With the firing of Colbert and the Late Show comes another loud shout that our free speech is being endangered, it is being chocked to dealth as we silently watch. It is time for you and I to speak the language these corrupted, knee bending over paid oligarch's understand best: Money. How? We need to inform CBS and its advertisers that we will cease watching every show on CBS and their sponsors except Colbert until his contract is renewed and support of free speech is re-asserted by CBS. Boycott CBS, Boycott FOX until they support democracy and free speech or until they go bankrupt. Spread the word. DSpread the ction. If you believe in Free Speech you have no better tool than to force the weak, greedy executives out of their butt kissing jobs.
I do not want make decisisons for him. If they offer to renew that will make him more attractive with a n=more loyal following so that other media would like to have him.
Ever since I heard that CBS is canceling Stephen Colbert for engaging in satire, I have been thinking about Shakespeare's depictions of the Fool in his play. The Fool is the one who uses humor and satire to call out the powerful or to point out personal shortcomings that his hearers need to address. Feste, in Twelfth Night is the prime example. He gently pushes Olivia to move past her brother's death after a year of mourning. He points out the pomposity of Malvolio, the only character in the play who is unable to heed Feste's words and alter his behavior accordingly. At the play's end, Malvolio storms out, unable to be part of the newly reconstituted society.
If you follow Ann Telnaes here at Substack, her editorial cartoon that showed a Fool hung by a noose clearly depicts what Trump would do if he could. We must not allow it.
We are living in a time when satire is vital to calling to account those in power and pushing us to live up to democratic ideals and the better angels of our nature. CBS may give into Trump, and Trump may think that taking away a platform from Stephen Colbert--not to mention the other comedian/satirists he has in his sights--will mute criticism. We must not allow that. Support all voices speaking out, and support whatever new venture Stephen Colbert undertakes.
I hope this talented man takes advantage of all his vacation time before winter comes. His sadness (and mine!) may keep us all from enjoying the Tonight Show much longer. I suppose Ms. Redstone finds this another chance to extract her pound of flesh. After all, it was Colbert who kept the coins coming in even through the Covid shows at his house. Now, she can count those coins while knitting shrouds.
I, for one, hope Colbert restarts the Colbert Report and teams up with Rachel Maddow and others who've been fired to create a new streaming channel. Screw mainstream networks, I almost never watch them. What and how we view news & entertainment today is unrecognizable from the ABC/NBC/CBS networks of the 50-60's. They are dinosaurs like so much else that was available back then. I won't live to see the end result of all this, but it all has to change. Thanks to all like Steven here, HCR, JWV, The Meidas Network and so many others who are taking the reins.
You ask "what's next." Anything is possible. Anything that is cruel, anything that takes our Constitutional rights away, anything that takes away any sense of individual freedom, all that is what's next. References to Nazi Germany have been appropriate since 2015. And here we are, falling farther over the cliff every day. Canceling Colbert is so much more than canceling a show. Colbert spoke the truth as only he can, and speaking out like that is not
allowed in our dt dictatorship. We should be very afraid. After all, we already have the concentration camps. Under this regime, anything is possible.
"What is the point of making billions if it causes you to abandon principle and act with cowardice?" Isn't that obvious? The point of making billions (or millions, or just lots and lots of money) is (1) to do whatever you want, and (2) to make more billions or millions or whatever. Making millions and billions almost invariably means playing the game, bending the rules, and using the political system. "Buying politicians" has been a rich man's sport for many, many decades. At least since the Reagan administration it's also been buying up newspapers and other mass-media outlets.
If Paramount is indeed "surrending to Donald Trump" it's also pursuing its own self-interest. The latter is the end; the former is merely the means.
Statements like that make it sound "plain and simple," but it's not. Remember "let x equal . . ." from high school math? That's what many do with "greed": "let 'greed' equal whatever explains this behavior we don't understand." Trouble is, it doesn't explain anything.
I don’t follow your logic that it doesn’t explain anything.
The evidence is in front of our faces. Their own words and deeds tell us.
I will preface the former CBS CEO’s words during DJT’s first term by saying, this is NOT related to why he had to resign. (The CNN chief of the foreign business bureau said basically the same thing about profiting from DJT in the same time frame. He was a panel member at a conference in Scotland examining the effects of fake news.)
