ABC/Disney’s craven decision to cancel Jimmy Kimmel should worry all Americans.
The fact that yet another corporation has caved under pressure from the Trump Administration is concerning enough. That the pressure was in direct response to Mr. Kimmel voicing his opinion about the motives of the man who killed Charlie Kirk is what is truly dangerous about this situation. Brendan Carr, the MAGA chair of the FCC — the agency with regulatory authority over the network — threatened ABC, unless it acted against the comedian.
READ: Jimmy Kimmel’s Cancellation Is the Latest Sign We’re Witnessing the End of US Democracy
Those on the far right, who like to drape themselves in the cloak of free speech rights when it suits them, have cheered Mr. Carr. The rest of us should be more than alarmed about the government shutting down voices that it disagrees with under the flimsiest of pretexts. We also should be alarmed by Mr. Carr’s ominous statement that the canceling of Mr. Kimmel’s show was “an important turning point”.
Like the frog that dies when it doesn’t realize that the water that it is sitting in is slowly heating to a boil, American democracy has never been at greater risk than it is right now.
READ: Why Journalists Are Reluctant to Call Trump an Authoritarian – and Why That Matters for Democracy
Good people across the political spectrum need to speak out. We should boycott ABC and all things Disney. Corporate America needs to feel the disapproval of the American People.
The water is starting to boil.
