Conservatives and Progressives should both hate this...
I mean, take some joy out of Kimmel off air if you like (for now, he wasn't fired)...But Cruz is looking at this from a long-ball perspective and I think he's spot on.
Dems, Republicans and Independents should be very wary of this...Not just out of fear of tit for tat, but because Feds have no right imo to dictate a policy on what constitutes acceptable free speech or not.
=========================================================================
GOP Sen. Ted Cruz on Friday denounced Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr’s threats to pull ABC’s broadcast license as “unbelievably dangerous” and compared some of his rhetoric to “mafioso” tactics.
In an episode of his podcast, “Verdict with Ted Cruz,” released on Friday, the Texas Republican said he was “thrilled” Jimmy Kimmel was pulled off the air by ABC over his comments about conservative influencer Charlie Kirk. But he said he strongly disagreed with the government policing speech, asserting it could come back to bite conservatives when Democrats retake power.
“I hate what Jimmy Kimmel said. I am thrilled that he was fired,” Cruz said. “But let me tell you: If the government gets in the business of saying, ‘We don’t like what you, the media, have said. We’re going to ban you from the airwaves if you don’t say what we like,’ that will end up bad for conservatives.”
Though Carr’s comments have drawn widespread condemnation on the left, Cruz’s remarks represent one of the strongest denunciations of the threats against broadcasters by an elected conservative. Cruz also chairs the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, which has broad authority over the FCC.
“Going down this road, there will come a time when a Democrat wins again – wins the White House … they will silence us. They will use this power, and they will use it ruthlessly. And that is dangerous,” Cruz said.
President Donald Trump has also vaguely threatened to pull networks’ licenses if they air overwhelmingly negative coverage of him, though Cruz did not rebut the president’s remarks directly.
Cruz played recent remarks Carr made on far-right podcaster Benny Johnson’s podcast, in which the FCC chairman threatened to take action against broadcasters who don’t “find ways to change conduct” the government considers disagreeable.
“I mean, look, we can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.” ABC pulled Kimmel’s show off the air indefinitely the day after Carr made those comments.
Responding to Carr’s comments, Cruz said: “No, no, no, no, no.”
“Look, look, I like Brendan Carr,” the senator said. “He’s a good guy. He’s the chairman of the FCC. I work closely with him. But what he said there is dangerous as hell.”
“He says, ‘We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way.’ And I got to say, that’s right out of ‘Goodfellas.’ That’s right out of a mafioso coming into a bar going, ‘nice bar you have here. It’d be a shame if something happened to it.’”
Cruz later added: “I think it is unbelievably dangerous for government to put itself in the position of saying, ‘We’re going to decide what speech we like and what we don’t, and we’re going to threaten to take you off air if we don’t like what you’re saying.’”
“And it might feel good right now to threaten Jimmy Kimmel,” the senator said. “But when it is used to silence every conservative in America, we will regret it.”
cnn
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
Idk PF. Let's be honest, Kimmel wasnt taken off the air by the government. He was taken off the air by the Network and their affiliates. The Dems tried to take Foxnews, OANN and Newsmax off the air in 2021 and Fox News again in 2023 for election denial and unspecified hate speech. Tucker Carlson was pulled off the air. All Kimmel had to do was apologize for his horribly wrong take on the Kirk assassination. The producers and the network tried to get him to do that to appease the affiliates and he refused. Sinclair in particular is pretty Conservative. He was finally taken off the air when it was apparent that he was going to double down instead. The reality is that his ratings had dropped by 75% in the key demographics with a corresponding decline of 50% in ad revenues. He simply wasn't a good investment for the network anymore. I'm guessing ABC was already wrestling with cancelling the show but didnt want a Colbert type circus as a result. The affiliates can make as much money or more with other programming in that slot. Carr certainly didn't help but let's not pretend this was in response to his threat of some unspecified hard way. Just apologize for trying to pin this horrific event on those that were grieving Kirk's death in the face of actual facts that didn't support his comments. I remember when Kimmel was funny.
