Bezos: democracy is no match for billions

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post. More to the point, he has more money than he could spend in ten lifetimes. Yet, only a mix of greed and fear explains his decision to spike the Post’s endorsement of Kamala. His editor-at-large Robert Kagan resigned, showing the courage Bezos lacked. Many subscribers (including this writer) canceled their subscriptions in dismay. In fact, this decision may have made Bezos more of a pariah in Washington DC than Trump.

Notably, Bezos followed the cowardly lead of the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times. Both are aping a growing list of wannabe oligarchs, all too eager to sell out American democracy for Trump, just as Russian oligarchs sold out their democracy for Putin, and German industrialists did for Hitler.

Incidentally, it’s incomprehensible enough that White evangelicals sold out their religion to support Trump. But the allure of libertine privileges under Trump’s autocracy has even rich Jews like Schwarzman, Ackman, and Blum crusading for this fascist antisemite. What could go wrong?

Rich men enabling tyrants

History teaches tyranny begins not with a bang but a whimper. And it often manifests with men like Bezos and Republican leaders cowering, before a bully in training to become a tyrant. Bezos spiking the Post’s endorsement of Kamala is such a whimper—a signal to Trump that his training is going very well indeed.

Bezos and far too many business and political leaders are treating Trump’s election as a foregone conclusion, willing it into a self-fulfilling prophecy. But what if Kamala wins? You can bet Bezos and this rogues’ gallery of wannabe oligarchs would waste no time currying favor with President Harris, pretending they were never complicit in feeding Trump’s autocratic fever.

This is the way democracy dies

With all due respect to the Post’s own motto, Bezos is showing the way democracy dies. But this pales in comparison with the myriad ways Republicans and so-called Independents have been enabling Trump’s dictatorial antics for years.

So here’s to President Harris issuing “absolute immunity” orders that make them regret kowtowing to him for the rest of their lives. Kamala should be taking names to kick ass as president.

She should publicly reward those who stood up for democracy like few have since the Civil War. And let Trump’s wannabe oligarchs vent their disappointment by moving to Russia or China. Oh, right…