While it's been a hot minute since we checked in on the corporate media wing of the Vichy American establishment, I'm guessing you will not be surprised to learn that bootlicking media and entertainment corporate "leaders" are kissing Downmarket Mussolini's ass by silencing dissent on behalf of a fascist would-be dictator once again.

As you may have heard, Paramount is trying to pull off an eight and a half billion dollar merger with Skydance Media; a merger that Trump and his corrupt ass FCC can block without too much effort. Although they'd deny it, this caused Paramount to settle an entirely baseless sixteen million dollar lawsuit against CBS news (which Paramount owns) brought by Trump himself for "deceptively editing" an interview with Kamala Harris during last year's presidential election. This craven bullshit stunk to high heaven, enough that even one of CBS's own employees, Late Night host Stephen Colbert was comfortable calling the settlement “a big fat bribe” on his show.

Whelp, three days later in what CBS assures us is completely unrelated news, they announced that the network is cancelling the Late Show entirely at the end of the year, despite the fact that the show still gets great ratings and is "often the highest-rated show in late-night."

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/jul/18/the-late-show-with-stephen-colbert-to-end-in-2026-as-cbs-cancels-show

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to end in 2026 as CBS cancels show

"CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, is attempting to close the merger with Skydance after the deal fell apart last year. Paramount’s owners have been pushing the Trump administration to approve the sale of CBS to Skydance.

Colbert, speaking about the lawsuit settlement with Trump, said on Tuesday’s episode “Paramount knows they could have fought it”, because the company itself had called the lawsuit “completely without merit.”

Starting with the lawsuit itself, I think its important to understand that Colbert is entirely right. In the grand history of baseless lawsuits against the media, Trump's litigation against CBS for editing an interview for run time and clarity might be one of the all timers. News programs edit filmed interviews all the fucking time, including interviews with Downmarket Mussolini, and Trump's argument basically comes down to "this media organization dislikes me so they made my opponent look smarter and more articulate than she is." Which is not only absurd, but actively describes how the mainstream media has reported on the stream of consciousness, word salad vomit that comes out of Trump's mouth daily.

So Paramount rolled over, and more or less just gave Trump sixteen million dollars and a key political win (after all, he can now say "if I'm lying that the media is out to get me, why do they all keep settling with me?") to just bribe him and get the FCC to approve their merger. Colbert is right, it's an obvious bribe, and whether or not Trump directly had a hand in the result, criticism of the President and his corrupt enablers in the US establishment is resulting in a reprisal by a media company already collaborating with a fascist would-be dictator. Furthermore, that's not really a radical opinion because even milquetoast Democrat Politicians are cautiously articulating those same concerns:

"Senator Adam Schiff, a Democrat who appeared as a guest on Thursday night’s show, later wrote on social media: “If Paramount and CBS ended the Late Show for political reasons, the public deserves to know. And deserves better.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren, who has called for an investigation into Paramount Global’s relationship with Trump over the Skydance merger, wrote: “CBS canceled Colbert’s show just THREE DAYS after Colbert called out CBS parent company Paramount … America deserves to know if his show was canceled for political reasons.”

I can't deny that part of me is tempted to look at all of this and laugh my ass off at centrist liberals because now their faves are getting the "pro-Palestine, anti-genocide" treatment so many progressive journalists and commentators suffered even under the previous Democrat administration. Trying to be the bigger person here however, I'll instead point out that the goddamn Late Show and Stephen Colbert are by no means radical leftists, pushing "dangerous" ideas in the public discourse. What Colbert offers is bog standard liberal political criticism repackaged in a mildly humorous way. If corporate media companies are prepared to dump a successful, revenue generating critic like Stephen Colbert at the drop of a hat over some mild criticism of their collaboration and the fascist regime in general, then it means that nobody is safe from these kind of reprisals in our mainstream discourse. This too then would be an example of the erosion of any democratic or non-fascist cultural aspects of our society, and a sign that despite Trump's recent gaffes, the fascist creep in America continues unabated.

