So, being retired, I spend too much time watching Netflix (or writing these posts, depending on your point of view). And recently I started one on the “Titans of Wall Street.” Now, I recognize that even good documentaries are on par with whatever’s on The History Channel (if that’s still around), and the worst might as well come from “Prager U.” So I don’t think I’m learning history, per se. But one strategy J.P. Morgan and other “titans” liked to use, seems to still be effective.
It was basically a two-step: short the stock of a company you wanted to cripple (or take over), and while you’re doing that, plant stories with credulous reporters, driving the stock price down with gossip. Keep it up, and the company is yours; or it’s bankrupt, and out of the way.
Funny how familiar that sounds:
Trump has joined the clamor (WHERE ARE THE EPSTEIN FILES?!) because he thinks he looks wise. Or something. Or he’s
helping Biglari Holdings, though I don’t think he’s that smart.
Either way, same old same old, but this time with social media, which is much easier to manipulate. I read somewhere that sales at CB were down, which I haven’t verified; but it may be why they have gone to the trouble of remodeling their restaurant (I’m not a fan, and the whole “country atmosphere” they go for is as ersatz as Mayberry (“Hey, Andy! Where’s all the black people?”). Kind of oppressive, too. Maybe a lighter, cleaner look (so I’ve read) will improve things.) I do know from a news account, that this is the 5th time the company has changed its logo. Funny, the first four times didn’t turn into federal cases, huh?
Anyway, what this really is, is a fight for a publicly traded company, using a strategy that’s over 100 years old. That explains the Astro-turfed outrage (otherwise, who would care?) over a restaurant chain that’s basically Taco Bell for “country cooking”. (The very idea insults true Southern country cooking (well, they don’t serve fry bread it Rocky Mountain oysters; it’s all clearly meant to fit the stereotype of “Southern cooking.” And Taco Bell, I understand, is meant to be Cal-Mex; the less said about that, the better). I’ve seen the people who eat at CB. I can’t imagine them blowing up the internet because Uncle Herschel won’t be sitting by a pickle barrel (if you filled that thing with crackers, they’d be stale before you got midway down) on a sign over the entrance. They’re more likely to not come back than to yell do loudly Trump responds. They care about their favorites on the menu, not who’s on the logo.
This is like trying to imagine people being upset when Ronald McDonald stopped appearing in ads.
So, the lesson is not that Cracker Barrel went political. It’s that Biglari wants a controlling interest. And this is how they get it. By playing the rubes.