Yah, Kimmel didnt need to go where he did and I wasn't surprised he did tbh. Whether he'll be back again is a whole other issue - I suspect not since his contract is up 5/26 anyways.
But lets not pretend that pressure can't be brought down on the network and affiliates that ultimately influences their decisions and programming.
Its a slippery slope and I think Cruz is spot-on with his take.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
No disagreement PF..but I didnt see a big uproar in support of freedom of speech when the Dems went after Fox et al and had the IRS investigate virtually every right leaning organization including Kirk's. As you said, Kimmel didn't have much time left on his contract. ABC likely had indicated an unwillingness to extend especially at current spend. My guess is he decided to go out as a warrior of the left to help his prospects going forward. Even the ladies on the view knew to stay away from this topic.
I agree with Cruz, as I did when it was the Biden(obama/clinton) administration doing the tampering with the media.
Our media is so biased it's ridiculous, not just left right, but how the stories are being told. Ive still got to try and do some fact checking, but I listened to a pod cast this week on the Ukraine war from an American journalist who told the story differently, he's been following it and embedded since before Russia got involved, when it was a civil war, and he certainly has a different perspective than the one we've been fed. Makes a person wonder more than ever how free we really are when we are having our information and thoughts manipulated.
Why isn't Chuck Foreman in the Hall of Fame?
I started a thread on this topic and chose not to. Kimmel is an idiot and always has been. Remember that Roseanne Barr was also taken off of network tv so this isn’t totally ground breaking. This is one of those things where all parts but Kimmels are true. He was likely gone due to ratings, the affiliates were rebelling, and the FCC was applying pressure. When you lie about the biggest political assassination since MLK, I’m not thinking it’s fully undeserved for the FCC to apply pressure. However, my personal preference is to let these idiots bury themselves. We’re seeing media remade one step at a time with the new CBS ownership, TikTok headed towards conservative owners, Facebook seeing the writing on the wall, and the legacy media, CNN, and MS NOW all dying a slow death. There’s no reason for the right to kneecap free speech as the Democrats have. The truth is coming out, and that’s awful news for liberals.
Waterboy wrote:
I started a thread on this topic and chose not to. Kimmel is an idiot and always has been. Remember that Roseanne Barr was also taken off of network tv so this isn’t totally ground breaking. This is one of those things where all parts but Kimmels are true. He was likely gone due to ratings, the affiliates were rebelling, and the FCC was applying pressure. When you lie about the biggest political assassination since MLK, I’m not thinking it’s fully undeserved for the FCC to apply pressure. However, my personal preference is to let these idiots bury themselves. We’re seeing media remade one step at a time with the new CBS ownership, TikTok headed towards conservative owners, Facebook seeing the writing on the wall, and the legacy media, CNN, and MS NOW all dying a slow death. There’s no reason for the right to kneecap free speech as the Democrats have. The truth is coming out, and that’s awful news for liberals.
The biggest “political assassination” since MLK?
What about the actual politicians who have been shot since MLK?
AGRforever wrote:
The biggest “political assassination” since MLK?
What about the actual politicians who have been shot since MLK?
Name a bigger assassination since MLK. Getting shot doesn't = assassination. I'll do it for you. It looks like RFK was killed a couple of months after MLK, I had them reversed. Point still stands, name someone since those two possibly even including RFK that was bigger. Kirk was adored by millions on the right and was on a path that could have made him both a political and spiritual leader for the entire country which is why I compared him to MLK. By all means, go google and find where I'm wrong. People of Charlie's stature only grow in martyrdom over time which has happened with both RFK and MLK. Charlie is on that same path and did it in 31 years of life. A truly monumental figure that changed our country for the better and I'd dare say saved it from ruin.
So...Kimmel is back on the air after a few days of negotiating and discussions with the NETWORK (although two of the ABC Affiliate groups have still pre-empted it with something more compelling like Golden Girl reruns). This was never about the Government or Carr's comment. It was a Disney decision. If Carr was looking for a reason to take ABC off the air for viewpoint issues, those wacky ladies on the View give new material practically every day. So much for the slippery slope...
