News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by jeffwass on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:16PM (#21360166)
The key point in the briefing (and the “developing” article is fairly brief) is that Amazon was considered the front-runner for contract, but Trump has a personal vendetta against Amazon/Bezos and also made comments that he’d get personally involved in the JEDI decision (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure).

So of course this invites the question of whether petty politics influenced a $10B govt deal.

Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by soniman on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:27PM (#21360242)
If Amazon losing this deal makes US oligarchs think twice about getting involved in politics, it's probably a good thing.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by hn_throwaway_99 on Friday October 25, 2019 @08:25PM (#21360599)
I can't think of a more ironic statement given that the oligarch named Trump is probably thrilled at this news.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by Grazester on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:33PM (#21360260)
Isn't the Washington Post(and in turn Bezos) that Trump has an issue?
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by Mountain_Skies on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:49PM (#21360376)
What was Bezos motive for purchasing the Washington Post? It certainly wasn't financial.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by jmckib on Friday October 25, 2019 @09:32PM (#21360997)
Found an article about it here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stephaniedenning/2018/09/19/why...

TL;DR: Bezos thinks the Post is an important institution for our democracy, and he believed he could help it recover financially by taking advantage of the internet.

Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by p0rkbelly on Friday October 25, 2019 @08:20PM (#21360562)
Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments.

Buying the Washington Post certainly forced the world around him to see him as political...even if he considers himself not.

Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by serf on Friday October 25, 2019 @08:36PM (#21360661)
> Haven't followed Bezos too closely, but, never thought of him to be a political person or saw anything where he made political comments.

You never considered the idea that the richest man in the world may be political?

It'd be more surprising for me to find out that he wasn't political; you don't accrue that kind of cash without playing political games at at least some point in your portfolio -- even if it's just for the opportunity to reduce your tax burdens.

Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by p0rkbelly on Friday October 25, 2019 @08:45PM (#21360717)
Oh, I think he's political. I think he carefully tried not appearing that way though.

My point is, I don't think he bought the Post to be political or political reasons. I think he bought The Post because he's a rich collector of nice/novel/rare things..and it seemed like a fun hobby. At the time.

If someone wanted to sell me The Post or let's say WSJ for what I consider pocket change, I would most certainly be interested. Good journalism is something that is going away, but, the obscenely rich can curate and prop up.

Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by dbliss on Friday October 25, 2019 @10:49PM (#21361370)
I don't think Bezos is inherently political, but the world/US requires him to be so. Anyone in his position would have to be whether they want to or not.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by ImprovedSilence on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:21PM (#21360192)
Whether petty politics influenced it or not, I bet Amazon sues, and just drags out the award even longer.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by mxcrossb on Friday October 25, 2019 @08:41PM (#21360692)
Was this info not in the original article? It seems to be the most important point, yet nobody else is discussing it in the comments.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by dlgeek on Friday October 25, 2019 @08:59PM (#21360799)
No. It just had the announcement and was only a paragraph long with a "This is a developing story, more to come soon" at the bottom."
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by jmckib on Friday October 25, 2019 @09:28PM (#21360979)
I was also wondering why it's not being discussed much. It could be because HN is mostly non-political, although when I see political discussions come up there is a noticeable Republican slant.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by jki275 on Sunday October 27, 2019 @07:42AM (#21369131)
Here? This site has a decisive leftist slant, with barely a few dissenting opinions that are always immediately downvoted into oblivion.

If you think this site has a Republican slant, your own political perspective must be very badly skewed.

Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by ListenLinda on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:20PM (#21360190)
I haven’t done any research but I wonder if trump has it in for Amazon since they have a monopoly that so far hasn’t been challenged much.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by ineedasername on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:25PM (#21360231)
I don't think he cares about any issue of monopoly. It has much more to do with negative coverage of Trump in the Washington Post. It appears Bezos has a very hands-off approach in terms of editorial direction there, but Trump still blames him for the coverage.
Re:Microsoft Wins Pentagon’s $10B Contract by dragonwriter on Friday October 25, 2019 @07:23PM (#21360211)
> I wonder if trump has it in for Amazon since they have a monopoly that so far hasn’t been challenged much.

Trump rather openly has it in for Jeff Bezos because of the existence of WaPo, which has spilled over into attacks on Amazon more than once before.