Think about changing that headline to "Capitalism and the Attack on Free Speech." Because we're watching it happen in real time as big corporations kowtow to the demands of our anti-democratic president and his administration. Too many USians think of democracy and capitalism as inseparable, if not the same thing. They aren't. Democracy and capitalism run on separate tracks. Democracy is a political system in which "we the people" make the rules with our votes, through our elected representatives. Capitalism is an economic system where money talks. Since the Reagan administration, money has been talking louder than the citizenry. With a big assist from the Supreme Court, it's been rigging the rules in its favor. This godawful administration is its endgame -- and, I hope, one last wakeup call to "we the people."
Everything you have so eloquently and fearlessly stated is as alarming as it is true. I read this morning that Senator Rick Scott has put forward a resolution to make Charlie Kirk’s horrific murder into a Day of Remembrance. Need I say more? Need I????
The felon has always had very thin skin. One of the main reasons he attacked President Obama was because of a joke Obama told about him at the White House Correspondents dinner. That was shortly before the birther conspiracy began. The felon never could take a joke.
Anyone in public office should expect to have comedians make jokes about them, it’s always been that way. Most public figures laugh along with everyone else.
Thank You Steven ... You are so clear about what is happening and what has happened. I refuse to lose my energy and I promise to keep standing up for our country for as long as I can. I don't get watch too much late night tv because I go to bed early. I remember when Jimmy Kimmel's son was born with a heart problem I think .. He came out and he cried. He went on to make a plea for nationalzed health care . Of course money was not an issue for his child's care he was thinking of all of us. Sad and lost in america.
“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” - Robert A Heinlein
How to fight back? Hulu and Disney Plus and ESPN are all owned by Disney. Cancel your subscriptions. Break your children’s hearts and cancel your Disney trips and your Disney cruises and explain to them why Donald Trump made this happen. And when Monday night football comes on, read a book. It all sounds frivolous but nothing gets big business’ attention like seeing their stock valuations drop. Bob Iger and Steven Miller don’t care if a bunch of “old hippies” hold signs outside of the White House but maybe they will notice when the real majority of this country who respect the first amendment take a stand.
“If we still believe in America and reject Trump’s regime and the expanding capitulation of corporate sell-outs abandoning our sacred right of free speech, we must not let them. We must speak out. We must say this is wrong. We must stick together. We must take to the streets in the millions to display our collective power.”
Thank you Steven⬆️
May I add:⬇️
We can all plan now to participate in the Oct 18 No Kings peaceful protests across our nation.
Please locate your state events at the link below.
Poignantly written while exposing exactly the current state of the sustained attack on our Freedoms.
I too see that there are as yet still eyes and minds and hearts needing these stark revelations in order to be jarred into action.
Excerpt:
“For now—indeed as long as we have eyes, ears, minds and courage to keep using them—let’s continue to assert that we are a nation of laws, not men. Let’s take strength from President Theodore Roosevelt’s admonition in 1918:
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country.”
Did I hear they have their sights set on “The View”??! Seriously?! If Obama knew that roasting Trump all those years ago would end up like this?? (Because that man baby never forgets when he’s being joked about) That we would have state sanctioned media only? Like Russia and North Korea? I hope we can stop this…
The hypocrisy is stunning, starting at the very top. The Orange Buffoon and his penchant for giving nicknames and mocking people with disabilities shows how thin his skin really is almost daily. That his sycophants in positions of authority show fealty and kiss his ass at every opportunity, we see our democracy getting flushed down the toilet. That this regime allowed for the consolidation of so many large media and commercial entities presents a dilemma to those of us who would like to express our disapproval through economic means (boycotts, etc.), make even that difficult to do. Free speech is just the beginning. Watch out for assembly next. Then redress. Then the realization of the dream of the thuggery to make Christianity the official religion. If “We The People” do not rise up against this repressive and illegal movement, then we will lose our beloved democracy. This is the one and only time I wish for armed insurrection and the arrest and detention of every idiotic member of the regime.
