Netflix is buying Warner Brothers. That will also net them HBO, one of their few cable rivals. I’m sure they’ll argue that it’s not illegal market consolidation because they’ll sell Discovery, or some such.

My first thought? Where’s the bribe? We all know that Trump and his kleptocracy need a cut to approve anything. It’s just what they do. Somehow or somewhere, the merger approval will be delayed just long enough for the goddamn check to clear. Remember: in a kleptocracy, stealing isn’t incidental. It’s not an accident that happens while they’re trying to govern; it’s the primary function. Any governance that happens is almost accidental, and at lower levels. The leadership is only there for the grift.

My second thought is that this is another giant monopoly threatening to crush any competition. The only reason is so they can charge us more for less. It’s not like we can go anywhere else. It’s a good thing we have a federal government to protect us from rapacious monopolies who—

Sorry, I couldn’t stop laughing. The image of Trump actually giving a shit about anyone is laugh-out-loud funny.