Kimmel and ABC used their license over public broadcast spectrum to tell Americans that Trump supporters murdered Charlie Kirk. It's called "the Big Lie." North Korea would be proud of such blatant, twisted, sick level of lying propaganda.
It was a lie, but it would still be considered 1st Amendment protected "free speech" in court, if Trump or the FCC had actually forced the firing. They did not. ABC did the firing of their own free will.
The FCC has a regulation that says basically that the broadcasters can not lie about a crime or public emergency. Have no idea of the finer details of that regulation. Kimmel knew that the perp was not MAGA when he said it so he lied But common sense never applies in these situations
How do we know Kimmel "knew" it was a lie? He listens to or reads Democrat news sources,and presumably believes what confirms his biases. Just like we do with our news sources on the Right.
Whether he knew or not, he had an obligation (& an entire team to research) to know the truth & not just report democrat talking points. Bottom line - he knew & felt he was untouchable.
The burden would had been on him and his team to know the truth and the gov of Utah had come out with a statement saying the shooter had been radicalized by the lefties
Exactly! The FCC regulates public airwaves and to get a license you must take the public good into account. Nobody in this government has stopped anyone from speaking. Kimmel can run his mouth and lie as much as he wants to, he just can't use that platform any longer. He can start a podcast, blog, or his own network as Tucker Carlson did. Again you can't reason with the morons on the left, just ignore them, they are slowly going away. It'll take a least 8 years of JD Vance to drive the final wooden stake into their black hearts. (On the other hand, Pam Bondi needs to resign or be fired ASAP for even talking about hate speech)
Brian's right that ABC suspended him. Also, the FCC license is not truly a free speech issue because networks lease public broadcast rights, which are regulated. They're required to adhere to public purpose regulations. You may argue that broadcasters should have pure free speech but that requires a change in the law. Until then, they're regulated. Bet your ass the vile Democrat Party will muzzle us again as soon as they can.
Now, make them play by their own rules. Push back on vile, totalitarian level Big Lie propaganda pushed to middle America. I'm nearly a free speech absolutist, but not when the Democrat Party abuses regulated broadcast regs for vicious, disgusting lies.
I saw yesterday that the democrat party has proposed new legislation called the No Political Enemies Act, which was created in response to Kimmel's firing. Once they get back in power, they'll scrap it like they scrapped the Defense of Marriage Act and start jailing anyone that says anything they don't like. Remember Hillary going after someone because of a meme?
I don't believe their will was 100% free. The FCC has 100% control over a huge merger, and Carr indicated the FCC could use that power. To me, that's a much bigger concern for the long-term health of our country.
Corporate leases of public broadcast spectrum have always been 100% regulated. The only change is that the Democrat Party and Hillary Clinton have "lost total contol" over propaganda. That's not suddenly a big concern for the nation's health. It's a long needed balance. I'd like to be a 1st Amendment absolutist. But, the legal issues are, big surprise, complex. The status quo was that the Democrat Party and Jimmy Kimme can spew vicious, North Korea level lying propaganda on low information network viewers with impunity. That, Friendo, is not just unhealthy. It's a gangrene in the body politic.
NOT AT ALL. Have you ever read the FCC rules. I have. ABC is owned by Disney. Their stock has been plunging for over 8 -9 months. ABC/Disney wanted Kimmel to apologize, but he said NO.
The bigger question: If someone is performing so poorly they are bleeding money for the network, isn't THAT enough to can someone without snarfing around for any other excuse?
Guess it’s not. I (naively) thought that ad sponsors and viewer numbers were the determining factors for what shows stay on TV, sure doesn’t seem the case with Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon, or Stewart. There must be other $$ soros, oops, sources.
Details differ from one society to another, but none allow unconstrained freedom of behavior. Every society that's known to historians; every culture known to anthropologists, without exception, has used culture to foster unity instead of cruelty and spite. Our moral, legal and constitutional traditions are the cinderblocks of constraint in living with each other. They're best not taken lightly, which is what Kimmel did in moral terms. His lack of morals is what cost him a job - which is how it should be.
Exactly, it’s called manners! You can have all the hate speech laws you like, but what actually holds a civilised country together is the willingness of decent people (which at this moment in time excludes your Democrats in toto) to maintain respect, even through gritted teeth, even if your vile adversaries do not deserve it. So please Mr. Trump et al maintain the moral high ground, maintain your manners no matter how difficult those lost souls on the Left might make it. That of course doesn’t mean to sit quiet or acquiesce to their insanity, prosecute each and every one with the full force of the law. But never ever become like these miscreants, be noble like the dear Queen Elizabeth ll, an exemplar human being, so much admired by your admirable President (just wish he was President of our once great nation also overrun by the loony Left). Be the very best you can be dear Americans, the world will always need your brand of moral freedoms, we’re all gonna need it and your collective strength all too soon.
