The Woke Leviathan

 

Friends, my latest article is hot off the presses (which exist mainly in my mind, and are VERY hot!).  I tackle the issue of Netflix's proposed takeover of Warner Brothers, which I find...appalling.  See what you make of my point of view.

 

A Pox on the House of Netflix!

The recent announcement that Warner Brothers, a Hollywood institution for over a century, will be acquired by Netflix, one of the wokest Big Tech companies around, should set off alarm bells for anyone who cares about the future of America and our popular culture. The Trump Administration simply cannot allow this merger from leftist Hades (much worse than regular Hades) to proceed.

Netflix's catalog of offenses against decency and traditional values is voluminous. Take, for instance, its trumpeting of the trans agenda...to kids, no less! Netflix's constant nods to identity politics, moreover, make much of its programming unwatchable to anyone who didn't ooze “joy” the moment Kamala(!) became the Democratic Party annointee for president... Meanwhile, Netflix's fascination with leftist narratives, from climate change to “undocumented” immigrants, has laid bare its ideological bias. These manifold sins, in combination with the low quality and limited scope of Netflix's offerings, made it an easy decision for me to cut the (digital) cord to Netflix years ago, and I've never looked back.

Warner Brothers, sadly, is proving less discerning. For reasons that beggar belief, it has accepted an inferior offer from Netflix, spurning a much larger bundle of cash from Paramount, the entertainment giant piloted by David Ellison, the son of Larry Ellison, who is, in case you've forgotten, an open and shameless supporter of (gasp!) President Donald Trump. Hmm. Now that seems odd: a mainstream Hollywood studio has chosen to climb into bed with a famously liberal streaming service, and the financial interests of Warner Brothers' shareholders be damned! Nothing fishy there. The fact that Warner Brothers controls CNN, a failed news network that nonetheless manages to irritate Trump and Republicans on a regular basis, might help to explain why the Ellisons and Paramount had to be denied. The last thing some people want is news networks that report the news, as opposed to TDS-inspired fever dreams.

Luckily, there is hope that this freakish union can be thwarted before American popular culture succumbs once and for all to “progressive” degeneracy. For one thing, Pam Bondi's DOJ, and more specifically its antitrust division, will have something to say about whether the proposed Warner Brothers/Netflix merger harms competition in the entertainment industry and/or represents an illegal monopoly. There are ample reasons to think that it does. President Trump has expressed concern on this point.

What's more, Warner Brothers' shareholders, and other interested parties, can pursue legal action to prevent the merger by arguing that it pointedly ignored, or even deliberately violated, the fiduciary obligation of Warner Brothers' executives, if they sell the company, to seek the best possible deal and the highest possible price. Paramount made six separate offers to Warner Brothers, each more generous than the last, but in the end Warner Brothers' CEO, David Zaslav, spurned the Ellisons and inked an agreement with the people who brought us Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp instead. Very logical! Nice stewardship of the Warner Brothers legacy, Dave. And who needs money, anyway? It's highly overrated, from what I hear.

We can only hope that these political, legal, and financial countermeasures to the proposed Warner Brothers/Netflix merger manage to head off this unholy alliance before it's too late. Otherwise, you could find yourself paying more and more for “entertainment” that is worse and worse, and which doesn't even pretend to promote or respect the values you hold dear. As Bugs Bunny (a Warner Brothers property) would say, that's “what's up, Doc”, and the sooner we organize ourselves to avert this calamity, the better!

Dr. Nicholas L. Waddy is a history professor at SUNY Alfred and blogs at: www.waddyisright.com. He appears on the Newsmakers show on WLEA/WYSL.

 

And here it is at Townhall:

 

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2025/12/13/a-pox-on-the-house-of-netflix-n2667823 

 

***

 

And don't miss out on this week's Newsmakers show, which features none other than me!  Brian and I cover U.S./EU tensions, the heartening Republican victory in Tennessee's 7th Congressional district, the resilient Trump economy and the phony "affordability" crisis, the seizure of the oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, the tremendous decline in the number of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Netflix/Warner Brothers boondoggle, and Time Magazine's homage to the "architects of A.I.", as well as A.I.'s potential impact on the job market.

 

Holy moly!  Is there anything we didn't cover?  Hardly seems so! 

