Pierce: It's Grifters, Bagmen, and Sleaze All the Way Down
It's Grifters, Bagmen, and Sleaze All the Way Down
David Pecker and the National Enquirer's attack on Jeff Bezos brings another rancid layer to the plot.
BY CHARLES P. PIERCE
FEB 8, 2019
WASHINGTON — All in all, you'd have to say that picking a fight with the richest American who ever lived, and a guy who also owns a major newspaper that's already got its teeth in your neck, wasn't the smartest career move that American Media Inc. and the National Enquirer ever made. In fact, it's the kind of gargantuan dose of stupid that you'd take only if you thought a very influential person—like, say, a President* of the United States—had your back on it....
This story effectively blotted out the sun in Washington as soon as it broke on Thursday night. ("No Thank You, Mr. Pecker" is a Dickens title for the dick-pic age. It's fun to be in fifth grade again.) The second stage ignited when WaPo reporter Manuel Roig-Franzia went on Lawrence O'Donnell's MSNBC show and speculated that "a government entity" may have accessed the Bezos texts in question, which would kick this scandal almost all the way up the scale to impeachable offenses.
Since then, it has been rumored that the blackmail against Bezos was aimed at killing the Post's coverage of the murder of Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of agents of the Saudi government. People also are quick to point out that the Enquirer has been known to engage in so much private-sector ratfcking on behalf of Donald Trump that the publication, and its parent company, already have cut a cooperation deal with prosecutors back in New York. This, of course, would throw that agreement right into the woodchipper. My lord, it's grifters, bagmen, cheap gunsels, and pure, rancid sleaze, all the way down.
The feeling here is that Bezos has called the bluff so successfully that, once it unravels, this scandal may be the fatal one. I'm less sure about that than some people are, but Bezos has all the time—and most of the money—in the world, and his powerful newspaper is run by Marty Baron, who does not let go of a story until he's turned it upside down and shaken all of the facts out of its pockets. Ever since this administration* took office, it's been plain that the towering arrogance of its leader, who knows more about everything than anyone else, has infected the rest of the government.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a26256644/jeff-bezos-national-enquirer-blackmail-david-pecker-trump/
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Love Charlie Pierce. 
when I would not say things about the spouse of the person in question (yeah, I know, she married him - her choice), but I would rather not see nasty things said about her just because of her "relationship" to him.
However, the rest of the family - yeah, they're gifted scum that need to be sent running and placed into cages, just like they've done with families without golden spoons in their bags of earthly possessions.
I like the way he puts that.
Love Charlie Pierce's brilliant take on this.. Mahalo, mcar!
Cha.lots of 
is warranted. 
