Rant #3,787: Talk Too Much

So Jimmy Kimmel's show has been forced to suspend production after the host made some erroneous statements about the Chsrlie Kirk murder on his weekly late night show.

Whst exactly did he say to receive such a weighty punishment?

He made some truly ill-advised comments about the incident, stating:

"We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Now, while they were ill-advised--and pretty stupid and ignorant, if you want to know the truth, I don't know if his show should have been taken off the air for it.

We now know this imbecile who pulled the trigger had become politicized through the relationship he had with his partner, a trans person transitioning to be a woman. 

The suspect was on the opposite side of MAGA, becoming so enraged with current policies that it made him plan this attack, and with his grandfather's rifle.

Kimmel has become increasingly politically narcissistic--and increasingly unfunny--in recent times, and to use his TV pulpit to spread idiotic falsehoods ...

It's wrong, just plain wrong.

However, he should have been given the opportunity to right his wrong on his show ...

But reports are, he had no intention of doing this, no intention of owning up to his mistake, no matter how wrong he was.

In fact, Kimmel posted on social media the following:

"Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.”

Perhaps if he would have said this on his show as opposed to what he did say, his show would have gone on.

But he didn't, so he showed absolutely no remorse, and that post certainly did not help his cause.

The Trump Administration has been at war with the network late night hosts for their very obvious one-sided treatment of him and his policies.

Where Johnny Carson would go after both sides of the polotical spectrum, sometimes in one breath, the latest crop of late night hosts feel it is their duty to trash the president and all Republicans, and do it in a way that is neither funny or constructive.

The powers that be are becoming increasingly nervous over this one-sided posture, and with revenues dwindling from these shows, these programs, and their hosts, appear to be on the endangered species list.

First it was Stephen Colbert on CBS, and Kimmel might just be following him out the door.

Personally, I thought Carson was the best of the late-night hosts, but he did his shtick in a different time and place.

I have not watched the Kimmel show since the days of "Uncle Vinny," his actual uncle who I actually worked with for two decades at my past job.

The show was funny then, but became increasingly full of itself as the years went on.

And when you live in a country which believes in free speech, that carries a tremendous weight, one which I do believe a lot of people don't really understand, in particular in this social media age we are in right now.

You have to be accountable for your actions, and that includes the words you say and the views you espouse.

If you say something hurtful, ridiculous or untrue, you really have to own up to it, and correct it.

But in today's world, even talking about the murder of a person can lead to a lot of idiotic and hateful rhetoric, and apologies are few and far between on social media--

And lately, in all media.

It is just plain wrong.

No one fears retribution anymore, and that is just so wrong--

Because it devalues what we as a society have to say, making even the most thoughtful responses into little more than electronic graffiti.

The First Amendment becomes stronger when it is used in the right way. Spreading erroneous information on a show watched by millions of people, and not having the guts to right that wrong, abuses the power of that amendment. 

Both Kimmel and the president are at fault here. I don't like the over reach that Trump is using, nor do I think Kimmel furthered free speech rights with the nonsense that he said. I think both need a course in civics to understand the gravity of their actions.

Have a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Monday.