What did happen this week is that Google's CEO admitted to deplatforming Conservatives and throttling back content at the request of the Biden Admin. Content which he admitted neither violated the law or Google's terms of service. It seems the previous Admin would send lists to Google, Twitter (X) and Facebook of people they wanted deplatformed including Trump. Zuckerberg already acknowledged some of the same although in less detail and Musk already had previously apologized for Twitter's actions and reinstated all including Trump.
So...we have full out censorship by the previous Admin. We had the IRS investigate virtually every Conservative organization. We had the FBI investigating those that dared to show up to express their opinions at School Boards. We had people lose their jobs, positions for wearing MAGA hats. We had colleges refuse to allow Conservative speakers on campus including Kirk (citing hate speech or security issues).
So..was the Kimmel thing really a "slippery slope" or pretty tame compared to actual suppression of free speech?
For the record, I agree with those that say that Carr's veiled threat was inappropriate...but also..VERY tame compared to what had previously been happening. There's a reason that Free Speech was the 1st Amendment.
Kamala chimed in on the Kimmel situation with a staunch defense of free speech in the face of "fascism"...until Musk clapped back with a tweet from Senator Harris in 2019 stating that Trump should be deplatformed..imagine that...demanding that the President of the US should not have free speech rights.
And Kimmel...what a douche. Just say you were wrong in stating it was a "MAGA guy" that killed Kirk. Instead, he made it all about him. I saw an old clip from Johnny Carson on why he didn't discuss politics on the Tonight Show (or in public). He stated that people just wanted to watch his show to laugh and escape from the world. He said that politics would be a death knell for late night television. Based on Colbert and Kimmel...seems pretty prophetic. I did watch a little Fallon the other night...it seems like he may have gotten the message and is concentrating more on just trying to be entertaining.
badgervike wrote:
So...Kimmel is back on the air after a few days of negotiating and discussions with the NETWORK (although two of the ABC Affiliate groups have still pre-empted it with something more compelling like Golden Girl reruns). This was never about the Government or Carr's comment. It was a Disney decision. If Carr was looking for a reason to take ABC off the air for viewpoint issues, those wacky ladies on the View give new material practically every day. So much for the slippery slope...What did happen this week is that Google's CEO admitted to deplatforming Conservatives and throttling back content at the request of the Biden Admin. Content which he admitted neither violated the law or Google's terms of service. It seems the previous Admin would send lists to Google, Twitter (X) and Facebook of people they wanted deplatformed including Trump. Zuckerberg already acknowledged some of the same although in less detail and Musk already had previously apologized for Twitter's actions and reinstated all including Trump.
So...we have full out censorship by the previous Admin. We had the IRS investigate virtually every Conservative organization. We had the FBI investigating those that dared to show up to express their opinions at School Boards. We had people lose their jobs, positions for wearing MAGA hats. We had colleges refuse to allow Conservative speakers on campus including Kirk (citing hate speech or security issues).
So..was the Kimmel thing really a "slippery slope" or pretty tame compared to actual suppression of free speech?
For the record, I agree with those that say that Carr's veiled threat was inappropriate...but also..VERY tame compared to what had previously been happening. There's a reason that Free Speech was the 1st Amendment.
Kamala chimed in on the Kimmel situation with a staunch defense of free speech in the face of "fascism"...until Musk clapped back with a tweet from Senator Harris in 2019 stating that Trump should be deplatformed..imagine that...demanding that the President of the US should not have free speech rights.
And Kimmel...what a douche. Just say you were wrong in stating it was a "MAGA guy" that killed Kirk. Instead, he made it all about him. I saw an old clip from Johnny Carson on why he didn't discuss politics on the Tonight Show (or in public). He stated that people just wanted to watch his show to laugh and escape from the world. He said that politics would be a death knell for late night television. Based on Colbert and Kimmel...seems pretty prophetic. I did watch a little Fallon the other night...it seems like he may have gotten the message and is concentrating more on just trying to be entertaining.
