I just cancelled my subscription to The Washington Post and sent this email to the Publisher, William Lewis:

Mr. Lewis –

I just read of the decision by the Washington Post not to endorse a candidate for President. Are you people delusional? With your mantra being “Democracy Dies in Darkness”? – what a joke. American democracy is being fundamentally threatened by Donald Trump and his captured Republican Party. Our democracy is dying right out in the open, for all to see. What is the point of a free press if it stands by and chronicles the rush to fascism, autocracy, hate-fueled politics, attacks on human and civil rights, denial of fact and science, and a full-throated embracing of Hitler and white supremacy?

That is what Trump is offering America. Under a Trump dictatorship your ability to publish will be curtailed, and you – yourself – might well be jailed if you displease the new Fuhrer. Trump has been given the powers of a king by his subservient Supreme Court and he will fully use these powers to do everything he has said repeatedly that he will do – namely use the army against us, weaponize the Justice Department against his opponents, deport tens of millions of people, and turn America into a fundamentalist oligarchy that will look more like the America of 1830 that 2025. You claim to seek and preserve independence, but your inaction will end up sacrificing your basic freedoms and mine, as well.

I am beyond frustrated with the incompetence and complicity of America’s media outlets Ito give Donald Trump a pass on his sociopathic and arguably traitorous behaviors and policies. I have canceled my subscription to the Washington Post and deleted the app from my phone and I will urge everyone I know to do the same.

If you feel the same way, let him know-> william.lewis@washpost.com

Responses:

Mr. Lewis, 

I cannot believe you have abandoned not only the key principle of the journalistic profession but the underlying principle of democracy in this country, or any country that pretends to democracy as well. 

Oh, I have not lost interest, or perspective. I know that Mr. Orban in the Magyar state of Hungary (which aligned itself with Hitler in the early days of World War II), along with the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians, and other democracy-shy nation-states not only will applaud your cowardly non-position but would comfortably abandon any recognition of what our country has done in opposing the global fascists and communists over the last century. Of course, we are far from perfect, as I have often said in my difficult and expensive campaigns. We are hardly the City On The Hill that pretenders like Reagan attempted to label us with. But we, along with most Europeans, the Canadians, the Australians, the New Zealanders, sometimes the Indians, and too few others, are still the last best hope for democracy in this world. 

Hitler suppressed a free press. You surrendered it without a fight. 

– Bill K

To the Cowards Who Manage the Washington Post,

You conned me. A few weeks ago, I let my subscription lapse, mainly because I was unhappy with the way your newspaper took pains to legitimize the illegitimate and dangerous candidacy of Donald Trump. I’m sure you’re sick to death of folks accusing you of “sanewashing” Trump but, hey, look in the mirror.  I figured I could put my hard-earned and paltry finances into local press that truly needs the support. But you lowered your subscription price from the outrageous fee of $120 to $60. Then to $50. Then to $40. (Desperate for subscribers?) Finally, you suggested $29. There are a number of writers–mainly opinion contributors–on your staff who I respect and whose columns I enjoy reading. Among them are Eugene Robinson, Colbert I. King, Jennifer Rubin, Dana Milbank, the sublimely wicked Alexandra Petri, and more. So, I thought, I will give the Post another chance.
   
And then you punched me in the face. Sweet. Your billionaire genius made the decision to endorse no one for President of the United States in 2024. And his lackeys said, “Yessir! How high?” Even though he had not asked them to jump. Well, maybe through hoops. That’s power, folks. When his rocket is ready to go to Mars, please put him on it and make it a one-way trip. So, even though I can’t afford to throw $29 in the trash (do any of you remember what it’s like to feel the pain of losing $29?), I am forced to wave at you and say, “Buh-bye.”

I know you’re receiving messages right now from people who are throwing the “Democracy Dies in Darkness” slogan back in your faces. Good. Feel free to eat those words, but add salt if they’re tough going down. Or just choke on them. Either way works for me.Try this one out: “Democracy Dies in Silence.” Your silence. You hypocritical bastards.

Your reporters tell us every day (when they’re not pandering to conservatives) what life will be like under a second Trump regime. It will not be pretty. And institutions like yours will suffer as much or more than average Americans. Hope you’re ready for that. I don’t think that most people rely on endorsements from newspapers to make their political decisions. But you know what? People like me look to a lot of different sources and add up the positive and the negative. You might have made a difference in keeping the United States a democracy. But you abdicated your own influence. In the service of…what?

Ultimately, though, I’m the fool. I caved. I gave you my money. And you kicked me in the groin. I refuse to say, “Can I have some more, please?” We are going our separate ways.

With profound sadness, Mike N.

Other coverage:

• “Washington Post Resignations and Cancellations Begin, Guild Says Bezos Axed Endorsement: ‘Management Interfered’“