Michael Lockwood 💉

Bad at Twitter. 50% dumb political opinions, 50% dank memes and 50% faulty logic. I also play Splatoon 3 too much (@Driftwoodml) He/him.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@RespectfulMemes I'm not sure if it's respectful on Google's part to out a trans kind before they come out on their own terms.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@Noahpinion Ignoring the possibility that this is fake, the real villains are the folks whipped up the hysteria of "LGBT indoctrination" in the first place, and they aren't paying a price.

Also (whether he really died or not) I have sympathy for his family.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@RespectfulMemes Uh...making a good video takes a lot of time and effort and the maker deserves to get paid for it?

[Lon Harris @Lons]

No hate intended to this person. I get what they're saying. But this is how this stuff works, psychologically. You create an environment of fear and suspicion to the point that speaking out on any level feels DANGEROUS and unwise. If you get targeted, it's YOUR FAULT...

[Dean Baker @DeanBaker13]

Now that we know Jeff Bezos is trying to become friends with Donald Trump we know why the Washington Post has not run major pieces on how Trump wants to cut Medicaid, a program that provides health insurance to more than 70 million people.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@KFILE Yes I know this literally molecules in the bucket but it's all I have.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@KFILE Good point. Thanks for the reminder.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@DanielSeidemann Nah...normal people say dumb stuff on complex issues all the time. The problem is that people actually listen to billionaires. Nobody should.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@DeanBaker13 I know people will either say this is crazy or that I'm being too nice on billionaires, but I can't stop thinking about how much Trump admires Putin. And we know what happened to the oligarchs who didn't bend the knee.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@DeanBaker13 I don't think it's that simple. They endorsed Biden in 2020. They know that Trump will be way less constrained this time.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@mattyglesias Does this one at least include some actual game theory?

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@BradfordPearson Also, I do realize it's not much but thousands of people unsubscribing does chip away at the paper's prestige, which is the thing that Bezos actually finds valuable.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@BradfordPearson Maybe we should be directed (and I include myself here) to redirect our subscriptions to other papers (probably ones that have made endorsements). I suggest making sure the total amount of subscriptions is greater than the cost of WaPo so the net effect on journalism is positive.

[Julia Ioffe @juliaioffe]

Americans always looked at places where this was a constant—Russia, Hungary, etc—as strange planets. They never thought it would never happen in America because democracy. Turns out, we're just like everyone else. We care more about grocery prices than vague things like democracy.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@Lons Oh my god yes. The only way a Trump admin doesn't go after Wapo is if it becomes the Washington Examiner and then it's pretty much dead because there already is a Washington Examiner. Bezos should just sell the damn thing if he loves his money that much.

[Jeet Heer @HeerJeet]

I think over-riding the editorial board like this is a bigger problem than non-endorsing. The editorial board is hired to be an independent voice. A publisher can establish a pre-set policy of no endorsement, but if they don't have such a policy and then the editorial board has the prerogative to endorse -- if overruled that means they are not independent.

[Emily 🗣️ Tamkin @emilyctamkin]

It isn’t that editorial endorsements matter so much, but that we all know what’s happening here - a paper isn’t putting out an endorsement for the first time in years because of fear - matters quite a bit.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@kenklippenstein It's very pompous and annoying when people conflate anger with surprise.

Is it a surprise that Bezos's buckled when faced by a real threat to his wealth. No. Is it infuriating when that leads to a muzzling of WAPO (which previously endorsed Biden and Clinton)? Hell yes it is.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@ernietedeschi I think people are frustrated that the race is even close. Part of me thinks this was unfortunately likely given polarization and the history of previous recent elections. The other part of me wants to tear my hair out.

[Michael Lockwood 💉 @moral_hazard]

@NormOrnstein It's cowardice pure and simple. The paper that said democracy dies in the dark is now shutting the curtains.