The First Amendment:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
I had been working on a post about Jimmy Kimmel's show being suspended, but before I could finished it, major new developments occurred. The show has returned to air once again last night on ABC, although not all affiliates will be broadcasting, such as Sinclair. ABC reportedly lost 4 billion dollars in just a few days, that's billions, and not millions of dollars after capitulating to the FCC and crybaby Trump's demands. A spokesperson for Turning Point USA is still trying to release methane gas by expressing wishes that Nexstar and Sinclair affiliates continue to exert pressure and forgo the programming. The threatening of stations by Trump and the FCC will no doubt continue, and I do hope ABC stands their ground. If they do not, they will lose subscriptions like crazy, and again possibly billions of dollars.
Most everyone has heard about ABC cancelling Jimmy Kimmel Live over comments he made regarding MAGA after Charlie Kirk's death. It was not over the controversial Kirk himself, but over the shooter and the uncertainty of Tyler Robinson's political affiliations. It's incredulous people took issue Kimmel, and do not forget, he is after all a comedian. His job is satire. He also has a right to have opinions and to voice them. However, Nexstar, Sinclair, and eventually ABC capitulated to the demands from Trump's goon, Brendan Carr who is chair of the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) chair. During the same show, Kimmel made jokes about how Donald Trump mourned Kirk, but the world knows Trump wets his diapers every time someone makes a joke about him. He is a sociopath crybaby.
But the issue here is one of the first amendment--the issue is freedom of speech. The move to "police" speech not aligning to political beliefs or agenda of the Trump regime is increasing at lightning speed. There were nuances of this even during Trump's first term; and at the beginning of his second term, he declared certain news media outlets and reporters could no longer participate covering briefings in the Oval Office. This is what dictatorships do. They control the press, and crackdown on any speech considered contrary or critical of the government. Or in Kimmel's case, because stations hold a different political perspective which aligns to the Trump administration. NBC News has stated Sinclair made a donation to Turning Point USA after Kirk's death.
Jimmy Kimmel's opening monologue is where this constitutional crisis erupted. Kimmel stated in one segment: ""We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it. In between the finger-pointing, there was grieving on Friday. The White House flew the flags at half-staff, which got some criticism, but on a human level, you can see how hard the president is taking this." Then a clip is played showing Trump on the white house lawn, where a reporter asks how he is holding up. Trump says "I think very good" and immediately begans talking about the ballroom project." After the short clip, the camera returns to Kimmel who says ""Yes, he's at the fourth stage of grief, construction. Demolition. Construction. This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he called a friend. This is how a 4-year-old mourns a goldfish. OK? And it didn't just happen once."
Again, we all know Donald Trump cannot take a joke. I also think Jimmy Kimmel briefly mentioned the Epstein files, and if you want to light fire up Trump's ass, all one need do is mention Jeffrey Epstein. Trump is a vindictive and the type who lay in wait for years to exact his revenge.
After Kimmel's show aired, it appears a chain reaction went into play towards cancelling Jimmy Kimmel Live. The first signs started after FCC chair Brendan Carr participated on a podcast with a right wing conspiracy influencer, although Kimmel has caught Trump's ire for some years. During the podcast Carr states regarding Kimmel's comment: "Frankly, when you see stuff like this — I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” Just a few hours later, Nexstar, who owns 30 ABC affiliates, releases the following: Nexstar: “Mr. Kimmel’s comments about the death of Mr. Kirk are offensive and insensitive at a critical time in our national political discourse, and we do not believe they reflect the spectrum of opinions, views, or values of the local communities in which we are located,” said Andrew Alford, President of Nexstar’s broadcasting division. “Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue.” After that ABC, which is owned by Disney, came out and said the show was cancelled" indefinitely".
Nexstar feared Brendan Carr would yank their FCC licenses as he threatened to do. If you looked at some of the tweets above, and you can readily see the evolution of a sycophant before your eyes. Carr has also threatened companies embracing D.E.I., and has issued warnings to revoke licenses if they were not compliant in removing D.E.I. initiatives. These threats have also been directed at some telecoms. And now, Carr is threatening individual licensed stations. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) says this is essentially government coercion--to license or not to license broadcasters based on speech. This is what authoritarian governments do. Even Ted Cruz, of all people, has spoke out against the FCC's role in suspending Kimmel's show.
I live in a red state, as backwards and into the Dark Ages as a state can get. Sinclair, which is the affiliate station here has decided not to air Jimmy Kimmel Live. I urge people in regions which refuse to air Jimmy's show to refrain from purchasing from its advertisers, cancel, nor renew any subscription, and continue their boycotts. If you know the advertisers, apprise them you will no longer being purchasing their goods or services for contracting with broadcasters which refuse to air shows because of their political beliefs.
But in this case, the people, citizens in the United States, and even some in other countries made a big difference! It shows the power of people uniting together and withdrawing our money from companies supportive of an authoritarian regime with devious unlawful tactics. Boycotting companies and the sponsors advertising on those networks doing Trump's bidding is effective when enough people participate! Now, if only we could unite on a broader scale to get our democracy back. Yet freedom of speech is mandatory in any democracy, and the return of Jimmy Kimmel Live is a victory for now!
