A Washington Post submission
Satire today, straight-faced critique tomorrow, I promise
I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets. I am writing today in support and defense of personal liberties and free markets.
Yesterday, I posted this on my own Substack and Linked In:
Yesterday, in a small note at practically the bottom of its webpage, the Washington Post announced the resignation of its Opinion Editor, David Shipley, after owner Jeff Bezos announced that its opinion section from now on would focus on "personal liberties and free markets." The New York Times had already broken the story hours before (and in a much more prominent position).
The Post, once the very symbol of investigative journalism itself, the co-publisher of Daniel Ellsberg's "The Pentagon Papers" and home to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, whose reporting essentially brought Richard Nixon's presidency down in 1974, has now officially turned into a Trump-lite echo chamber. Scores of top-notch reporters and opinion writers have left, and hundreds of thousands cancelled their subscriptions after Bezos overrrode David Shipley and the entire Editorial Board by refusing to honor or publish their endorsement of Kamala Harris last October. The Post then jettisoned its liberal comment system in favor of a rinky-dink, organ-grinder's monkey version of an AI nanny bot overseeing all discussion and interfering with every post, losing tens of thousands more subscribers in the process. And now Shipley has made clear his refusal to abide by the Post's turn toward a party-line mouthpiece for President Musk and the guy sitting behind the Resolute Desk signing random pieces of paper which violate the Constitution, morality and common sense on a daily basis.
More than two centuries ago, Thomas Jefferson was asked if he had to choose between a free government or a free press, which would he choose? He didn't hesitate -- a free press was the only answer. Jeff Bezos shows why. We are already inside a coup, losing our republic to a dumb tyrant, aided by collaborators either hoping for a little bag of gold or too cowed to resist. The entire domestic social contract and postwar international order is being subverted every day, while once-free media outlets turn themselves into willing patsies. Worst of all, we did it to ourselves.
To those who say it's not that bad, I say the country has entered a darkened hall of shame and self-degradation from which no clear or easy exits are even visible yet.
Repetition is the sincerest form of making a point! Thank you, Professor Tim for your service!