Canceling Kimmel is not firing a person, it's canceling a 5 day a week tv show and hundreds of people losing their jobs. As I've said before soon we will not have an immigration problem because even multigenerational citizens won't want to live here.
I love that Colbert has been keeping the pressure on, and having many prominent Democrats and other liberal political and judicial leaders on his show. The cancellation of Kimmel's show is not a surprise; it was just a matter of time, but it is no less devastating. All the network executives, and all the law firms, colleges and universities, and CEOs of industry who are jumping to do Trump's bidding have learned nothing. Appeasement doesn't work, it only encourages the tyrant to go further and demand more.
And if I were younger, I would be thinking about moving to Canada. I love my country, but it is rapidly being destroyed. As it is, I will continue to write letters, stand on the street with my signs, and debate with anyone I can get to stand still long enough, until they come to get me.
It continues to amaze me how hell bent for leather the Trump supporters are to "own the libs." Jimmie Kimmel is very funny and sometimes mean....but only to those who love to bask in the public light. I don't see him mocking disabled reporters or demeaning Gold Star families. Politicians are fair game. Oh, wait, that's not true anymore, is it? Jesus, take the wheel.
"Was the shooter, in fact, leftist? Probably, but his motives are still unclear." In fact, NBC News reported, "The suspect ... left behind ammunition engraved with a reference to fascism and obscure internet memes and video games, officials said Friday.... Experts urged caution in interpreting the engravings, citing a long history of shooters using misleading or ironic messages, often mixing politics and internet culture in ways that defy easy categorization."
Speculating about any shooter's motives is crazy. That is because shooters are crazy. Shooters don't have thought-out political positions that they try to implement, and we shouldn't look for their motives as if they do. It is the people behind the killings who have motives. They are the Republican members of Congress who refuse to enact gun control, knowing that people will die as a result. Their motives are to get reelected, which to them is more important than our lives.
They aren't public officials, but I'd like to see Caroline Kennedy give the Profile in Courage Award to Colbert and Kimmel for the spit-in-their-eye courage, decency, and integrity they have demonstrated.
Republicans have been wailing "leftists did this" since Kirk was still on the floor. Kimmel did not say the killer is a maga or even imply it. His remark was a (truthful) joke about magas' scurrying to deny the killer was one of theirs. Kimmel was referring directly to Team Maga, not to the killer. People inferred a meaning and motive he did not imply. But even if Kimmel had said "It's always magas who commit such murders, so it's more than likely this killer is a maga too," so what. It's true.
"Was the shooter a leftist?" I am a proud progressive liberal, and I loathe the word "leftist." It implies (or maybe I'm inferring) that there is a sinister cabal of hippie liberal Bolsheviks just waiting to pounce. I much prefer the word "normals." The opposite of magas is normals. We are trying to keep the center from disintegrating, to resist maga anarchy.
We normals need more passionate intensity. We need more Jimmy Kimmels.
Hmm. The term Bolshevik actually implies "majority" so maybe we can rebrand it with normals -- the Bolshie Normies? Something to scare the billionaires but charm Main Street? Gotta get the creative juices flowing.
Had enough? OK, the ambiguity just keeps me from answering. Enough from Trump. Way too much since 2016 or before when I did have some sympathy. Now. And a job to lose? Not me. Retired and live in Maryland - the sane state. Tired of opposing Trump? Not nearly. Not now. Just getting started. I see the difference between now and the Congress that got rid of Nixon is that they had more courage. Me. Just stubborn.
I view it as a Roschach Test kind of question: choose your own adventure when answering. Yes, I've had enough...of them benefitting from my money and returning to me my country's downfall through avarice and the ivory tower.
Hulu and Disney+ just got cancelled. Washington Post was sacrificed last October when didn't endorse Kamala for spurious reasons (or is it specious? Both work). I'm tied to Amazon for the short term, but actively gnawing through my chains. Target, done and buried.