PS. Have never understood the appeal of all those facile Late Night shows, at least the contemporary version of them. Ed Sullivan and Bob Hope would be spinning in their graves.
Thank you for calling it what it is…propaganda. We need to get familiar with the word again. We going to be subjected to a ton of it from now on. AI makes it way too easy.
She took for granted that people knew she meant speech calling for harm. A mistake not to define the term. She came back and said how she was using it legally, but many didn’t see/hear that part.
As a Floridian, I liked have Bondi as Attorney General. But, as the U.S. AG, she's the weak link in the Trump administration. She, as a lawyer, should know the specific meaning of "hate speech" and how it is allowed under the Constitution. There should be no need for her to clarify it. It gives the left a cheap win (like with her "the Epstein file is on my desk" gaffe). We cannot make unforced errors against this enemy. Winning is too important.
Overall I like Pam Bondi but she has really fumbled alot as AG. Just in over her head it seems . I think Trump should either re assign her or maybe see if she can get back to a job in Florida . This just isn’t for her . No shame in that
The whole free speech thing is bogus. Jeff Childers has a post about it. Basically, Brendan Carr did not explicitly threaten anyone. It was a business decision that was made because Jimmy Kimmell's ratings are in the toilet. He hasn't been funny since "The Man Show." What is it that the left always says, "Free speech doesn't protect you from consequences..." or something like that, right? Besides, even if you argue that the FCC made an informal "hey, that's a nice license you have there, it would be a shame if anything happened to it" kind of threat, that's what courts are for.
More details emerged. After advertisers started calling in, and those two affiliates unplugged him, Bob Iger (CEO of Disney) called the CEO of ABC, and in "multiple conversations" with Kimmell, learned that he planned to not only not apologize, but to double down. Iger pulled the plug before his next episode even taped. It just goes to show, how ignorant and entitled these people are. In any other job, if both your divisional CEO and your corporate CEO both called you "multiple times" to express concern, and you blew them off, what do you think would happen?
Exactly. Kimmel can blame himself for his suspension. He thought he was untouchable but found out he’s not. Advertisers won’t pay when a good portion of stations won’t air Kimmel Live. Kimmel basically FAFO. Good riddance. Hope his suspension ends up being permanent.
Once the affiliates said they wouldn’t support his show, the advertisers dropped out as well. The big wigs at Disney had a pow wow with him & asked him to walk back & apologize for his lie. He wanted to double down. Seems he really hates maga🤪
Kimmel was offered a chance to correct himself on air, but he refused, and reportedly was going to double down on his lie that MAGA killed Charlie Kirk. Good riddance to Kimmel, unfunny, lame, sanctimonious.
Sasha, the only thing wrong with your analysis is that it took the FCC threat, which would never stand up in court if it really mattered to hang on to Kimmel, to give ABC / Disney the political cover they needed to fire him. Just like CBS firing Colbert, the cover is useful. A LOT of MSM's audience are Democrats today. Most of us conservatives stopped visiting the old networks years ago. So, even though ABC and CBS want to clean house, they need a good excuse so as to not piss off their viewers. ABC used the FCC threat as cover to unload their problem. They offered no fight at all. They just threw Kimmel under the bus. As mentioned, the FCC can never press a network to fire someone for free expression because of the 1st Amendment. But private companies like CBS and ABC have no such restriction.
The reason Disney chose to suspend Kimmel was because the affiliates chose not to air his episodes anymore, not because of the FCC or the Trump administration.
I posted something similar elsewhere, but I think there is a vast difference between “forcing” and “enforcement.” ABC nor Kimmell have a right to use the public airways. It is a privilege granted to it by the FCC and the federal government. Kimmell is free to go anywhere else he wants and spew his nonsense, including Substack, Podcasts, Cable or even another network. Charlie Kirk can’t.
Do I want the FCC to keep doing this? No. But as I’ve said before, we just spent the last 17 years having Napalm spread onto at least 40% or more of the public, and the left lighting a match. They shouldn’t complain now that we took a welding torch to their favorite spokesman.
Brian, thanks for the reply. You're close, but no cigar. The FCC would be derelict to ignore ABC's vicious, transparent lying propaganda. It was the Big Lie at a Kim Jong Un level. That's no way to run a railroad.