#VichyEstablishment #Paramount #Trump #CBS #StephenColbert #LateShow #Censorship #Fascism #FCC #Lawfare

I haven't written about Trump's fascist attempts to exert control over Harvard University primarily because after making a great fanfare of announcing they intended to fight back against the regime's ideological policing, they quietly walked back their resistance posture, repurposed their diversity, equity, and inclusion office, and shockingly agreed to share information on foreign students with DHS. For all intents and purposes, Harvard's actions represented a complete capitulation to the fascist regime's agenda, with some posturing thrown in that allowed Harvard to save face in a way for example, Columbia had not. As we've noted many times in this thread however, appeasing fascists doesn't work and once you agree to obey Trump's authoritarian edicts, you're essentially property of the regime going forward.

Harvard is now learning this lesson the hard way because despite all their cowardly bootlicking, Trump is still openly announcing the regime's intention to revoke Harvard's tax except status; something he has literally no legal authority to do according to most experts.

https://truthout.org/articles/trump-seeks-to-revoke-harvards-tax-status-despite-numerous-concessions/

Trump Seeks to Revoke Harvard’s Tax Status Despite Numerous Concessions

“We are going to be taking away Harvard’s Tax Exempt Status. It’s what they deserve!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

In response, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (New York) and three other Democratic senators have demanded that the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) internal watchdog investigate whether the Trump administration is unlawfully pressuring the agency to target Harvard.

Just weeks ago, Harvard was celebrated for resisting the Trump administration’s threats to withhold $2.2 billion in federal funding, positioning itself as a defender of academic freedom by filing a lawsuit challenging the funding freeze. But recently, the university has quietly reversed course, rebranding and altering the mission of its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) office, announcing that it will no longer fund affinity group celebrations during commencement, and sharing international student information with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

“You mean to tell me banning affinity group graduations, handing over school records to the DHS gestapo, cracking down on protests, and dismantling DEI didn’t appease this fascist dictator?! I’m shocked I tell you,” Harvard Law School instructor Alejandra Caraballo said on Bluesky."

I think the facts of this story speak for themselves; Trump's war on higher education to enforce a white nationalist ideological framework on American life is clearly fascist, Harvard put on a brave face but ultimately chose craven collaboration with the regime's fascist agenda, and surprise, surprise, Trump has continued to threaten the University and demand further concessions. Trump is a fascist bully hellbent on controlling every aspect of our society and you don't ever stop a bully by appeasing them.

There is however a deeper layer of fascist fuckery going on here, because Trump's war on higher education also aligns perfectly with noted fascist theorist Curtis Yarvin's proposed "Butterfly Revolution" to transform America into a fascist dictatorship under Trump; part of which revolves around destroying or taking control of "the Cathedral" which Yavrin defines as the mainstream media, prestigious American universities, and important cultural institutions. I doubt Trump has ever read The Butterfly Revolution, but his Vice President, JD Vance, certainly has. He's a devote follower of Yarvin's expressly "neo-fascist" teachings, as are key billionaire TechBro Trump donors and supporters like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Marc Andreessen. Now whether or not Trump understands that all of this is part of a plan by his nazi billionaire buddies to shatter the American nation state and create techno-feudalist "Patchwork" or "Network State" city-state dictatorships out of the smoldering ashes is more debatable; but either way, all of these guys are clearly working on the installation of a fascist political, social, and ideological framework on our society that will last decades beyond Trump's own miserable existence.

#Fascism #Trump #Harvard #DEI #Education #StephenMiller #DHS #CurtisYarvin #ChristianNationalism #StudentProtests #Genocide #Gaza #Israel #Palestinians #Collaboration #VichyEstablishment #ElonMusk #PeterThiel #ButterflyRevolution

Five more high profile #BigLaw legal firms have capitulated to Downmarket Mussolini's fascist threats in order to keep raking in federal contracts; even as 500 of their contemporaries in US law are actively proving that fighting the Trump regime is an option:

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/trump-law-firms-pro-bono-deal

Trump says five more law firms agree to pro bono work to avoid punitive executive orders

"Donald Trump said on Friday that five major law firms reached agreements to together provide his administration $600m in pro bono legal work, among other terms, to avoid executive orders punishing them, a significant capitulation to the president as he attacks the legal profession.