All I have is my vote and talking with my meager money--I'll go to hell before I bury my head in the sand and become a collaborator.
It's an interesting question whether the Republicans in Congress -- and it's just the Republicans, not Congress as a whole -- who refuse to stand up to Trump lack courage. Some no doubt do, but many just don't care about this country. It's not that they want to stand up to Trump but lack courage. It's that they care about nothing but being reelected. During Watergate, politicians cared about the country more.
I think it's important to remember that the problem is not just Trump. He is the wormy, weaselly front man for the Evil Genius Industrial Complex that includes Bezos's Washington Post, Sinclair Broadcasting, the Supreme Court, and much more.
Yes! And, sadly, I believe that if he were to succumb to a heart attack, nothing would change, any more than the Roman Republic recovered after the Ides of March.
I disagree - maybe because I am wishful thinking - because Vance doesn't have the 'charisma' to hold sway over the cult. And without the threat of losing their support, politicians will find their values and not cave in to the threats and intimidation.
I would have agreed with you a couple of months ago, but now I think that enough has been set up that Vance and Miller will just slide in and charisma will not matter one whit. Charisma from Trump got them where they are now and they no longer need him.
Sinclair just acquired a second local TV station in the Providence, RI market, and a few years ago they took over the most popular TV station in the state. The old-time newsfolk at Channel 10 were horrified to be given scripted propaganda and orders to read it on the air. I shudder to think this saturation of right wing lies could nudge my home state toward the Republicans.
I first heard of Sinclair over 20 years ago when they took Ted Koppel off the air at their stations. Koppel's sin was his dignified, somber, daily tribute to the American service people lost each day. ABC, however, did not fire him for this.
How about simple logic? Why does someone kill someone else? Certainly not out of positive feelings toward that person, for whatever reason. Unless you have a special theory of murder?
Everything we think we know is based on our perceptions, and our perceptions are usually wrong because we can't ever know everything. Therefore patience and refraining. And keep your eyes on the prize--getting rid of this regime.
Nothing to do with "perception" in this case. Unless this was a professional hit (obviously highly unlikely), it involved personal emotions. Only what they were is at issue, not that they didn't cause Kirk's death.
I don't have a theory, am merely suspicious of this administration and what they do to shape their narrative and achieve their goals. So much of this is convenient, from the shooting to the capture, in both timing and "confession."
I generally subscribe to Occam's Razor, but for this I want to observe for a beat or two and see what comes to the surface.
The administration is saying it was an ideological hit. I'm saying just the opposite. Had nothing to do with ideology. It more likely than not was personal.
My first reaction was that the killer must be a schizophrenic obeying the voices in his head. Now, knowing about his personal and family background, I am more confident that the killer probably has a history of mental illness of the kind that makes a person potentially dangerous. Shooting a man dead for being a loudmouth crackpot jerk is nowhere near normal, certainly not a thing a riled up liberal might do. We shall see.
Each of these dictatorial actions further liquidates the protections of the first amendment. If major stars can be fired with impunity by giant quisling corporations - what are the chances we can safely speak our mind in public, or on the internet on pages like this?
We come up from the southern hemisphere each northern summer to re-visit old haunts, spend our pensions and visit friends.
We read Gene's last post on the Reichstag moment (The Fire This Time?) and decided it was time for these long-term USO-philes to sell the old car we have here and get the hell out.
Not a surprise, considering the financial health of the legacy TV networks. Floating on top of that lake of red ink is late night, once a significant profit center and brand builder. One of the few profit centers (and even these are shaky with the watershed change in viewing habits) are the networks' owned and operated local stations and affiliates, all subject to licensing from the FCC. Don't need an advanced degree in econ (or psychology, for that matter) to see why the parent companies of the networks, risk-aversive in the best of times, are now beside themselves --- maybe with the exception of CBS which has totally gone over to the dark side via merger. And that says nothing about the millions necessary to defend against or settle frivolous or meritless lawsuits. So network bosses are now performing the remarkable feat of constantly looking over their shoulders while checking their multi-million dollar compensation packages. "Free speech? Democracy? Sounds good. Send the show sizzle reel to my assistant and we'll talk."
