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The crazy thing is, the deal should be getting scrutiny anyway. This would be Trump doing his job. The thing that should worry us more is the concentration of

The crazy thing is, the deal should be getting scrutiny anyway. This would be Trump doing his job. The thing that should worry us more is the concentration of power of a single individual owning Amazon and the Washington Post represents. Why should a corporate deal affect a newspaper watching out for the interests of the public? It seems insane. That's because it is.

heartbreak 9y ago
Well the President is also flat out wrong when he calls it the "Amazon Washington Post" because Amazon doesn't own the Washington Post. Perhaps we should fix the President's blatant misinformation ability before we go preventing someone from founding/buying/inheriting particular businesses.
- SapphireSun 9y ago
  Jeff is CEO of Amazon and owns the Post. While the President is technically inaccurate, I'm not sure he is de facto inaccurate.
  - mtanski 9y ago
    Facts or accuracy are not a strong suit of the current guy in office. /s Also, he doesn't seam to care much for independent journalism... which WaPo is. Anytime Amazon is discussed in the WaPo, they do mention in interest of disclosure that Jeff Bezos is the owner of WaPo and Amazon. Got karma to burn so why not.
    - striking 9y ago
      > Please don't bait other users by inviting them to downvote you or proclaim that you expect to get downvoted. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - cgy1 9y ago
    Remember Trump also accused Amazon of "not paying internet taxes," so facts are not his strong suit. (Although he is correct only in that there is no such thing as internet taxes)
    - merb 9y ago
      well basically wasn't that one of his better political sentences? Saying something like "x does not paying internet taxes", could've come from every political person, since this sentence is extremly clever and not incorrect at all. amazon did in fact not pay internet taxes. (because they don't exists) Isn't that speech which every politican uses?
  - heartbreak 9y ago
    I think the President is committing fraud by implying as President to the American public that AMZN holds an asset that it does not. How’s that for technical accuracy?
    - bobthechef 9y ago
      Have you always been this literal minded? It's simplistic to think that AMZN is hermetically sealed off from the WaPo because legally the two entities have nothing to do with each other. Trump's insinuation isn't as strong as what you claim it is. He is at most suggesting that WaPo may be serving AMZN interests in a de facto, not de jure, capacity. Frankly, I think that he's just using Amazon as a symbol for Bezos because people know what Amazon is and what it means for businesses. They don't necessarily know who Bezos is. It allows him to associate whatever negative associations Amazon may have in his electorate with the WaPo. On the other hand, it may have been as simple as a humorous quip. In any case, you should relax.
      - heartbreak 9y ago
        Let’s see... the President tweeted several times last night about Amazon and WaPo. No, it doesn’t look like a humorous quip to me. It looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s inventing a narrative and using that nonsense to interfere with an acquisition.
  - s73ver 9y ago
    Trump doesn't get the benefit of the doubt, here. He's long, long, long since lost that.
- bitJericho 9y ago
  It might as well be owned by Amazon
- pyroinferno 9y ago
  Are you sure you aren't the one spewing blatant misinformation? The CEO (and founder) of Amazon owns the WaPo. Although, WaPo isn't owned by Amazon it doesn't take someone of extraordinary intelligence to come to the conclusion that the WaPo and Amazon have a special relationship, considering how they are both managed by the same person.
  - heartbreak 9y ago
    I’m 100% sure I’m not spewing misinformation, thank you. Amazon is a publicly traded company and WaPo is owned by Jeff Bezos, most literally NOT Amazon.
    - bobthechef 9y ago
      Yes, technically true, but it probably was intentional. Think of the alternatives. The Bezos Post? The Bezos Washington Post? Think of his audience. Most people know what Amazon is, not who Jeff Bezos is. Spelling bee winners like you are not Trump's target audience. Instead of nitpicking, try asking why Trump may have said what he said. It's this refusal or inability to see things from other perspectives that was a major reason for the shock Democrats experienced when Trump won.
SapphireSun 9y ago
I'm pretty amused that you guys think I'm advancing a pro-Trump position here. The reason he's doing this is clearly because he's a vindictive authoritarian that wants to suppress the free press. There's no way he cares at all about anti-trust law. The point I'm trying to get across is that the independence of the free press is threatened by concentration of power. Trump should not even be able to attack the Washington Post in this indirect fashion. In this case, he's probably doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Let The Post be independent of enormous corporate interests and reduce its attack surface. Also, I might have to watch A Few Good Men tonight. Thanks for the reminder. "DON'T YOU KNOW THE PRESIDENT LIES?!" "SON. YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH."
- grdvnkootcvj 9y ago
  > I'm pretty amused that you guys think I'm advancing a pro-Trump position here. The reason he's doing this is clearly because he's a vindictive authoritarian that wants to suppress the free press. do you really believe this or are you just virtue signaling?

heartbreak 9y ago

Well the President is also flat out wrong when he calls it the "Amazon Washington Post" because Amazon doesn't own the Washington Post. Perhaps we should fix the President's blatant misinformation ability before we go preventing someone from founding/buying/inheriting particular businesses.

