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Unknown A
Jeff Bezos yesterday puts out this tweet indicating that he is going to end the Washington Post tradition of publishing a range of viewpoints on their opinion page and is only going to basically push a pro oigarch agenda exclusively. Not that it's a surprise that that's Jeff Bezos s preference, but pretty interesting to make it just completely brazen. So let's go ahead and put this up on the screen. This is the message that he sent to all the staff and journalists at the Washington Post, which of course he owns. But also he put this down on Twitter. He says, I'm running to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages. We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars per personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too, of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.
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Unknown A
There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader'doorstep every morning a broad based opinion section that's sought to cover all views. But today the Internet does that job. I'm of America and for America, proud to be so. Our countries do not get here by being typical. Big part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical, it minimizes coercion and practical it drives creativity, invention and prosperity. I offer David Shipley, who I greatly admired, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him if the answer wasn't hell yes, then it had to be no. After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift. It won't be easy. It will require 100% commitment. Our respective decision will be searching for a new opinion editor to own this new direction.
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Unknown A
I am confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I'm excited for us together to fill that void. This makes me basically short circuit because what I want you to understand is when Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, talks about free markets and personal liberty, he doesn't mean like for example, the freedom of his workers to be able to form a union or to to go to the bathroom when they need to his drivers to have enough of a break to not have to pee in a bottle while they're delivering packages. When he talks about free markets, he does not mean the type of free markets that would lead to Amazon being broken up because it's A gigantic monopoly that has rigged its own algorithms. That's not the kind of free markets that he's talking about.
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Unknown A
What he's talking about is for the ability of him and oligarch to have unbridled power and freedom for himself in unlimited coercion and exploitation when it comes to you. That is the agenda that he is talking about pushing here. And it is also quite noteworthy coming after he blocked the endorsement of Kamala to try to curry favor with Trump. Is it Trump's inauguration? It's completely trying to suck up to him. And Trump has obviously handed his administration over to the richest ban on the entire planet. The preeminent oligarch of all oligarchs. And Bezos is basically saying, I'm going to get rid of any of these hippies and liberals who might criticize that direction and make sure that when the CFPB is gutted, they're on board with it. When the National Labor Relations Board can't issue rulings as has been done, they're going toa be on board with it. That's what this is actually all about.
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Unknown B
I completely agree. And the thing is with Bezos is I also just think there's a lot of Elon envy going on here in terms of his personal jeal. My analysis of Bezos is that he is humiliated by the whole democracy dies in the darkness stuff previously and or didn't pay attention either. Or he wants to fire many of the people who work for him who think he thinks are too woke or are embarrassing or whatever. But the problem is is he doesn't just come out and say it. And so he invents all this cockamamy bullshit that we're all supposed to believe. So for example, we're no longer gonna endorse any candidates miraculously in 2024. Right? So we're gonna create this principal standard when everyone's like, dude, we all know what you're doing here. Same thing. Personal liberty and free markets. Okay, cheerly. From a business perspective, if I want personal liberty and free market opinion page, who am I going to?
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Unknown B
The Wall Street Journal? Or sorry, Jeff Bezos at the New Washington Post or the Wall Street Journalurtle, which has a century of standing up and literally carving out this niche for itself. Or the Financial Times. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go for the latter. This as a consumer. So what in an office space meme elon way, what do you do here? What is your purpose here? It's like the purpose here is to serve your own personal end and okay, that's fine. It's your right. You own the paper. You can do as you would like. But spare us your sanctimony. Spare us all this fakery. Spare us this idea that you care about personal liberty and free markets. You don't care about personal liberty're the second largest employer in the United States who routinely cycles through all of these people discards them as trash, you know, is completely realigned.
