# Let WaPo out of the doghouse? A trivial quandry **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [May 2, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782 "2025-05-02T04:49:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/1 "2025-05-02T04:49:14Z")
Last year Jeff Bezos blocked the WaPo from expressing some pointedly anti-tRump commentary. Many subscribers dropped their subsccriptions in disgust over his spineless performance. Following the election Bezos continued to bootlick, confirming the low opinion that many held of him. Days ago he apparently had a massive testosterone infusion or something- he said he would indicate the tariff impact on cost of individual items sold on Amazon. tRumpie was enraged according to the usual reliable sources.Is this single act of defiance by Bezos enough to permit a person of conscience to restart their Wapo subscription? I kinda miss it. ---
**Author:** ![Chisquirrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6bbea6/32.png) [@Chisquirrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chisquirrel)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/2 "2025-05-02T04:56:34Z")
Given that Amazon immediately dropped it when Trump got pissy, why? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/3 "2025-05-02T05:25:26Z")
> [@Turki-lurki](#): > > Days ago he apparently had a massive testosterone infusion or something- he said he would indicate the tariff impact on cost of individual items sold on Amazon. This is based on an “anonymous source” from _Punchbowl News_. And nothing else. And immediately denied by everyone involved. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Bezos never said it. ---
**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/4 "2025-05-02T05:37:32Z")
Furthermore, according to Punchbowl News, the identification of tariff costs was not something proposed for Amazon generally; just for Amazon Haul, a fairly tiny province of the Amazon empire that offers a range of low-cost goods that are shipped directly from China to the customer, to compete directly with Temu and the like. Amazon Haul’s entire business model is destroyed by the tariffs, obviously, so it’s not amazing that they would ask themselves whether something like this might salvage it. But there was no suggestion that this was going to be done on the general Amazon site. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/5 "2025-05-02T05:47:25Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Given that Amazon immediately dropped it when Trump got pissy, why? Or the fact that this “massive testosterone infusion or something” only occurred when it impacted Amazon’s bottom line, and notwithstanding all that Bezo’s appointed publisher and CEO William Lewis has done to suppress editorial independence? Fuck the _Washington Post_, William Lewis, and Jeff Bezos, a man whose outrageous billions of dollars could be used to counter the oligarchs behind but who folded like a pair of duces because he is terrified that Trump and Musk will pull government funding for his rocket hobby project, even though it is all but certain that Musk will do that anyway. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/9tocssf3w80/hqdefault.jpg "LESSON 1: Do Not Obey In Advance") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tocssf3w80) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/6 "2025-05-02T05:58:54Z")
> [@Turki-lurki](#): > > Is this single act of defiance by Bezos enough to permit a person of conscience to restart their Wapo subscription? I kinda miss it. Another resounding “No!” from me. Even if he had actually documented tariffs on Amazon (in general) and if he had gone through with them after talking with Trump (a no to both from all sources so far) that doesn’t change the fact that his efforts made Trump’s win easier. Or his sane-washing of Trump and Trump’s political picks. The damage already done is unspeakable. All that said, it’s your money. I won’t tell you that you can’t have your WaPo if you want. But doing so because you’ve convinced yourself Bezos or the WaPo has _changed_ is the worst sort of misled self-justification. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/7 "2025-05-02T09:17:18Z")
I read _The Washington Post_ every day, and it’s not pro-Trump. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/8 "2025-05-02T10:12:19Z")
It’s a matter of perspective. Last fall their owner who influenced what was published was decidedly not pro Harris. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/9 "2025-05-02T10:31:03Z")