They can’t even put their country before their jobs and their money that they’re all going to make especially the head of CBS and Paramount who stands to make millions when this merger goes through
Very Grateful for your much needed words even as they describe the continuing dark attacks on our precious freedoms.
Sadly, I too see the parallels between Nazi Germany and Putin’s Russia where the heart of communication, the media, genuflects before the power of greed, resulting in truly harming lives, and twisting nations.
CBS must feel they are now inured against failure, but We the People have the power to reject their programming and award our attention elsewhere.
The actors and participants, too could boycott.
I am as often is the case stirred by your words:
“…But they are a media company in a democratic society with inherent public responsibilities. That should always include upholding the Constitution, and supporting the First Amendment, and especially when it’s under attack by a hostile government.
They well knew that this was a decision that would please Trump—and surely activate his bottomless desire to demand more from perceived enemies. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump posted after the announcement.
The owner of CBS has hit another nail in the coffin of legacy media and its history of credibility and honor.
It beseeches all of us in independent media—and everyone who supports it—to speak out vigorously against a dictatorial regime and all those who surrender to its threats and demands.”
Amen! CBS, kow-towing to donny, was a mistake for our viewing habits. Though they air many programs we like - no more. The half hour local news weather, sports AND Colbert will be all we view on CBS.. He has the Right of free speech and because one certain person could put 'cabosh' on some business deal, the highest rated late night show is cancelled? Remember history, good and bad, lest the 'bad' repeats.
Amen to all you have said. I, too, have made the leap in my mind to the potential for unspeakable acts akin to the German concentration camps to be somehow excused and funded by this administration and/or its adherents. I may have even posted on this substack the thought experiments I have pondered as things go from bad to worse for these prisoners. Who will bury the victims? Will they be forced to dig their own graves? Or will they be ‘cremated’ in ovens built by the state? One thing is pretty certain. Any and all atrocities will be sanitized or hidden until things change politically in our country. But I’m not holding my breath while waiting for that great day of liberty and justice to return.
It is no longer a major hyperbolic leap to compare Nazi Germany with what Trump is doing since we there is what can be considered a defacto concentration camp in Florida. As a former media member, I am saddened and sickened by how corporate media leaders are caving to Trump and his threats. Their cowardice is enabling the destruction of our country, and that's not hyperbole.
I know well that the media is a business, but to me it is also a public trust. As a reporter I sat through hundreds of meetings, not because they were enjoyable but because I was the eyes and ears of the public who didn't attend. It was more than my job; it was a calling to help ensure that the public was informed of what their elected officials in particular were doing. Reporters today allow lies and misinformation to proliferate without challenge.
As more media companies become Trump sycophants, we, the public, are the losers while they make billions.
Is it any surprise, in a society where the one value that matters above all others is financial gain, that billionaires with more money than they could possibly spend in their lifetimes, would sell their souls to make a another buck?
Steven, your points shine a bright light on the darkness of the regimes move to silence all of us. We must all continue to think and speak while we still can. Our freedom and lives depend on it.
The cancellation of the “Late Show” along with the recision of funding for NPR and CPB should send shivers down our spines, as this compliant Congress and Supreme Court hurry the demise of our Republic. We must do whatever it takes to hurry along the defeat of these traitors and seditionists who openly defy our Constitution.
As Jim Acosta noted, it’s a well established tradition for comedians to skewer presidents and political leaders. Only this particularly thin skinned occupant of the WH has lashed out in a vindictive manner.
Heather Cox Richardson with Jim Acosta the other day....she describes how media has faced other crises and reinvented itself: 1850s and 1890s in particular. She gives me hope. So let's stop whining, and keep working.
"All tyrannies rule through fraud and force, but once the fraud is exposed they must rely exclusively on force." - George Orwell
And this one has added farce to the mix.
Also false and fierce and “you’re fired”! And it follows they’re losing face.
I lean toward the fake reporting as being fraud: closer to criminal than comedy. Either way, nothing good comes from it.
With the firing of Colbert and the Late Show comes another loud shout that our free speech is being endangered, it is being chocked to dealth as we silently watch. It is time for you and I to speak the language these corrupted, knee bending over paid oligarch's understand best: Money. How? We need to inform CBS and its advertisers that we will cease watching every show on CBS and their sponsors except Colbert until his contract is renewed and support of free speech is re-asserted by CBS. Boycott CBS, Boycott FOX until they support democracy and free speech or until they go bankrupt. Spread the word. DSpread the ction. If you believe in Free Speech you have no better tool than to force the weak, greedy executives out of their butt kissing jobs.