Sasha, i understand where you’re coming from and appreciate the thought behind it - but I think it’s more complicated than handing the Left an easy win by invoking the FCC to consider the licensing of over the air broadcasters for violations of their public trust. That is after all one of the requirements for granting licenses in the first place - and the networks and affiliates all know it.
I get what you’re saying - that the optics give the left a talking point cudgel to use against conservatives and the Orange Man. What it fails to recognize is that no action was required by the FCC in any case - this was a utter self inflicted wound by a self righteous and smarmy media personality who veered outside the guard rails repeatedly without shame - and who’s ratings had dropped like a rock in recent times making him an easy target for Disney to ditch him as soon as it became possible.
As Ben Dominich writes today in ‘The Transom’,
“Unlike other networks, ABC is particularly sensitive to offending significant numbers of Americans, because the actual money for their network comes from a mass media giant that depends on people coming to theme parks and Marvel movies. Kimmel’s aggressively leftist politics had placed him in a position where he was essentially useless to ABC, incapable of being a broadly appealing face of the network as Jimmy Fallon is for NBC. And the unwritten rule is: don’t piss off the affiliates. There are decisions made at the highest levels about who hosts shows based on who affiliates like and who they don’t, driven by audience reaction.”
Kimmel most definitely pissed off the affiliates - including 2 ownership groups representing 50% of total network coverage who had independently suspended airing his show. It didn’t take a lot more for Bob Iger to make the decision to give him a long hiatus which could well become permanent.
Disney/Iger actually had talks with Kimmel who refused to apologize and said he would go even further. That’s when Bob Iger said enough and suspended him. Kimmel can blame himself for his suspension.
Also, Kimmel has been irrelevant for years, and a money pit on top of that. The affiliates deciding not to air Kimmel’s program was the final nail in Kimmel’s coffin. Now he can rest in peace, wheezy.
I have to agree. We should protect free speech. However, my bigger concern is that so many are cheering his death. Stopping them from speaking is not going to change their hearts. The only way it gets fixed is by them hearing themselves speak and realize the horror of what they are saying. Regarding AI, I work in that business and yes you now need to be skeptical of virtually everything you see. I think we will see an effect where it is harmful to social media. The thought of spending my time on things that are not real seems like a big waste of time. If you can't trust it why bother?
Nobody “sent out the FCC” to go after Kimmel. That is pure Leftist media slant.
It is literally the job description of the FCC to set standards for the broadcast airwaves. They do not have a license to lie or defame.
While, yes, it probably would have been better if Secretary Carr had not publicly “opined” on the subject- neither the FCC nor the Federal government had anything whatsoever to do with Kimmell’s dismissal. It was 100% an action taken by ABC in response to the Nexstsr and Sinclair network distributors refusal to air the show in their markets for his callous and wholly false accusations, something they are fully, legally and constitutionally allowed to do.
There have been dozens upon dozens of articles and statements already published by legal scholars and experts since this occurred which have more than crystallized this as fact.
You have been caught up in the Leftist perpetual smear job of “because Trump” once again, if you refuse to acknowledge and accept this truth.
Just a schoolyard bully will face the consequences for his aactions and be punished by his teachers and parents for his behavior, so too has the bully Kimmel finally been for his.
And his free speech rights remain wholly in tact - just not from the consequences of deciding to air them on national TV.
I am not disputing that. Albeit his comments and the full context of them have been grossly misreported and misconstrued by too many.
The point I was making was in response to Sasha’s saying stating “Sending out the FCC”. Kimmells firing had ZERO to do with any alleged pressure coming from the FCC, or the administration.
Kimmel himself was actually the most directly at fault when he was asked by Disney to apologize and he refused to do so leaving them with no choice but to cancel him.
Then she shouldn’t have written: “SENDING out the FCC to pressure the networks, or threatening to pull licenses, or talking about “hate speech,” gives the Left an advantage that they do not deserve.”
Carr’s talked about those things AFTER THE FACT, as possibilities, not action plans, but by no means whatsoever had they any hand in Kimmell’s firing. It is the same misdirection being applied by the media.
But that’s what I’m trying to say: that that PERCEPTION she’s concerned about itself is a CONCOCTION being pushed by the Left.
That “perception” itself is a twisted lie, and what must be thoroughly debunked, not fallen for or even worried about for that matter because it is NOT TRUE.
“Oh the Right better be worried they may be appearing like McCarthy or fascists!”
