This is real. We are witnessing anticipatory obedience by corporations to a fascist regime similar to what happened in Hungary and elsewhere.
The Washington Post’s editorial cartoonist quits after editors spike cartoon mocking tech billionaires (including Post owner Jeff Bezos) for sucking up to Trump
Ann Telnaes: “As an editorial cartoonist, my job is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable. For the first time, my editor prevented me from doing that critical job. So I have decided to leave the Post. I doubt my decision will cause much of a stir and that it will be dismissed because I’m just a cartoonist. But I will not stop holding truth to power through my cartooning, because as they say, “Democracy dies in darkness”. Read More
6 years ago it was “knowing empowers us…knowing helps us decide… knowing keeps us free”
today: into the unknown?
Well shit. Looks like Substack is about to have its newest subscriber. Ann Telnaes is a gifted cartoonist and it is beyond disturbing that she is leaving the post over an editorial decision about a cartoon that is not what I would consider particularly offensive. We are watching the beginning of the end of the most important clause of the First Amendment.
Attribution: Democracy dies in darkness by Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com
“not what I would consider particularly offensive”
pogo, perhaps offense is in the eye of the caricatured in this case. maybe it wouldn’t have been scratched if Ann had only drawn Bezos a bit more macho or without the little potbelly and the other dudes uglier?
sure hope her terrific ‘toon today gets widely reposted and the coverage it deserves.
here’s
Washington Post Cartoonist Quits After Jeff Bezos Cartoon Is Killed – The New York Times
and huffpo’s
Washington Post Cartoonist Reveals She Quit After Paper Killed Piece With Bezos, Trump
I’ve noticed guest on news program guests being more circumspect about Trump. We need a cartoonist to show them walking on eggs. Maybe the price of eggs is the problem.
Conversation on CNN based on this article. What Happens When a Whole Generation Never Grows Up?
What Happens When a Whole Generation Never Grows Up?
Money the oligarchs give Trump is the money we give them.
As comedian Margaret Cho posted not too long ago:
“You can’t spell “Felon” without “ELON”.
I’m still watching The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC…. Lawrence isn’t backing down or even flinching.
Repetition was the problem? Get real.
Renee, we still follow Lawrence too, and sometimes hang on for Stephanie. This is usually after we’ve watched whatever escapist movie or drama episode of the evening.
today’s meme….
Maybe have bezos give her a call and a raise and publication control of her work.
meme #2…
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/04/us/smugglers-mexico-jason-de-leon-cec/index.html
Smugglers love Trump, because it’s a lot of bluster, and migrants don’t know that, so they can jack up their prices quickly. I would say Trump is good for the economy of undocumented migration. Smugglers are going, “OK, if you want to come now, the price has doubled, because it’s so much more dangerous now,” even though it’s probably not. I remember having lots of conversations with smugglers, who would say, “I love Trump. He makes our job easier and makes it easier for us to justify higher rates.”
Tim Cook is donating $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, too.
The list of companies and CEOs lining up to visit the president-elect and give money to his committee include Meta, OpenAI, Amazon, Toyota, Ford, Uber, and GM.
https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/3/24335290/apple-donation-donald-trump-inauguration-tim-cook
Enjoy Lawrence, Rachel, et al while we can. Comcast is spinning off MSNBC, maybe even selling it, changing its name. I wouldn’t bet on most hosts making the cut in the next iteration.
Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian, just told a story on CBS about Jimmy’s “stubbornness”: at a roadside cafe, he and Jimmy ordered Cokes with their lunch. The waitress said sorry, we only have Pepsi. Jimmy’s face got red and he replied, then bring me water!
I’ve been reading a Bloomberg article about Chinese hacking of public infrastructure in Guam as a tool of war. A good read and troublesome.
Buried in the article was something that pertaines to todays discussion.
All across the Federal government there are 100 of billions of dollars up for grabs and Trump has proven that he is willing to use his power to punish. Bezos needs to dump the Washington post. It was a fun toy, but it is interfering with business.
Jack
I would be careful about passing on jokes about the soldier who committed suicide in Las Vegas. He was a highly decorated soldier trying to deal with life the best way he knew how. He had the capabilities of causing mass casualties but in the end he only hurt himself. A quote from one of his emails.
Jack
It looks like winter time on the edge of the great plains. It is the warmest it is going to be for the week. freezing rain and snow tonight and tomorrow. Then several days with the high in the low 20’s. It is January, it is cold.
