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Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

cnbc.com

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Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#271

Post by jeffbee »

energy123 wrote: post #249
jeffbee wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Imagine taking as many steroids as Jeff Bezos has taken, only to end up being afraid of an obese elderly man who cheats at golf. What was the point of all that flexing?

On a serious note, this is an example of what historian Timothy Snyder refers to as "obeying in advance", where people predict what a repressive government will want and then obey before they're in power just to be safe. This creates a positive feedback loop that leads to them seizing power.

I am serious! But yes.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#272

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

daft_pink wrote: post #34

Is anyone really changing their mind based on some newspaper endorsement? I’m pretty sure everyone knows who they’re gonna vote for at this point.

I'm sure you're mostly right, but there are no doubt a few still on the fence, which can only either be people who have not been exposed to the truth about Trump (e.g. people who only watch Trump sane-washed sources like Fox), or republicans who are well aware of the danger he poses, but are having a hard time accepting that the responsible thing to do is vote against him.

For the few that are still on the fence, then more straight shooting reporting, from any source, can only help.

To me this is a total cop out, and very irresponsible, for the Washington Post to not want to "take sides" and express an opinion. I guess they would've let Hitler win election too, rather than want to "take sides" and say anything bad about him. It's like not wanting to express an opinion on whether a grizzly bear or a hamster would be a better pet for a 5 year old, because you're afraid of upsetting the grizzly bear.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#273

Post by maxerickson »

Dalewyn wrote: post #227
maxerickson wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Declaring your misunderstanding doesn't make it so. "Engineers make implements of war" or so.

An engineer is someone who develops and implements engines. What is an engine? Citing Merriam Webster[1]: >3a: something used to effect a purpose So yes, an engineer can make implements of war among many other implements. The people who actually wage war are called other things. [1]: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engine

[flagged]

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#274

Post by arp242 »

lysace wrote: post #151
Molitor5901 wrote: post #11

To play Devils Advocate for a moment: Why do we need, or even want, a newspaper to endorse a President? How does it not undermine a paper's journalistic ethics to be neutral and fair?

I don't know for sure, but I suspect that this phenomenon of news media endorsing political candidates is almost entirely unique to the US. Please prove me wrong.

Making a big song and dance about the entire business of "endorsements" seems to be a very US thing as far as I know. I am of course not familiar with all democracies of the world, but it doesn't seem common anywhere else I've seen.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#275

Post by psyklic »

htk wrote: post #196

[flagged]

Facts still must be interpreted. It could be a fact that a credible source claimed X and a non-credible source claimed the opposite. A newspaper's job is to also provide this context, not merely the "facts" of what was stated.

Similarly, an endorsement could in countless ways not simply be partisan. For example, based on what is most predicted to help the country with X/Y/Z.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#276

Post by ajross »

daft_pink wrote: post #34

Is anyone really changing their mind based on some newspaper endorsement? I’m pretty sure everyone knows who they’re gonna vote for at this point.

> Is anyone really changing their mind based on some newspaper endorsement? I’m pretty sure everyone knows who they’re gonna vote for at this point.

Clearly Bezos thinks they are[1], otherwise he wouldn't have gone through the trouble of killing it 11 days before an election.

People in this thread are badly conflating the idea of "Newspaper Opinion Journalism is Bad" with "It's OK for an owner to arbitrarily influence newspaper coverage in real time". You can agree with the former and still agree the later is a horrifying precedent.

[1] Or, "Bezos thinks that Trump thinks they are" might be closer to the truth.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#277

Post by dotnet00 »

greenthrow wrote: post #143
73kl4453dz wrote: post #44

What's even the point of being a billionaire if you're still scared of Trump?

Why is everyone in this thread pushing the idea that Bezos is scared of Trump? It seems more plausible to me he is scared of the DoJ breaking up Amazon under Harris.

Because talking about how Trump is evil is more entertaining than talking about Harris

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#278

Post by standardUser »

daft_pink wrote: post #34

Is anyone really changing their mind based on some newspaper endorsement? I’m pretty sure everyone knows who they’re gonna vote for at this point.

It's more about how a presidential candidate has repeatedly made credible threats to go after specific media companies using the power of his office if he wins. That candidate also happens to have a terrifyingly broad idea of what those powers are. That's in the context of a 9-member Supreme Court where 3 are his own appointments and 2 are appointments from a previous president with similarly broad ideas about presidential power.

And no, not everyone knows how they're going to vote, as crazy as that seems, but I agree that newspaper endorsements are a tiny factor, especially in this election.

Re: Jeff Bezos killed Washington Post endorsement of Kamala Harris

#280

Post by mikeyouse »

rKarpinski wrote: post #184
staplers wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

they go after him Would love to hear what horrible consequences you think Elon is facing..

They retroactively invalidated several years of compensation packages...

"They" of course being the Delaware Chancellory Court in this situation... man people are clueless about how things work.
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