No. We don’t need to be worried. Because we’re not.
And they’re trying to cow us into backing off because of how it may “appear”.
Screw that. This is what it looks like when the people have had enough. What is happening to them is because the PEOPLE ARE FED UP with their crap and aren’t willing to play along anymore.
Interesting take on Jeff Childer's Coffee & Covid today: Is Trump purposely getting the left to come out in support of free speech by (peripherally) involving the FCC? Is this typical Trumpian manoevering? Hard not to see that the left supporting free speech is a complete about face, considering the censorship the left has been responsible for, especially during covid.
Silly take - the Left doesn't support free speech - they support letting leftist propagandists lie nightly on every channel. Trump should bring back the Fairness doctrine. CBS, ABC & NBC have been pushing nasty propaganda for years.
You are correct. It actually passed the legality test. In 1987, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine, and efforts in Congress to reinstate it failed; it could pass now.
No - it simply prevents things like every network pushing leftist propaganda on late night comedy or harpies at the View being allowed to push Dem politics on their brain dead viewers. Recall back in the day the networks used to put on polar opposites to debate political issues - 100% because that was a requirement to stay in compliance with FCC rules.
"Don’t go the way of the Conservatives during the McCarthy era. Don’t dictate content on television, in the news, or in films"
This is what the left has done my entire life. No Republican until Trump pushed back on this. They just let the left dominate the narrative. This is what I voted for. A spine.
AI is bullshit and always has been. This AI nonsense is just another way for tech to create another attraction and revenue. It's also a great way to provide propaganda to idiots.
Kimmel and ABC used their license over public broadcast spectrum to tell Americans that Trump supporters murdered Charlie Kirk. It's called "the Big Lie." North Korea would be proud of such blatant, twisted, sick level of lying propaganda.
It was a lie, but it would still be considered 1st Amendment protected "free speech" in court, if Trump or the FCC had actually forced the firing. They did not. ABC did the firing of their own free will.
The FCC has a regulation that says basically that the broadcasters can not lie about a crime or public emergency. Have no idea of the finer details of that regulation. Kimmel knew that the perp was not MAGA when he said it so he lied But common sense never applies in these situations
It's true. His comment was straight up false and he knew it. ABC/Disney could actually be sued for slander.
By whom?
How do we know Kimmel "knew" it was a lie? He listens to or reads Democrat news sources,and presumably believes what confirms his biases. Just like we do with our news sources on the Right.
Whether he knew or not, he had an obligation (& an entire team to research) to know the truth & not just report democrat talking points. Bottom line - he knew & felt he was untouchable.
The burden would had been on him and his team to know the truth and the gov of Utah had come out with a statement saying the shooter had been radicalized by the lefties
You're so lost. Dude reads copy. It's scripted. Writers probably read the stuff you're talking about.
Not entirely true. The FCC has authority to police the public airways.
But you’re right that ABC can fire or suspend its employees, as happened here.
Exactly! The FCC regulates public airwaves and to get a license you must take the public good into account. Nobody in this government has stopped anyone from speaking. Kimmel can run his mouth and lie as much as he wants to, he just can't use that platform any longer. He can start a podcast, blog, or his own network as Tucker Carlson did. Again you can't reason with the morons on the left, just ignore them, they are slowly going away. It'll take a least 8 years of JD Vance to drive the final wooden stake into their black hearts. (On the other hand, Pam Bondi needs to resign or be fired ASAP for even talking about hate speech)
Agree
Brian's right that ABC suspended him. Also, the FCC license is not truly a free speech issue because networks lease public broadcast rights, which are regulated. They're required to adhere to public purpose regulations. You may argue that broadcasters should have pure free speech but that requires a change in the law. Until then, they're regulated. Bet your ass the vile Democrat Party will muzzle us again as soon as they can.
Now, make them play by their own rules. Push back on vile, totalitarian level Big Lie propaganda pushed to middle America. I'm nearly a free speech absolutist, but not when the Democrat Party abuses regulated broadcast regs for vicious, disgusting lies.
If they were not regulated, you can bet every show would be littered with the vilest of obscenities.
I saw yesterday that the democrat party has proposed new legislation called the No Political Enemies Act, which was created in response to Kimmel's firing. Once they get back in power, they'll scrap it like they scrapped the Defense of Marriage Act and start jailing anyone that says anything they don't like. Remember Hillary going after someone because of a meme?
I don't believe their will was 100% free. The FCC has 100% control over a huge merger, and Carr indicated the FCC could use that power. To me, that's a much bigger concern for the long-term health of our country.
