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Caving to Authoritarianism : WaPo Doesn't Endorse

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by gator_jo, Oct 25, 2024.

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  1. Oct 25, 2024 #1
    gator_jo

    gator_jo GC Hall of Fame

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    This article sums it up pretty well; WaPo has made quite a few endorsements over the last 6-12 months, including in this election cycle. Now they won't endorse for POTUS and claim it's basically reverting to past principles.

    Clearly this is untrue, or they'd have not endorsed elsewhere in this cycle, and/or made this case far earlier. It seems pretty obvious that owner Jeff Bezos is afraid of retaliation from the impending authoritarian regime of the convicted felon Trump. Bezos is on record saying that a vindictive Trump Administration cost his company an estimated $10 billion in government contracts during the prior administration.

    The author posits the dark hypothetical that this is an indication that many of the former "guardrails" against the authoritarianism of Trump should not be counted on to be there in a future Trump regime.

    My take : the author is correct. Good game, America.

    (As an aside, my wife is adamant about cancelling our subscription. I'm inclined to agree, but not certain. The forces of evil win either way.)


    That’s where the decision feels like a gut punch. The endorsement itself is not so important: I bet there aren’t many subscribers to high-end American newspapers who are still uncertain about how they’ll vote next month. But as a sign of how elite institutions grapple with a political environment in which one side has vowed retribution against enemies, it feels like a big warning sign, one that Lewis’ terse statement is not doing anything to chill.


    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/10/25/washington-post-president-non-endorsement-00185581
     
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  2. Oct 25, 2024 #2
    gator_jo

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    As evidence of why this sentiment about a future Trump Administration should be taken seriously, here's an example of what ought to be considered the criminal abuse of government function for Trump's personal agenda;


    ‘Outrageous abuse of power’: Trump spurned disaster pleas amid feud with governor

    In early September 2020, wildfires tore through eastern Washington state, obliterating tens of millions of dollars of property, displacing hundreds of rural residents and killing a 1-year-old boy.

    But then-President Donald Trump refused to act on Gov. Jay Inslee’s request for $37 million in federal disaster aid because of a bitter personal dispute with the Democratic governor, an investigation by POLITICO’s E&E News shows.

    Trump sat on Inslee’s request for the final four months of his presidency, delaying recovery and leaving communities unsure about rebuilding because nobody knew if they would get federal help.

    Trump ignored Inslee’s 73-page request even after the Federal Emergency Management Agency found during weeks of inspection that the wildfires easily met the federal damage threshold for disaster aid.


    https://www.politico.com/news/2024/...aid-request-from-democratic-governor-00185542
     
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  3. Oct 25, 2024 #3
    Emmitto

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    Billionaires are rare, and obviously persecuted. Circle the wagons!
     
  4. Oct 25, 2024 #4
    SotaGator

    SotaGator Senior

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    Just another quid pro quo. From The Hill:
    Screenshot_20241025_235004_Chrome.jpg
     
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  5. Oct 26, 2024 #5
    l_boy

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    You would think when you have that much money you wouldn’t have to get on your knees to appease political figures.
     
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  6. Oct 26, 2024 #6
    dangolegators

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    Bezos is such a coward. Whatever happened to 'democracy dies in darkness'?
     
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  7. Oct 26, 2024 #7
    vaxcardinal

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    I at least hope by subscription you mean digital subscription
     
  8. Oct 26, 2024 #8
    duggers_dad

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    Trump’s is an eight year plan to destroy democracy. But they fired him after four years.
     
  9. Oct 26, 2024 #9
    duggers_dad

    duggers_dad GC Hall of Fame

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  10. Oct 26, 2024 #10
    gatorchamps960608

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    If the billionaire owned press is bending the knee to Trump at this point, what do you think they will do if he actually wins?
     
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  11. Oct 26, 2024 #11
    VAg8r1

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  12. Oct 26, 2024 #12
    VAg8r1

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  13. Oct 26, 2024 #13
    AgingGator

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    Don’t be silly. MSG is a much, much bigger venue now than it was then.
     
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  14. Oct 26, 2024 #14
    PITBOSS

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    i anticipate they have concerns for their business and empire. A key component for Trump and his will be based on his admin will be his personal vindictiveness. ie seeking revenge for people calling him out for his crimes, rape, concerns about him showing signs of being too old, etc
     
    Last edited: Oct 26, 2024
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  15. Oct 26, 2024 #15
    l_boy

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    Following the lead of Putin and the oligarchs.
     
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  16. Oct 26, 2024 #16
    PITBOSS

    PITBOSS GC Hall of Fame

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    ouch. Good and depressing point. Yep, Putin also became popular with very basic demagoguery. along with past authoritarians
     
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  17. Oct 26, 2024 #17
    vegasfox

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    Trump: anti-authoritarian

    Barack and Kamala: authori5arian

     
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  18. Oct 26, 2024 #18
    agigator

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    This decision has very little to do with Trump, imo.

    Kamala's strategy of attacking Trump has blown through the point of diminishing returns, past the point of zero returns, has now reached the point of negative returns and this is the result.
     
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  19. Oct 26, 2024 #19
    SotaGator

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    Your outlook is so naive. Has everything to do with a business quid pro quo and hedging bets if by some chance DjT wins. While shoring up support for Blue Origin, what Bezos cannot calculate is the damage to his WaPo and Amazon businesses from disgruntled customers.
     
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  20. Oct 26, 2024 #20
    agigator

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    It seems to me that an endorsement from a left wing paper would normally be the Democrat candidate's to lose. Joe Biden received their endorsement in the last election but you're saying that the situation has changed so much since 2020 that they now have to appease Donald Trump by endorsing no one? Is this a tacit admission that Trump is winning?
     
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