The cowardice of the capitulators

Four years ago today, after losing a presidential election, Donald Trump incited an insurrection against the US Constitution.

His mob stormed the Capitol, pissed on the walls and shat on the floors. They did
$1.5 million in damage, caused injuries to at least 174 of Capitol police officers, and caused the deaths of five people.

Trump will soon pardon the January 6 criminals, lionize them, and hang medals around their necks. Have no doubt about this.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has denounced Nigel Farage, the leader of the UK Reform Party, saying that he is unfit to lead it. He has also stepped up his interference in the forthcoming German elections. He has also begun severely limiting criticism of himself and others on X with a social media scoring system that is straight out of China.

The Washington Post is in a state of collapse. The paper’s best political writers, journalists and commentators are like the first-class passengers on Titanic being lowered into half-filled life boats taking them to the Wall Street Journal and The Atlantic, but the truth is that there aren’t enough life boats for all. Everyone is going to want off a ship that is sinking into disgrace.

Whatever private commitments were made between the Graham family and Bezos when he bought The Washington Post regarding its stewardship have been shattered.

The most incredible part about the capitulations — which are not the least bit surprising — is how quickly they happened, and without so much as a soft whimper or scuffle.

By doing so, most editorial leaders of these institutions have demonstrated the only place they are truly fit to work is the Trump White House. There, they could combine the practice of moral appeasement, fecklessness, dishonesty, weakness and self-interest with being cheered, promoted and celebrated. Instead, these low men and women have to face the reality that the person staring back at them in the mirror is a different version of Lindsey Graham — only they call themselves journalists as opposed to senator.

The farce is the same.

The cowardice is the same.

The record will show that when the starting gun sounded nobody came close to Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski with their Usain Bolt-like dash to Mar-a-Lago. Bezos must look at them through his capitulant lens as visionaries. Perhaps they will have the opportunity to summer aboard Koru, his yacht, with the Lady Sanchez in the south of France. Given that Bezos has green-lit a Melania documentary that explains her reemergence from witness protection, maybe she could be there as well, softly purring about her deep love of Donald and America.

Photo credit: Cobra-Dunes/Backgrid

The amazing thing is that Donald isn’t even president yet.

Cartoon by Ann Telnaes

Here’s the thing. This is important.

Nobody should be surprised because these people are all a different version of Trump. They are smaller and lesser versions, which is why they are the ones on their knees in front of him. Who these people are has always been obvious.

What is less obvious is the strength of the American people.

Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Elon Musk, and all the rest of America’s oligarchs hold the American people in contempt. Because they do, they can’t see the character of the steelworker, trucker, nurse, teacher or cop. They only see one thing, and that in the end, is why this whole miserable MAGA project will crash and burn. They are locusts preparing to swarm to engorge themselves even though they feel no hunger and want for nothing.

Donald Trump will keep pushing until someone, somewhere, some day, effectively pushes back again.

I hope that day comes soon because until then they are going to be full speed ahead. By the time the inaugural address is over there will be perfect clarity around what must be fiercely opposed as indecent and un-American.

Until then, the bowing, scraping and kowtowing will continue apace.

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