Let me start with a confession: I go to bed at 9 pm so am not a member of the late-night audience. The last and really only late-night talk show host that I liked was Johnny Carson. He had wit, subtlety, class … and he was very funny.
The current crop of hosts displays none of these characteristics. They and their audiences, which continue to shrink at an alarming rate, think that their humor displays clever insights that only sophisticated, intelligent people like them “get.” Well, it’s not humor and it’s certainly not clever, but they’re correct in thinking they’re the only ones who get it.
Criticizing President Trump has been nightly fodder for Jimmy Kimmel and Steven Colbert. Talk about phoning it in! The entire late-night audience (except for Greg Guttfeld’s) hates Trump, so of course every negative remark was thought wonderfully clever, funny and insightful. AND they got paid tens of millions of dollars to do it! They may not have been funny, but they are not stupid.
Jimmy and Steven were allowed to continue until it became too financially painful for their corporate parents. Disney canceled Kimmel when 2 of the largest ABC distributors (Nexstar Media, owner and operator of 32 ABC affiliates and Sinclair, owner of 30 ABC stations) informed the network they were dropping the show due to offensive content.
The left will say Kimmel’s cancelation is the result of FCC threats. The networks may even use this for cover. But make no mistake: the age of no consequences is ending. You can still say anything you want: hateful or not, speech is fully protected by the First Amendment. What is not protected is suffering consequences for one’s words.
The left became used to acting like spoiled, bratty children with clueless parents during the Biden-Harris administration. They had riots, burned and destroyed property, disrupted college campuses and posted vile things … all without consequence.
Well, there’s a new sheriff in town. The inmates are no longer running the asylum.