The dictator at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (and his sycophants and enablers) may believe he’s snuffing out dissent, but I think he’s doing the opposite. Comedians like Kimmel and Colbert give millions of Americans a feeling (however fleeting) that they’re scoring a few points for their side, and in the process some steam is released from the pressure-cooker. But remove those comedians— and the gentle release of pressure— and you end up with those same millions of Americans pouring into the streets, boiling mad.
You are right that the execs will fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers, too. The broadcast execs are relieved: Now they can cancel their late night talk shows, which aren't as profitable as they were. Networks used to have 20 million late-night viewers to sell to advertisers; now, they're carving slices of a total 5 million or 6 million viewers.
Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon and Myers have an opportunity to create something new and better, something funny and cynical and pointed and satirical. I hope they will do so. But if they want to take their money and their satire and follow a metaphoric John Galt into some invisible-like-Wakanda happy place in the Rockies, I could not blame them.
Canceling Kimmel is not firing a person, it's canceling a 5 day a week tv show and hundreds of people losing their jobs. As I've said before soon we will not have an immigration problem because even multigenerational citizens won't want to live here.
And that will be a major problem. Inflation over the moon!
The USA needs workers.
I love that Colbert has been keeping the pressure on, and having many prominent Democrats and other liberal political and judicial leaders on his show. The cancellation of Kimmel's show is not a surprise; it was just a matter of time, but it is no less devastating. All the network executives, and all the law firms, colleges and universities, and CEOs of industry who are jumping to do Trump's bidding have learned nothing. Appeasement doesn't work, it only encourages the tyrant to go further and demand more.
And if I were younger, I would be thinking about moving to Canada. I love my country, but it is rapidly being destroyed. As it is, I will continue to write letters, stand on the street with my signs, and debate with anyone I can get to stand still long enough, until they come to get me.
It continues to amaze me how hell bent for leather the Trump supporters are to "own the libs." Jimmie Kimmel is very funny and sometimes mean....but only to those who love to bask in the public light. I don't see him mocking disabled reporters or demeaning Gold Star families. Politicians are fair game. Oh, wait, that's not true anymore, is it? Jesus, take the wheel.
"Was the shooter, in fact, leftist? Probably, but his motives are still unclear." In fact, NBC News reported, "The suspect ... left behind ammunition engraved with a reference to fascism and obscure internet memes and video games, officials said Friday.... Experts urged caution in interpreting the engravings, citing a long history of shooters using misleading or ironic messages, often mixing politics and internet culture in ways that defy easy categorization."
Speculating about any shooter's motives is crazy. That is because shooters are crazy. Shooters don't have thought-out political positions that they try to implement, and we shouldn't look for their motives as if they do. It is the people behind the killings who have motives. They are the Republican members of Congress who refuse to enact gun control, knowing that people will die as a result. Their motives are to get reelected, which to them is more important than our lives.
If Congress wouldn't act on gun control after two members were shot, they aren't going to act. Period.
They aren't public officials, but I'd like to see Caroline Kennedy give the Profile in Courage Award to Colbert and Kimmel for the spit-in-their-eye courage, decency, and integrity they have demonstrated.
Republicans have been wailing "leftists did this" since Kirk was still on the floor. Kimmel did not say the killer is a maga or even imply it. His remark was a (truthful) joke about magas' scurrying to deny the killer was one of theirs. Kimmel was referring directly to Team Maga, not to the killer. People inferred a meaning and motive he did not imply. But even if Kimmel had said "It's always magas who commit such murders, so it's more than likely this killer is a maga too," so what. It's true.
