Following its purchase as vehicle for the political influence of Jeff Bezos – the greatest disruptor of the economy since Henry Ford made the automobile our dominant mode of transport – the Washington Post adopted an unbearably pretentious slogan, "Democracy dies in darkness."

The obvious corollary of this slogan is that democracy is under particular threat now, because you-know-who is in the White House.

The problem with pretensions is that they tend to get exposed by reality.  Sooner or later, the speakers fail to live up to the behavior they commend for others.  And that is exactly what has happened to the WaPo.  Brent Scher of the Free Beacon managed to penetrate the darkness surrounding the secret meetings of wealthy progressive donors plotting their political takeover of the United States.

Washington Post reporter Janell Ross gave a presentation at a secretive California gathering where Democratic politicians, liberal activists, and their biggest donors plotted the future of the progressive movement without notifying her superiors that she would be attending, according to a Post spokesman.

The Democracy Alliance went to great lengths to keep the identities of its members and guests confidential at its fall investment conference last week at the La Costa Resort, but the Washington Free Beacon obtained a detailed conference agenda that lists both events and featured guests.

Among them was Ross, a national reporter who closely covered the 2016 presidential campaign for the Washington Post and has since continued to cover the Trump administration.

Ross sat on a panel to assist conference-goers on the topic of "getting the economic narrative right" in future elections, according to the agenda, which can be viewed in full here.

Ross, whose panel was sandwiched by a talk with liberal billionaire George Soros and a message by Democratic senator Amy Klobuchar (Minn.) on Russian interference in the 2016 election, helped attendees explore questions such as: "What do progressives stand for?"

I am absolutely fine with newspapers, websites, TV networks, and other media having a political viewpoint.  After all, American Thinker proudly does.  But the WaPo, like most of the MSM, continues to pretend it is a disinterested seeker of the truth and (lately) the guardian of democracy.  Spare me!  Conspiring in secret with plutocrats committed to using their wealth to amplify their political power, bending the state to their own interests and preferences, is the antithesis of guarding democracy.

The WaPo officially is a laughingstock.