Talking Points Memo

Well, the billionaires are licking boots. Mark Zuckerberg is the latest to take steps to appease Donald Trump. He follows a long, sad line of filthy rich sycophants including, but not limited to, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who are falling over themselves to curry favor with a man who cares about nobody but himself. We've seen it before.

But, as Josh Marshall wrote in today's editor's blog, this latest demonstration of Trumpian subservience also provides, in his words, a "refreshing clarity" for our current moment.

The billionaires are all lined up on one side, on the side of billionairedom, begging for the right to throw money at the decadent final years potentate. It's the powerful versus everyone who doesn't want to lick the boot of power. I can understand that. It's a refreshing clarity.

We here at TPM are squarely anti-boot licking. This is reflected both in our journalism and in our business model. We have not and will not pull punches when it comes to covering Trump and other billionaires who seek to bend society to their whims. Nor are we dependent on billionaire largesse. We are not in the business of appeasing billionaires to ensure ad dollars flow our way. We are in the business of doing quality journalism that our readers find valuable and worth supporting. 

When I read Josh's post today, I was reminded of a scene from HBO's hit series "Game of Thrones," where Jon Snow meets the "king beyond the wall," a fella by the name of Mance Rayder. Now, if you haven't seen Game of Thrones, just stick with me here. Let me add some context. Snow is a member of a group called "The Night's Watch" and Rayder is the leader of a coalition of "free folk" — those who have forsaken civilization and live free of the politics of Westeros "beyond the wall." Snow is also aware that there is a horde of undead zombies who are planning to invade and kill everyone living behind the protection of the wall. In ordinary times, Rayder and Snow would be enemies. But Snow is aware that, as Eleanore Roosevelt said once, these are no ordinary times.

Rayder asks Snow what he wants. Snow replies simply and definitively: "I want to fight for the side that fights for the living. Did I come to the right place?"

What Snow is doing here is cutting through the noise. While the many would-be kings and queens of Westeros busy themselves jockeying to be the ruler of humankind, Snow clearly understands the larger battle is for the survival of humankind itself: Refreshing clarity.

If you've come to TPM because you are looking for a publication unwilling to lick the boots of the billionaires, who are fighting on the side of the living, then you've come to the right place.