The five firms – Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Allen Overy Shearman Sterling, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft – are among the most prestigious and recognized firms in the US.

Trump’s announcement on Friday on Truth Social means he has secured a total of $940m in pro bono work from some of the most powerful law firms in the US.

The orders come as Trump’s attack on the legal profession has divided the most prestigious firms in the US. More than 500 firms signed an amicus brief last week in support of a legal challenge to executive orders punishing the firm Perkins Coie. But many of the country’s biggest firms – including those that reached agreements announced on Friday – were conspicuously absent."

Frankly, I'm tired of repeating myself so I'll keep this brief. These firms are all kissing the fascist toad in the White House's ring because standing up to him, even when the law is on their side, risks too much of their ability to make money and that's more important to them than the law, or any sort of moral obligation to oppose fascism from those in a position to do so. Like every other Big Law firm before them, these folks have traded away their independence and integrity without any guarantee whatsoever that this represents the end of Downmarket Mussolini's demands; which means, even if they don't realize it, all of these law firms work for Trump now. Maybe these bigshot lawyers honestly believe, as former Skadden lawyer Rachel Cohen reported in the interview I shared above, that they can outsmart the regime, but that presupposes the Trump administration is playing by a set of rules - which is an idea that is wholly discredited by the blatantly unconstitutional executive orders and threats from the White House that brought us to this moment in the first place.

Finally I would encourage folks not to dismiss the almost 1 billion dollars in promises for pro bono services to the regime and causes Trump himself supports, that Der Leader has extracted here. Downmarket Mussolini is forcibly recruiting massive law firms to help him conduct an assault on our civil rights and the American legal system itself, and when he says the firms have agreed they “will not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups and Government Officials, employees, and advisors” he's making that explicitly clear. I mean let's cut the bullshit here, this is a regime that has argued that white people, and fundamentalist Christians are "politically disenfranchised groups" in fucking writing, so I don't think it's hard to imagine what kind of cases Trump is going to deploy his new minions to argue on behalf of his fascist, white nationalist regime. Trump just bought himself an army of lawyers to do fascism with, and it didn't cost him anything more than the paper his unconstitutional executive orders were printed on.

#Fascism #Trump #Courts #VichyEstablishment #CivilRights #KirklandEllis #LathamWatkins #AOShearman #Cadwalader #SimpsonThacherBartlett #Collaboration #Cowardice

I've been waiting for just over a week for the folks at TMR to clip this interview with former Skadden lawyer Rachel Cohen so I could share it here. Not only is Cohen's inside baseball perspective on the cowardice of Big Law firms groveling before Trump an interesting watch, but she's also one of the few people with knowledge of the situation willing to state what *I* feel is pretty obvious - that the Trump regime's war on Big Law is about trying to restrict the number of lawyers and firms that will bring totally legitimate cases against their fascist policies and activities, through a sheer question of numbers and resources.

The clip is only about 15 minutes long, but I guarantee you that Cohen here is spitting more truth than you'll find in all the articles about Big Law's capitalist cowardice and craven surrender in media sources like the Washington Post, the New York Times, or the Wall Street Journal. It's worth the watch:

The Majority Report: Trump's Revenge

"Sam and Emma are joined by Rachel Cohen, lawyer formerly of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, to discuss the country’s largest law firms bending the knee to Donald Trump."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0bVdiTDzQo

#VichyEstablishment #BigLaw #Law #Courts #Skadden #RachelCohen #TMR #SamSeder #EmmaVigeland #Fascism #Trump #Collaboration

To the surprise of perhaps nobody with a pulse, yet another Big Law firm has preemptively surrendered in advance to the Pork Reich's fascist agenda to avoid Trump's revenge for *checks notes* taking completely legitimate cases against him and his fascist allies - including "representing two Georgia election workers who sued his (Trump's) former attorney and adviser, Rudy Giuliani, for defamation."

https://www.commondreams.org/news/trump-doug-emhoff-firm

'Absolutely Shameful': Critics Slam Latest Law Firm to Cave Amid Trump's Revenge Threats

"Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP proactively reached out to President Trump and his Administration, offering their decisive commitment to ending the Weaponization of the Justice System and the Legal Profession," Trump said on his Truth Social network. "The President is delivering on his promises of eradicating Partisan Lawfare in America, and restoring Liberty and Justice FOR ALL."