Jack
Atlanta stations live feed on Carter motorcade today..
In the meantime, Sarah has made other arrangements.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/nancy-mace-bathroom-ban-excluded-005243720.html
There might be a name on this list which is unknown to you. Tim Gill. Backstory: in 1992 Colorado, back when it was a red state, passed a Colorado change to it’s constitution, Amendment II. Anti-gay all the way it was. It prohibited any laws protecting LGBT people from any discrimination. Of the many Gay people in Colorado one named Tim Gill decided to take action. He supported the creation of organizations to advance legal protections for LGBT people. Amendment II was declared unconstitutional by the (at the time) Supreme Court.
Tim is one of the billionaires not supporting sfb. He is a wonderful man. And, finally married to his long time SO. This is a great honor for him.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/04/science/bezos-blue-origin-musk-spacex/index.html
“New Glenn is set to lift off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station as early as next week.
-developed by Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin-
The uncrewed launch vehicle, called New Glenn, will mark Blue Origin’s first attempt to send a rocket to orbit, a feat necessary if the company hopes to chip away at SpaceX’s long-held dominance in the industry.”
https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/concerning-elon-musk-calls-out-jeff-bezos-ex-wife-mackenzie-scott-for-16-billion-donation-7359138
“Concerning”: Elon Musk Calls Out Jeff Bezos’ Ex-Wife MacKenzie Scott For $16 Billion Donation
“In a recent social media exchange, Musk voiced his unease about Ms Scott’s philanthropic activities, specifically her massive donations totalling $19 billion over the past five years.
While some have praised her generosity, others, like Musk, have raised questions about the potential influence of concentrated wealth on societal norms and public policy.
Musk had previously criticised Ms Scott‘ with a now-deleted social media post, suggesting that “super-rich ex-wives who hate their former spouse” could potentially contribute to the decline of Western civilization.”
Pfffft! Elon bought the US presidency. There’s your decline of Western civilization. He sounds like the weak, misogynistic little incels who follow Joe Rogan. Just because he’s a breeder, doesn’t make him a man. What a marooon. Denaturalize and deport him.
Craig
Lawrence, Rachel et al are already available in podcasts. It probably won’t be too difficult to continue in that way no matter which network airs the original broadcast. Both Apple and Amazon Music carry. I haven’t checked Spotify or SeriusXM.
How do you turn off the post correction? The darn thing doesn’t speak Latin, French or Spanish not to mention quirky coloquialisms.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/02/asia/south-korea-president-arrest-warrant-hnk-latam-intl/index.html
“South Korean investigators have suspended efforts to enforce an arrest warrant for embattled President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday, hours into a standoff in which authorities tried to detain the leader following his short-lived martial law declaration.
Yoon’s declaration of marital law a month ago was met with widespread public backlash, with members of his own party turning on him to support the impeachment vote following his refusal to resign.
Many of those backing the leader – widely seen as a conservative firebrand and staunch US ally tough on China and North Korea – held signs with the phrase “Stop the steal” printed in English, while others waved American flags.
Investigators called off the arrest warrant enforcement Friday afternoon citing the safety of the people on the ground, according to a statement. The warrant, which is valid until January 6, remains in effect and could be extended.
Yoon, who was stripped of presidential powers after lawmakers voted to impeach him last month, is wanted for questioning in multiple investigations, including accusations of leading an insurrection – a crime punishable by life imprisonment or even the death penalty.”
*The tRUMPsky cancer continues to spread.
We will need to mint a new term for the Trump era.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooverville#:~:text=Hoovervilles%20were%20shanty%20towns%20built,was%20coined%20by%20Charles%20Michelson.
tRUMP dumps
Well, it took 3 tries to get past the new captcha. We should be safe from bots.
patd, spent the day away from media and the site. I think a more plausible explanation for Shipley’s decision to kill Telnaes’ cartoon is the simplest, and it has nothing to do with potbellies or lack of masculinity of the suckups in the cartoon. I think the simplest, and most plausible, is that he knew he’d be talking with Bezos instead of Telnaes Monday if he ran the cartoon.
Jack, I think your suggestion that Bezos dump the Post is a good one. It would benefit both of them and he and it would be freed up to pressure Dumbass to stop him from implementing his insane tariff model of international trade without the stench of self dealing on the part of the Post.