 

https://wysl.podbean.com/e/newsmakers-12-13-25/ 

 

In other news, Republican efforts to redistrict their way to an enhanced, or at least stable, majority in the House of Representatives have been dealt a major setback, as Indiana state senators, including a majority of Republicans (!), voted against a plan that would have, or could have, added two more seats to the GOP tally.  Why would Republicans balk?  Apparently they felt "bullied", the poor dears, and they find the idea of mid-cycle redistricting icky and impolite.  Well, Democrats have been gerrymandering their brains out for decades...so much so that they have precious little left to gerrymander, so why can't Republicans see the writing on the wall?  Midwestern pride?  Homespun self-satisfaction?  Maybe even a touch of closet TDS?  I don't know the answer, but I hope cooler heads prevail and Indiana revisits this issue soon.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/12/trump-signals-support-for-primary-challenges-after-indiana-gop-rejects-redistricting-bill/  

The Future Is Now(ish)

 

Friends, Time magazine, which I guess is still a thing, has named the "Architects of A.I." as its Person of the Year, which kinda makes sense, given all the hype around A.I., but what this means is that Elon Musk is co-Person of the Year, and who saw that coming after his brief, cozy relationship with DJT, and then the nasty breakup between them???  I guess the bottom line is that changes in technology are fundamentally transforming the nature of human civilization, and in many ways the "nerds" are now more relevant than the politicians.  Is that good news or bad?  You decide.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2025/12/11/time-names-the-architects-of-ai-as-2025-person-of-the-year/ 

 

The U.S. has seized a great big oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, and the message is clear: we will no longer look the other way when rogue states engage in illegal, illegitimate trade.  More to the point, Venezuelan President Maduro's days may be numbered.  Let's hope so.

 

https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/u-s-seizes-oil-tanker-off-venezuela-in-escalation-of-pressure-on-maduro-regime-ec2cd0b6?st=ZdBjG1 

 

Finally, U.S. immigration policy sure has undergone a sea change in the last ten months!  600,000+ illegals have been deported, and maybe as many as two million have self-deported.  These are huge numbers, and they're having measurable effects on the job market, housing prices, etc.  Meanwhile, the Trump Adiministration is smoothing the path for rich foreigners to come live (and spend) in the USA, which is okay by me.  Sure, we need the numbers to stay manageable, but wealthy investors are an asset to this country, in a way that aspiring fry cooks and welfare queens are not.  Keep up the good work, Don!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/11/trumps-dhs-celebrates-record-breaking-over-2-5-million-illegals-leaving-us/ 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4q1lddj8go 

Times Are Tough...Or Are They?

 

Friends, the mainstream media labored mightily in the leadup to the 2025 elections to convince voters that we're in a recession, jobs are scarce, and prices are ever-so-high!  In other words, the media and its leftist masters wanted to capitalize on economic unease to defeat the GOP, and it worked.  Of course, as I have (convincingly) argued elsewhere, it's all malarkey, as old man Biden would say.  The economy is doing just fine, the job market isn't great, but it isn't dreadful either, and inflation is well under control, with wage gains more than accounting for rising prices.  President Trump, in any case, is in a difficult position.  He can't deny or minimize the economic headwinds that some Americans face, but neither can he afford for the economic successes of his administration to be ignored by the public.  He has to be sympathetic to those who are suffering, but also he needs to be a cheerleader for an American economy that in many ways ought to sell itself, but won't, for obvious reasons.  Luckily, the elections are behind us, which means the media can afford to ease up a bit on the doom and gloom.  The result is higher approval ratings for Trump, and an opportunity to sell a new message of hope and opportunity to the American people.  With any luck, Trump can pull it off.  He's going back on the road, campaign-style, to do so, which is a positive sign, because Trump does best when he's speaking directly to the voters, without the filter of the talking heads.  Bon chance, DJT!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c04vqyl13rlo 

 

https://www.realclearpolling.com/polls/approval/donald-trump/approval-rating 

 

In other news, the incomparable Jack recommends this article to you, about the decline of the "climate cult".  I agree with almost all of it, except the assumption that, because climate catastrophism is false, it will inevitably fail and be recognized for what it is: deception.  No -- unfortunately, phony scandals and crises can be sustained for years, even decades, if the forces behind them are powerful and clever enough.  Climate change is still, for much of the world's population, an existential threat, not necessarily to their lives or livelihoods, but to their fragile emotions, and as such I expect that we'll be hearing about it for a long time to come.  Young people have proven especially vulnerable to this chimera.  Nonetheless, as the article makes plain, the political salience of climate alarmism does seem to be in decline, and that's something to celebrate.

 

https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/5630192-the-climate-cults-dissolution-is-inevitable/?tbref=hp 

Is "the Old Country" On Its Last Legs?

 

Friends, it's been clear for some time that Europe is struggling in many ways: economically, politically, and culturally.  Its inability to make babies, and its reliance on Third World immigration to keep population levels stable, is one sign of civilizational decay.  Its moribund, socialist economies are another.  This week, though, the EU launched a major attack on X, which, coupled with various other machinations against US-based Big Tech companies, may signal a doubling down on the Euro-elite's penchant for censorship and soft authoritarianism.  The Eurocrats are peeved by the resurgence of Trumpism in the USA, of course, but they are even more worried about the rising strength of populism in Europe itself.  The Reform Party in the UK, the AfD in Germany -- these movements keep European grandees up at night!  Their solution, as per usual, is to criminalize dissent, or to attack the platforms that allow dissent in the first place.  Elon Musk will play a starring role in this evolving conflict between American/classically liberal values, and European elitism, socialism, and tyranny.  So far, we've upheld our commitment to NATO despite these intercontinental squabbles, but can that continue indefinitely???

