Kimmel brouhaha proves First Amendment threatened

Few things get me on my soapbox more than the First Amendment—especially threats to it.

It says: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Because I (or you) don’t like what someone has to say doesn’t mean I (or you or the government) gets to silence anyone.

While the government technically did not pull the plug on comedian Jimmy Kimmel, their hands are all over this and far from clean.

The Federal Communication Commission’s chairman has practically done cartwheels he’s so excited about the outcome.

The FCC isn’t supposed to be political.

From its own website, the FCC says, “The FCC is barred by law from trying to prevent the broadcast of any point of view. The Communications Act prohibits the FCC from censoring broadcast material, in most cases, and from making any regulation that would interfere with freedom of speech. Expressions of views that do not involve a ‘clear and present danger of serious, substantive evil’ come under the protection of the Constitution, which guarantees freedom of speech and freedom of the press and prevents suppression of these expressions by the FCC.”

The uproar is over what Kimmel said Sept. 15 about Charlie Kirk. (As an aside, I had never heard of Kirk until he was gunned down.)

If it were only that simple—someone not liking what some else said—it would almost be like the bully on the playground won. If it were just this, Kimmel would like have been removed the day after his words were broadcast instead of two days later.

As with so many things, follow the money.

Nexstar Media, one of the biggest owners of TV stations in the country, is at the heart of the controversy. This company is the one who started complaining, saying it would pull Kimmel off its affiliates.

The FCC is soon to rule whether Nexstar can go forward with its $6.2 billion merger with Tegna. It wants to be in lockstep with the thinking of the current administration to get what it wants.

This isn’t about whether you like Kimmel or Kirk or Trump or someone else more. This quashing of freedom of speech affects all of us. You might think Kimmel got what he deserved. But exchange him for Hannity or someone else, then is it fair?

The rules have to work for everyone, not just the people who won the last election. The Constitution has worked for this long. Fingers crossed it lasts another 3½ years.

Updated Sept. 23: While Disney, owner of ABC, which airs the Kimmel show has agreed to put him back on the air, Nexstar and Sinclair are still silencing him. Together, they own about one-quarter of the ABC stations in the U.S. Shouldn’t the people paying for be able to decide for themselves if they want to watch any show?