Armando has canceled his subscription to the NY Times and says on Kagro any of us who maintain it are “saps” or “idiots.” I don’t object to the epithets. (Hell, he could have called me and the Times “shitholes” for all I care.) Like Greg Dworkin, I know he says them with love, though Armando may disagree with that too.
And I agree the Times played a primary role in giving us Trump in many ways, and more importantly, refuses to apologize or acknowledge it and continues to run stories about lovable Nazis, and Trump “transforming” the Presidency.
But I object to immediate, individual cancellation because:
(1) a one by one campaign to unsubscribe won’t help;
(2) there’s a better way (e.g., my plan below!); and
(3) So far, I just cain’t quit her (yet).
The reasons for (3) are
(a) I have been reading the Times since my Fifth Grade teacher Mrs. Eisen made us and old habits die hard;
(b) I will have severe nervous shakes if my morning (hard copy!) reading of the Times with breakfast is disrupted; and
(c): The Times is unique, valuable and (for the moment) irreplaceable.
So what’s my Plan?
Don’t cancel your subscription now (ignore Armando for the moment). Instead.
- Start a movement to have a significant number of people pledge to cancel. (How many do you think would matter to them? 10,000? 50,000? 100,000?).
- Include demands for change within a fixed period of time (60-90 days?): e.g.,
(i) Fire Executive Dean Baquet (at the very least) — the man in charge when the fatal stories below ran.
(ii) Fire any reporters and editors who were at all involved in publishing any of these stories:
(1) Clinton Foundation Schweitzer-Breitbart Uranium Stor(ies)
(2) Investigating Trump, FBI finds no Russia ties.
(3) Most, but not necessarily all, Politico alumni.
(iii) Hire at least three off a list that includes, e.g.: David Corn (who had the balls to write about the Steele Dossier the same day the Times published its false story); David Cay Johnson (actually, re-hire); Jill Wine-Banks; Driftglass (well — that’s a tough one, but you can still listen to his and Bluegal’s 8th anniversary episode of The Professional Left. (In the comments, suggest some others who should be added to the Times)
4. Tell them [e.g., 50,000] people have pledged to cancel en masse on the agreed date if the demands are not substantially met. (April 1, 2018 has a good ring to it.)
So. What do you think?
I’m open to other suggestions. But the Times must be saved from itself.