Fuck Censorship

Well, here we are. Once again, we have elected a regime who does not seem to tolerate push back. Rather than trying to bring us together, they are working to drive wedges between us and spending most of their time going after political rivals or those who have worked against them in the past.

On the other side of the political spectrum, we have folks who got woke. I’m one of them. I believe it is rooted in very positive language and cultural changes. I learned a lot about compassion and empathy. I think we all have.

Here’s the problem: some folks are using the “woke” movement as an excuse to push back against all sorts of art and politics and words and actions taken out of context. There have been lot of folks that needed to be checked, but now it’s become weaponized by some people.

What I’m very non-elegantly trying to say is that both sides have these rogue and overzealous movements on the outskirts or fringes of the political spectrum. Those squeaky wheels are getting all the grease and we are starting to see artists and politicians either literally being censored by the government or pushed out of their careers or “canceled” by well meeting wrong, thinking liberal folks. Shit, some are being killed.

This is not America. The idea of free speech is the first fucking amendment! It’s the first one we realized we needed to fix in our beautiful constitution.

People say terrible and hateful things! That’s their right. That’s how we know we also have the right to speak up and say whatever is in our hearts. Sometimes those may sound like terrible things to others, but the freedom to say them is what creates discourse. It’s what creates conversations and hopefully statesmanship in office. It’s what allows us to argue. It’s those arguments that not only explain your point of view to others but allow you to solidify your own beliefs and start to really think about who you are and how you can explain it to others and yourself. It’s the linchpin, the cornerstone, the foundation of a free society.

The Jimmy Kimmel removal from the air is a shot across the bow. It really is the government pulling levers to remove a comedian from the air for speaking out, satirizing, and doing what comedians are supposed to do: push the limits!

Here’s the problem—he didn’t push the limits at all. If you go back and look at the transcript, there’s nothing there that’s a fireable offense, which is why they’re putting him back on the air as we speak.

I’m sure all of you know this story. The administration pushed against the owners of Disney and some of the cable networks that licensed the show. A couple of those cable companies were in negotiations to be bought or buy others and felt that Kimmel should go. It was only when there were threats of millions of cancellations of Disney and Hulu, that he was reinstated. It’s all backroom bullshit. It’s not the first time something like this has happened.

On February 11, 1960, Jack Parr was the host of The Tonight Show. Sometime during the show, he mysteriously stood up and walked off the set. Later he confirmed that it was a censorship issue when the network cut a joke about a “water closet” the night before. In case you don’t know that term, that’s what they call bathrooms in some places in Europe. At any rate, he was able to speak his mind elsewhere and viewers heard and understood his outrage.

Now, he walked off the set on his own and didn’t come back for a month. That’s a little different than this. It’s still the same issue though in 2025 as it was in 1960.

When he came back on the air his first joke started with “now where was I before I got interrupted.” Love that!

I’m a musician; I say things on stage and talk about how I feel and what I think about politics. I try to do it with an empathetic thought in my head and nonjudgmental tone. Not everybody does that, but I feel like you catch more flies with honey, dig?

I have a tattoo on my arm of Woody Guthrie’s guitar that says, “this machine kills fascists.”

This issue is important to me. I disagree with a lot of people, but I support everyone’s right to say what they think. There’s never been a more important time to speak up and speak out. I hope if you do that, you align with me, but if you don’t, then I applaud your bravery for standing up.

Heroes like Lenny Bruce, Dave Attell, Norm MacDonald, and so many others are an inspiration to me. Standing up and speaking up, knowing it will land you in jail, or in your career is terrifying and courageous.

Censoring comedians or musicians or any kind of artist is a slippery slope. There has to be some kind of cultural check on our leaders. There’s no such thing as a little bit of good censorship. One little break in the damn will flood us all.

Parody makes us laugh, but it also gets us thinking about different aspects of situations and people that we might not have thought of before.

We have reached a boiling point where people are being murdered in broad daylight for their beliefs. You simply can’t legislate or control thought. You also can’t intimidate it.

This is no longer something to just worry about in the abstract. It’s happening now. This regime is coming after anyone who disagrees with them. I disagree with them. Am I supposed to just not speak up? It’s getting scary out there. How brave are you? How brave am I? Let’s find out, shall we?

If you disagree. I’ll never understand. You better believe, though, that I’ll fight for your right to say it.