Why would Colbert want his contract renewed knowing this isn’t the first nor will it be the last capitulation?
I do not want make decisisons for him. If they offer to renew that will make him more attractive with a n=more loyal following so that other media would like to have him.
Ever since I heard that CBS is canceling Stephen Colbert for engaging in satire, I have been thinking about Shakespeare's depictions of the Fool in his play. The Fool is the one who uses humor and satire to call out the powerful or to point out personal shortcomings that his hearers need to address. Feste, in Twelfth Night is the prime example. He gently pushes Olivia to move past her brother's death after a year of mourning. He points out the pomposity of Malvolio, the only character in the play who is unable to heed Feste's words and alter his behavior accordingly. At the play's end, Malvolio storms out, unable to be part of the newly reconstituted society.
If you follow Ann Telnaes here at Substack, her editorial cartoon that showed a Fool hung by a noose clearly depicts what Trump would do if he could. We must not allow it.
We are living in a time when satire is vital to calling to account those in power and pushing us to live up to democratic ideals and the better angels of our nature. CBS may give into Trump, and Trump may think that taking away a platform from Stephen Colbert--not to mention the other comedian/satirists he has in his sights--will mute criticism. We must not allow that. Support all voices speaking out, and support whatever new venture Stephen Colbert undertakes.
We have been a fan of Stephen’s for decades and look forward to what he does next. He will come out on top!
I hope this talented man takes advantage of all his vacation time before winter comes. His sadness (and mine!) may keep us all from enjoying the Tonight Show much longer. I suppose Ms. Redstone finds this another chance to extract her pound of flesh. After all, it was Colbert who kept the coins coming in even through the Covid shows at his house. Now, she can count those coins while knitting shrouds.
I, for one, hope Colbert restarts the Colbert Report and teams up with Rachel Maddow and others who've been fired to create a new streaming channel. Screw mainstream networks, I almost never watch them. What and how we view news & entertainment today is unrecognizable from the ABC/NBC/CBS networks of the 50-60's. They are dinosaurs like so much else that was available back then. I won't live to see the end result of all this, but it all has to change. Thanks to all like Steven here, HCR, JWV, The Meidas Network and so many others who are taking the reins.
You ask "what's next." Anything is possible. Anything that is cruel, anything that takes our Constitutional rights away, anything that takes away any sense of individual freedom, all that is what's next. References to Nazi Germany have been appropriate since 2015. And here we are, falling farther over the cliff every day. Canceling Colbert is so much more than canceling a show. Colbert spoke the truth as only he can, and speaking out like that is not
allowed in our dt dictatorship. We should be very afraid. After all, we already have the concentration camps. Under this regime, anything is possible.
"What is the point of making billions if it causes you to abandon principle and act with cowardice?" Isn't that obvious? The point of making billions (or millions, or just lots and lots of money) is (1) to do whatever you want, and (2) to make more billions or millions or whatever. Making millions and billions almost invariably means playing the game, bending the rules, and using the political system. "Buying politicians" has been a rich man's sport for many, many decades. At least since the Reagan administration it's also been buying up newspapers and other mass-media outlets.
If Paramount is indeed "surrending to Donald Trump" it's also pursuing its own self-interest. The latter is the end; the former is merely the means.
Greed is as greed does, plain and simple.
Statements like that make it sound "plain and simple," but it's not. Remember "let x equal . . ." from high school math? That's what many do with "greed": "let 'greed' equal whatever explains this behavior we don't understand." Trouble is, it doesn't explain anything.
I don’t follow your logic that it doesn’t explain anything.
The evidence is in front of our faces. Their own words and deeds tell us.
I will preface the former CBS CEO’s words during DJT’s first term by saying, this is NOT related to why he had to resign. (The CNN chief of the foreign business bureau said basically the same thing about profiting from DJT in the same time frame. He was a panel member at a conference in Scotland examining the effects of fake news.)
