Friday Night Suggestion

Best way to pay homage to Jimmy Kimmel

I have been largely cynical for years about what we often erroneously call the “mainstream media,” but I have to say that I am surprised at their abject cowardice and cravenness when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump and his thugs, who mean to destroy freedom of speech and democracy.

After all, as old police beat reporters learn, there are some things even whores won’t do for money.

By now nearly everyone knows that Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended, allegedly because of remarks he made, not about Charlie Kirk or his murder, but about the MAGA movement’s intention to use it for their own purposes, financial and political, which is demonstrably true.

It was, as I suspected, all about money, and I’ll share some of CNN’s reporting on that in a minute. But first I want to suggest something that you might do on this Friday night. Do not, now or ever, watch anything on ABC unless and until an unshackled Kimmel is restored. But also find and watch Good Night and Good Luck, the wonderful movie George Clooney made about a similar time in our history when the media was not quite so craven, and good work could be done.

Everything in that movie is essentially true, and even if you’ve seen it, it’s worth seeing again.

Finally, below is an excerpt from CNN’s reporting on what was really going on.

Following the money trail behind Kimmel's suspension

From CNN's Stephen Collinson (September 18, 2025)

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Jimmy Kimmel’s show was suspended after Federal Communications Commission chair Brendan Carr on Wednesday issued an unsubtle threat to ABC and its affiliates that they must act against a comedian who has long lampooned Trump on his show. He implied that public broadcast licenses could be at risk. The cave (ABC’s decision to submit) came in hours.

It’s not hard to follow the money trail. Nexstar — one of the affiliate groups that threatened to pull Kimmel’s show, forcing the hand of ABC’s corporate leaders at Disney — is seeking to merge with another station conglomerate, Tegna. It needs the Trump administration’s approval to do so.

ABC and its parents could have resisted government efforts to shut down Kimmel’s show on the grounds that the government is using its power to suppress the companies’ First Amendment rights to free speech. But the public arm-twisting by Carr made the cost of such an option perfectly clear.

The Trump administration is especially keen to target media firms as it seeks to suppress criticism of its own streams of misinformation or simply to spare the president from mockery on late-night comedy shows with which he’s long feuded.

Trump scored a win over “60 Minutes” in his dubious lawsuit against the iconic show. His legal action coincided with an ongoing merger between CBS’ parent, Paramount, and Skydance. With billions of dollars riding on the merger, then-Paramount boss Shari Redstone opted for a settlement with the administration.

And CBS recently canceled “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” insisting it did so to cut costs. But many media commentators believe it did so to muzzle another Trump critic.

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There really is what amounts to a bloodless attempt at an authoritarian/ fascist coup in this country, you know.

Good Night and Good Luck … to all of us.