Ever watch a drama set back in the time of kings, where the court jester or someone in the king’s retinue said something that displeased the king, and they knew immediately that their days were numbered? How everyone lived in fear of displeasing the king?
One problem with kings is that, because their power is nearly unlimited, everyone is vulnerable to the king’s caprice, malice and resentments. If you want to be safe, you must take up all the king’s grievances and desires. The king is everyone’s customer.
Thus, the king’s court ends up comprised of those who constantly amplify his whims to gain his fickle favor.
That’s monarchy, not self-government. Our American political system was designed to prevent capricious rule by One. But something like that is happening right now, and the latest example is the Jimmy Kimmel saga. Let’s walk through it, in chronological order:
- Donald Trump doesn’t like Jimmy Kimmel and threatened to get him pulled off the air.
- Nexstar, which owns 32 ABC TV stations, announced just a month ago the purchase of TEGNA, another owner of stations. That transaction requires approval by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The Chairman of the FCC is Trump appointee Brendan Carr.
- In its press release Nexstar committed to preserving “diversity of opinion.”
- On Monday September 15, Jimmy Kimmel said something stupid about the murder of Charlie Kirk on his ABC show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
- The following Wednesday FCC Chairman Carr said it is "really sort of past time that a lot of these licensed broadcasters themselves push back on Comcast and Disney, and say, 'Listen, we are going to preempt, we are not going to run, Kimmel anymore until you straighten this out, because we licensed broadcasters are running the possibility of fines or license revocations from the FCC if we continue to run content that ends up being a pattern of news distortion.'" Carr went on to say, "When you see stuff like this—I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
- Within hours, Nexstar, which requires Carr’s approval for their TEGNA purchase, followed Carr’s “suggestion” and preempted Kimmel. Sinclair soon followed.
- Shortly thereafter, Disney/ABC announced the suspension of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”
Now, where’s the problem? There’s nothing wrong with Jimmy Kimmel expressing his political opinions on his late-night TV show, “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” He has been given that platform by ABC.
There’s nothing wrong with Nexstar and Sinclair deciding to stop carrying “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” They own the stations.
There’s nothing wrong with Disney/ABC deciding to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” It’s their program.
But there is something very wrong with Chairman Carr using government power to pressure companies into appeasing the Trump administration.
Why? Because it’s a violation not of the First Amendment, and not of FCC authority, but of the principle of limited government.
The Founders created a system of limited government to protect Americans from the capricious rulership of flawed human rulers. Conservatives have always believed in limited government for this and other reasons.
For conservatives, limited government is both a principle and a norm, and norms matter. If we abandon that norm, both parties will rush to use government power to punish enemies and reward friends, and we’ll be right back to rule by capricious, flawed human beings.