Steven Colbert and the Late Show. It's a sad thing when the "Tiffany Network" cancels a great show because of the Orange Snowflake. Yet, the economics behind this makes sense: Paramount/CBS needs to merge with Skydance to deal with financial losses from its movie and streaming businesses, and they can't do this unless they curry favor with the snowflake. It's cheaper to kill a profit making show and keep the business alive, than to stand on principle and tell the snowflake to F-off! I'm not worried about Colbert. He'll likely use the remaining months he has left on his contract to hammer away at our president, and make him rue the day that he took on a comedian.
What I am worried about is big business's capitulation to fascist power. In the past, we had a lot of small businesses who could (and would) stand up for principle, as they had no fiduciary duties to others. They could run their businesses to the ground on principle, and as such, had great power. Now, with the consolidation of corporate identities, CEOs must look out for the health of their businesses, and not worry about the principles that they as individuals may hold. This is a shame. But we did it to ourselves by accepting corporate consolidation as a norm.
No one has to say much about the snowflake's flaws: He is vindictive to a San Andreas Fault. He could teach Satan cruelty lessons. And an Amoeba has more brain cells than he has. I could go on and on about this, but I'd bore the readers of this blog. The other day, he posted a series of insults involving all of the late night TV show hosts, showing how much he hates what they saying about him. Instead of taking their zingers from these court jesters with grace, he wants to shut them down - as if he's afraid they are right and he is wrong.
There is a saying that whatever this man touches, dies. For God's sake, I hope he stops touching America soon. There is a joke about a man who went to the newsstand every day and looked at every newspaper's front page.
Eventually, the newsstand owner asks:
"Why do you look at every newspaper's front page and put it back on the rack?"
The customer replies:
"I am looking for an obituary."
The owner responds:
"Obituaries are usually inside the back of the newspapers."
The customer replies:
"This one will be on the front page."
No one needs to ask whose obituary we are talking about here.
Sadly, even a broken clock can be right twice each day, and there are some points on which I will agree with the snowflake, but not his methods for correcting things, such as we have let too much manufacturing move to China. In case of a conflict between the US and China, we might only be able to win a short war. But they will win a long war, as we no longer manufacture the goods we need to keep an economy running. One can't shift manufacturing back to the US overnight. It will take decades to do so. Supply chains must be rebuilt, and American labor must be willing to get its hands dirty again. We no longer have the project management skills in the USA needed to manage the supply chains, the way China does. So, why start a trade war that we can not win?
Recently, one Democratic congressperson was asked why GOP congresspeople hate what the snowflake is calling for them to do, and still doing it? She answered: Fear! Given what happened to Nancy Pelosi's husband in her own house, why should they risk their families to the actions of unruly members of his mob?
We saw this 90 years ago, and I'd hate the same thing happen to America. If we don't stand up now, we will see history repeat itself - with the same ending.