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Unknown B
Our markets lobbied against free like true free market principles. I mean, just, you know, stop. Just stop this idea that you believe in free speech. Do you know how many conservative books and others were banned on Amon Remain banned actually up until I think two weeks ago. There was a Ryan Anderson who is a guy who wrote a book about some transgender issues. His book was ban on Amazon for five years and only recently was reversed obviously as a result of. I'm just saying, like it's capricious. It's done in a nature where it's all up to his own personal whims. So jes spar us, dude, please stop pretending.
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Unknown A
Also, many people pointed out the irony of backing supposed personal liberty and free speech at a time when you're censoring own on your own platform saying those viewoints aren't gonna be allowed here. This is where I gettostero.
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Unknown B
You can employ who you want. Is that censorship? Like, no, not really. But the point is, is that you're doing it out orig. What do you believe? That's what I just come back to was a Democrat dies in the darkness, which you did under your leadership. Was it reversing the editorial direction and hiring a British tabloid guy to rebuild your businessuse if you want a new business, let me take it from somebody who owns a media company with you. Don't do this. This is really stupid. Who's signing up for it? Anybody who wants this viewpoint subscribes to the Wall Street Journal. And why would they trust you? Anybody who wants this democracy dies in the dark and stuff has already canceled and has decimated your subscription business. So you're using this effectively as a propagandistic tool to bolster your own net worth and to curry favor.
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Unknown B
Okay, fine. You're actually just in the right tradition of William Randolphfer and all these other people from the days of old. But they were a lot more explicit about it, whereas you're trying to dress it up in all of this principle. And I'm holier than thou. We will never just endorse one candidate or another. It's like, oh my God, like just shut up.
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Unknown A
Remember how after, oh, we don't do endorsceents anymore. People can decide for themselves. Then they waite in with endorsements.
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Unknown B
Exactly.
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Unknown A
Every cabinet. You'exact the cabinet's like what?
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Unknown B
And miraculously picked all the Washington choices. And then we're like oh no, RFK Jr. Or whatever. Just so happens that Amazon wants to be a huge player in the healthcare space. Right's like in the same way we can talk about Elon. I mean, remember also, the problem is the press always comes to their defense and in a sense like their crocodile tears today are useless. I'm not talking about Jeff Stein, but I mean you and I remember when Bernie Sanders pointed out the Washington Post ownership by Bezos. They were furious with him. They have never acknowledged oligarchy whenever it was used as a tool for the capit d Democratic party. It's only now that they're willing to talk about it. Part the reason a lot of people don't even take them seriously and think they're full of shit. Which I think is fine, but can we all just like come together now and be like, this is ridiculous.
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Unknown B
This whole Bezos project, the way that he uses the op ed page and all. There's no noble idea or any of this. And if anything, Zuckerberg's Contortia and Elon's like actions and Bezos and all that, it tells us what they're all about.
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Unknown A
So let's just be honest, that's the only soilver lining is that it's no longer deniable. It'like I mean, cause yeah, that Bernie thing really sticks in myike craw because their coverage to Bernie Sanders was so negative and so dishonest that total snearrs and fake fact checks and all this stuff. And he said like, hey, maybe the fact that it's owned by this very wealthy oligarch, maybe that has something to do with their perspective on my democratic socialist approach. How dare you, sir, suggest that one of the wealthiest people on the planet who owns the newspaper would have any say over the nature of their coverage. It's like, okay, all right, well now we see, we see what the reality is. We see what is entailed when you have oligarch owned media and he's just effectively coming out and saying it. So yeah, I think that is the one silver lining is it is no longer in any way deniable whatsoever.
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Unknown A
And you ask what does Jeff Bezos actually believe? We know what he believes. He believes in hisself his own self interest, like whatever's good for him. That's what he believes in. Why when he thought it was good for him to be part of the resistance and democracy dies in darkness. That's how he positioned things. And now that he feels this vibe shift and he wants a careree favor the Trump administration, he doesn't give a shit about the was watchhingington Post as a business venture. He cares about it as a tool for his own power. And that has always that is not new. That has always been the case. So same with Zuckerberg. When itoo blooerg when it was pull to be woke, he was woke. Now he's moving his content moderation to Texas and he's wearing his chain and hanging out with Joe Rogan. What these people are shameless in service of their own power and their own self interest.
