Forrest Gump famously quoted one of his mother’s favorite expressions: “stupid is as stupid does.”
You may recall that Netflix was attempting to acquire Warner Brothers. This mega-deal drew criticism due to market-power concentration and the attendant negative consequences for consumers. These mergers always promise greater efficiencies and lower costs for consumers. Unless you’ve been living under a bridge, you know that rarely happens.
Having written recommending additional scrutiny concerning any Warner Brothers merger, I take to my iPad again. In that piece I asserted that the deal should not be approved unless or until the new owners show a real commitment to cleaning up the rampant bias at CNN. Any merger will need the approval of the Trump administration to go forward. The Justice Department is currently reviewing the proposed $72 billion merger. Warner Brothers currently owns HBO Max and the combined companies would have dominated the streaming business.
Many in the fawning media consider former National Security Advisor to President Barack Obama, Susan Rice to be a political genius. After all, she had the president’s ear on virtually all policy matters. Unless her defenders are willing to admit that Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is real and affects mental acuity, that genius view needs serious recalibration. Consider her recent venomous comments, most objective observers would characterize as threats, concerning business leaders who cooperate with this administration. They are beyond stupid. Here is what she said:
“If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to, you know, play by the old rules, and, you know, say, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all, you know, the laws you’ve skirted’ I think they’ve got another thing coming,” Rice said this during an interview with the “Stay Tuned with Preet” podcast.
Interestingly, Susan “everything by the book” Rice serves as a well-paid Netflix Board Member. The brilliant Rice wasn’t finished; she continued:
“You know, companies already are starting to hear they better preserve their documents. They better be ready for subpoenas. If they’ve done something wrong, they’ll be held accountable, and if they haven’t broken the law, good for them,” she said. “This is not going to be an instance of, you know, forgive and forget. The damage that these people are doing is too severe to the American people and to our national interest.”
Does that sound like a threat to you?
It didn’t sit well with the president. He went on social media to fire back:
“Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences. She’s got no talent or skills – Purely a political hack!”
Ms. Rice seems to be suffering from an advanced and debilitating case of TDS. Apparently, the contagion has spread to the upper ranks of management at Netflix as well. Their CEO, Ted Sarandos doubled down on stupid. Instead of apologizing and trying to find a graceful way of de-escalating the situation he said that Trump “likes to do a lot of things on social media.” Ouch!
His response is reminiscent of a quote (which President Gerald Ford never actually said) after he turned down a request from a bankrupt New York City for a federal bail out. The New York Daily News ran a headline saying, “Ford to City: Drop Dead.”
Sarandos scurried to the White House in an to attempt to make peace and salvage a deal.
He got the cold shoulder.
Within hours, Paramount sweetened its offer and Netflix folded its tent. For the rest of the Netflix Board, resurrecting the mega-merger is now the least of their worries. They clearly have a loose cannon blasting away from their tossing deck. Worse, they have a captain who doesn’t seem to know port from starboard. They need to be reminded that even big ships can hit icebergs and sink.
Forrest Gump admitted that he was not a smart man. But even he would have been smart enough to avoid a spitting match with this President. Ms. Rice and the CEO have managed to offend not only President Trump, but his entire administration and the millions of us who support their policies. The proposed mega-deal was already on thin ice. Rice’s veiled threats of retribution went beyond stupid. They exposed a dark side that demanded consequences.
You can’t fix stupid. TDS isn’t easily cured either.
Rep. Gil Gutknecht served six terms in the U.S. House.