Three cheers for Jeff Bezos, fighting to save The Washington Post from itself

Jeff Bezos is one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs — but making his Washington Post staffers face reality may be his toughest-ever career challenge.A long time ago in a media galaxy that now seems far, far away, the Post was one of the most respected newspapers in the country, capturing 68 Pulitzers in the process. But in recent years, especially since Donald Trump’s first presidential run, the paper’s shift from left-of-center to hard-left extremism has become obvious and overt. The paper has never endorsed a Republican presidential candidate in its history — boosting the likes of Jimmy Carter (twice!) and Joe Biden, along with White House losers Walter Mondale, John Kerry, Al Gore and Hillary Clinton. And here and now in 2025, its editorial pages are littered with not just negative commentary on President Trump but outright vitriol. The nastiness is clearly out of step with the national mood after Trump won the popular vote, swept every swing state, and turned 89% of counties more red than blue, while Republicans won back the Senate and maintained control of the House. Becoming the MSNBC of print has not only hurt the paper’s credibility, but also its bottom line.In 2024, the paper lost $100 million and about 250,000 subscribers in the midst of the most insane, unpredictable presidential election year of our lifetimes.Bezos has apparently seen enough: Last week he announced that his opinion pages will mirror American values like “free markets and personal liberties” — hardly a controversial position at all.But leftists — including many WaPo staffers — howled.Editorial page editor David Shipley abruptly resigned, following a raft of similar temper-tantrum departures last year after the paper declined to endorse installed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris for president.Bezos spent much of last weekend defending his decision on X, explaining to hysterical critics, “There is nothing fascist about personal liberties and free ma...