Comedians Canceled Before Kimmel

Warning: This cartoon might make you groan

The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) should not be political. FCC Chairman Brandon Carr is making it very clear that this is political. He made it clear by going on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show right after ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live!

And all those counter-culture warriors who championed Charlie Kirk as a champion of free speech are cheering this move by the Trump regime to cancel people for saying things they don’t want to hear. Sometimes, they have to pretend to have heard what they’re upset about.

As a reminder, this is what Kimmel said that got MAGA World all hot and butt-hurt: “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.”

Kimmel expressed a viewpoint. Whether you agree with it or not, it’s still just a viewpoint. It was clear that he believes MAGA wants to blame anyone for the shooting to take away any blame from themselves. You can agree or disagree with that. He did not state that the shooter was a MAGA guy. If you disagree with that, you’re lying. If you think he implied that, then you are struggling with comprehension and hearing what you want to hear. And to think that last week, the goons were trying to explain away Charlie Kirk’s hateful comments.

MAGA wants to be upset and victimized by this. How bad do they want to be offended when they have to imagine the offense?

Even if Kimmel did say the shooter was MAGA, it would still be an opinion. Maybe that could offend you, but being offended by an opinion is not a reason affiliates of major networks lose their licenses. Kimmel did not whip out his penis. If he had, then the FCC could get involved.

The FCC didn’t revoke any licenses. Brandon Carr, the MAGAt chairman, just barked a lot. He’s as qualified for his job as other Trump appointees are for theirs, as in he’s not. The affiliates who need FCC approval for buyouts and mergers, and who believe Kimmel suggested the shooter was MAGA, totally understood what Carr was suggesting.

If you think opinions are dangerous, then we’re in trouble as a democratic nation.

Charlie Kirk’s fanboys are defending him as a proponent of free speech, but I’m confused because, as they’ve exhibited with the Kimmel case, they don’t care about free speech. Oh, I get it. They only care about their speech. Trump made that clear today.

Trump said, “I have read someplace that the networks were 97% against me, again, 97% negative, and yet I won and easily, all seven swing states. They’re 97% against, they give me only bad press, I mean, they’re getting a license.“

Remember, Trump just got back from England, and he’s totally enamored with being a king.

It got scarier. Trump said, “I would think maybe their license should be taken away.” Trump’s not talking about saying anything offensive or dangerous. He’s talking about revoking broadcast licenses from networks that don’t support him. Will we soon be forced to greet each other with “Heil Trump?”

Trump said the decision “will be up to Brendan Carr,” the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He said, “I think Brendan Carr is outstanding. He’s a patriot. He loves our country, and he’s a tough guy. So we’ll have to see.” If Carr were an actual patriot and a tough guy, he would have told Trump to blow it out of his blowhole. If Carr really loved this nation, he would have said to Trump, “I’ll protect the First Amendment before I carry out your fascist orders, you barking orange hyena.” But, no. Brandon Carr is also a lying fascist.

The FCC does NOT give licenses to networks, just affiliates. Is the regime going to change the law or rules? Is the regime going to ignore the law and maybe send the National Guard into Hollywood?

MAGAts are howling that it’s a lie to call them fascist, and if you keep calling them fascist, they might cancel you for it. They detect no irony in that.

And I bet you’re surprised Napoleon didn’t get a short-people joke.

Creative note: I’ve seen three cartoons on this issue with court jesters. They were drawn by Ann Telnaes, Mike Luckovich, and Pat Bagley, three of my favorite cartoonists. They were fine cartoons, but I felt the court jester thing was too obvious, and I didn’t want to depict the people being canceled as though they told trivial jokes. I think the late-night hosts are doing very important work. They’re using humor to protect this country. Obviously, it’s getting to the people in power.

I was struggling to find my idea until a little before noon. I remember when I started drawing because my Roomba activated shortly after, and it was annoying me by bumping into my feet while I was trying to letter.

When this idea came to me, I loved the concept, but was seriously challenged in that I had to write four bad dad jokes. Ugh.

The only idea in my head at the start was the Nazi joke. Believe it or not, I drew each panel as the jokes came to me. When I drew the first panel, I didn’t know what the third panel joke would be. When I got to the third, I didn’t know what I’d do for the fourth. I had my dictators picked out, just not the jokes.

I thought about calling Danny, my pal who invited me to Carlsbad last June. Danny tells the worst jokes and puns you could ever hear. If you don’t believe me, ask Marina, his girlfriend. But I didn’t do that because I knew I had to write the jokes. It was also difficult because I HATE puns. I hate puns almost as much as I hate ketchup, Domino’s Pizza, Nickelback, car warranty and gutter filter commercials, and the Kars-4-Kids jingle.

Music note: I listened to some Beach Boys, among other things.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse:

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