This is what Jimmy Kimmel actually said: "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. In-between the finger-pointing, there was grieving." The firing of Mr. Kimmel by ABC has nothing to do with Kirk and what he stood for. Rather it confronts how the assassination (from the Arabic for “political murder”) is being used, politically. Furthermore, the move was endorsed/supported-by (Trump's) new FCC Chair, doing something no previous FCC Chair has never done --- entering a political conflict, with a clear political recommendation about what should be done about this kind of speech --- well beyond the job-description of previous FCC Chairs. Anyone who doesn't think that our nation has now clearly been taken over by TrumpRepubloFascism (see my definition elsewhere) has another think coming.
There's a bit of nuance that I think you failed to mention. Corporations who try to behave ethically have no protection. Take Apple for example. IMHO, Tim Cook has done the absolute minimum possible to protect the tens of thousands of jobs and billions in shareholder value he is entrusted with. Trump has the power to ruin Apple (at his whim) any number of ways. Many cast Cook as a toady. But again, he had to do something to protect the company he is tasked with stewarding. While ABC/CBS are a whole other level of bootlicking, there's no protection for them either. When SCOTUS awards virtually unconditional immunity to a tyrant (and ignores open graft and emoluments), one does what one has to do to survive. Do I admire that? No. But it is a reality. Any CEO choosing to just do "the right thing" from a progressive standpoint (please understand that I am very progressively minded), is a dead man walking. Until we provide cover, we can't expect people to stick their necks out, especially when doing so potentially affects thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in shareholder value. It's a problem.
If they all stood up for the country where they are able to make these tremendous profits, I don't think we would be where we are now. It's the bending of the knee that is the problem, as well as the tremendous profits. You don't think Apple has the lawyers and the money to stand up to the First Felon? There may be some casualties but this regime will never stop now until everything is destroyed and remade in their Project 2025 vision. What kind of "cover" would you want? We're supposed to be a country of laws. I'm thinking about the NY Times right now who says they will not give up freedom of the press.
Think about changing that headline to "Capitalism and the Attack on Free Speech." Because we're watching it happen in real time as big corporations kowtow to the demands of our anti-democratic president and his administration. Too many USians think of democracy and capitalism as inseparable, if not the same thing. They aren't. Democracy and capitalism run on separate tracks. Democracy is a political system in which "we the people" make the rules with our votes, through our elected representatives. Capitalism is an economic system where money talks. Since the Reagan administration, money has been talking louder than the citizenry. With a big assist from the Supreme Court, it's been rigging the rules in its favor. This godawful administration is its endgame -- and, I hope, one last wakeup call to "we the people."
Point well taken.
Everything you have so eloquently and fearlessly stated is as alarming as it is true. I read this morning that Senator Rick Scott has put forward a resolution to make Charlie Kirk’s horrific murder into a Day of Remembrance. Need I say more? Need I????
The felon has always had very thin skin. One of the main reasons he attacked President Obama was because of a joke Obama told about him at the White House Correspondents dinner. That was shortly before the birther conspiracy began. The felon never could take a joke.
Anyone in public office should expect to have comedians make jokes about them, it’s always been that way. Most public figures laugh along with everyone else.
CALL THEIR BLUFF !!!
Lets see if TACO TRUMP Would really remove the license of media giants Disney and ABC
I would bet that TRUMP WOULD BACK DOWN -
we the people can not give up our right to free speech
Thank You Steven ... You are so clear about what is happening and what has happened. I refuse to lose my energy and I promise to keep standing up for our country for as long as I can. I don't get watch too much late night tv because I go to bed early. I remember when Jimmy Kimmel's son was born with a heart problem I think .. He came out and he cried. He went on to make a plea for nationalzed health care . Of course money was not an issue for his child's care he was thinking of all of us. Sad and lost in america.
An eloquent plea Steven. If only more people would listen.
“I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.” - Robert A Heinlein
Break, break, break…🌊🌊🌊
How to fight back? Hulu and Disney Plus and ESPN are all owned by Disney. Cancel your subscriptions. Break your children’s hearts and cancel your Disney trips and your Disney cruises and explain to them why Donald Trump made this happen. And when Monday night football comes on, read a book. It all sounds frivolous but nothing gets big business’ attention like seeing their stock valuations drop. Bob Iger and Steven Miller don’t care if a bunch of “old hippies” hold signs outside of the White House but maybe they will notice when the real majority of this country who respect the first amendment take a stand.