 

https://www.npr.org/2025/12/05/nx-s1-5634694/x-musk-eu-fines 

 

https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1997083064141599102 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-says-europe-risks-being-wiped-away-unless-it-changes/ar-AA1RMnqN 

 

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2025/12/06/elon-musk-calls-for-the-european-union-to-be-abolished-return-of-national-sovereignty/ 

Don't Mess With Texas!

 

Friends, I don't know whether the new Congressional district lines drawn in Texas, which are designed to give Republicans five more seats, really and truly will...but we're going to find out, thanks to SCOTUS! Yay!  This is a huge win for the GOP and a big shot in the arm to our efforts to hold the House in the midterms.

 

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/04/politics/supreme-court-allows-texas-to-use-trump-backed-congressional-map-in-midterms 

 

In other news, the FBI has arrested the man who (allegedly) planted pipe bombs in D.C. on the eve of the Trumpist "insurrection".  Why did it take this long?  Did the Biden DOJ sit on the case for years, to avoid arresting someone other than a MAGA nutcase???  We'll soon find out.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/04/ag-bondi-evidence-leading-to-j6-pipe-bomber-arrest-collecting-dust-at-bidens-fbi-4-years/ 

 

Trump=peace!  We had another demonstration of this fact today, as DJT presided over yet another peace agreement, this time between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.  Why should you care?  Well, millions have died in pointless, interminable conflict in the Congo since the late 90s.  It would be nice to see an end to that.  In addition, Congo is home to trillions of dollars in gems and minerals, which, all things being equal, it would be nice to get our hands on, and for the people of the Congo to benefit from.  As Trump says, if we all see (Trumpian) reason, we can all get rich...together!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrjn88jqn4o 

 

Finally, Vice-President J.D. Vance, who incidentally Elon says is on course to serve two terms as president (may it be so!), is celebrating a notable decline in the cost of rent, which of course affects the bottom line of tens of millions of Americans, especially the poor.  This decline has happened partly because many communities have been emptied out of illegals and even legal immigrants.  Imagine that!  You cut the demand for housing, and the price...goes down???  Unheard of!!!  Well, unheard of if you're a Democrat.  This is wonderful news, and it's the kind of positive news about the economy that unfortunately all too few people are hearing.

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/04/jd-vance-link-between-mass-immigration-and-housing-costs-clear-as-day-as-rents-continue-declining/ 

The Winning Never Stops!

 

Good news, friends!  Republican Army veteran Matt Van Epps has defeated a dastardly Dem, a real leftie in sheep's clothing, in the special election in Tennessee's 7th Congressional district.  Democrats felt that they could make the race competitive, despite the district's strongly red character, and to a point they did.  Republicans had to put forth maximum effort and spend lots of money, but they still won handily -- by about 9 points.  Democrats and progressives will try to spin this loss into a win, but don't buy the hype.  Republicans and conservatives still stand by President Trump, no matter what the mainstream media would have you believe.  The GOP also still controls the House, and we have lots of opportunities to shore up our popular support before fall 2026.  This win is a good start!

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/12/02/republican-matt-van-epps-wins-special-election-for-tennessees-seventh-congressional-district3156852/ 

 

https://www.cnn.com/election/2025/results/special-elections 

 

In closely related news, Florida is planning to redraw its House districts before those all-important midterm elections in 2026, and that could easily net Republicans a good-sized handful of seats.  Go, DeSantis!

 

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/3903562/desantis-announces-florida-is-going-to-redistrict/ 

 

Finally, the Left and the media have been pushing a number of (pathetic and misleading) narratives lately, including that Pete Hegseth likes to kill the wounded in his free time.  Another story that some of them are keen on is that Trump is on his last legs, either physically or mentally -- or maybe both!  Trump's recent MRI results would seem to undercut that bit of slander, but I expect the Dems to keep grasping at straws nonetheless.  That's par for the course.

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-mri-abdomen-heart-white-house-says/ 

Huddle Somewhere Else!