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Unknown A
And that is what's going on here.
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Unknown B
Absolutely.
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Unknown A
Let me just roll through the rest of these elements. We mentioned Jeff Steine, who fantastic reporter there. He says massive encroachment by Jeff Bezos in the Washington Post opinion section today makes clear dissenting views will not be published or tolerated there. I still have not felt encroachment on my journalism on the news side of coverage. But if Bezos tries interfering with the news side, I will be quitting immediately and letting you know. Marty Baron had weighed in before previous editor in chief of the Washington Post, very well known put this up on the screen from the Daily Beast. He says there is no doubt in my mind that Bezos is doing this on a fear of the consequences for his other business interests, Amazon, the source of his wealth and blue origin which represents his lifelong passion for space exploration. Baron wrote Wednesday he has prioritized those commercial interests over the Post and he is betraying the Post long standing principles in order to do so.
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Unknown A
I think that is fairly undeniable at this point. And he also points out which I didn't even realize. He says it was only weeks ago the Post described itself as providing coverage for quote all of America. Now its opinion pages will be open to only some of America, those who think exactly as he does. Also worth noting soccer. Amazon had floated that what $40 million Melania documentary. So also funneling cash into the first ladies bank account to Trump family bank account there as well as one more way of curring favor. The Trump administration pretty happy with this. You can put this tweet up on the screen. So is Stephven Chun is assistant the president and White House director of communications with little Grinch evil smile in reply to Jeff Bezos s Note that he sent out here and last pie I'll put up on the screen.
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Unknown A
This is Fromraamaari who actually writes a newsletter with Emily over at U.N. heard and Ryan. Emily had him on the show recently and he says Jeff Bezos rebrands a Washington Post as the billionaires think tank and he says one of the world's richest men wants his newspaper to push policies that favor the rich. That's the upshot of Jeff Bezos s announcement today. Henceforth the Amazon boss Decretus papers comment pages will promote libertarianism quote free markets and personal liberty and will not publish opinions contradicting these central principles. While the story has a dog bites man quality breaking tycoon prefers low taxes and weak unions. It's still a dismaying turn since the Wall Street Journal comment pages where I cut my teeth are also strictly committed to free market libertarianism. It leave the New York Times opinion page as the only national print outlet where writers can argue for greater union density and more robust antitrust enforcement say or against Wall street hollowing out of the real economy.
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Unknown A
And I'm sure Stoller could spend hours regaling us with tales of how Jeff Bezos is the antithesis of someone who was committed to actual free market competition. So just coming out and overtly backing this pro oligarch agenda and also signaling like a rightwardd shift for the paper in the era of.
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Unknown B
That's what I mean though it's not right word in a sense it's just the most naked like when you say personal liberty and free markets it's really just a libertarian like mask off actually it sing libertarian it's what corporate capture libertarian it's like corporate libertarian that's and just openly saying it. You don't believe in personal liberty dude like you don't believe in free markets. It's just the worshipping of those ideals and frankly tricking a bunch of idiots into backing it so that you continue to get your tax benefit cuts your preferential treatment making sure that you don't face even like modest workforce concessions. That's what this whole thing is. And look, I mean in a way thank you for telling us the truth. Finally it was obvious for some of us. Perhaps it will be obvious to do the rest of you and maybe the corporate press will stop defending them although I highly doubt that because they're subject to many of the same pressures.
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Unknown B
True Alri right we will see you guys later. Make sure you guys subscribe so you can watch the Rohit Chopra interview. Really looking forward personally to taking a look at it supporting that type of work. Here we do Breaking Points. Otherwise, we'll see you later. Hey, if you like that video, hit the like button or leave a comment below. It really helps get the show to more people.
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Unknown A
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Unknown B
That'S right, get the full show helps support the future independent media@breakingpoints.com.