It's Not About Jimmy Kimmel

 

I don't watch Jimmy Kimmel. At least not from broadcast TV, nor do I watch his entire show from a streaming app (HULU, maybe? I'm not sure).

I don't dislike Jimmy Kimmel. I may occasionally see YouTube clips, especially when he makes political references. I watch Stephen Colbert or The Daily Show clips more often. I'm not much into celebrity interviews, musical performances, or people who write books I'm not interested in.

I stay up later than most, but even I go to bed before these late-night programs start.

But I don't have to be a big fan of Jimmy Kimmel to appreciate what happened.

What happened is not just about Jimmy Kimmel. It's about all of us, and our shrinking right to freedom of speech,

Nothing that happened had anything to do with ratings or the corporation's right to end shows for business reasons. It had to do with FCC Chairman Brendan Carr and Drumpf specifically targeting someone because they didn't like his jokes. Trump has the thinnest skin of any public figure I've ever seen. He wants to effectively mute the voices of opposition.

We've seen countless groups pushed around and cede to the orange conman. Law firms, universities, and media conglomerates all surrender their rights to placate an insatiable monster. The more you give in to him, the more he wants to take,

However, with Kimmel, we have witnessed something truly remarkable. Instead of letting the billionaire media oligarchs continue to kowtow to the authoritarian overlord, everyday citizens struck back in the only language they understand - they canceled streaming services, trips to theme parks and cruises, planned weddings and parties at their hotels. They hit them in the pocketbook enough for them to squeal in pain, and restore Jimmy Kimmel's show.

Hopefully, this is just the beginning. The oligarchs need to be more terrified of us than the Dementia Patient In Charge. We forgot that we hold the purse strings.

We need to remember this beyond politics. Want prices to go down? Boycott those products that are raising prices the most. Want to set an age limit for candidates? STOP voting for them!  

Even with the authoritarian rampage we see around us, we still hold more power than we think.

I welcome Jimmy Kimmel's program back. Now the affiliates that hold large numbers of local stations, specifically Nexstar and Sinclair, are refusing to air the show. Well, fellow patriots, you know what to do next. Contact the sponsors of whatever programming they replace Kimmel with, and make sure you're not interested in their products. Sinclair and Nexstar may get the message. Nexstar is more likely than Sinclair, which is owned by a cruel cabal of extreme right-wingers.

Our next mission? Restore Stephen Colbert from his scheduled show termination.

The Kimmel return is the best news I've heard in a long time. The forces of censorship and oppression can be defeated.

I pray that this is not a one-time thing, but a beginning of a pro-democracy revival.