According to Trump, Willkie—whose partners include former Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff—will provide a total of at least $100 million in pro bono services to veterans, active duty U.S. troops, and Gold Star families; law enforcement and first responders; to "ensuring fairness in our justice system;" and combating antisemitism.

The firm also agreed to commit to "merit-based hiring" and refrain from "illegal" diversity, equity, and inclusion hiring, promotion, and retention. It must also "not deny representation to clients, such as members of politically disenfranchised groups... who have not historically received legal representation from major national law firms... because of the personal political views of individual lawyers."

Setting aside the fact that forcing the law firm run in part by Kamala Harris's husband to grovel and capitulate without a fight is a huge propaganda win for Der Führer, Trump's increasing control of Big Law is a much bigger story than folks outside of the legal world may realize. I think most people grasp that like virtually all of the stories about white shoe DC law firms agreeing to work for Trump, even if they don't realize that's what they've done yet, the story of Wilkie's preemptive surrender is primarily about cowardice, greed, and collaboration.

What I'm not sure a lot of people who aren't familiar with how civil rights law actually functions in America understand however, is that every time Trump forcibly recruits one of these DC firms, he's also knocking out a valuable plank of resistance to his authoritarian violations because there are literally only so many lawyers available to take civil rights cases, and those cases are typically done pro bono. While it would be nice to imagine a legal system not entirely dependent on lawsuits and rich lawyers engaging in a little reputation washing to protect the civil rights of folks persecuted by a fascist government, that is in fact the situation in the really real world we're living in. At the rate he's going so far, Trump is not only going to force all the best law firms in DC to work for the regime, but he's also going to drastically reduce the number of cases that can be brought against his government for even clear civil rights violations, simply because there won't be any lawyers left able to take those cases at rates targeted people can afford.

#Fascism #Trump #BigLaw #WilkieFarrLaw #Collaboration #VichyEstablishment #Courts #Law #DougEmhoff #RudyGuilliani #ElectionDenial

And another white shoe DC law firm decides to capitulate to fascism rather than fight; even as their colleagues at other firms are successfully getting restraining orders to block Trump's strongarm tactics. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (typically shortened to just "Skadden") joins the firm Paul Weiss on the wall of infamy and cowardice, with a "deal" that's even more collaborationist with, again - fascists and a fascist agenda.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/skadden-arps-deal-trump

'Pathetic': Elite Law Firm Blasted for Striking Deal With Trump Administration

"The firm has agreed to provide at least $100 million in pro bono legal services to the federal government during his administration "and beyond," according to a Truth Social post from U.S. President Donald Trump. Also, the "firm will not engage in illegal" diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) "discrimination and preferences," according to the post, which also noted that the firm proactively reached out to the administration about an agreement.

Speaking at the White House on Friday, Trump called the deal "essentially a settlement," according to Reuters.

"Pathetic when the richest and most powerful lawyers in America won't stand up for the profession that made them rich and powerful," wrote U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) on X on Friday, reacting to earlier reporting that the firm was in discussions with the White House over a deal."

In addition to the $100M of pro bono work for the Trump regime, other outlets are reporting that Skadden has promised to offer fellowships to "conservative" (so, fascist, because conservative means fascist in this political environment) law graduates, and take cases for conservative causes - which I think we can safely parse to mean things like "reverse racism" lawsuits, and anti-gender discrimination cases that involve "protecting women" by persecuting trans women. Did I mention that Skadden took these steps preemptively, as in before Trump even issued an executive order targeting them?