Oh my gosh, there is so much kettle calling the pot black - or however the saying goes. Any side that believes they're completely right and the other completely wrong? That the world is that black and white? Is just being silly (or worse).
The only thing that really gets my goat right now is election denialsm, aggressively going after marginalized groups and lack of empathy regarding climate change and our planet. My brain is still trying to decide if I like or hate Tariffs.
All of the topics people love to get incensed about.
Like many of us have been preaching, its way overdue time to turn the temp down...
God gave us two ears and one mouth for a reason.
I used to think this needed to start in DC, but that wont happen in our lifetimes. Now I think it begins in our own homes.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
purplefaithful wrote:
Oh my gosh, there is so much kettle calling the pot black - or however the saying goes. Any side that believes they're completely right and the other completely wrong? That the world is that black and white? Is just being silly (or worse).
The only thing that really gets my goat right now is election denialsm, aggressively going after marginalized groups and lack of empathy regarding climate change and our planet. My brain is still trying to decide if I like or hate Tariffs.
All of the topics people love to get incensed about.
Like many of us have been preaching, its way overdue time to turn the temp down...I used to think it started in DC, but now I think it begins in our own homes.
No disagreement there my friend. I'm an independent so I certainly didn't say that one side is right and one side is wrong. You started this thread by calling out the Carr comment..and I simply said there was a shitload of actual real life suppression of speech going on including the revelations from Google this week..not potential suppression of free speech. I didn't see a lot of acknowledgement from the Left that maybe that's not the way to go. Maybe, just maybe the Left should quit referring to the other side as Fascists or Nazis or Hitler...all titles of people that should be killed. Did you see these leaflets distributed on the Georgetown campus this last week?
There was a poll last week and over 50% of Democrats said it would be justified if Trump were assassinated. A third of Democrats polled said they wish he had been killed in the previous assassination attempt(s). Maybe it's time to dial the rhetoric way, way back. I watched a ton of Charlie Kirk's campus visits over the years. That's why he was popular...for engaging in conversation with those that disagreed with him in a respectful manner. There needs to be more of that instead of the inflammatory rhetoric.
badgervike wrote:
There was a poll last week and over 50% of Democrats said it would be justified if Trump were assassinated. A third of Democrats polled said they wish he had been killed in the previous assassination attempt(s). Maybe it's time to dial the rhetoric way, way back. I watched a ton of Charlie Kirk's campus visits over the years. That's why he was popular...for engaging in conversation with those that disagreed with him in a respectful manner. There needs to be more of that instead of the inflammatory rhetoric.
Source please?
BigAl99 wrote:
Source please?
Here's the 1/3 poll for wishing the assassination was successful. I'll try to dig up the other one but I'm heading out soon to head up North to enjoy one of the last nice weekends at the Lake. If I don't get to it, I'll dig it out on Monday.
https://unherd.com/newsroom/third-of-democrats-wish-donald-trump-had-been-killed/
Here's the other one. The poll is from April. I didn't see the NCRI report until last week. I'm pretty sure the numbers would be even worse now.
https://networkcontagion.us/reports/4-7-25-ncri-assassination-culture-brief/
badgervike wrote:
No disagreement there my friend. I'm an independent so I certainly didn't say that one side is right and one side is wrong. You started this thread by calling out the Carr comment..and I simply said there was a shitload of actual real life suppression of speech going on including the revelations from Google this week..not potential suppression of free speech. I didn't see a lot of acknowledgement from the Left that maybe that's not the way to go. Maybe, just maybe the Left should quit referring to the other side as Fascists or Nazis or Hitler...all titles of people that should be killed. Did you see these leaflets distributed on the Georgetown campus this last week?
There was a poll last week and over 50% of Democrats said it would be justified if Trump were assassinated. A third of Democrats polled said they wish he had been killed in the previous assassination attempt(s). Maybe it's time to dial the rhetoric way, way back. I watched a ton of Charlie Kirk's campus visits over the years. That's why he was popular...for engaging in conversation with those that disagreed with him in a respectful manner. There needs to be more of that instead of the inflammatory rhetoric.
