Opportunism and fear.
I was gonna say fear and greed, but opportunism might encapsulate it better. Either way, pretty much the two strongest driving forces in America.
Guy has shown himself to grant massive favors for mild compliments and impose massive penalties for mild insults.
It’s rare that you can make a difference of millions of dollars for your company by just saying nice things for an hour, so execs are jumping at the chance.
TBH, I can’t blame them. It’s the same motivation that pushed these companies to embrace gays and trans people. They’re all paying customers. Line must go up sometimes means you advertise to and publicly embrace marginalized communities in search of larger market share. Sometimes it means you kiss the ring of the ensuing fascist ruler.
I mean, I can blame them. Just because something is smart doesn’t mean it’s ethical or showing any integrity.
I get “that’s the job” but that’s never been a valid excuse in history.
Whether anyone likes it or not, Trump will be the US President for the next four years. For businesses, especially large ones, that means they will need to deal with his shit for the next four years. They can either take a “principled stand”, which will likely hurt profit and not gain them anything tangible (read: money); or, they can suck up and try to get in on the grift gravy train which is going to be running out of the White House for the next four years. This has a much better expected value. So, the choice is pretty clear. Businesses are amoral and only care about profit, don’t count on them to do anything which runs contrary to that motivation.
For politicians, especially those on the right, the calculus is about the same. Trump has basically been the flag bearer for the right for the last decade and will continue to be the center of the right for the next four years. Where is a GOP politician is going to seek electoral support? No one on the left is voting for a GOP candidate, swing voters are damned near a myth at this point in history; so, that leaves seeking votes from the right. Which brings the politicians right back to Trump. Not sucking up is political suicide for a GOP politician right now. Expect more DeSantis style embracing of Trump and more Susan Collins “I’m voting with Trump, but pretending I won’t just long enough to keep my seat in Maine”.
Last August, the podcast Behind the Bastards did a great two-parter on “How the Liberal Media Helped Fascism Win”. The focus was on pre-WW2, but it has obvious parallels to today. I highly recommend it, but the long and short of it is that legitimizing and platforming horrible but popular people was a good business strategy for news outlets, since they could appear “unbiased” and court interviews with said horrible people.
Money. They think he will (directly or indirectly) influence their ability to make more money.
He has the ability (along with his cohort of cabinet picks, and the supreme Court he stacked) to influence regulation policy in a detrimental way for the public that would be beneficial for the corps. Less/looser regulations = more money they don’t have to spend to comply with regulations = more profit.
You ever read about the newspaper headlines in Paris during the Seventh Nepoleonic War, when Napoleon escaped from Elba and began marching toward Paris?
They start off with headlines like “The Tyrant has returned to wage war on a terrified population.” Then switch to more neutral language like “Napoleon takes Laffrey and continues his march toward Paris”. And finally, upon his arrival “The glorious emperor Napoleon returns to Paris amidst cheers from an overjoyed populace”
Same concept, they’re afraid of saying anything negative now that he is fully set to reassume power.
Cowardice and greed
In addition to what’s already been stated, there was much talk on his campaign trail regarding “retribution”. Openly stated and promised. As such, I think people are in survival mode.
Nothing brings a man to his knees and opens his mouth like a dick with power.
Power hungry cowards that will snivel at anyone’s feet in hopes that someday they can weasel their way into being the king.
They used to have to pretend. Now they don’t.
Most people do stuff because they mean it.
Politicians and some others do stuff because they think it will get them power/votes/money/influence etc.
Their behavior is completely inconsistent with respect to having a stance or opinion. Their behavior is completely consistent with respect to trying to be in a favorable position. Once Trump’s out, they will turn right around and do or say whatever they think puts them on the winning team, even if it’s the complete opposite of what they’re doing now.
It’s plain as day, yet hard to see because it’s so bafflingly spineless.
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Trump is likely here to stay. With the dismantling of federal institutions, citizen rights and democratic institutions, USA is on the course to a “president for life” faux democracy like Russia or Turkey (or any number of other countries adopting this model in recent years)
Hey could you just clear up how much of this is hyperbole? I honestly can’t tell. How certain are you of this? Do you have a background in the political sciences or sources to lead credibility to this statement?
Journalistic integrity; or a lack thereof