As in the case of Paul Weiss, and various wealthy Universities in America, the simple truth is that these folks are choosing to actively collaborate with fascists, and reinforcing the twisted unreality imposed by a fascist regime, for nothing more than money. We have a term for people who help fascists, do fascism, for money - it's fascist collaborator, or simply just "fascist." Like all the others, Skadden thinks they're striking a deal to stop Der Führer's assault on their very lucrative enterprise; and like the others, they'll soon discover that they work for Trump now, and there's no amount of appeasement that will change that.

#Fascism #Trump #BigLaw #Skadden #Collaboration #VichyEstablishment #Courts #Law

Fresh off punting a winnable election to a trans-eliminationist fascist political movement, a Democratic Party unprepared to accept it was a bad idea to pick aiding a genocide, promise to hunt down migrants better than the GOP, and court suburban white fascists who vote Republican over turning out their own base and beating Trump, has decided to blame their loss on trans Americans they already abandoned during that campaign anyway. Now, as the Trump regime legally codifies its attempts to eliminate trans people from public life, and even existence itself, "wise centrists" in the party are using their "one trans friend" as a shield to cover up their plan to, um, defend trans people from fascists even less!

https://truthout.org/articles/democrats-reshuffling-on-trans-issues-cedes-key-territory-to-the-far-right/

Democrats’ “Reshuffling” on Trans Issues Cedes Key Territory to the Far Right

"A Republican lawmakers wage an all-out assault on transgender people, Democrats are reportedly “reshuffling.” In a recent article, sources told NOTUS that the party is attempting to adjust its tone on trans issues following its crushing losses in the 2024 election, instead seeking a sort of middle ground that won’t “inflame” voters.

The myth that Democrats were too radical on trans issues has been echoed by various mainstream pundits in the wake of Donald Trump’s return to the White House. In reality, moderate Democrats largely declined to speak out about trans rights on the campaign trail. "

As a trans woman, I often wonder if rank and file, cis liberals understand the degree to which the (nominally) liberal establishment has completely abandoned, even turned against, trans people at the precise moment a politically empowered fascist movement with a trans-eliminationist agenda, has begun to legally enshrine an anti-trans pogrom.

Given the high-profile (although often performative) support the "liberal" establishment, including the Democratic Party, corporate entertainment and media organizations, and even large companies in the private sector expressed for trans rights a mere eight years ago, I can understand how folks who aren't living a trans existence, or plugged into trans issues, might not even be aware of how ephemeral that support was, and how much the mainstream establishment's appetite for defending trans people from fascist repression has shrunk. Speaking anecdotally, most labor class liberals I know who supported trans rights in 2016, still seem to support them (at least publicly) in 2025, and are opposed to the fascist anti-trans pogrom, but become angry, or defensive when I point out that the liberal leadership class no longer seems to agree with them.

Of course to excuse this act of scapegoating and betrayal, the liberal leadership class points to issue based polling that shows attacking trans rights is popular with cis-het people right now. Can anyone being honest really be surprised by that? Trump and the fascist GOP have spent the past six years manufacturing consent for an anti-trans pogrom, while our "allies" in the liberal mainstream discourse have increasingly refused to even talk about trans rights in a humanizing, effective way; and as such, I'm supposed to be shocked that trans rights aren't polling well in cis-het America? You know what else isn't polling well right now in America? A cowardly, collaborationist Democratic Party that refuses to stand up to Elon Musk, Downmarket Mussolini, and the fascist Trump regime; to turn around and blame the party's feckless incompetence on trans people existing so the GOP can make attack ads pretending that's Democrat's fault, would be craven and malicious at the best of times. To do it in the middle of a fascist anti-trans pogrom, when every trans person resides firmly in the crosshairs of Trump's eliminationist agenda, is unconscionable, and unforgivable.