There will be no long term to consider if we let assholes like him goad us into a (wider) shooting war
Corporate leases of public broadcast spectrum have always been 100% regulated. The only change is that the Democrat Party and Hillary Clinton have "lost total contol" over propaganda. That's not suddenly a big concern for the nation's health. It's a long needed balance. I'd like to be a 1st Amendment absolutist. But, the legal issues are, big surprise, complex. The status quo was that the Democrat Party and Jimmy Kimme can spew vicious, North Korea level lying propaganda on low information network viewers with impunity. That, Friendo, is not just unhealthy. It's a gangrene in the body politic.
NOT AT ALL. Have you ever read the FCC rules. I have. ABC is owned by Disney. Their stock has been plunging for over 8 -9 months. ABC/Disney wanted Kimmel to apologize, but he said NO.
As i understand ABC was losing A Lot of money with Jimmy Kimmel. They have been looking for a reason to dump him. He gave them one.
The bigger question: If someone is performing so poorly they are bleeding money for the network, isn't THAT enough to can someone without snarfing around for any other excuse?
Maybe that was the straw that broke the camels back? Maybe some people are starting to realize its not 2024 anymore.
Guess it’s not. I (naively) thought that ad sponsors and viewer numbers were the determining factors for what shows stay on TV, sure doesn’t seem the case with Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon, or Stewart. There must be other $$ soros, oops, sources.
Details differ from one society to another, but none allow unconstrained freedom of behavior. Every society that's known to historians; every culture known to anthropologists, without exception, has used culture to foster unity instead of cruelty and spite. Our moral, legal and constitutional traditions are the cinderblocks of constraint in living with each other. They're best not taken lightly, which is what Kimmel did in moral terms. His lack of morals is what cost him a job - which is how it should be.
Exactly, it’s called manners! You can have all the hate speech laws you like, but what actually holds a civilised country together is the willingness of decent people (which at this moment in time excludes your Democrats in toto) to maintain respect, even through gritted teeth, even if your vile adversaries do not deserve it. So please Mr. Trump et al maintain the moral high ground, maintain your manners no matter how difficult those lost souls on the Left might make it. That of course doesn’t mean to sit quiet or acquiesce to their insanity, prosecute each and every one with the full force of the law. But never ever become like these miscreants, be noble like the dear Queen Elizabeth ll, an exemplar human being, so much admired by your admirable President (just wish he was President of our once great nation also overrun by the loony Left). Be the very best you can be dear Americans, the world will always need your brand of moral freedoms, we’re all gonna need it and your collective strength all too soon.
PS. Have never understood the appeal of all those facile Late Night shows, at least the contemporary version of them. Ed Sullivan and Bob Hope would be spinning in their graves.
Thank you for calling it what it is…propaganda. We need to get familiar with the word again. We going to be subjected to a ton of it from now on. AI makes it way too easy.
Hearing Bondi call out “Hate Speech” made me cringe. We are winning, do NOT just give them back the ball. 🤦🏻
She took for granted that people knew she meant speech calling for harm. A mistake not to define the term. She came back and said how she was using it legally, but many didn’t see/hear that part.
No one EVER sees the clarification of a gaff -- if the Wrong Person makes it.
Agree
I haven't seen the walk back. If so, thank God for small favors. The damage was done.
Just what is “hate speech”?
https://x.com/agpambondi/status/1967913066554630181?s=46&t=C7qfoKioRk7uKcS_GN1f8A
I saw Bondi. I still don’t understand the term.
As a Floridian, I liked have Bondi as Attorney General. But, as the U.S. AG, she's the weak link in the Trump administration. She, as a lawyer, should know the specific meaning of "hate speech" and how it is allowed under the Constitution. There should be no need for her to clarify it. It gives the left a cheap win (like with her "the Epstein file is on my desk" gaffe). We cannot make unforced errors against this enemy. Winning is too important.
The animosity toward DeSantis runs deep and wide in this administration. It contributes to problems as animosity usually does.
https://x.com/agpambondi/status/1967913066554630181?s=46&t=C7qfoKioRk7uKcS_GN1f8A
She got rolled, for sure.
100%
When Pam (who I really liked, but now?) said that I was so disappointed
Hate speech is protected speech
Kimmel was fired because he told a lie knowing it was a lie
His ratings were falling fast
He hasn’t been funny since The Man Show
Scotty's 100% right. Bondi's unforced error makes me I'll.
