Nick Hauselman has scheduling issues, so Jared Yates Sexton dives into ABC censoring Jimmy Kimmel on behalf of the Trump Administration and the Right, detailing how past authoritarian regimes wrote the playbook and where all of this is likely heading.
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Welcome to the weekender edition of the Muck Greg Podcast.
I'm Jared GH Sexton.
Um Nick Houselman has some scheduling things today, so it's just going to be me and you hanging out, which uh we do from time to time.
Uh the top story today, it is no surprise.
It is the Trump administration's crackdown on critics and free speech.
Before we get to that and uh a few other little stories here, uh little, every single one of them, very, very large.
Uh just a reminder that if you haven't already head over to patreon.com/slash muckgrake podcast, become a patron, gain full access to the weekender episodes, and support the show.
Uh I hope I don't need to say it, but we we need your help.
And I don't know how it can be made any clearer that we are living in a worsening environment in terms of authoritarian takeover.
Uh, by now, you undoubtedly have heard that ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel live.
Uh they're saying indefinitely there's been no clarification whatsoever over remarks that Kimmel made, uh, a joke that Kimmel made regarding the Trump administration, MAGA, and the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
This story, uh, for those who maybe don't know the details, it began with Nextar uh threatening to pull Jimmy Kimmel and effectively freezing the show, which then led to ABC pulling the plug.
And the stories that have come out and the conversations that I've heard from some of my sources uh around this thing, it sounds like a lot of the people who manage the show or manage the television component through ABC, that they didn't think that any of this was necessary.
They didn't think that the joke reached any sort of unacceptable level, uh, but there was an incredible amount of corporate pressure to pull the plug on Jimmy Kimmel.
Um I'll start with the obvious here.
Uh Jimmy Kimmel is not, you know, my favorite comedian.
It's it's never necessarily been my cup of tea.
I do think over the years, and you know, this is the difference between taste and I I guess respect.
Um, I have respected that Kimmel has used his platform to speak out uh to speak truth against power, to criticize uh our our insane gun culture and mass shooting culture.
Um I do believe, even if I do not enjoy his comedy all that much, I do believe that his heart, at least in this position, is in the right place.
This is obviously a symptom of a larger authoritarian issue.
In terms of historical perspective, uh, this is the kind of thing that a dictator in the making carries out.
Uh it should shock no one that someone like a Vladimir Putin as his dictatorship was in its infancy.
One of the first groups that he targeted was the media, particularly the group of oligarchs uh who controlled media within Russia.
And to give that context, for those who might not know the story of how the Putinist regime not only came into power, but how it came to consolidate power and total control over uh Putinist Russia.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, the privatization of resources uh was as crooked as it could happen.
And the people who were in power and seized power, and also the United States and its allies, allowed very few individuals to consolidate control over the resources of the former Soviet Union.
That group, which has commonly uh become known as the oligarchs, uh, much like we have our own oligarchical class now within the United States.
Uh, in some cases, it's individuals like Elon Musk or Peter Thiel, and in some cases, it is these corporate behemoths, uh, such as what we've we've seen happen with uh with groups that own places like ABC.
And there has always been a tug of war for power and control and influence between the dictatorial figurehead and the oligarchical class.
They work together, uh, they profit together, but there is always a tension back and forth.
And as Putin was consolidating power, he made it clear to the oligarchs by making examples out of some of them, by seizing their assets, by threatening them, by throwing some of them in prison.
Uh some of the oligarchs, of course, were killed.
There was a message that was sent, which was we can do business together, but you have to serve my bottom line.
You are not going to allow people to go over the airwaves and criticize me.
And the dictator is inherently an insecure person.
I don't think it's a surprise that Donald Trump, who has been a public figure for over the last 40 years, that as he has been a laughable buffoon, and for those who maybe didn't pay as close of attention, uh, Donald Trump has been the target of late night host his entire life.
And he has been this laughable figure, and it should be no surprise that in a position of authority, because the dictatorial figurehead is in their essence incredibly insecure, which is why they have to control everything, that some of the main targets for the dictatorial figure are the people who have made fun of him or who have criticized him.
And so what we have seen is the natural inclination of the dictatorial figurehead here, which is to basically use any and all powers at their disposal to seek retribution from those that they feel like have disrespected them, and also to control their public image.
In this case, Trump was able to use uh the Federal Communications Commission, the FCC, in order to leverage pressure against ABC, but also to use the fact that places like Nextar are in the middle of a possible $6.2 billion merger with Tegna to use antitrust laws,
which were put in place to keep corporations from becoming trusts, that all these weapons at his disposal are now being used to settle old scores and to blackmail and shake down people who are vulnerable in these positions.
That doesn't mean that these corporations are necessarily capitulating or collaborating because they're just afraid of Donald Trump.
There is a incentive for the oligarchical class and for the uh corporate class to move along with this consolidation of power, the crackdown on freedoms and protections, because that's what capitalism wants anyway.
And so what we have here is a really chilling example of how these things come together.
And I have to tell you, and this is something that I'm getting tired of having to say for a variety of reasons, but...
This is yet another milestone towards that consolidation of power underneath a fascistic authoritarian regime that I have been dreading for a very long time.
This has been a preview of the Muckrig Podcast Weekender Edition.
If you haven't already, head over to Patreon.com slash my correct Podcast, become a patron, gain full access to the show.
There is so much to talk about here.
And again, we really need your support.
This situation with Jimmy Kimmel and all of these pressures on corporate conglomerates and the talent who work for them, I think it should be apparent that independent media is more important than ever.
We're going to continue to do the job.
We are also in the crosshairs of this authoritarian regime.
