The FCC, the Federal Communications Commission, decided all by itself that radio and television were the only two parts of American life not protected by the free speech provisions of the First Amendment to the Constitution. I’d like to repeat that because it sounds vaguely important. The FCC, an appointed body, not elected, answerable only to the president, decided on its own that radio and television were the only two parts of American life not protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Why did they decide that? Because they got a letter from a minister in Mississippi. A Reverend Donald Wildman heard something on the radio that he didn’t like. Well Reverend did anyone ever tell you there are two knobs on the radio? Of course, I’m sure the Reverend isn’t that comfortable with anything that has two knobs on it. But hey Reverend there are two knobs on the radio. One of them turns the radio off and the other one changes the station. Imagine that Reverend, you can actually change the station. It’s called Freedom of Choice and it’s one of the principles this country was founded upon. Look it up in the library Reverend if you have any of them left when you finish burning all the books. -George Carlin

Almost two weeks ago, Charlie Kirk was shot. I have not written about this and other than that statement I do not plan on writing anymore. My muse thanks me. But that action created a firestorm. Much of it coming from the administration. The rhetoric that ensued rose like a tsunami and quickly engulfed late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel. Disney, his employer, promptly took him off the air. Many people were unhappy about this. Me included. I must brag that on Sunday, I was ahead of the curve before the second tidal wave and that I successfully cancelled my Disney+ subscription, before their website crashed with the other over $4B (and counting) subscription cancellations. What a horrible weekend!

That was Sunday. On Monday, Disney caved. After some mealy mouth lawyer talk, they announced that Kimmel’s indefinite suspension would end today, and Kimmel would perform tonight. As an addendum, Gavin Newsom was announced as his guest. I do not expect Jimmy to come hat-in-hand. This sets the stage for the next round in this battle, the affiliates. Two conservative affiliated chains of ABC stations, Sinclair and Nexstar helped to foment this crisis and are now center stage. Both chains are seeking government approval for separate mergers and are averse to angering the administration. Our local Sinclair ABC station has already announced that it will not show Kimmel. There is still Disney+, I could stream it. My subscription is cancelled but it is still good now.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Stay tuned for more…