Another excerpt from your article:
“If we still believe in America and reject Trump’s regime and the expanding capitulation of corporate sell-outs abandoning our sacred right of free speech, we must not let them. We must speak out. We must say this is wrong. We must stick together. We must take to the streets in the millions to display our collective power.”
Thank you Steven⬆️
May I add:⬇️
We can all plan now to participate in the Oct 18 No Kings peaceful protests across our nation.
Please locate your state events at the link below.
Now is the time!
https://www.nokings.org/
Poignantly written while exposing exactly the current state of the sustained attack on our Freedoms.
I too see that there are as yet still eyes and minds and hearts needing these stark revelations in order to be jarred into action.
Excerpt:
“For now—indeed as long as we have eyes, ears, minds and courage to keep using them—let’s continue to assert that we are a nation of laws, not men. Let’s take strength from President Theodore Roosevelt’s admonition in 1918:
Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country.”
Thank you
💙🇺🇸💙
Did I hear they have their sights set on “The View”??! Seriously?! If Obama knew that roasting Trump all those years ago would end up like this?? (Because that man baby never forgets when he’s being joked about) That we would have state sanctioned media only? Like Russia and North Korea? I hope we can stop this…
The hypocrisy is stunning, starting at the very top. The Orange Buffoon and his penchant for giving nicknames and mocking people with disabilities shows how thin his skin really is almost daily. That his sycophants in positions of authority show fealty and kiss his ass at every opportunity, we see our democracy getting flushed down the toilet. That this regime allowed for the consolidation of so many large media and commercial entities presents a dilemma to those of us who would like to express our disapproval through economic means (boycotts, etc.), make even that difficult to do. Free speech is just the beginning. Watch out for assembly next. Then redress. Then the realization of the dream of the thuggery to make Christianity the official religion. If “We The People” do not rise up against this repressive and illegal movement, then we will lose our beloved democracy. This is the one and only time I wish for armed insurrection and the arrest and detention of every idiotic member of the regime.
Thank you again for expressing this so well,
This is what Jimmy Kimmel actually said: "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. In-between the finger-pointing, there was grieving." The firing of Mr. Kimmel by ABC has nothing to do with Kirk and what he stood for. Rather it confronts how the assassination (from the Arabic for “political murder”) is being used, politically. Furthermore, the move was endorsed/supported-by (Trump's) new FCC Chair, doing something no previous FCC Chair has never done --- entering a political conflict, with a clear political recommendation about what should be done about this kind of speech --- well beyond the job-description of previous FCC Chairs. Anyone who doesn't think that our nation has now clearly been taken over by TrumpRepubloFascism (see my definition elsewhere) has another think coming.
There's a bit of nuance that I think you failed to mention. Corporations who try to behave ethically have no protection. Take Apple for example. IMHO, Tim Cook has done the absolute minimum possible to protect the tens of thousands of jobs and billions in shareholder value he is entrusted with. Trump has the power to ruin Apple (at his whim) any number of ways. Many cast Cook as a toady. But again, he had to do something to protect the company he is tasked with stewarding. While ABC/CBS are a whole other level of bootlicking, there's no protection for them either. When SCOTUS awards virtually unconditional immunity to a tyrant (and ignores open graft and emoluments), one does what one has to do to survive. Do I admire that? No. But it is a reality. Any CEO choosing to just do "the right thing" from a progressive standpoint (please understand that I am very progressively minded), is a dead man walking. Until we provide cover, we can't expect people to stick their necks out, especially when doing so potentially affects thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in shareholder value. It's a problem.
If they all stood up for the country where they are able to make these tremendous profits, I don't think we would be where we are now. It's the bending of the knee that is the problem, as well as the tremendous profits. You don't think Apple has the lawyers and the money to stand up to the First Felon? There may be some casualties but this regime will never stop now until everything is destroyed and remade in their Project 2025 vision. What kind of "cover" would you want? We're supposed to be a country of laws. I'm thinking about the NY Times right now who says they will not give up freedom of the press.