Kevin RothrockFuck this guy.
If I ever had a WaPo subscription, I would cancel it twice today.
Karel Brits 🔻@kevinrothrock and don't buy at Amazon anymore.
Truth Or Consequences ✅ 🇺🇦We live in the sticks and never though about quitting Amazon, but we have. Hard to find stuff now comes from used stores, Etsy, Ebay and Temu - yeah, it is the exact same stuff that Amazon sells at twice the price. I checked. Other stuff, I fix or improvise.
James Widman@karelbrits @kevinrothrock they're not going to feel it, because the real money comes from Amazon Web Services (AWS).
a more realistic near-term goal might be to pressure companies to stop showing adverts for AWS, which you'll see, for example, at sporting events.
It will take longer to pressure companies to actually migrate from AWS to something else (because that's going to take time & money even if the CEO gave the order to do it immediately), but it should be possible.
@karelbrits @kevinrothrock that said, it's still worthwhile to boycott amazon-the-retailer even if it's only symbolic, because that could help to build pressure to boycott AWS.
Kid Mania@kevinrothrock
"Fuck this guy."
No, seriously...Fuck This Guy.
Eraserhead@kevinrothrock just cancelled. I'll miss the reporting, but...
Steve Bellovin@kevinrothrock Sigh—and I've been enjoying WaPo's news coverage more than the NY Times'—the paper I grew up reading—coverage these days.
Tuchowski@kevinrothrock „[…] these viewpoints are underserved […]“
My ass... 🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
Tyrone SlothropHey look, there's a job opening for Chief Bootlicker at the WaPo!
William Hamilton@kevinrothrock
“There are limits to the conversations one can have with a parrot.”
— Sir Peter Ustinov
“There are limits to the conversations one can have with a parrot.”
— Sir Peter Ustinov
Jerome
Jenkins@kevinrothrock “I'm confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion.”
Apologies for my language in advance, but…
Bull-fucking-shit. That’s all we hear about in the news these days. Underserved my ass.
Apologies for my language in advance, but…
Bull-fucking-shit. That’s all we hear about in the news these days. Underserved my ass.
John Mark Ockerbloom@jenkins @kevinrothrock Well, we hear about all kinds of things called "free markets" and "personal liberties", but mostly in particular ways, ways that don't always merit the labels.
For instance, markets dominated by oligopolies (like, say, online retailers who grew through avoiding local taxes and now exploit consumer 'memberships' and vendor strong-arming to squelch competition) aren't exactly "free". What chance do you figure Bezos' pundits will advocate moving away from those?
@JMarkOckerbloom @kevinrothrock > What chance do you figure Bezos' pundits will advocate moving away from those?
I’d say a big ol’ fat zero 😆
I’d say a big ol’ fat zero 😆
ikeacurtains@kevinrothrock what I am getting from this is that the Washington Post can no longer be trusted as a news source. Congratulations, Bozos, I mean Bezos.
agnivesh@kevinrothrock alt text
Jeff Bezos
I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:
I'm writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.
We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We'll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.
There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader's doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.
I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical.
And a big part of America's success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion and practical - it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.
I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn't "hell yes," then it had to be "no." After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won't be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We'll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.
I'm confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I'm excited for us together to fill that void
Jeff
Jeri Dansky@agnivesh Thank you for the alt text — saved me from having to post it!
Mike@kevinrothrock <yelling goose meme> Which Personal Liberties!!??
I am Jack's Lost 404War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Ignorance is Strength
"Free Markets" and "Personal Liberties"
George Liquor, American@kevinrothrock Every day I get more and more interested in how billionaires taste
Dan, some WH good nuz?@liquor_american @kevinrothrock I wouldn't even feed them to my Dogs, for fear of poisoning them! 
#eattherich
#eattherich
Alice@kevinrothrock “Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — … and that’s why if the answer wasn’t a ‘hell yes,’ it had to be ‘no.’” Totally checks out.
The Witch of Crow Briar@__3ve @kevinrothrock Freedom’s lack of coercion also requires banning bathroom breaks so workers have to pee in bottles, and putting driver-monitoring cameras in delivery vehicles.
SueDiOh@kevinrothrock
"You're going to write opinions and I'm going to tell you what they are"
"You're going to write opinions and I'm going to tell you what they are"
Janet Fraser@kevinrothrock Yes, "freedom in the economic realm" to receive government contracts and subsidies to run businesses and then bailouts when they screw up.
martin lentink 🇪🇺 🇺🇦📎
Gerrit 🇪🇺🌍🍉🔻Without soap.
Koen 🇺🇦@kevinrothrock the freedumb to betray all your allies, cooperate with genocidal dictators & destroy democracy everywhere you find it, the freedumb for billionaires to steal from the millionaires & the poor, the freedumb to F everyone over, freedumb to steal data from people, to destroy people that dare to question you, US CORPORATE FREEDUMB
F this US, F all US corporations
use better alternatives:
https://european-alternatives.eu/alternatives-to
or maybe https://opensourcealternative.to/
!! Luigi Mangione for president !!
Eh?!?@kevinrothrock
This is a powerful "DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS JOB" sign disguised as a hiring announcement. It will put whoever gets the position in a bad light. Or tells a lot about them.
This is a powerful "DO NOT APPLY FOR THIS JOB" sign disguised as a hiring announcement. It will put whoever gets the position in a bad light. Or tells a lot about them.
Peter Koopman 🦣@kevinrothrock
This from the guy who chose to support the First Felon Of The United States.
