The DOJ knows it will lose on appeal. The trial showed the Trump regime had no legitimate case to block the AT&T and TimeWarner merger. As all Americans know, Trump opposed the merger because he wanted to stifle CNN’s exercise of free speech. CNN is owned by TimeWarner.
"we believe in the power of free markets.
Unless we don’t like you,
Then fuck you very much."
The Rethuglican Party has been disregarding “fundamental principles of economics and common sense,” for decades.
the DOJ argued the ruling was wrong because it ignored speculations that companies are inherently motivated by maximum profits.
Speculations? Are they fucking kidding?
[Quote] federal government hadn’t been able to prove its claims that the merger would give AT&T vast authority to squash competitors if it were allowed to function as “a top distributor of pay-TV service as well as the owner of top content,” in the WSJ’s words.[/Quote] Concearns of course, that only have a basis in this specific situation and not with, say, ISPs using their market positions to give preferential treatment in the absence of Net Neutrality restrictions, which of course are an affront to the glory of an unfettered free market.
I actually heard commentators seriously speculating about Trump’s position on the various media mergers in progress. Let me help:
ATT - TW: AGAINST, they’re very very mean to me!
Disney - 21st Cent Fox: FOR, they’re very very nice to me!
Sinclair: FOR, they’re very very nice to me!
The problem with this is that DoJ is right for exactly the wrong underlying reasons. This kind of consolidation between content providers and pipe providers is seriously bad for the country, especially now that net neutrality is gone.
But they’re making the argument in bad faith, entirely because trump wants to punish the parties in this particular merger. I have no clue whom to root for.
And yet, at the same time, it is a terrible merger and the DoJ lawyers working it have more freedom to attack the Bork distortion of antitrust law than they’ve had in years because of Trump’s pique. Though likely, the pique has poisoned the case beyond repair.
Because of the blatant malign intent, any possible legitimate argument posited by the Trump DOJ is viewed cynically. Seriously, if TimeWarner wasn’t the owner of CNN, the Trump regime would have rubberstamped the merger. We both know that.
That’s easy. Root for Trump to lose.
Wanna see if the Trump DoJ is against anything that speaks negatively of Trump. Watch what happens when Comcast (which owns NBC and MSNBC) tries to do a merger.