The "Powerful" who Cowered in 2025 - It's time for the lists! -- Jennifer Rubin

[erronis]

https://contrarian.substack.com/p/its-time-for-the-lists

What a year it has been; in so many ways worse for our democracy and our sanity than we ever imagined. Donald Trump’s constant bombardment of offenses, lawlessness, cruelty, vulgarity, and ignorance has made it hard to keep up. So, as this tumultuous year draws to a close, The Contrarian will provide a series of best and worst lists, covering everything from bold court decisions to Truth Social rants.

To get the ball rolling, let’s looks at the powerful figures who rolled over and played dead, when they surely could have defended themselves, democracy, vulnerable Americans, and civil society with just a modicum of courage.

Worst of News Outlets: Of all the legacy outlets to turn tail, none exceeded CBS in its utter forfeiture of moral authority and journalistic principles. Arguably the worst of the media “settlements” (more like payoffs to a mobster threatening to burn down their business) was CBS’s payment of $16 million in July for editing its 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris, delivered apparently to grease the skids for a major merger between Paramount and Skydance. There was no basis for liability here; its owners’ unwillingness to defend their premier show’s journalistic integrity should have the Murrow boys spinning in their graves. Their subsequent hiring of the manifestly unqualified and unserious Bari Weiss—a demagogic columnist foreign to a newsroom—seemed akin to tapping professional suck-up Pete Hegseth to run the Pentagon. She promptly embarrassed herself and tarnished the network’s reputation. Then, to top it all off, CBS conducted a softball interview with Trump that allowed him to spew falsehoods with virtually no pushback—which the network then edited.

Worst of Law Firms: It’s hard to remember back to March, but one of the country’s most progressive minded law firms, Paul Weiss, was among the first to cave to Trump’s bullying by executive order. Agreeing to do Trump’s work pro bono and reject DEI principles, it abandoned the principles that had long guided the firm, horrifying its founder’s family. Worse, it set the example for a slew of other firms to roll over. There was a silver lining: it lost clients and attorneys who prioritized integrity. It might have been a tad embarrassed when other firms chose to fight back rather than cave—or when the D.C. bar recently suggested that the sort of deal it struck raised legal ethics concerns.

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Many more in her post.

[bronxiteforever]

1. Kick & recommend. Great read! This sentence packs truth

“Moderate Republicans” in Congress are as real as unicorns. From the early days of the regime, quislings such as Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La) voted to confirm RFK, Jr., to take over at HHS, Sens. Joni Ernst and Thom Tillis gave thumbs up to Pete Hegseth, and Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski confirmed the likes of Pam Bondi.”