You have the right to free speech
As long as youre not
Dumb enough to actually try it.
The Clash, Know Your Rights
I once learned the hard way that free speech doesn't mean freedom from consequences, even when you think youre among friends.
Years ago, one of the employees on my team was the stepson of a colleague I didnt get along with. Over the years, we had bonded, often venting over the issues we had with his stepfather.
One day, he walked into a conversation I was having with coworkers about the stepdad. Trying to break the tension, I joked, I wont hold it against you because of who your mothers sleeping with.
It was an offhand remark, dumb and in poor judgment. Word got back to the stepfather, and I ended up in HR. Their message was clear: We want you to apologize and tell him you didnt mean it.
I had no issue apologizing. But the second part? Thats where I hesitated.
You want me to tell him that I do hold it against him because of who his mothers sleeping with?
The memory of this incident came rushing back to me this week while watching the pile-on against Jimmy Kimmel.
Jimmy Kimmelsaid a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk.
- Donald Trump
Instead of the angry finger-pointing, can we just for one day agree that it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human? On behalf of my family, we send love to the Kirks and to all the children, parents, and innocents who fall victim to senseless gun violence.
- Jimmy Kimmel
Kimmel has been under fire from the MAGA World for what they claim were disrespectful comments about Charlie Kirk following his murder. Vice President JD Vance has even suggested that Kimmel should apologize to Kirk's widow.
The problem with all this outrage is that Kimmel already did what any decent person should do. Right after the news of the murder broke, the late-night comedian condemned Kirk's murder and expressed condolences to his wife and young children. What exactly are they asking him to retract? Would his detractors be more comfortable if Kimmel did not think it is horrible and monstrous to shoot another human over politics?
Unlike many who despised Kirks brand of far-right activism, Kimmel chose restraint. He didnt bring up Kirks inflammatory takeslike his dismissal of Martin Luther King Jr. as awful or his assertion that birth control makes women angry and bitter. He didnt go there. He just condemned the violence.
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.
- Jimmy Kimmel
He had a point. With the investigation still ongoing, the right-wing spin machine had spent the previous weekend trying to convince the public that the killing was the fault of the Democratic Party. Unfortunately, Kimmel also left enough wiggle room for his critics to twist his words, framing him as the villain in a tragedy he clearly denounced.
You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.
- Rahm Emanuel
It took MAGA World about a week to prove Kimmels point again.
As news spread of the shooting at an ICE facility in Dallas, right-wingers immediately sought to place the blame on radical left-wing terrorists. Even as it became clear that the only victims of the crime were immigrants held in ICE's custody, suggesting the possibility of a right-wing, anti-immigrant attack, the MAGA narrative machine cycled on.
Leading the charge was FBI Director Kash Patel, who jeopardized possible criminal cases by releasing evidence to the public that was favorable to his political messaging. Is Patel Americas top cop or Trumps chief propagandist?
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