Pardon the double post, but I must clarify that by “influenced” what was published, I mean to say “directed” what was published. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/10 "2025-05-02T11:06:43Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I read _The Washington Post_ every day, and it’s not pro-Trump. > [@bobot](#): > > It’s a matter of perspective. Last fall their owner who influenced what was published was decidedly not pro Harris. I’ve seen WaPo columnist Carolyn Hax explain the distinction between the “news side” of the Post, which has been allowed to do its job, and the “opinion side,” which has been “influenced” and censored. > [@](#): > > That [news] is where The Post ownership is not directing coverage. Instead, it news side is behind the same wall it has always been – which means the owner and publisher hire top editors and then let them do their jobs. > > I never know when a reader asking about the changes at The Post is aware of the difference, so I err on the side of over-explaining, because it’s such an important distinction: News side is its own thing, and is covering the administration and everything else it covers under the direction of editors, not ownership. The Post’s news coverage has borne this out. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/11 "2025-05-02T11:19:26Z")
Yeah, you do you, but I’m not cancelling my subscription as long as they are doing quality news reporting, which as far as I can tell they still do. I _have_ cut back my Amazon purchasing to about 10% of what it used to be, which strikes me as a much more efficient way to hit Bezos in the pocketbook. ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/12 "2025-05-02T12:37:40Z")
Rats. I thought one of our oligarchs had developed a spine. Should have known better. Thanks for fighting my personal ignorance. I’ll probably follow ‘Fretful’s’ lead and cut back on Amazon purchases. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/13 "2025-05-02T13:26:06Z")
> [@Chisquirrel](#): > > Given that Amazon immediately dropped it when Trump got pissy, why? I don’t know if Amazon planned it but it might have been deliberate; announce something that Trump is going to hate (post the tariff impact on prices but only on the Amazon Haul store), but then after Trump calls Bezos to complain, immediately back down. That gave Trump a win without really costing Amazon much of anything. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/14 "2025-05-02T17:26:00Z")
Both the Post and the Times are doing quality journalism on the Trump series of idiocies. Some people who should know better love to hate them because they act as newspapers rather than sufficiently progressive lefties. I admit that the owners are more conservative than the journalists, but that’s money in America and has been that way for decades. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/15 "2025-05-02T17:38:16Z")
They had an endorsement of Harris for President lined up to be published. They did not publish it. Trump is president. Fuck them. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/16 "2025-05-02T17:43:00Z")
Newspapers shouldn’t publish editorial endorsements of politicians in the first place. Many have already stopped. The timing was truly awful, but nobody in the world can believe that if it had gone through Harris would have been elected. I endorse journalism. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/17 "2025-05-02T17:50:26Z")
It’s a brave stand! I endorse The Guardian. (For now.) ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/18 "2025-05-02T17:52:12Z")
I’m calling **[Typo](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/quandary)** In The Thread Title. There. I said it. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/19 "2025-05-02T17:57:16Z")
> [@Turki-lurki](#): > > Days ago he apparently had a massive testosterone infusion or something Billionaire Bezos has, one might reasonably assume, been _literally_ getting massive testosterone infusions for many years now. Below pic is circa 2017. That didn’t ‘man him up’ enough to stand up to trump going back to trump 1.0, so why assume it has now? [![](https://media.gq.com/photos/59692ae28e996a4571a3919c/16:9/w_1920,c_limit/jeff%20bezos%20jacked.jpg) ](https://media.gq.com/photos/59692ae28e996a4571a3919c/16:9/w_1920,c_limit/jeff%20bezos%20jacked.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2025, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782/20 "2025-05-02T18:25:42Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Newspapers shouldn’t publish editorial endorsements of politicians in the first place. Many have already stopped. The timing was truly awful, but nobody in the world can believe that if it had gone through Harris would have been elected. I endorse journalism. ⁢ That might be a good argument if it was actually unfortunate timing – if the _Post_ actually stopped endorsing out of principle. But they didn’t. So, while I’m sure you support journalism, you aren’t doing that in this post. You’re justifying an action that was specifically made by a capitalist to appease a fascist dictator with a high chance of winning because he was afraid of retaliation against his company. It doesn’t matter if letting the editors post their opinion would have won the election. The principle that was violated was the owner interfering, and specifically _why_ he interfered. And that makes a lot of people unwilling to support his company. I can see some people saying that it’s worth supporting the journalism. But I do not approve of easing one’s conscience in this manner. I believe you have to own that you are also supporting a horrible act. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/let-wapo-out-of-the-doghouse-a-trivial-quandry/1017782.md?page=2)