This is a story about how we—you and us here at Mother Jones—beat Jeff Bezos. Let me explain.

Remember the moment, a couple of months back, when Stephen Colbert was at a loss for words: “I don’t even know what to do with this crap,” he said on his show, before crumpling up a memo from his network bosses and depositing it in a dog poop bag. “I’m just so surprised that this giant global corporation would not stand up to these bullies!”

In the “crap” statement, CBS explained why it had essentially forbidden Colbert from airing his interview with Senate candidate James Talarico of Texas: The network said it had received “legal guidance” that the interview might violate the Federal Communications Commission’s equal time rule—a rule that late-night talk shows have been exempt from for almost 20 years. Surely it was ­coincidental timing that CBS chose to obey in advance just as its parent company, Paramount, sought the Trump administration’s blessing for its proposed merger with Warner Brothers Discovery. Just like last year, when then–­Paramount owner Shari Redstone reportedly let it be known that 60 Minutes shouldn’t offend President Donald Trump until she consummated the........

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