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CBS cancels Colbert as media continues to turn Trumpward. Not just bending the knee. It's also oligarchic solidarity.
From Noah Berlatsky at Aaron Rupar's Public Notice:
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/cobert-canceled-cbs-trump-skydance
-snip-
When CBS, or ABC, or other outlets bend the knee to Trump, they’re often accused of — well, bending the knee. In January, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes created the iconic form of this criticism in a cartoon for the Washington Post which showed Bezos, Disney, and other billionaires kneeling before a huge Trump idol, offering it giant bags of cash.
This cartoon clearly struck a nerve — Bezos’s Post, in one among many cowardly developments, refused to print it, and Telnaes resigned on principle and in disgust. Yet, the general billionaire enthusiasm for Trump suggests that we may be looking, not at craven fealty, but at a kind of calculated, enthusiastic oligarchic solidarity.
Trump definitely enjoys it when those around him engage in ritual acts of humiliation. But Bezos or the Ellisons or ABC don’t necessarily see formal apologizes, or million-dollar payments, or abandoning free speech, as humiliation — not compared to paying taxes or dealing with government regulators, anyway. Palliating Trump is really just palliating themselves, since Trump stands for the inalienable truth that rich white guys should be allowed to do whatever they want without any accountability whatsoever.
Colbert does not believe in that inalienable truth, which is why Trump hates him and wants him gone. We can’t know for sure if Colbert’s bosses want him gone for the same reason. But it’s easy to connect the dots.
When CBS, or ABC, or other outlets bend the knee to Trump, they’re often accused of — well, bending the knee. In January, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Ann Telnaes created the iconic form of this criticism in a cartoon for the Washington Post which showed Bezos, Disney, and other billionaires kneeling before a huge Trump idol, offering it giant bags of cash.
This cartoon clearly struck a nerve — Bezos’s Post, in one among many cowardly developments, refused to print it, and Telnaes resigned on principle and in disgust. Yet, the general billionaire enthusiasm for Trump suggests that we may be looking, not at craven fealty, but at a kind of calculated, enthusiastic oligarchic solidarity.
Trump definitely enjoys it when those around him engage in ritual acts of humiliation. But Bezos or the Ellisons or ABC don’t necessarily see formal apologizes, or million-dollar payments, or abandoning free speech, as humiliation — not compared to paying taxes or dealing with government regulators, anyway. Palliating Trump is really just palliating themselves, since Trump stands for the inalienable truth that rich white guys should be allowed to do whatever they want without any accountability whatsoever.
Colbert does not believe in that inalienable truth, which is why Trump hates him and wants him gone. We can’t know for sure if Colbert’s bosses want him gone for the same reason. But it’s easy to connect the dots.
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