted felon.
Any “business” reason is not the story here. The story here is what Timothy Snyder calls “obeying in advance” one of the classic facilitators of fascism.
A Substack focusing on a “business” reason is a foolish distraction from what is important that’s happening here, ie doing what the dictator would make you do if in power and thereby assisting him towards that power.
How can a billionaire be afraid of the Dump? Please explain if you know bc I don't get it.
We have all seen the convicted felon completely take over the Republican party. Even the wealthy among them cower before him, even though he’s not even in office. If re-elected, tRump has promised to use our Justice Dept. to prosecute the people he doesn’t like. He has also promised to use our military against innocent citizens. Bezos doesn’t want to be on tRump’s “enemies,” list, thus his fear.
Well, shame on JB.👎
Yes
A small man never got bigger by chopping at the feet of a giant.
“Democracy Dies in Darkness” is now “Democracy Dies the Death of a Thousand Paper Cuts”
Jeff Bezos is the worst kind of scumbag.
Next to Musk..
Wonder how Bezos would have handled the Watergate break-in and Woodward and Bernstein. I’m guessing things may have played out a bit differently. It also feels like our country is going to need to learn some hard lessons before we wake up to what’s going on.
If Trump wins, I hope those people who vote for him will suffer the consequences as much as the rest of us who can clearly see the warning signs. This election might be our final chance to get rid of him.
Some will. But his sycophants will A) be largely safe, and B) be gaslighted into believing it isn't really happening (as will most of the GOP). In other words, it will be just like January 6th.
I don't think newspapers should be making endorsements, but this is the epitome of profiles in cowardice from Bezos and the Post.
Curious if any WaPo writers quit like at LAT
One has - R(??) Kagan - I saw that somewhere.
Yes Kagan has indeed resigned. That's a true journalist indeed
He is not really a staff journalist.
I saw it too.
Robert Kagan resigned from WaPo, and Mariel Garza resigned from the LA Times.
Certainly a hill to die on. The job market is brutal!
"This is how business works. The lone goal is to make money. " Uh, maybe. But maybe Chris again misunderstands the moral compass by which people are drawn to this community. And I'm a retired businessman. Bezos surely didn't buy the Post to make money. Major city newspapers don't make much money these days. The NY Times makes some money. The Post maybe -- maybe -- puts fuel in the Bezos yachts. The only reason for a billionaire to own the Post is because the billionaire believes that "Democracy dies in darkness." Bezos has today turned out the lights. And no amount of Chris Cillizza rationalization will light a new candle that will illumine the darkness.
I’m in Australia and my only subscription to US journalism was WaPo
I’ve cancelled
See you soon Chris
Good for Cath!!
Maybe thinking that a President who thinks Hitler was a good guy isn't such a smart decision? or maybe only caring about the bottom line isn't a smart decision, see Boeing, Nike, Starbucks. Anyway, this decision is evidence that the people who run the Post can't be trusted, so I cancelled my subscription today.
Good to know that two of the richest men in the world have no morals and no balls. I guess Democracy can die in the light as well as darkness.
Yet another chapter for Profiles in Courage….
Chris when I first subscribed, you made a comment to the effect of “Don’t panic about a Trump victory. The media will help to keep him in check.”…. Still feel that way…?
I'm not buying your rationale. By that logic, he should just sell or close the Post down, as it can only hurt his business interests.
Bezos sees around corners, blah,blah,blah. It’s understandable he pulled the Post endorsement of Harris, blah,blah,blah. How about you take a stand here, in the strongest possible terms, as other substackers I read and admire have done, that this is wrong and unacceptable. How about, instead of whitewashing what Bezos did here, you point out that acquiescing to bullies only emboldens them more. Bezos is just another Trump quisling now. It would have been nice to see you report that
That's what one would have expected from him (Chris) who wants people to believe that he's objective, independent ans transparent. He is trying to rationalize and and whitewash the Post's decision