Here is what I saw. I think most knew what she meant but chose to use it politically. No surprise that they did.
https://x.com/agpambondi/status/1967913066554630181?s=46&t=C7qfoKioRk7uKcS_GN1f8A
Overall I like Pam Bondi but she has really fumbled alot as AG. Just in over her head it seems . I think Trump should either re assign her or maybe see if she can get back to a job in Florida . This just isn’t for her . No shame in that
Trump should have fired her already. Bondi was a poor choice for AG.
Yeah, she made a dumb comment. Deputy AG Blanche & walked it back. He should be AG.
The whole free speech thing is bogus. Jeff Childers has a post about it. Basically, Brendan Carr did not explicitly threaten anyone. It was a business decision that was made because Jimmy Kimmell's ratings are in the toilet. He hasn't been funny since "The Man Show." What is it that the left always says, "Free speech doesn't protect you from consequences..." or something like that, right? Besides, even if you argue that the FCC made an informal "hey, that's a nice license you have there, it would be a shame if anything happened to it" kind of threat, that's what courts are for.
The ABC affiliates Nextstar and one other refused to air Kimmel episodes and that is what prompted Disney to suspend him.
More details emerged. After advertisers started calling in, and those two affiliates unplugged him, Bob Iger (CEO of Disney) called the CEO of ABC, and in "multiple conversations" with Kimmell, learned that he planned to not only not apologize, but to double down. Iger pulled the plug before his next episode even taped. It just goes to show, how ignorant and entitled these people are. In any other job, if both your divisional CEO and your corporate CEO both called you "multiple times" to express concern, and you blew them off, what do you think would happen?
Exactly. Kimmel can blame himself for his suspension. He thought he was untouchable but found out he’s not. Advertisers won’t pay when a good portion of stations won’t air Kimmel Live. Kimmel basically FAFO. Good riddance. Hope his suspension ends up being permanent.
Exactly, “one day a peacock, next day a feather duster!”
I think he had "Martyr Envy Complex" and thought this would do it for him.
It did it, but not like he thought it would. Just killed his career.
Yep.
Once the affiliates said they wouldn’t support his show, the advertisers dropped out as well. The big wigs at Disney had a pow wow with him & asked him to walk back & apologize for his lie. He wanted to double down. Seems he really hates maga🤪
Kimmel was offered a chance to correct himself on air, but he refused, and reportedly was going to double down on his lie that MAGA killed Charlie Kirk. Good riddance to Kimmel, unfunny, lame, sanctimonious.
Sasha, the only thing wrong with your analysis is that it took the FCC threat, which would never stand up in court if it really mattered to hang on to Kimmel, to give ABC / Disney the political cover they needed to fire him. Just like CBS firing Colbert, the cover is useful. A LOT of MSM's audience are Democrats today. Most of us conservatives stopped visiting the old networks years ago. So, even though ABC and CBS want to clean house, they need a good excuse so as to not piss off their viewers. ABC used the FCC threat as cover to unload their problem. They offered no fight at all. They just threw Kimmel under the bus. As mentioned, the FCC can never press a network to fire someone for free expression because of the 1st Amendment. But private companies like CBS and ABC have no such restriction.
The reason Disney chose to suspend Kimmel was because the affiliates chose not to air his episodes anymore, not because of the FCC or the Trump administration.
I posted something similar elsewhere, but I think there is a vast difference between “forcing” and “enforcement.” ABC nor Kimmell have a right to use the public airways. It is a privilege granted to it by the FCC and the federal government. Kimmell is free to go anywhere else he wants and spew his nonsense, including Substack, Podcasts, Cable or even another network. Charlie Kirk can’t.
Do I want the FCC to keep doing this? No. But as I’ve said before, we just spent the last 17 years having Napalm spread onto at least 40% or more of the public, and the left lighting a match. They shouldn’t complain now that we took a welding torch to their favorite spokesman.
But I do agree that ABC used this as cover.
Brian, thanks for the reply. You're close, but no cigar. The FCC would be derelict to ignore ABC's vicious, transparent lying propaganda. It was the Big Lie at a Kim Jong Un level. That's no way to run a railroad.
June 2020 here. Well said.
I asked a friend of mine last week - how do we get reality back? Her answer was, the only reality we can count on is God. It truly is the only answer.
Amen. The Bible is out never-changing plumbline.
Sasha, i understand where you’re coming from and appreciate the thought behind it - but I think it’s more complicated than handing the Left an easy win by invoking the FCC to consider the licensing of over the air broadcasters for violations of their public trust. That is after all one of the requirements for granting licenses in the first place - and the networks and affiliates all know it.
