Amazon VP calls company “chickenshit,” Trump vs. Fox, and leftist Super PACs.
Amazon VP calls company “chickenshit,” Trump vs. Fox, and leftist Super PACs.
george w. bush is a war criminal btw
Good morning friends! And family. The joke is that only people we actually know subscribe to this. Hey, you gotta start somewhere! Let’s see what we’ve got for ya:
An Amazon VP resigns amid the company’s poor handling of coronavirus: and he’s not happy at their treatment of protesting or whistleblowing employees, referring to Amazon as “chickenshit.” Hell yeah!
Believe it or not, Trump has some bones to pick with Fox News: because anything less than absolute allegiance is treachery. That’s why he’s been building up hype for OANN for so long, which a group associated with Donald Trump Jr. just bought a major stake in.
Justice Democrats are forming their own super PAC: and whether you like it or not, this isn’t the first group of progressives to hop ship on the whole “no super PACs” messaging in an effort to gain some sweet, sweet political power.
Venezuela has supposedly detained two American citizens after a failed plot to oust Nicolas Maduro: and both were employees of a Florida-based security company, Silverpoint USA. The owner of Silverpoint USA has confirmed the two men are his employees, but that’s about all we know.
What’s that? You don’t like today’s “vibe?” Oh. Sad. Let’s break these stories down.
AMAZON
An Amazon VP Has Resigned Over the Company’s Handling of Coronavirus
Tim Bray, a senior engineer and Vice President formerly at Amazon has “quit in dismay” over Amazon’s actions during coronavirus. In the open letter penned on his website, Bray notes that the company has been “firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of Covid-19.” He also called them chickenshit (but then removed the more uh, flavorful parts of his piece after speaking to others). Nice.
Bray’s Motivations
We’ve kept an eye on how Amazon has operated during all of this.
The company has fired—and disparaged—employees both publicly and privately. Many agree that the conditions in their warehouses are not sufficient in protecting employees (dozens of warehouses around the country have confirmed cases) and they recently cut employees off from their previous policy of allowing workers to take unlimited unpaid time off.
Those conditions were enough to convince Bray to leave the company where he’d worked for six years. He estimates the decision will cost him over a million dollars—but it will certainly cost him “the best job [he’s] ever had, working with awfully good people.”
So what did Bray have to say about the company’s pattern of behavior? This quote sums it up best: “firing whistleblowers isn’t just a side-effect of macroeconomic forces, nor is it intrinsic to the function of free markets. It’s evidence of a vein of toxicity running through the company culture. I choose neither to serve nor drink that poison.” Ouch.
Hats Off to Bray
This wouldn’t be an easy decision for anyone, but for a high-ranking employee like this to take a stand, it deserves praise.
Remember what Bray said about that “vein of toxicity running through the company culture?” Well, Amazon has always committed itself to being a truly awful entity (albeit a super convenient way to get your hand on cheap consumer goods). For Bray, and hopefully others, their mishandling of coronavirus will cross over the line in the sand of what’s acceptable for them to get away with.
Another great Bray quote: “at the end of the day, the big problem isn’t the specifics of Covid-19 response. It’s that Amazon treats the humans in the warehouses as fungible units of pick-and-pack potential. Only that’s not just Amazon, it’s how 21st-century capitalism is done.” Spot on, we think.
Bottom line: we hope this story travels far and wide, we hope more people stand up as Tim Bray did, and we hope the world continues to strive for better working conditions.
TRUMPOCALYPSE
A Group With Ties to Donald Trump Jr. is Buying a Major Stake in OANN
FOX News. For people outside of the conservative bubble, it’s ubiquitous with Republican media. For some, then, it may come as a surprise that President Trump has quite a few bones to pick with the network. That may explain why it feels as though he and his family are trying to build a new media empire—OANN—that will fall in line with every word Trump utters.
The Diagnosis
While Fox may have some of the loudest, most prominent Trump cheerleaders, there has been a history of dissent, too. After all: he truly believes that the media are the enemy of the people.
In August of 2019, a Fox poll showed that all of the major Democratic candidates were leading against the incumbent in a hypothetical head-to-head matchup. Trump’s response? “Fox has changed.”
During the network’s impeachment coverage, Trump described it as “the beginning of the end for Fox.”
When Chris Wallace recently questioned whether more lives could be saved if Trump had acted differently during the coronavirus outbreak, Trump questioned, “what the hell is happening to @FoxNews.”
He also recently said the network is being “fed Democratic talking points.” Oh, and don’t forget about Shep Smith or Megyn Kelly, either.
The Trumpian Solution
OANN or “One America News Network.” Sound’s appropriately fascist, yeah?
Trump has recently demanded “an alternative now” to Fox News. It seems like OANN, who regularly provide the most embarrassing cannon fodder of softball questions a president has likely ever been asked. Check out this Last Week Tonight segment on OANN if you’ve yet to see it.
Now, an investor group aligned with Donald Trump Jr. has acquired a major stake in OANN. One person briefed on the deal says “Trump is really aiming to take down Fox.”
Does it seem like a conflict of interest for the president’s family to be investing in a network that praises him constantly and that he’s personally promoting? Yuuup!
Bottom line: this is scary, but hopefully it’s just Trump trying to create a backup plan in case he loses in November so there’s an altar for his followers to continue worshipping at. That’s probably all it is and it’s probably not a dangerous propaganda tool. Right? Right?!
SUPER PACS
The Justice Democrats Are Effectively Forming a Super PAC
The Justice Democrats filed a notice with the FEC announcing they plan on becoming a Cary Committee, or a hybrid PAC, which essentially means they’re going to have a Super PAC. So, how do you all feel?
Splitting Opinions
The Sanders camp and many of his supporters have spent the past 5 years being incredibly critical of Super PACs, which allow for unlimited corporate donations. The Justice Democrats styled themselves as progressives in the same vein as Sanders’ vision.
Now, the Justice Democrats have one, as well as one created by former Sanders aides (Future to Believe In) to push Biden as well as Chuck Rocha, a former Sanders aide, who created Nuestro PAC which is aimed at mobilizing Latino voters.
On one hand, Super PACs have been pretty awful news for our country in the past. If you’re reading this letter, you’re likely already of the opinion that corporations have far too much political power. If you don’t think that and you’re reading this, wow, you’ve really committed to learning about other worldviews!
On the other hand, it may be a matter of where the money ends up flowing from. Rocha claims that Nuestro Pac “ain’t taking no money from corporations.” So uh, maybe we need to fight fire with fire? Maybeeeeee?
Bottom line: this feels unsettling. Maybe it’s actually a good thing? Maybe it’s absolutely awful? We won’t blame you for feeling either way for now.
END OF THE LINE...
That’s it for today.
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The Bread Line
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