The Rich, The Powerful, The Cowardly
We are witnessing media companies, journalists and billionaires bowing down to Trump and his hostile takeover—seeking access, favors and security. They are doing us a favor.
On Tyranny author Timothy Snyder warned us. “Do not obey in advance,” he wrote, explaining that those who do are teaching authoritarians what they can get away with. But not everyone who should have gotten the message has heard him. Here are just a few examples:
ABC News journalist George Stephanopoulos said in May, “I am not going to be cowed out of doing my job because of a threat by Donald Trump,” and Stephen Colbert’s late night audience gave him a rousing ovation. Yet on Saturday, Stephanopoulos and his employer ABC News settled Trump’s defamation lawsuit with an agreement to donate $15 million to a Trump presidential library (seriously), pay $1 million to cover Trump’s attorneys’ fees and publish a statement regretting that he used the word rape even though—as he noted in May—”a judge said that’s in fact what did happen.”
The Washington Post carries the tagline “Democracy Dies in Darkness,” yet its billionaire owner Jeff Bezos deep-sixed the publication of his paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris. That same owner—who also owns Amazon—has since donated $1 million to the Trump inauguration, plans to visit Mar-a-Lago, and calls Trump “calmer” and “more confident, more settled” than he was in his first term.
Meta owner Mark Zuckerberg banned Trump from Facebook and Instagram after the violent Jan. 6 insurrection. Yet now, after Trump threatened Zuckerberg with “life in prison” for his ““plotting” against him and “steering” Facebook against his 2020 campaign, this tech billionaire has dined at Mar-a-Lago, given $1 million to his inauguration fund, characterized Trump as “badass” and praised this moment as “an important time for the future of American Innovation.”
Before the election, MSNBC hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski warned and worried about Trump’s violent, fascist rhetoric and intensifying authoritarianism. Yet soon after the election, they headed to Mar-a-Lago for an off-the-record conversation with the vengeful victor—providing an early sign that their chief concern is maintaining access and minimizing the danger of retribution.
I planned to lament the way media organizations, journalists and tech billionaires are groveling before the convicted felon and depraved sociopath who employs the scare tactics of a mobster to get what he wants. I intended to use words like kowtowing, obsequious and lickspittle, or maybe bootlicker, toady and sycophant.
I have struggled, honestly, to contain my anger over the way that some media organizations and legacy media members are besmirching the journalistic profession and its duty to tell the truth and stand up to power—especially when it’s hard and possibly dangerous. I have doubted there are words strong enough to describe cowardly billionaires whose riches are apparently insufficient to strengthen their resolve and convince them to stand up against Trump’s bullying scare tactics. All of these powerful individuals and entities endanger us all by their willful refusal to take seriously Timothy Snyder’s necessary guidance to not obey the fascists.
We already know that Trump is larding up his cabinet and leadership team with dangerously unfit lackeys who will make his every ugly whim their command. The media and the rich and powerful who recognize this danger have a critical role to play in the opposition—to help withstand the coming flood of hateful policies that will be particularly felt by the most vulnerable among us. Billionaire Mark Cuban is one example of a very rich man who hasn’t lost his moral compass in the desperation to increase his fortune or out of fear of Trump vengeance. I hope he remains fearless and committed to the survival of our democracy.
But here’s the thing: As much as I am angry and worried and prone to lament over what may come to pass, the examples of ring-kissing by people who should know better is valuable. Rather than fear that the opposition is weakened by these Americans who are bending down to Trump, they are saving us time by telling us that they are not up to the fight and we cannot count on them.
And honestly, perhaps perversely, this gives me more strength. Because if these people have large, powerful media organizations with significant legal resources behind them or they have massive fortunes that should be a bulwark against the darkening tide—and still they choose to kowtow—then you, me and everyone else who lacks such resources are freer than they will ever be. Their need to maintain their foothold in Trump’s hostile, authoritarian takeover is a cage. They may think their access or alliance strengthens their position, but recent history has made painfully clear that there’s no freedom, no reliable certainty, for anyone who chooses to be close to the sociopathic Trump.
I leave you with a quick reminder that when Mike Pence accepted Trump’s offer to serve as vice president, he ambitiously saw it as the next rung on the ladder after serving in Congress and as governor of Indiana. For nearly four years, we couldn’t avoid his constant adoring gaze of his beloved leader—his obsequious, oleaginous, toadying display of sycophancy intended to secure his power and status forever.
And then, the one time he chose to stand up for what is right by fulfilling his constitutional duty and certifying the 2020 election—rather than rejecting the voters and overturning the election as his boss demanded—Donald J. Trump incited the hounds and stood by while the rabid mob chanted to hang Mike Pence. This is what groveling before Trump can yield.
Count me among the proud and grateful opposition. May our community grow stronger and stronger.
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Cowards, all. “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.” - Frederick Douglass, 1857.
Yay for this column. I see two things. We, the bit players, can do damage at our local level - write letters to the editor of our small hometown papers, join the groups who already are working on the next election cycle. Maybe the opposite of “obey in advance” could be “death by a thousand cuts.” Keep pointing out every failure - the price of eggs not going down, the first case of polio, or increase in measles, food poisoning because of deleted regulations. 2. Trump does not respect grovelers — sooner or later, he will turn on them, as he did Pence. I look forward to it.