Eugene Robinson — a veteran opinion columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner — is leaving the Washington Post, and if this doesn’t upset you, you haven’t been paying attention.
There was a time when people fought back against fascism; now, it seems that everyone is standing in line to kiss the fascist ring.
President Trump has long been an opponent of “liberal” media, often calling news that is critical of his dumb decision-making and lack of government procedure “fake news.” Instead of mainstay news organizations holding the line and keeping the president’s feet aflame, spineless billionaire Jeff Bezos, who added the Washington Post to his portfolio of “all things white” –– seriously, the man owns Amazon, the Washington Post, and Whole Foods –– bent the knee.
Earlier this year, Bezos made changes to the Washington Post opinion section, which had largely operated independently from the newspaper.
“We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” Bezos said. “…viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.”
“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’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views,” Bezos said. “Today, the internet does that job.”
If you have trouble following that word salad, don’t worry. I will run the sentiment through my trusty word salad decoder to bring you a message that is hopefully easier to understand.
“I love money. President Trump loves money. President Trump has more power than me. Therefore, I love President Trump. The Washington Post will no longer be critical of President Trump.”
And that blanket lovefest for a fascist dictator who refuses to follow law or order was just too much for longtime Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson, who announced Thursday that he was leaving the newspaper after 45 years.
“I wanted to let you know that I’ve decided to leave the Post,” Robinson wrote in an email to Post staff that was obtained by the New York Times. “The announced ‘significant shift’ in our section’s mission has spurred me to decide that it’s time for my next chapter. I wish nothing but the very best for the paper and for all of you. I won’t be a stranger, and I’ll be reading your unparalleled work every single day.”
The Times notes that Robinson is the third Post staffer to leave the paper since Bezos admitted that he was moving to the dark side.
“Ex-opinion editor David Shipley quit as soon as Bezos announced his revamp, and veteran WaPo columnist Ruth Marcus left in March, after she said publisher Will Lewis ‘spiked’ a column ‘expressing concern’ over owner Bezos’ new direction for the opinion section,” the Times reports.
Robinson began writing for the Post opinion section in 2005 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 2009 for his 2008 columns on then senator Barack Obama and his run for the White House.
But we had to know that none of this was going to last when President Trump openly praised the Post owner, noting that Bezos is trying to “do a good job,” BBC News notes.
*Vomit*
“For 45 years, his reporting and commentary spanned continents and beats, earning countless recognitions, including a Pulitzer Prize,” the Post said in a statement. “Eugene’s strong perspective and impeccable integrity have regularly shaped our public discourse, cementing his legacy as a leading voice in American journalism.”
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