Originally published at: Media Companies Like Paramount Should Think Twice Before Settling With Trump - TPM – Talking Points Memo
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. Paramount Global, which owns CBS News, recently made a perilous decision to settle the lawsuit that Donald Trump brought against them last year. Trump’s suit asserted that CBS’ 60 Minutes illegally edited a Kamala Harris interview in order to hurt his chances…
This nothing more than a mob boss demanding a piece of the action and making and making an offer you can’t refuse.
If the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), led by Trump ally Brendan Carr, doesn’t approve this merger by October, the deal could fall apart and board chair Shari Redstone could lose a reported $2 billion payout.
Having some familiarity with mergers, I bet it is not the board chair Shari Redstone who would lose. That is several big executives have good size fortunes at risk if the merger is denied.
Which brings up the question, what is my honor and good name worth? If we are going to be honest, if someone offers you $2,000,000,000, who would not at least think about it. Basically, all they are really doing is cutting Trump in for a piece of the action like you would Vito Carleone or, if this was Russia, Vladimir Putin.
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Well, the mass firings are “legal”, and the Trump regime has a green light to get rid of civil service employees and replace them with MAGA sycophants. While this is injunctive relief, it effectively means the Trump regime is on the next step to ensuring a partisan authoritarian government will take the place of a professional workforce.
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A settlement doesn’t create a legal precedent, but this one might open the door a crack for Democratic candidates to go after Fox and the other RW media outlets for their own editing decisions with Trump interviews and interviews with or statements by Republican candidates. Today’s event provides an example: as soon as Trump’s rant started to go completely off the rails, Fox cut away, as they so often do.
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JFC! It’s not a “settlement.” It’s a god-damned BRIBE!
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This reminds me of the scene from an old movie from the late 60’s produced by Ringo Starr (“The Magic Christian).” The protagonist throws piles of cash into a swimming pool full of raw sewage, and the greedy onlookers jump into the pool to gather the free cash.
Except, in what is now the true Trump manner, the cash is far from “free” once you voluntarily squander your dignity while fulfilling your donor’s intentions.
Lately, Donnie has appeared more physically sick than usual.
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These media companies may be convinced that there will not be anymore general elections for the office of President for a long long time.
And since the Supreme Court is now rolling over like rotisserie chickens … and the House & Senate have begun ritualistic self neutering process … it is becoming difficult to imagine how & when the nation will regain some semblance of coherency.
And that is called paying the Dane-geld;
But we’ve proved it again and again,
That if once you have paid him the Dane-geld
You never get rid of the Dane.
Rudyard Kipling - Danegeld
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