Caffeinated Politics

This is what I read today, and then noticed a couple of friends on my email list were as irritated as I was over this latest example of fascist actions taking hold in Washington, D.C.

Why Stephen Colbert needed to tape an opener for last night’s “Late Show” is simply galling. The FCC ordered CBS to pull Colbert’s interview with Texas Senate candidate James Talarico. “You know who is not one of my guests tonight? That’s Texas State Representative James Talarico. He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast. Then I was told in some uncertain terms that not only could I not have him on, I could not mention me not having him on.”

Well, that was clearly the most absurd warning one could give to the gifted comic and talk show host.  

FCC chair Brendan Carr is a spineless weasel of a tool in Donald Trump’s ongoing fixation to attack free speech. So Colbert explained the situation in detail to viewers last night, saying, “Let’s just call this what it is. Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV. Because all Trump does is watch TV.”

It has been a long day, and I am itching to watch the recording of the women’s figure skating at the Winter Olympics. But when free speech is spat on and treated like a used burger wrapper from Dear Leader’s high cholesterol diet, then a few minutes are needed to post some thoughts.

This mess caused by the FCC against Colbert should trouble anyone who values a free society. So, OK, put another way, this mess will trouble everyone outside of the Trump cult. When a government agency even hints at investigating or disciplining a comedian and talk show host for political commentary, and that is precisely what Colbert does, it crosses a line that democratic institutions should never approach. I do not give a royal rip how sharp, irreverent, or uncomfortable the jokes are or if it makes Trump throw ketchup at whoever he is now paying for sex.

Political humor has always been a pressure valve in American life. From Mark Twain (love his work) to modern late‑night hosts, satire helps citizens process the absurdities of power. And the absurdities today would make Twain wonder if satire had now become a documentary. What we are learning from Trump and his fellow Brown-Shirts (so, there is something Brown they love) is that with this scrutiny of speech, some conversations are acceptable, and others are not.

That is not the role of a free government. Conservatives who have sold their souls to Trump have violated what for them was once a foundation they stood upon.

Regulators should not be in the business of deciding which jokes go too far or which political conversations are permissible. Once the state positions itself as an arbiter of acceptable speech, the danger isn’t just censorship—it’s the chilling effect that follows. People begin to self‑censor, not because they believe they’re wrong, but because they fear official consequences. That leads to a line democracy cannot allow, as our nation cannot function when its citizens are afraid to speak.

Somewhere today, Twain was surely thinking the only thing that has evolved in politics is absurdity itself.