I get what you’re saying - that the optics give the left a talking point cudgel to use against conservatives and the Orange Man. What it fails to recognize is that no action was required by the FCC in any case - this was a utter self inflicted wound by a self righteous and smarmy media personality who veered outside the guard rails repeatedly without shame - and who’s ratings had dropped like a rock in recent times making him an easy target for Disney to ditch him as soon as it became possible.
As Ben Dominich writes today in ‘The Transom’,
“Unlike other networks, ABC is particularly sensitive to offending significant numbers of Americans, because the actual money for their network comes from a mass media giant that depends on people coming to theme parks and Marvel movies. Kimmel’s aggressively leftist politics had placed him in a position where he was essentially useless to ABC, incapable of being a broadly appealing face of the network as Jimmy Fallon is for NBC. And the unwritten rule is: don’t piss off the affiliates. There are decisions made at the highest levels about who hosts shows based on who affiliates like and who they don’t, driven by audience reaction.”
Kimmel most definitely pissed off the affiliates - including 2 ownership groups representing 50% of total network coverage who had independently suspended airing his show. It didn’t take a lot more for Bob Iger to make the decision to give him a long hiatus which could well become permanent.
Disney/Iger actually had talks with Kimmel who refused to apologize and said he would go even further. That’s when Bob Iger said enough and suspended him. Kimmel can blame himself for his suspension.
Also, Kimmel has been irrelevant for years, and a money pit on top of that. The affiliates deciding not to air Kimmel’s program was the final nail in Kimmel’s coffin. Now he can rest in peace, wheezy.
I have to agree. We should protect free speech. However, my bigger concern is that so many are cheering his death. Stopping them from speaking is not going to change their hearts. The only way it gets fixed is by them hearing themselves speak and realize the horror of what they are saying. Regarding AI, I work in that business and yes you now need to be skeptical of virtually everything you see. I think we will see an effect where it is harmful to social media. The thought of spending my time on things that are not real seems like a big waste of time. If you can't trust it why bother?
Outstandingly well spoke on both fronts.
Nobody “sent out the FCC” to go after Kimmel. That is pure Leftist media slant.
It is literally the job description of the FCC to set standards for the broadcast airwaves. They do not have a license to lie or defame.
While, yes, it probably would have been better if Secretary Carr had not publicly “opined” on the subject- neither the FCC nor the Federal government had anything whatsoever to do with Kimmell’s dismissal. It was 100% an action taken by ABC in response to the Nexstsr and Sinclair network distributors refusal to air the show in their markets for his callous and wholly false accusations, something they are fully, legally and constitutionally allowed to do.
There have been dozens upon dozens of articles and statements already published by legal scholars and experts since this occurred which have more than crystallized this as fact.
You have been caught up in the Leftist perpetual smear job of “because Trump” once again, if you refuse to acknowledge and accept this truth.
Just a schoolyard bully will face the consequences for his aactions and be punished by his teachers and parents for his behavior, so too has the bully Kimmel finally been for his.
And his free speech rights remain wholly in tact - just not from the consequences of deciding to air them on national TV.
Carr said what he said, as did Bondi.
Sasha is correct.
I am not disputing that. Albeit his comments and the full context of them have been grossly misreported and misconstrued by too many.
The point I was making was in response to Sasha’s saying stating “Sending out the FCC”. Kimmells firing had ZERO to do with any alleged pressure coming from the FCC, or the administration.
Kimmel himself was actually the most directly at fault when he was asked by Disney to apologize and he refused to do so leaving them with no choice but to cancel him.
I think you are missing the point.
Sasha (and I) believe Kimmel was fired for economic reasons.
It was going to happen anyway.
But Carr gave the democrats a talking point, an unnecessary talking point, that it’s all about censorship.
It’s about perception
She is right.
Optics are everything in politics.
Then she shouldn’t have written: “SENDING out the FCC to pressure the networks, or threatening to pull licenses, or talking about “hate speech,” gives the Left an advantage that they do not deserve.”
Carr’s talked about those things AFTER THE FACT, as possibilities, not action plans, but by no means whatsoever had they any hand in Kimmell’s firing. It is the same misdirection being applied by the media.
Here is exactly what Carr himself posted:
https://x.com/BrendanCarrFCC/status/1968638607301705973
The action to fire Kimmel was TAKEN BY BROADCASTERS.
Period. Full stop.
The Left just hates that their monopoly days of determining what can and can’t be said are numbered.
You are doing exactly what Sasha is talking about.
