Finishing Nixon's Unfinished Business

Nixon was an amateur; his "friends" weren't wealthy enough.

Like many people, I canceled my subscription to the Washington Post in the days before the 2024 election. (Recap: the Post had an editorial endorsing Kamala Harris ready to go; under pressure from its owner, Jeff Bezos, the endorsement never ran. Instead the editors served up a weak sauce, pretending that they were returning the paper to its roots. Uh huh. I have a bridge for sale, too.) Many of the journalists whom I’d subscribed in order to read — reporters and opinion writers alike — were soon voting with their feet as well. A few were summarily fired for… committing journalism? Having opinions?

Despite the self-inflicted wound, the paper continued on; its newsroom continued to break stories, including stories unfavorable to the regime now in power. Apparently this is too much: last week, the Post announced that it was laying off hundreds of journalists and other staff, because — if you don’t know — running a newspaper is expensive and one of the world’s wealthiest men can’t continue waiting for the ink to stop running red. (I’m not the only person asking: why not?)

Today, in an email that reaches new heights (or nadirs) for tone-deafness, the Washington Post asks me to resubscribe for the low, low price of $40 for a year, and $140/annum thereafter. No, thank you. Maybe some enterprising soul could project “All the President’s Men” on the Post headquarters all night, every night, on continual loop.

Somewhere, and not for the first time in the age of Trump, Richard Nixon is once again grinding his teeth. And Kay Graham is spinning in her grave.