 

Friends, in the wake of a despicable, murderous attack on National Guard troops patroling Washington, D.C., President Trump is promising some sweeping changes to our immigration system.  The perpetrator was an Afghan asylum seeker, you see -- a former CIA employee who was admitted into the U.S. under the auspices of the Biden Administration.  Trump has declared that all green card holders from 19 countries will be put under review, that no more asylum requests will be processed until proper vetting can be guaranteed, and, most importantly, we will have a "permanent pause" on all migration from "Third world countries".  Can the President of the United States really do all these things?  Well, we're about to find out.  Of course, the flow of legal and illegal migrants to the U.S. has already shrunk remarkably since Trump took office, so further diminishing these numbers would certainly seem like a job in Trump's wheelhouse.  All this comes at a rather propitious time as well, since a slackening job market means we have little immediate need for more foreign labor.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdxweyy157go 

 

In other news, Trump has announced that he has "terminated" all of Joe Biden's executive actions signed by autopen.  Would this include the long list of pardons issued by Biden in the waning days of his presidency?  Now THAT would be interesting...

 

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2025/11/28/president-trump-documents-signed-by-joe-bidens-autopen-are-hereby-terminated/ 

 

Finally, this week's Newsmakers interview is, as you would expect, a doozy, covering a wide range of topics, including the Epstein morass, the decline and fall of MTG, the scandalous sedition recently espoused by six members of Congress, the evolving relationship between DJT and Zohran Mamdani, the dismissal of the charges against James Comey and Letitia James, what can be done about rogue judges, the resilience of the U.S. economy, the railroading of Jair Bolsonaro, and more!

 

https://wysl.podbean.com/e/newsmakers-11-29-25/ 

MAThA!

 

Friends, part of Donald Trump's mission is to Make America Thankful Again, and I must say it's working as far as I'm concerned.  I'm thankful that we conservatives have a future in this country again...a bright future!  I'm thankful that wokeness is in retreat, and that Republicans control the White House, both houses of Congress, the Supreme Court, and therefore most of the levers of political power.  I'm thankful that our economy is expanding, our markets are soaring, and we are at the forefront of exciting new industries like artificial intelligence, robotics, and more.  I'm thankful that our borders are finally secure, and that illegal immigrants are leaving America by the truckload.  I'm even thankful that the mainstream media is occasionally facing accountability for its relentless campaign to derail the Trump Administration and the MAGA movement.  Most of all, I'm thankful that America has its groove back, and that the Left's sophisticated efforts to abolish our competitive two-party system, via censorship, intimidation, and lawfare, failed miserably.  Oh, I'm thankful, all right!  And you should be too.

 

Here's one more thing to be thankful for: my latest article!  It's an analysis of how buoyant the Trump economy has been, and how detached from reality the Left's economic pessimism has become.

 

https://townhall.com/columnists/nicholaswaddy/2025/11/26/on-the-economy-we-have-nothing-to-fear-but-fear-itself-n2667027 

Justice Deferred?

 

Friends, there were some intriguing developments today related to efforts to hold Dems and Trump haters responsible for their various and sundry alleged crimes.  First, a federal judge, appointed by Bill Clinton, dismissed the charges against James Comey and Letitia James, although the Justice Department vows that new charges will be filed in due course.  Second, the Department of War (grrr!) announced that it is investigating Senator Mark Kelly (D - Arizona) for his actions in connection with the video recently posted to X encouraging service members to disobey "illegal orders" (undefined and unspecified).  Context would be king if the military decides to court-martial Kelly, but it might be worth a try.  Certainly the (civilian) courts have not proved to be a reliable instrument with which to discipline rogue Democrats -- and that's an understatement!!!

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9qelv51y23o 

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqxqwrlp7r0o 

Forever Wars Nevermore?

 

Friends, as you know, those Russkies and those Ukrainians just keep pounding away at each other in a bitter conflict cheered on by most of the Western elite.  DJT promised us he could end the war lickety-split, but doing so has proved very challenging.  Now, the U.S. has come up with a 28-point peace plan and is putting great pressure on Ukraine to toe the line.  Would Trump be willing to cut off Ukraine's supply of cash, intelligence, and weapons if it demurs?  That's the $64,000 question!  Personally, I'm sick and tired of this war, and I would like to see it ended ASAP, before the geniuses who run NATO find a way of making it into WWIII...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5g4r9l4dlo 

 

Well, it's official: using AI to do your homework is a venial sin.  So implied Pope Leo XIV in a virtual conversation with American students.  I have my doubts whether this revelation will dampen students' use of AI, however.  After all, our Christian God is nothing if not forgiving, so why not lean on ChatGPT now, and ask for absolution later?  These Gen Z types know how to play the angles...

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/videos/c99704g0x4ro 

 

Finally, President Trump has met in the Oval Office with Zohran Mamdani, soon to be the Marxist-Leninist Mayor of New York City.  What's more, the two men were cordial and conciliatory!  Who saw that coming?  Presumably, they'll go right back to calling one another "fascist!" and "communist!" soon, but it's nice that they could manage this brief ceasefire.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgqd42gl0qo