(Photo
by
David
Becker/Getty
Images)
Everybody
who
has
real
power
is
capitulating.
Jeff
Bezos,
the
second-richest
guy
in
the
world,
who’s
worth
about
$250
billion,
gave
up.
He
owns
the
Washington
Post,
of
course,
but
he
didn’t
let
that
newspaper
endorse
Kamala
Harris.
By
nixing
the
endorsement,
Bezos
outraged
his
editorial
board,
caused
talented
reporters
to
quit,
and
cost
the
Post about
200,000
digital
subscribers.
Why
did
Bezos
do
this?
Not
because
Bezos
owns
the Post,
but
because
Bezos
owns
Blue
Origin,
a
space
exploration
firm
that
depends
on
the
federal
government
for
its
future.
With
Donald
Trump
at
the
helm,
the
federal
government
could
destroy
Blue
Origin,
so
Bezos
had
to
capitulate.
For
good
measure,
Bezos
recently
agreed
to
pay
$40
million
to
license
the
rights
to
a
documentary
about
Melania
Trump.
He’s
not
taking
any
chances.
Bezos
is
too
rich,
so
he
has
no
power.
Same
with
Mark
Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg,
the
fourth-richest
guy
in
the
world,
who’s
worth
about
$200
billion,
gave
up.
He
donated
a
million
bucks
to
Trump’s
inauguration,
replaced
Nick
Clegg
(the
prominent
British
politician)
with
Joel
Kaplan
(a
longtime
buddy
of
Trump’s)
as
Facebook’s
head
of
public
policy,
moved
Facebook’s
content
moderation
team
from
blue
California
to
red
Texas,
and
appointed
Dana
White
(the
head
of
the
Ultimate
Fighting
Championship,
who
spoke
at
the
Republican
National
Convention)
to
Facebook’s
board
of
directors.
Why
did
Zuckerberg
do
this?
Because
the
federal
government,
with
Trump
at
the
helm,
can
destroy
Facebook,
so
Zuckerberg
had
to
capitulate.
He’s
too
rich,
so
he
has
no
power.
So,
too,
with
Patrick
Soon-Shiong.
He’s
worth
a
mere
five
or
six
billion,
so
he’s
hardly
worth
talking
about.
Soon-Shiong
owns
the
Los
Angeles
Times.
Like
Bezos
at
the
Post,
Soon-Shiong
forbade
his
newspaper
from
endorsing
Kamala
Harris.
Soon-Shiong
also
announced
plans
to
avoid
having
his
paper
become
a
liberal
echo
chamber
and
to
balance
the
paper’s
editorial
board
with
more
conservative
voices.
Why?
Because
Soon-Shiong
has
business
interests
in
health
care
technology
and
biotechnology,
which
depend
on
the
federal
government
(such
as
the
FDA)
to
survive.
The
federal
government,
with
Trump
at
the
helm,
can
destroy
Soon-Shiong,
so
he
had
to
capitulate.
He’s
too
rich,
so
he
has
no
power.
Bob
Iger’s
basically
a
nobody.
He’s
worth
a
mere
$700
million,
and
he’s
the
CEO
of
the
Walt
Disney
Company.
There
was
no
reason
at
all
for
ABC
News
to
settle
the
defamation
case
that
Trump
brought
against
it.
Trump
insisted
that
George
Stephanopoulos
defamed
him
by
calling
Trump
a
rapist
on
the
air.
But
a
New
York
federal
judge
had
said
that
Trump’s
conduct,
as
found
by
a
jury,
constituted
rape
in
the
usual
sense
of
the
word.
And,
in
any
event,
the
jury
certainly
found
that
Trump
at
least
digitally
penetrated
E.
Jean
Carroll;
how
was
Trump
damaged
by
Stephanopoulos
saying
that
Trump
had
“raped”
E.
Jean
Carroll
rather
than
more
accurately
saying
that
he
“jammed
his
fingers
inside
E.
Jean
Carroll
without
her
consent”?
ABC
News
might
have
fought
this
ridiculous
lawsuit.
But
the
Walt
Disney
Co.
owns
ABC
News.
The
federal
government,
with
Trump
at
the
helm,
can
destroy
the
Walt
Disney
Co.,
so
Iger
had
to
capitulate
and
pay
$15
million
to
a
presidential
foundation
and
museum
to
be
established
by
Trump.
Iger
has
too
many
business
interests,
so
he
has
no
power.
Who’s
left
to
speak
the
truth?
Perhaps
a
few
courageous,
and
independent,
media
outlets.
But
nobody
big
and
important.
They’re
all
too
rich,
so
they
have
to
capitulate.
I’m
afraid
that
only
schlubs
like
me
can
speak
the
truth.
For
what
Above
the
Law
pays
me
for
writing
these
columns,
I’d
be
better
off
if
they
fired
me.
I’m
otherwise
retired,
so
I
don’t
have
to
worry
about
an
employer
canning
me.
My
vast
corporate
empire
is
still
a
few
pennies
short
of
being
worth
a
billion
bucks,
so
I
don’t
have
business
interests
that
Trump
can
punish.
Isn’t
it
funny?
The
meek
have
inherited
the
earth.
Those
of
us
who
don’t
matter
are
more
able
to
speak
truth
to
power
than
those
who
appear
to
be
rich
and
powerful.
This
is
a
dreadful
situation.
But
speak
up!
You’re
the
only
one
who
can.
And
please
do
send
me
a
toothbrush
next
month,
when
you’re
notified
that
I’ve
been
imprisoned.
Mark Herrmann
spent
17
years
as
a
partner
at
a
leading
international
law
firm
and
later
oversaw
litigation,
compliance
and
employment
matters
at
a
large
international
company.
He
is
the
author
of
The
Curmudgeon’s
Guide
to
Practicing
Law and Drug
and
Device
Product
Liability
Litigation
Strategy (affiliate
links).
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected].