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.
Worst of Universities: Among the ranks of higher education, Columbia was an early appeaser, agreeing in March to a list of demands that sacrificed academic independence and promised legal action against rowdy albeit legitimate demonstrators in order to reinstate its suspended funding. Trump predictably came back for another pound of flesh in July, among other things, settling civil rights lawsuits arising out of student protests over Gaza.
Worst of Mayors: America is fortunate to have many diligent, tough mayors in cities Trump invaded (e.g., Los Angeles, Chicago, Portland). D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser was not among them. She distinguished herself as an eager collaborator with Trump’s military invasion of the district. She welcomed the “oversight,” agreed to extend the “cooperation,” and failed to immediately seek court redress. (Fortunately, its attorney general did.) Sure, D.C. is in a different posture than actual states, but every city and state had something to lose by standing up to Trump; only she capitulated without a fight. At least she announced she will not seek a 4th term.
Worst of Media Companies: Disney/ABC blew it twice since Trump’s reelection. First, last December, when it settled a specious lawsuit for $15M concerning George Stephanopoulos paraphrasing U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan’s ruling in Trump’s sexual assault trial. Then, in 2025, it yanked Jimmy Kimmel off the air for comments regarding Charlie Kirk after FCC chairman Brendan Carr threatened its affiliates. Only a consumer boycott and vociferous outrage from unions, Hollywood celebrities, and politicians nationwide persuaded the network to return Kimmel to the air.
Worst of Governors: In the annals of squeamish governors unwilling to resist Trump’s demands, none showed more fervor for Trump’s authoritarian enterprise than Texas Governor Greg Abbott. Send national guard troops to another state? Sure! Re-redistrict this summer at Trump’s whim over the objections of even his own party? Yup! Next, harass the Democratic lawmakers who broke quorum? You bet. No state has done more to cooperate with Trump’s cruel, counterproductive, and often illegal attack on immigrants.
Worst of Silicon Valley: Never have such wealthy men so prostrated themselves for so little gain at the feet of a faux autocrat. Wrecking the Washington Post, forking over money for his inauguration, or slobbering over him at the White House, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and other tech billionaires reminded us that character does not go hand in hand with financial success. But it never ends: Many of these same figures had their companies turn over undisclosed sums for the monstrous new White House ballroom. This category frankly is too competitive to single out just one of them.
Worst Political Oxymoron: “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. And of course, there was no Trump policy so heinous (e.g., slashing Medicaid, unilaterally dismantling the federal government, tax cuts for billionaires, an inhumane anti-immigrant onslaught) that they could bestir themselves to block it. Murkowski took perhaps the most destructive and politically dumb vote of her career in signing onto the big ugly bill.
Worst of Corporate DEI cowards: Companies ranging from Target to IBM to Goldman Sachs were quick to ditch DEI in the face of MAGA threats, or fear of retribution. (In response, consumers launched a highly effective boycott against Target.) Walmart, Meta, and Amazon have joined the herd. Not all companies have capitulated to MAGA bullies. As NPR reported:
Some big companies, including Costco and Delta Air Lines, are publicly defending their DEI initiatives (and the language they use to discuss them). Investors in Apple, Levi’s, and others have shrugged off anti-DEI shareholder proposals this spring.
As with universities and law firms, the ability of some leaders to resist the MAGA vendetta against DEI only revealed how unnecessarily short-sided were those who cowered in the face of Trump invectives.
Worst of Democratic Lawmakers: There was no need nor excuse for eight Senate Democrats (one independent who caucuses with Democrats) to cave as they did on the shutdown. In return, they got only a fig-leaf—a laughable vote only in the Senate on extension of ACA credits. Even worse, they blessed insertion of an entirely corrupt piece of legislation trickery that “award senators hundreds of thousands of dollars for having their phone records collected without their knowledge as part of a Biden-era investigation.” The investigation concerned Jan 6. The phone records were obtained with a judicial warrant. This is a scam, one blessed by these eight: Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), and Angus King (I-Maine). Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) should not escape blame for allowing this to unfold. He lacks what it takes to lead in this moment. These 9 senators’ collective foolishness and fecklessness in getting fleeced is bad enough; their willingness to fleece the taxpayers on behalf of MAGA senators is unforgivable. None should seek office ever again.
Watch CBS News for a week. Note the advertisers. Write letters to these advertisers telling them you and your family and friends will not buy their products as long as they continue to support STATE NEWS.
I'm disappointed, but hardly surprised, by the ease and rapidity with which corporate America knuckled under. It's exactly what businesses in Germany did in 1933, and was as predictable as the sunrise and sunset.