No. It isn't at all like cash.
'm saying that we are NOT dealing with stock dividends here but, rather, another company's stock. It might just as well be cash.
First of all, the stock in question is restricted, and so can't be turned into cash for a year, unless somebody wants to buy it with the legend attached.
Second...it's more like a commodity. As I said earlier, it could just as well be a crate of oranges or a barrel full of marbles. Shorts, if they exist, can't be expected to supply these commodities. They have nothing to do with the stock they actually shorted. No connection to it whatsoever.
And once again, no...I don't think there's any significant short position here. Just a shell game that's become so complicated that no one not on the inside can figure out what's going on with all the "dividends".