SapphireSun 9y ago
Jeff is CEO of Amazon and owns the Post. While the President is technically inaccurate, I'm not sure he is de facto inaccurate.
- mtanski 9y ago
  Facts or accuracy are not a strong suit of the current guy in office. /s Also, he doesn't seam to care much for independent journalism... which WaPo is. Anytime Amazon is discussed in the WaPo, they do mention in interest of disclosure that Jeff Bezos is the owner of WaPo and Amazon. Got karma to burn so why not.
  - striking 9y ago
    > Please don't bait other users by inviting them to downvote you or proclaim that you expect to get downvoted. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- cgy1 9y ago
  Remember Trump also accused Amazon of "not paying internet taxes," so facts are not his strong suit. (Although he is correct only in that there is no such thing as internet taxes)
  - merb 9y ago
    well basically wasn't that one of his better political sentences? Saying something like "x does not paying internet taxes", could've come from every political person, since this sentence is extremly clever and not incorrect at all. amazon did in fact not pay internet taxes. (because they don't exists) Isn't that speech which every politican uses?
- heartbreak 9y ago
  I think the President is committing fraud by implying as President to the American public that AMZN holds an asset that it does not. How’s that for technical accuracy?
  - bobthechef 9y ago
    Have you always been this literal minded? It's simplistic to think that AMZN is hermetically sealed off from the WaPo because legally the two entities have nothing to do with each other. Trump's insinuation isn't as strong as what you claim it is. He is at most suggesting that WaPo may be serving AMZN interests in a de facto, not de jure, capacity. Frankly, I think that he's just using Amazon as a symbol for Bezos because people know what Amazon is and what it means for businesses. They don't necessarily know who Bezos is. It allows him to associate whatever negative associations Amazon may have in his electorate with the WaPo. On the other hand, it may have been as simple as a humorous quip. In any case, you should relax.
    - heartbreak 9y ago
      Let’s see... the President tweeted several times last night about Amazon and WaPo. No, it doesn’t look like a humorous quip to me. It looks like he knows exactly what he’s doing. He’s inventing a narrative and using that nonsense to interfere with an acquisition.
- s73ver 9y ago
  Trump doesn't get the benefit of the doubt, here. He's long, long, long since lost that.
bitJericho 9y ago
It might as well be owned by Amazon
pyroinferno 9y ago
Are you sure you aren't the one spewing blatant misinformation? The CEO (and founder) of Amazon owns the WaPo. Although, WaPo isn't owned by Amazon it doesn't take someone of extraordinary intelligence to come to the conclusion that the WaPo and Amazon have a special relationship, considering how they are both managed by the same person.
- heartbreak 9y ago
  I’m 100% sure I’m not spewing misinformation, thank you. Amazon is a publicly traded company and WaPo is owned by Jeff Bezos, most literally NOT Amazon.
  - bobthechef 9y ago
    Yes, technically true, but it probably was intentional. Think of the alternatives. The Bezos Post? The Bezos Washington Post? Think of his audience. Most people know what Amazon is, not who Jeff Bezos is. Spelling bee winners like you are not Trump's target audience. Instead of nitpicking, try asking why Trump may have said what he said. It's this refusal or inability to see things from other perspectives that was a major reason for the shock Democrats experienced when Trump won.

SapphireSun 9y ago

I'm pretty amused that you guys think I'm advancing a pro-Trump position here. The reason he's doing this is clearly because he's a vindictive authoritarian that wants to suppress the free press. There's no way he cares at all about anti-trust law. The point I'm trying to get across is that the independence of the free press is threatened by concentration of power. Trump should not even be able to attack the Washington Post in this indirect fashion. In this case, he's probably doing the right thing for the wrong reason. Let The Post be independent of enormous corporate interests and reduce its attack surface. Also, I might have to watch A Few Good Men tonight. Thanks for the reminder. "DON'T YOU KNOW THE PRESIDENT LIES?!" "SON. YOU CAN'T HANDLE THE TRUTH."

grdvnkootcvj 9y ago
> I'm pretty amused that you guys think I'm advancing a pro-Trump position here. The reason he's doing this is clearly because he's a vindictive authoritarian that wants to suppress the free press. do you really believe this or are you just virtue signaling?