The Washington Post loses it over Mamdani's inauguration location

A year ago Jeff Bezos, the world’s third-richest person and owner of the Washington Post, stripped his journalists of their independence to make decisions on the line to take in editorials, saying it would now cheerlead “personal liberties and free markets”.

“We are going to be writing every day in support and defence of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets,” the billionaire Amazon founder wrote in an email to Post staff. “We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.” The move led to the immediate resignation of its opinion editor.

Now the move has led to the title making some ludicrous contortions in order to support its position. As Zohran Mamdani was last night sworn in as mayor of New York Jam-style – down in the Tube station at midnight – the Post attacked him for hypocrisy as, er, the subway station in question had been built by a private firm.

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In the editorial, headlined “Zohran Mamdani accidentally honors the private sector”, the paper snorts that “this beautiful monument was a triumph of capitalism, not government”, adding that “little of the subway system would exist if not for private enterprises that the city later took over. These entrepreneurs were more concerned with building a railroad that people would want to ride than placating public-sector union bosses and environmental activists.”

The choice also allowed the paper to warn solemnly about the Sodom and Gomorrah Mamdani’s reign was about to bring to the Big Apple. “Mamdani’s transportation agenda risks worsening nearly every problem with the system. ‘Free’ buses, which would actually cost New Yorkers about $800 million a year, will make them magnets for crime and vagrancy,” it said.

“That’s also what will happen to the subway if he moves ahead with his plan to repurpose vacant newsstands in the 100 busiest stations for homeless outreach centers, with the goal of providing ‘triage’ for the mentally ill.”

And all because of the choice of a subway station to have his inauguration! One is reminded of the late Jeremy Hardy’s line about those accusing socialists of hypocrisy: “Aha! you’re not so ‘socialist’ that you won’t wear shoes, I see.”