"Was the shooter a leftist?" I am a proud progressive liberal, and I loathe the word "leftist." It implies (or maybe I'm inferring) that there is a sinister cabal of hippie liberal Bolsheviks just waiting to pounce. I much prefer the word "normals." The opposite of magas is normals. We are trying to keep the center from disintegrating, to resist maga anarchy.
We normals need more passionate intensity. We need more Jimmy Kimmels.
Hmm. The term Bolshevik actually implies "majority" so maybe we can rebrand it with normals -- the Bolshie Normies? Something to scare the billionaires but charm Main Street? Gotta get the creative juices flowing.
Had enough? OK, the ambiguity just keeps me from answering. Enough from Trump. Way too much since 2016 or before when I did have some sympathy. Now. And a job to lose? Not me. Retired and live in Maryland - the sane state. Tired of opposing Trump? Not nearly. Not now. Just getting started. I see the difference between now and the Congress that got rid of Nixon is that they had more courage. Me. Just stubborn.
I view it as a Roschach Test kind of question: choose your own adventure when answering. Yes, I've had enough...of them benefitting from my money and returning to me my country's downfall through avarice and the ivory tower.
Hulu and Disney+ just got cancelled. Washington Post was sacrificed last October when didn't endorse Kamala for spurious reasons (or is it specious? Both work). I'm tied to Amazon for the short term, but actively gnawing through my chains. Target, done and buried.
All I have is my vote and talking with my meager money--I'll go to hell before I bury my head in the sand and become a collaborator.
It's an interesting question whether the Republicans in Congress -- and it's just the Republicans, not Congress as a whole -- who refuse to stand up to Trump lack courage. Some no doubt do, but many just don't care about this country. It's not that they want to stand up to Trump but lack courage. It's that they care about nothing but being reelected. During Watergate, politicians cared about the country more.
I think it's important to remember that the problem is not just Trump. He is the wormy, weaselly front man for the Evil Genius Industrial Complex that includes Bezos's Washington Post, Sinclair Broadcasting, the Supreme Court, and much more.
Trump is not the disease. He is the symptom.
I agree completely.
Yes! And, sadly, I believe that if he were to succumb to a heart attack, nothing would change, any more than the Roman Republic recovered after the Ides of March.
I disagree - maybe because I am wishful thinking - because Vance doesn't have the 'charisma' to hold sway over the cult. And without the threat of losing their support, politicians will find their values and not cave in to the threats and intimidation.
I would have agreed with you a couple of months ago, but now I think that enough has been set up that Vance and Miller will just slide in and charisma will not matter one whit. Charisma from Trump got them where they are now and they no longer need him.
We'd get Jebediah Dickhead Vance, with Peter Thiel pulling Vance's puppet strings.
I hope Kimmel is a guest on Colbert very soon. And I hope this starts a movement that motivates more good people to speak out and act up.
I read that Sinclair Broadcasting is behind Kimmel's trouble. Mass media in the hands of evil billionaires is very bad for democracy.
Nexstar was a big driver, too. Been interesting to learn which of my local network affiliates are owned by which cowardly nutjobs.
Sinclair just acquired a second local TV station in the Providence, RI market, and a few years ago they took over the most popular TV station in the state. The old-time newsfolk at Channel 10 were horrified to be given scripted propaganda and orders to read it on the air. I shudder to think this saturation of right wing lies could nudge my home state toward the Republicans.
I first heard of Sinclair over 20 years ago when they took Ted Koppel off the air at their stations. Koppel's sin was his dignified, somber, daily tribute to the American service people lost each day. ABC, however, did not fire him for this.
How much lower we have fallen....
Let's see if Kimmel shows up on The Daily Show, which is owned by Paramount/Skydance.
GENE, Gene, Gene Almost 5%? WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE AND WHY DO THEY READ YOU???????
Nothing to do with ideology. Tyler Robinson was motivated by hate: his own and Charlie Kirk's.
We know nothing, Jon Snow. Only what the current iteration of the FBI is conveniently telling us. Wait this one out for a minute...