Carr said what he said 20 minutes before the decision.
We all agree here, or mostly all, that Kimmel is gone because he is an unfunny soul sucking black hole.
But the perception Sasha notes is correct.
But that’s what I’m trying to say: that that PERCEPTION she’s concerned about itself is a CONCOCTION being pushed by the Left.
That “perception” itself is a twisted lie, and what must be thoroughly debunked, not fallen for or even worried about for that matter because it is NOT TRUE.
“Oh the Right better be worried they may be appearing like McCarthy or fascists!”
No. We don’t need to be worried. Because we’re not.
And they’re trying to cow us into backing off because of how it may “appear”.
Screw that. This is what it looks like when the people have had enough. What is happening to them is because the PEOPLE ARE FED UP with their crap and aren’t willing to play along anymore.
Who gives a frig what that looks like to them.
They’re running scared and they should be.
Bizarre. I feel Sasha is cracking a bit.
Nextsar and Sinclair made autonomous decisions to pull Kimmel's show.
Disney also feared advertisers would pull out, worsening the already huge losses.
You're watching too much MSNBC, my dear.
She is correctly pointing out how this appears to many and how the democrats spin it. She is correct, the appearance is awful.
Dims have no principles.
Like Kimmel, they lie about everything. So who gives a 💩 how they spin it?
The appearance is only awful to Dims.
No, it appears awful to many people including independents and libertarians and others.
You need all these people to keep rolling.
You really need to think harder on this.
I'm in canada with problems of our own, things that will only get worse of the "Dims" are able to re-institute their insanity down there.
A Canadian with his finger on the pulse 😆😆
Or is it up the 💩hole?
You know nothing of our country outside LA and NY. Zero.
This appears "awful" to no one other than Dims ... and their lap dogs like Canadians.
🤫🤫🤫
"Sigh".
Ok, have a nice life.
She has PTSD from her exit treatment from the left. She doesn't want us to blow it. I get that.
She’s new to the dark side. Prior to 2020 she was also lobbing bombs at the right.
Interesting take on Jeff Childer's Coffee & Covid today: Is Trump purposely getting the left to come out in support of free speech by (peripherally) involving the FCC? Is this typical Trumpian manoevering? Hard not to see that the left supporting free speech is a complete about face, considering the censorship the left has been responsible for, especially during covid.
Democrats have proposed a new bill to protect free speech, and enable folks that have been deplatformed by the gubmint the ability to sue....
Make it bipartisan and retroactive to 2020.
Silly take - the Left doesn't support free speech - they support letting leftist propagandists lie nightly on every channel. Trump should bring back the Fairness doctrine. CBS, ABC & NBC have been pushing nasty propaganda for years.
You are correct. It actually passed the legality test. In 1987, the FCC repealed the Fairness Doctrine, and efforts in Congress to reinstate it failed; it could pass now.
The fairness doctrine is a slippery slope depending on who is currently in political power.
Nonsense - we've had 30 years of pure Dem propaganda. Fairness doctrine simply forced equal time for political commentary.
Which makes it nonsense, doesn't it?
No - it simply prevents things like every network pushing leftist propaganda on late night comedy or harpies at the View being allowed to push Dem politics on their brain dead viewers. Recall back in the day the networks used to put on polar opposites to debate political issues - 100% because that was a requirement to stay in compliance with FCC rules.
I hear ya. But when, ie, David Brooks, can be passed off as the view from the right, it's not exactly serious, is it?
"Don’t go the way of the Conservatives during the McCarthy era. Don’t dictate content on television, in the news, or in films"
This is what the left has done my entire life. No Republican until Trump pushed back on this. They just let the left dominate the narrative. This is what I voted for. A spine.
The administration is NOT McCarthy-ing anything!!
The free market is doing its job. If someone’s crap lies are losing them money they’re gonna fire their ass. That’s what happened!!
The people - the consumer - doesn’t want to buy what they’re trying to sell anymore, and the companies are responding to that.
There’s a seismic shift going on this country and the Left is just now beginning to feel its earthquake effects.
They did it to themselves. They just refuse to face that reality.
Good point. Also, McCarthy was correct.
Hah! Yes~ there’s always that but hey! Here we are.
I’m beginning to hate AI. How can anyone be confident that anything not done face-to-face is real?
AI is bullshit and always has been. This AI nonsense is just another way for tech to create another attraction and revenue. It's also a great way to provide propaganda to idiots.
How many times do people have to be told the First Amendment only applies to the government.
Typo? "Charlie Park"?