Midnight Mutterings | Jeff changes his mind

||| MIDNIGHT MUTTERINGS by JACKIE BATES |||

When Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post in 2013, he reportedly said he would not interfere with the editorial aspects of the paper, and for the next eleven years, he seems to have followed his plan. However, just days before the 2024 election, he put a stop to the plan by the editorial board of the Washington Post’s plan to endorse Kamala Harris for President of the United States.

Bezos’ interference caused quite a kerfuffle, as the Post editorial board had already made a decision and a plan to announce the endorsement of Kamala Harris. Three board members and several journalists resigned in protest, followed by more than 250,000 readers cancelling subscriptions.

Here is a statement put out by some of the journalists: ‘The Washington Post’s decision not to make an endorsement in the presidential campaign is a terrible mistake,’ they wrote. ‘It represents an abandonment of the fundamental editorial convictions of the newspaper that we love.’

Other critics include Watergate reporter legends Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward who protested, as well as nearly two dozen Post columnists who signed a separate public, critical statement. Over two hundred fifty thousand readers have cancelled their subscriptions. Some suggest that readers who cancel their subscriptions are hurting journalists more than Bezos.     

These are perilous times politically and personally, and like Bezos, I am changing my mind. Having stated earlier that I wouldn’t bore you with my political rantings, I now realize I can’t contain myself. I find it difficult / impossible to understand how a person or organization would prefer a convicted felon and sexual abuser, who bragged about kissing and groping women without permission because he’s a ‘star,’ and says he plans to be a dictator on day one when he is re-elected, but can’t even stay awake during his own trial.

Vanity Fair reported on Halloween that ‘In a striking escalation of his violent rhetoric against political opponents and other critics, Donald Trump called former representative Liz Cheney a “radical war hawk” and a “moron” who should have guns “trained on her face.” “Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine barrels shooting at her, OK?” Trump said at an Arizona campaign event.

Even more compelling, it seems the majority of people who worked with the former President during his previous term in office, including three military generals, consider him ‘dangerous.’ Even more dangerous, in a second term, when he says he will only have ‘loyal staffers’ in his administration. This is the person who claimed ‘he did not know’ the woman who had accused him of rape for which he was on trial. When shown a photo of them together, he thought it was a photo of his second wife. Now he calls his political opponent a ‘shit vice president’ and that he will ‘protect women,’ even women ‘who don’t want me to protect them.‘ Hmmm… Some women must see his offer of ‘protection’ as a threat.

Oh that’s right, you don’t need my tirade. I should save it for the member of my own family, a former pilot in the Air Force, who seems not to have heard what this candidate has said about people in the military who have been injured or killed, even one who is the son of a general who was Trump’s longest lasting chief of staff.

In a few days the election will be over, and some time after we will learn the results. After that we will learn the repercussions if the next elected president is not the one who has agreed that he will accept the results of the election only if it is a ‘fair election.’ Apparently, in his definition, the only ‘fair’ election is the one he wins. Have ‘We the People’ not learned anything?

One last note: I have explained all of this to Rose and Molly: ’We the Cats,’ and they agree with me, at least on this subject. They assured me that ‘if cats could vote, the country would be a lot safer for childless cat ladies.’ They also inquired about the timing of their dinner.