We know Tyler Robinson didn't pull the trigger out of respect. Don't need to wait a minute for that.
Do we know this? How do we know any of this?
How about simple logic? Why does someone kill someone else? Certainly not out of positive feelings toward that person, for whatever reason. Unless you have a special theory of murder?
Everything we think we know is based on our perceptions, and our perceptions are usually wrong because we can't ever know everything. Therefore patience and refraining. And keep your eyes on the prize--getting rid of this regime.
Nothing to do with "perception" in this case. Unless this was a professional hit (obviously highly unlikely), it involved personal emotions. Only what they were is at issue, not that they didn't cause Kirk's death.
I don't have a theory, am merely suspicious of this administration and what they do to shape their narrative and achieve their goals. So much of this is convenient, from the shooting to the capture, in both timing and "confession."
I generally subscribe to Occam's Razor, but for this I want to observe for a beat or two and see what comes to the surface.
The administration is saying it was an ideological hit. I'm saying just the opposite. Had nothing to do with ideology. It more likely than not was personal.
My first reaction was that the killer must be a schizophrenic obeying the voices in his head. Now, knowing about his personal and family background, I am more confident that the killer probably has a history of mental illness of the kind that makes a person potentially dangerous. Shooting a man dead for being a loudmouth crackpot jerk is nowhere near normal, certainly not a thing a riled up liberal might do. We shall see.
A 250 year run as a democracy was pretty good, but all good things come to an end
Yes, we are efficient in all things. Why, the Roman Empire took nearly twice as long to fall apart! Go US!
Your cynicism makes me want to cry.
You wouldn’t be referring to that Ukrainian river, would you? You know, the Crimea River
Each of these dictatorial actions further liquidates the protections of the first amendment. If major stars can be fired with impunity by giant quisling corporations - what are the chances we can safely speak our mind in public, or on the internet on pages like this?
Your choice. I do.
We come up from the southern hemisphere each northern summer to re-visit old haunts, spend our pensions and visit friends.
We read Gene's last post on the Reichstag moment (The Fire This Time?) and decided it was time for these long-term USO-philes to sell the old car we have here and get the hell out.
Jimmy's departure was just icing.
It's going to get worse.
Not a surprise, considering the financial health of the legacy TV networks. Floating on top of that lake of red ink is late night, once a significant profit center and brand builder. One of the few profit centers (and even these are shaky with the watershed change in viewing habits) are the networks' owned and operated local stations and affiliates, all subject to licensing from the FCC. Don't need an advanced degree in econ (or psychology, for that matter) to see why the parent companies of the networks, risk-aversive in the best of times, are now beside themselves --- maybe with the exception of CBS which has totally gone over to the dark side via merger. And that says nothing about the millions necessary to defend against or settle frivolous or meritless lawsuits. So network bosses are now performing the remarkable feat of constantly looking over their shoulders while checking their multi-million dollar compensation packages. "Free speech? Democracy? Sounds good. Send the show sizzle reel to my assistant and we'll talk."
The dictator at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue (and his sycophants and enablers) may believe he’s snuffing out dissent, but I think he’s doing the opposite. Comedians like Kimmel and Colbert give millions of Americans a feeling (however fleeting) that they’re scoring a few points for their side, and in the process some steam is released from the pressure-cooker. But remove those comedians— and the gentle release of pressure— and you end up with those same millions of Americans pouring into the streets, boiling mad.
You are right that the execs will fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Myers, too. The broadcast execs are relieved: Now they can cancel their late night talk shows, which aren't as profitable as they were. Networks used to have 20 million late-night viewers to sell to advertisers; now, they're carving slices of a total 5 million or 6 million viewers.
Colbert, Kimmel, Fallon and Myers have an opportunity to create something new and better, something funny and cynical and pointed and satirical. I hope they will do so. But if they want to take their money and their satire and follow a metaphoric John Galt into some invisible-like-Wakanda happy place in the Rockies, I could not blame them.