Look, I don't know how to tell people that my right to exist as my authentic self is not a bargaining chip to be traded with nazis who want me dead, in response to an Astroturfed moral panic, and the results of one election in which there's little evidence the Democratic Party was even *trying* to win, without making them feel defensive. The simple truth however is that if whether or not you're prepared to even pretend to fight for the idea that trans rights are human rights, in the middle of a fascist anti-trans pogrom that is now taking on the force of law, depends on what focus group polling says then you never believed trans rights were human rights at all.

#TransRights #AntiTransPogrom #Fascism #GOP #DemocraticParty #Trump #CivilRights #Project2025 #VichyEstablishment #HumanRights

Well, this one hits closer to home than I'd like. The University of Michigan has become the latest extremely wealthy ($19.2B endowment as of June 30, 2024) US higher education institute to capitulate to Trump, and in doing so further the regime's efforts to enforce a white supremacist worldview on education in America.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/28/university-michigan-ends-dei-program

University of Michigan shutters its flagship diversity program

“The federal government is determined to dismantle and control higher education and to make our institutions more uniform, more inequitable, and more exclusive,” Rebekah Modrak, the chair of the faculty senate, wrote in an email to colleagues about the decision, according to the Detroit Free Press. “They are using the power of the government to engineer a sweeping culture change towards white supremacy. Unfortunately, University of Michigan leaders seem determined to comply and to collaborate in our own destruction.”

As someone intimately familiar with how UM operates, the administrator's decision to surrender completely in the face of Trump's threats to cut all federal funding is hardly surprising; although it is extremely disappointing. Michigan is in many ways the perfect model of the neoliberal (capitalist) university; it receives over a billion dollars a year in federal research funding, and the school had already cut back on its diversity initiatives in admissions and hiring in response to a 6-3 fascist high SCOTUS striking down Affirmative Action. As in the case with Columbia, I am fairly certain the school's wealthy alumni base, access to some of the finest lawyers in America, and massive endowment would have allowed it to fight Trump's extortion in court; and that decision would be largely supported by students, faculty, and even the (Democrat controlled) state government. Despite this, a conflict-adverse administration that has transformed UM into a money printing machine over the past couple of decades in particular, was never going to risk perhaps billions of dollars in funding; even if it means capitulating to fascism. While some may be inclined to forgive Michigan's leadership for their cowardice given those stakes, I will once again remind folks that if you don't stand for opposing extortion, fascism, and white supremacy, why should anyone believe you stand for anything at all?

Worse still, is that Michigan's rational for groveling before Trump's white nationalist agenda tries to have it both ways, while (not so) subtly reinforcing white supremacist propaganda and world views. The university touts the groundbreaking success of its expansive DEI programs; while simultaneously pretending they're unconcerned with ending these programs because racism is over or something, I guess. The administration also points to the myriad of fascist executive orders and threats issued by the Trump regime, but then offers up the excuse that "some in our campus community have voiced frustration that they did not feel included in DEI initiatives and that the programming fell short in fostering connections among diverse groups" - as if Trump's orders and Michigan's actions have anything at all to do with "fostering connections among diverse groups" or helping people the DEI initiative wasn't helping enough. Finally the UM administration promises to continue to foster "multiculturalism" and states it remains "steadfast in our dedication to academic freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of expression" - as if Trump can't threaten Michigan's funding again to cancel programs that foster "multiculturalism" (another word fascists use instead of slurs), or terms like "academic freedom" mean anything in light of the Faustian (non) bargain the University has struck here.

The sad truth here is that out of nothing more than greed and cowardice, the University of Michigan has given Downmarket Mussolini and his white nationalist agenda a victory that will ring across the nation. The UM DEI program was expanded in part to counteract the rise of white nationalist politics during the first Trump presidency, it was a highly successful endeavor that was considered a model for other schools to copy nationally, and Michigan's commitment to diversity programs was genuine. If a northern liberal school with more money than god and every reason to fight back, won't take on the Trump regime's fascist agenda, who else is going to have the courage to do so?

#Fascism #Trump #Education #UniversityOfMichigan #UM #DEI #WhiteNationalism #PorkReich #WhiteSupremacy #Collaboration #VichyEstablishment #Capitalism