Jeff Bezos just threw down the gauntlet this morning at the Washington Post, telling everyone that their opinion pages are about to change dramatically.

In short, opinion writers will not be allowed to attack personal liberties and free markets any longer.

In other words, as my title suggests, radical leftists will no longer be welcome to write in the paper’s opinion pages.

Here’s the full announcement:

I shared this note with the Washington Post team this morning:

I’m writing to let you know about a change coming to our opinion pages.

We are going to be writing every day in support and defense of two pillars: personal liberties and free markets. We’ll cover other topics too of course, but viewpoints opposing those pillars will be left to be published by others.

There was a time when a newspaper, especially one that was a local monopoly, might have seen it as a service to bring to the reader’s doorstep every morning a broad-based opinion section that sought to cover all views. Today, the internet does that job.

I am of America and for America, and proud to be so. Our country did not get here by being typical. And a big part of America’s success has been freedom in the economic realm and everywhere else. Freedom is ethical — it minimizes coercion — and practical — it drives creativity, invention, and prosperity.

I offered David Shipley, whom I greatly admire, the opportunity to lead this new chapter. I suggested to him that if the answer wasn’t “hell yes,” then it had to be “no.” After careful consideration, David decided to step away. This is a significant shift, it won’t be easy, and it will require 100% commitment — I respect his decision. We’ll be searching for a new Opinion Editor to own this new direction.

I’m confident that free markets and personal liberties are right for America. I also believe these viewpoints are underserved in the current market of ideas and news opinion. I’m excited for us together to fill that void.

Jeff

Dayum. Bezos really is trying to make the Washington Post great again – or maybe for the first time. This shocks me quite a bit but I am so very happy to see it. I love his explanation for why he’s doing this, but I also love his advice to the now former editor of WAPO, that he had to be fully committed with a ‘hell yes’ or get the hell out.

This is the Trump effect and it’s gold!