Quote:
Originally Posted by pwalker8
I suspect that Bezos owns the Post for the same reason he donates a lot of money to various politicians, i.e. to influence public opinion and public policy. I seriously doubt public service has a thing to do with it.
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There isn't much difference between the claim in your first sentence, and "public service," except for a judgment about mental state.
Now, if you said that Bezos owns the
Post for the same reason that Amazon pays money to lobbyists (and you didn't say that one!), I would disagree.
In case someone here does think it, there's a pretty good empirical test. No business, or business mogul, is going to have any tolerance of criticism from lobbyists it pays. So if the
Post publishes even a few negative articles about Bezos and/or Amazon, it proves to me that, at least in Bezos's not-insane mind, he is running it a public service rather than as a lobby for his interests. And -- here is the evidence of negative articles:
How Jeff Bezos Reacts to 'Negative' Amazon Articles in Washington Post
Amazon Key is Silicon Valley at its most out-of-touch