ThinkProgress Schadenfreude Alert

The lefty Center for American Progress has shuttered its ThinkProgress media arm, and laid off the entire ThinkProgress “news”room staff. Now on the surface, this is astonishing. Most lefty “resistance” groups are thriving right now, because raising money with Donald Trump is really easy. Lefty groups typically thrive when there’s a Republican president, because we all know that conservatives are paranoi. . . oh, wait. . . Where was I?

Anyway, if you think about the matter for a moment, you soon ask the sensible question. With the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, etc, all working explicitly for “the resistance,” exactly what media value-added was there in the opinion journalism of ThinkProgress? At least the lefty ProPublica does some old-fashioned investigative reporting. ThinkProgress just ranted.

Actually, ThinkProgress did one other thing: they unionized. So this tweet a couple days ago is especially delicious:

Imagine: Requiring ThinkProgress members to affirmatively opt-out of supporting CAP—just as public employee unions are demanding of its dues-paying members after the Janus decision. My irony-schadenfreude axis is tilting really hard right now.

Meanwhile, in other “truth-and-consequences” news for labor unions, the Wall Street Journal editorial page reports today that labor unions in Oregon, having successfully pressed for a higher minimum wage, now wants Oregon to limit sharply the number of self-serve kiosks in retail stores. I love the union argument, because at least it isn’t “think of the children!” No—they’re arguing that kiosks are bad for “community.” Now pick yourself up off the floor, and stop laughing! (And dust off your old Christopher Lasch books):

The draft initiative claims “grocery stores provide many people with their primary place of social connection and sense of community,” but self-service checkouts add “to social isolation and related negative health consequences” for shoppers. It claims the kiosks “contribute to retail workers feeling devalued” and heighten the risk of everything from shoplifting to underage drinking. Oh, and self-checkout stations also intensify “efficiency pressures on workers.”

They’re going to have to try harder than this to get the attention of the Babylon Bee.

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