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by p_j_w 37 days ago
> values that people in the US might care about (freedom of speech, limited govt, etc).

The US federal government forced Paramount to take Colbert off the air. Seems that people in the US don’t actually value these things.

> What values specifically are you optimizing for here?

Probably not being fascist.
2 comments
Gigachad 37 days ago
They currently have the military circling a pool to intimidate people trying to take photos of the botched paint job.
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Applejinx 36 days ago
In fairness, it's our Berlin Wall, and I absolutely would want a piece of the delaminating paint as a souvenir. The difference is we are so early into the collapse that the armed guards are still there. But yeah, it's definitely not just pictures, I'd want a piece of the blue stuff. It'd be a souvenir and also me taking it away from there, so win/win. Of course there's armed guards guarding the swamp now, what else would there be?
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fuck_google 37 days ago
Intimidation is the sincerest form of flattery.
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throwaway27448 37 days ago
> The US federal government forced Paramount to take Colbert off the air.

Not really; the Ellisons are quite close to Trump. Nobody was forced to do anything. Had the FCC actually revoked their license, and had Paramount actually been willing to fight, they could have sued. It's not easy to force anyone that rich to do anything; the state works on behalf of capital. It seems like europe is more aware of the meaningless bluster than the actual crimes being committed

There are much better things to point to to illustrate the deterioration of the rule of law, like blatantly illegal deportation of citizens without due process. Or raping children in concentration camps under the guise of cracking down on crime. We may never even know who was seized and what happened to them and there's little incentive for our very pro-corporate media to report on it.

But sure, paramount is the real victim here.

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hvb2 37 days ago
You might want to read the 3rd paragraph of this article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merger_of_Skydance_Media_and_P...

Read that timeline and then see if you're still convinced that they didn't at least seem to have done a thing or 2 to appease the federal government

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throwaway27448 36 days ago
Of course, but that's business. Authoritarianism would imply a conflict unresolvable outside of state violence.
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hvb2 34 days ago
If you think that's business, wherever you are is a place where I don't want to live.

Yes, companies do have to do things in order to appease regulators. But typically that's where a regulator says what they need them to do and then they oblige. Those requests usually involve market power and such, and splitting off part of the company. They don't involve the actual content/product of said company

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