This from the guy who chose to support the First Felon Of The United States.
cerementAmazon scripted news:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6U2Un5kEdI
11 Local TV Stations Pushed the Same Amazon-Scripted Segment
kendrazo@kevinrothrock Boycott Amazon.
Simon LucyDistinct overtones of Charles Foster Kane.
elpolacodesplegado@kevinrothrock
The void he's talking about is in his heart.
The void he's talking about is in his heart.
GJ Groothedde 🇪🇺@kevinrothrock Fuck him and his fucking businesses!
Casper Jansen 🍉🇬🇶 Antifa@kevinrothrock never ever bought something via Amazon. Hope that nobody does that from now on. Yes, I’m a dreamer.
Chris L@kevinrothrock @bodhipaksa again not regretting cancelling my WaPo subscription; however we need someone to bully up and submit “trans rights are a matter of personal liberty” essays to them. And “current day racism is anti-free markets, violating both the mathematics of efficient allocation of resources and the spirit of liberty.”(edited to say “not regetting” rather than “. It regretting”
Bodhipaksa@jayalane @kevinrothrock I suspect that Bezos is now Trump's unofficial Minister for Propaganda and that anything like you suggested is just not going to get published.
I'm glad you canceled your subscription.
@bodhipaksa @kevinrothrock I don’t think trump likes Bezos, I think we are seeing Bezos’ desperate maneuvering to be in the inside. If it’s down to Bezos or Musk to be the Gazprom executive who is imprisoned and his company confiscated, my money is on Bezos. And cancelling news orgs that do good original research I think is tricky. I don’t know who to crowd fund in all the places that Post has bureaus to make up for a lack of institutional support for investigative journalism. still, ∃ limits.
@jayalane @kevinrothrock I don't think Trump likes Zuckerberg either, but the threat of life in prison got Zuck to toe the line, removing fact-checking and moving to paying those who create most engagement (i.e. right-wing trolls and conspiracy theorists).
Michael@kevinrothrock Wait, so WaPo Opinion editor is now restricted in the voices they amplify, because, “freedom”?
Giorgio Maone 🚫✊🧅@kevinrothrock the level of doublespeak about "freedom" from him and his bros is far beyond vomit. Let them fuck themselves reciprocally in a billionaire centipede, of course leaving them "free" to choose the order (with mandatory hourly "free" rotations).
Johnny Wilson@kevinrothrock Thanks. This is all the momentum I needed to cancel my Amazon Prime Account. Hello Alibaba!
Leefeller Guy@kevinrothrock “Keep in mind, The news media are not independent; they are sort of a bulletin board and public relations firm for the ruling class-the people who run things. Those who decide what news you will or will not hear are paid by, and“ tolerated purely at the whim of, those who hold economic power. If the parent corporation doesn’t want you know something, it won’t be on the news. Period. “
George Carlin
George Carlin
Using the propaganda model...news businesses favoring profit over the public interest succeed, whilst those favoring reportorial accuracy over profits fail — and are relegated to the margins of their markets (low sales and ratings).
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent:_The_Political_Economy_of_the_Mass_Media)
@Savvyhomestead @kevinrothrock Seems to me if super wealthy own the media, people like Bezos profit is not the motive, like Musk X as most of if not all media? They can bankroll the media for ever, you know like politicians.
Matthew Reinbold@kevinrothrock ugh.
"Free markets and personal liberties", translated from billionaire-speak, is unfettered "exploit, expand, and exterminate" policy.
For once, I wish one of these white dudes would have grown up in a functioning neighborhood, someplace that would have instilled some sense of our mutual obligation to each other - that I do well when we all do well, or that it "takes a village".
ck@kevinrothrock how to be a billionaire and a bootlicker at the same time
Kenneth John Bardsley@kevinrothrock
Her can f off.
Her can f off.
Michael Seidel@kevinrothrock I second that: fuck this guy. Can't say it enough.
Thibaultmol 🌈@kevinrothrock not accusing anyone specifically, but there's def going to be people being angry about this and continue shopping with Amazon...
I barely buy anything from Amazon unless there really really isn't another way to get it
Mark HarbingerRe WaPo
"Democracy Dies in Dick-ness"
Yora@kevinrothrock "I think this is fair", says the man who profits the most from an unfair system.
mroberge@kevinrothrock bye-bye Bezos, hello Temu, Alibaba — are you going to pedal your Pfizer rocket to space?
kcoyle checking the perimeter@kevinrothrock so now I’m down to the Guardian @guardian for news. Any other suggestions?
Nicole ParsonsThe thing is, Bezos may **say**.he wants personal liberty & free markets, but his **actions** say otherwise
Everything about his business model screams "Monopoly! Monopoly! Monopoly!" all the time
The opposite of free markets.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevebanker/2024/09/09/amazons-antitrust-problem/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/10/01/amazon-ftc-antitrust/
He also doesn't believe in personal liberty either as he funds court cases to end unions
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/23/amazon-union-election-north-carolina-warehouse
https://www.epi.org/publication/corporate-union-busting/
"What what they do, not what they say"
Dark Phoenix 🇺🇦🇨🇦🇬🇱🇵🇦🇵🇸🏳️🌈@kevinrothrock
what did Mackenzie Scott ever see in him? Their values seem quite opposite. She is spending millions+ to help the planet, while he is hoarding money and power, no matter who it hurts.
what did Mackenzie Scott ever see in him? Their values seem quite opposite. She is spending millions+ to help the planet, while he is hoarding money and power, no matter who it hurts.
Mark T. Tomczak@kevinrothrock This reads much better in the drone-voice that Maxor uses for him on YouTube.