So fascistbook (not a typo), twitter, instagram and others have banned Cheetolini. Colour me unimpressed.
Tiger Woods was outed as philanderer in 2009, and Donald Sterling was outed as a racist scumbag in 2014. Do you remember what happened immediately after? Within 48 hours, ALL the corporate media had in depth stories on BOTH of them. Not just their most recent action (at that time), but their ENTIRE history of deplorable acts. How did the coprorate sports media obtain and publish that much information so fast?
Because they already had it. They already knew what sort of scum they were. And they kept their mouths shut to protect their careers.
If they published when it wasn’t public, the golf and basketball “media” lapdogs would have been locked out of golf clubs and NBA arenas. Their careers as “journalists” would have been over. They would have been considered “snitches” and suffered the same career exile as Lisa Olsen after she reported being sexual harassed while covering the New England Patriots. She had to move to Australia for eight years to cover sports before she could return home. Those in the NFL (the players who sexually harassed her like Zeke Mowatt, team owner Victor Kiam who insulted her) suffered minimal consequences, fines and nothing more.
Access and furthering their careers was more important to “sports journalists” than telling the truth. The golf and NBA writers chose quid pro quo over intergrity, covering up crimes so they could keep their jobs, thus becoming participants in said crimes. But when Woods and Sterling were outed, the “journalists” were able to publish without fear of consequence – and without fear of anyone asking what I’m asking: Why didn’t they report this when they knew about it? (*)
It’s the same now with social media and corporate media. They toadied up to halls of power until it was “safe” to back away (read: run from what they were embracing).
Zuckerberg’s fascistbook and Jack Dorsey’s twitter didn’t ban Cheetolini because they wanted continued access to power. They and other corporate elite (Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, google’s owners, etc.) don’t care one whit if the US becomes a fascist state, just as long as they are part of the power structure and can keep their wealth. They believe in money and hate democracy the same way Exxon and United Fruit have done, or others happily employed slave labour because it’s cheap and profitable, like Pepsico, Apple, Nike, and many other multinational corporations.
The corporate media – Fox Nuisance, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, etc. – are just as culpable. Today, they’re all calling for Cheetolini’s removal. Big deal. Where were the calls to remove him in May when 10,000 dead became 100,000 dead in a month? There was nothing, the only reporting from then until November: “he’s going his own way”. He should have been removed after he said “I don’t take any responsibility”, not waiting until now with over 400,000 dead. (I’m including those undercounted and falsely attributed to other causes of death.)
And I’m not just talking networks, I’m talking individuals. Even the so-called “progressives” like Maddow, Hayes, Cuomo and others were too cowardly to call for the 25th amendment and his removal in May when it was clear Cheetolini wasn’t up to the task of dealing with COVID-19. They were too worried about “sounding extreme”. Extreme times call for extreme measures, not pussyfooting or beating around the bush.
You expect politicians to be two-faced and to run in whatever direction keeps them in power and away from responsibility, like McConnell and others suddenly backing away after the attempted coup (and running towards it had it succeeded). But don’t let the social and corporate media off the hook, they’re just as culpable, just as much participants with their silence.
(*) Another thought on the NBA media and Donald Sterling in 2014:
After Sterling was outed, what did the media do? They interviewed NBA players. You may ask, “What’s wrong with that?”
It’s wrong because by asking, the media were blaming the Black players and Black americans for being offended, for “ruining Sterling’s career”. They didn’t care what Black players had to say, they were asking to distract from the fact that the media and team owners knew exactly what sort of human garbage Sterling is.
They didn’t want anyone asking questions in their own direction. So they asked the players instead.