No need to respond, but those #'s are not believable to me - not even slightly.
Hurry-up Vikings, we ain't getting any younger!
I did respond. Your party left you (pun intended) a while ago PF..they just forgot to leave a forwarding address..lol.
Btw...the sentiment from the left has gotten any better since those two polls..so the numbers could even be higher.
purplefaithful wrote:
No need to respond, but those #'s are not believable to me - not even slightly.
Man, you're not seeing what we're seeing. If anything, I think they're low. My buddy's wife seems to be low key and a nice woman. When Charlie was killed, she couldn't help but spill out that he kinda had it coming. Mind you, she'd never watched a video or knew anything of him until that day. But, that didn't stop her from having a definitive opinion. I believe there is a very large % of liberals that have bought into Nazi, Hitler, Gestapo bullshit rhetoric. It does have to change somehow, but I'm not sure how it changes with the storm that one side has created in their verbiage and actions. It's not a two-way problem imho. This one's squarely on one side in terms of actions and rhetoric.
Waterboy wrote:
Name a bigger assassination since MLK. Getting shot doesn't = assassination. I'll do it for you. It looks like RFK was killed a couple of months after MLK, I had them reversed. Point still stands, name someone since those two possibly even including RFK that was bigger. Kirk was adored by millions on the right and was on a path that could have made him both a political and spiritual leader for the entire country which is why I compared him to MLK. By all means, go google and find where I'm wrong. People of Charlie's stature only grow in martyrdom over time which has happened with both RFK and MLK. Charlie is on that same path and did it in 31 years of life. A truly monumental figure that changed our country for the better and I'd dare say saved it from ruin.
Kirk has gotten this bigger then life personality that didn’t transpire until after he got shot. Prior to that he wasn’t that popular. That’s just in your magat brain.
Here’s a great resource. Look for folks after April of ‘68.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians
AGRforever wrote:
Kirk has gotten this bigger then life personality that didn’t transpire until after he got shot. Prior to that he wasn’t that popular. That’s just in your magat brain.
Here’s a great resource. Look for folks after April of ‘68.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians
Just because you weren't paying attention doesnt mean Kirk and turning point wasn't a huge and ever growing movement in this country. Charlie Kirk was changing the narrative in a big way and was a large part of turning segments of our youth back to Christianity and conservative view points.
His intelligent, informed, calm and civil approach was the model to correct many of the ills of this country.
Why isn't Chuck Foreman in the Hall of Fame?
AGRforever wrote:
Kirk has gotten this bigger then life personality that didn’t transpire until after he got shot. Prior to that he wasn’t that popular. That’s just in your magat brain.
Here’s a great resource. Look for folks after April of ‘68.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians
Talk about making my point. lol Nice name-calling, though. It's par for the course in your quality of arguments. Are you really this bad at making points that you're adding in judges and state representatives? lol That article did everything to prove my point. lol
AGRforever wrote:
Kirk has gotten this bigger then life personality that didn’t transpire until after he got shot. Prior to that he wasn’t that popular. That’s just in your magat brain.
Here’s a great resource. Look for folks after April of ‘68.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_American_politicians
With your great link, who exactly on that list would you label the assassinated person that was on Kirk’s level as both a spiritual and political figure? Kirk was absolutely huge voice in a sphere you’re probably too old and undereducated about to understand. That never stops you from making statements you can’t come close to backing up.
Waterboy wrote:
With your great link, who exactly on that list would you label the assassinated person that was on Kirk’s level as both a spiritual and political figure? Kirk was absolutely huge voice in a sphere you’re probably too old and undereducated about to understand. That never stops you from making statements you can’t come close to backing up.
There at the end....why? You made your point then you take a personal shot. Enough of that shit. Its post like yours that make these threads turn to shit. No more of that or you won't be posting in this forum. No further warnings.
Why isn't Chuck Foreman in the Hall of Fame?
Edit Post (mod action — author will see a notice)
Warn Poster
Suspend User (3 days)
The user will be suspended for 3 days and will receive an email with the reason and information about how to appeal.