Rubicon: Suspension of Jimmy Kimmel marks visible end to freedom of speech

On Thursday, The New York Times congratulated Donald Trump for his success in destroying the First Amendment.

This congratulatory note came a day after Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr appeared on a right-wing podcast where he called Kimmel “truly sick.” Carr followed this statement by making it clear that he intended to use his agency to go after ABC.

"They have a license granted by us at the FCC, and that comes with it an obligation to operate in the public interest. There are calls for Kimmel to be fired. I think you could certainly see a path forward for suspension over this. …

This is a very, very serious issue right now for Disney. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. These companies can find ways to take action on Kimmel or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Carr made no effort to show how anything the comedian had said broke any FCC regulation. And he couldn't, because nothing Kimmel said even came close. But Kimmel did give Republicans a tap on the nose for their hypocritical pearl-clutching.

"Which is it," Kimmel said the previous evening, "are they a bunch of sissy pickleball players because they’re too scared to be hit by tennis balls, or a well-organized deadly team of commandos, because they can’t be both of those things.”

As of Friday, Kimmel's suspension had drawn fire from numerous political figures and celebrities, including a rare political statement from Barack Obama.

Others, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, pointed out the obvious link to the canceling of Stephen Colbert's program on CBS, which came after Trump had repeatedly called for Colbert to be fired.

Warren's message also references one of the biggest reasons why the media is falling over itself to please Trump: Mergers.

Within minutes of Carr's threat, Nexstar Media Group, which owns over thirty ABC affiliates, issued a press release saying it would replace Kimmel's show with "other programming." (That other programming turned to be reruns of Celebrity Family Feud.)

Why would Nexstar be so anxious to bend the knee, even though Carr had absolutely no foundation for his threat? Well …

Nexstar, one of the biggest station owners in the U.S, is currently attempting to complete a merger with fellow TV giant Tegna. The nature of the merger—valued at $6.2 billion—requires the approval of the FCC, and for it to loosen longstanding ownership regulations.

If this sounds familiar, just two months ago, Paramount, then in the midst of an $8.4 billion merger deal that also required approval by the FCC, agreed to hand Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit against 60 Minutes. As a result of that decision, executive producer Bill Owens and several other members of the news program's staff resigned. The surprising cancellation of Colbert's top-rated late-night show came after he made remarks critical of Paramount's payoff to Trump.

The 60 Minutes lawsuit, like Carr's threats against Disney, was complete nonsense that would never have survived in court. But Paramount wasn't concerned about the suit. They were concerned about getting approval for their mega-merger. So they handed Trump $16 million in payola, and what do you know? The merger was approved.

As a result of the Paramount buyout, the company is now controlled by Trump fan David Ellison, the son of the current richest man in the world and major Trump supporter, Larry Ellison. If those names also sound familiar, it may be because Trump just announced a deal with China that would also place TikTok in the hands of the elder Ellison.

From the moment Trump stepped back into the White House, major media outlets have been falling over themselves to give him unflagging fluff jobs. The rain of announcements that news outlets would be loading up their staff with Trump supporters, or simply handing over their news operations, to right-wing shills, has been endless.

Even as Trump continues to fume about "radical left media," it's hard to find any such creature without breaking out a microscope. Whether you look at traditional media or social media, the loudspeakers are falling into the hands of a very few men—and they are all anxious to please Trump.

• Wall Street Journal – Rupert Murdoch
• The Washington Post – Jeff Bezos
• Los Angeles Times – Patrick Soon-Shiong
• CBS – David Ellison
• TikTok – Larry Ellison
• Twitter / X – Elon Musk
• Facebook – Mark Zuckerberg
• Instagram – Mark Zuckerberg

If that leaves out ABC, NBC, and CNN, don't get your hopes up for much in the way of an anti-fascist speedbump.

The suspension of Kimmel demonstrates how quickly and thoroughly Disney, which owns ABC, was willing to go to face down for Trump. Over the last twenty years, Disney CEO Bob Iger has managed multi-billion dollar mergers or acquisitions with Marvel Entertainment, Lucasfilm, Hulu, ESPN, and 21st Century Fox. He's not about to make a move that might threaten his next big deal. In addition to suspending Kimmel, ABC also fired veteran correspondent Terry Moran for calling Stephen Miller "a hater" in a social media post.

Comcast, which owns NBC, is chaired by billionaire scion Brian Roberts. Compared to the people listed above, Roberts has an admirable record of community involvement and charitable donations—including several that recognize the value of science and medicine. However, he's been studiously apolitical, making no donations to candidates since 2012. In the past year, NBC has hired election denier Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst and fired Matthew Dowd for daring to say that Charlie Kirk was "divisive." During the last cycle, NBC hired conspiratorial hate-monger Megyn Kelly for an astounding $69 million in a disastrous bid to show their love for Trump.

CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, whose name alone is enough to show that it, like Disney, is another acquisition machine. The owners of HBO, DC Entertainment, and a long list of cable and streaming properties, WBD chairman David Zaslav has demonstrated that he's also quick to avoid confrontations with the right. That includes hiring former Fox News host Chris Wallace to helm CNN's streaming operations, former Daily Caller reporter Kaitlan Collins, and right-wing activist Robby Starbuck to explain how the social media owned by the right is prejudiced ... against the right. Collins is now CNN's chief White House correspondent, ensuring that Trump never gets anything but softballs from CNN.

This is the time when the media should be beating the drums about the threat of galloping fascism and the crumbling of our democratic institutions. But the men who control the drums aren't just staying silent; they're doing all they can to ensure that silence will remain unbroken.

Colbert and Kimmel were some of the loudest voices in America. They spoke nightly to audiences that numbered in the millions. And they are being silenced. Just. Like. That.

It's not just a huge signal that the First Amendment no longer exists in any recognizable way, but a warning to everyone else: If we can do this to them, just think of what we can do to you.

Oh, and that Nexstar merger? The reason that it needs FCC approval is that it violates multiple regulations about one company controlling too many local affiliates and would give the resulting Nexstar-Tegna control over broadcast stations in a huge swath of the country. It's the kind of deal that was once routinely denied, even during Trump's first term.

However, this time, there are some none-too-subtle clues that Nexstar, and its CEO-chairman media mogul Perry Sook, will get their wish.

Shortly after Nexstar announced it was going to stop broadcasting Kimmel's show, Carr was up on Twitter to give them a hearty hug.

“I want to thank Nexstar for doing the right thing. While this may be an unprecedented decision, it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values. I hope that other broadcasters follow Nexstar’s lead.”

It seems extremely likely that the merger will go through. After all, it's not as if there are any rules. Not anymore.

Or any First Amendment.