— Trump's run is 'damn good for CBS' —
https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/02/les-moonves-trump-cbs-220001
This is why Moonves had to go: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/les-moonves-cbs-loyalists-fought-off-accuser-1235325544/
No sense of responsibility to the public. IMO, corrupt & greedy culture answers the behavior question.
They can’t even put their country before their jobs and their money that they’re all going to make especially the head of CBS and Paramount who stands to make millions when this merger goes through
Steven;
Very Grateful for your much needed words even as they describe the continuing dark attacks on our precious freedoms.
Sadly, I too see the parallels between Nazi Germany and Putin’s Russia where the heart of communication, the media, genuflects before the power of greed, resulting in truly harming lives, and twisting nations.
CBS must feel they are now inured against failure, but We the People have the power to reject their programming and award our attention elsewhere.
The actors and participants, too could boycott.
I am as often is the case stirred by your words:
“…But they are a media company in a democratic society with inherent public responsibilities. That should always include upholding the Constitution, and supporting the First Amendment, and especially when it’s under attack by a hostile government.
They well knew that this was a decision that would please Trump—and surely activate his bottomless desire to demand more from perceived enemies. “I absolutely love that Colbert got fired,” Trump posted after the announcement.
The owner of CBS has hit another nail in the coffin of legacy media and its history of credibility and honor.
It beseeches all of us in independent media—and everyone who supports it—to speak out vigorously against a dictatorial regime and all those who surrender to its threats and demands.”
End
//-
We cannot just go quietly into the night.
“
“Rage, rage against the dying of the light" *
We must rage;
Rage against this tyranny
Prayers for us all
💙💙🇺🇸💙💙
Concept borrowed from Genius Dylan Thomas
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46569/do-not-go-gentle-into-that-good-night
Amen! CBS, kow-towing to donny, was a mistake for our viewing habits. Though they air many programs we like - no more. The half hour local news weather, sports AND Colbert will be all we view on CBS.. He has the Right of free speech and because one certain person could put 'cabosh' on some business deal, the highest rated late night show is cancelled? Remember history, good and bad, lest the 'bad' repeats.
Amen to all you have said. I, too, have made the leap in my mind to the potential for unspeakable acts akin to the German concentration camps to be somehow excused and funded by this administration and/or its adherents. I may have even posted on this substack the thought experiments I have pondered as things go from bad to worse for these prisoners. Who will bury the victims? Will they be forced to dig their own graves? Or will they be ‘cremated’ in ovens built by the state? One thing is pretty certain. Any and all atrocities will be sanitized or hidden until things change politically in our country. But I’m not holding my breath while waiting for that great day of liberty and justice to return.
It is no longer a major hyperbolic leap to compare Nazi Germany with what Trump is doing since we there is what can be considered a defacto concentration camp in Florida. As a former media member, I am saddened and sickened by how corporate media leaders are caving to Trump and his threats. Their cowardice is enabling the destruction of our country, and that's not hyperbole.
I know well that the media is a business, but to me it is also a public trust. As a reporter I sat through hundreds of meetings, not because they were enjoyable but because I was the eyes and ears of the public who didn't attend. It was more than my job; it was a calling to help ensure that the public was informed of what their elected officials in particular were doing. Reporters today allow lies and misinformation to proliferate without challenge.
As more media companies become Trump sycophants, we, the public, are the losers while they make billions.
Is it any surprise, in a society where the one value that matters above all others is financial gain, that billionaires with more money than they could possibly spend in their lifetimes, would sell their souls to make a another buck?
Steven, your points shine a bright light on the darkness of the regimes move to silence all of us. We must all continue to think and speak while we still can. Our freedom and lives depend on it.
The cancellation of the “Late Show” along with the recision of funding for NPR and CPB should send shivers down our spines, as this compliant Congress and Supreme Court hurry the demise of our Republic. We must do whatever it takes to hurry along the defeat of these traitors and seditionists who openly defy our Constitution.
As Jim Acosta noted, it’s a well established tradition for comedians to skewer presidents and political leaders. Only this particularly thin skinned occupant of the WH has lashed out in a vindictive manner.
Heather Cox Richardson with Jim Acosta the other day....she describes how media has faced other crises and reinvented itself: 1850s and 1890s in particular. She gives me hope. So let's stop whining, and keep working.
First they would need to want to do so and want to invest the time, energy & resources to do so.
And we all are. By reading this, we are participating in the shift