Jimmy Kimmel Canceled: America’s Free Speech Myth Exposed
Racism gets a pass. Criticism of power does not.
Jimmy Kimmel’s show is gone. Trump had it pulled after Kimmel joked about the government exploiting the Charlie Kirk assassination for political gain. That’s the irony: a decade ago, the same show aired a child saying “kill all Chinese,” and nothing happened. Racist talk was fine. But criticize Trump? Canceled overnight.
This is how “free speech” works in America. You can mock people, even promote hate, as long as it doesn’t threaten power. But if it challenges the system, the hammer comes down.
Free speech as a pressure valve
The system lets people vent but blocks real change.
Protest gas prices, but don’t question oil giants.
Criticize the president, but don’t touch bipartisan protection of Wall Street and the Pentagon.
Shout “America First,” but don’t say “capitalist exploitation.”
This is not a right. It is a release mechanism.
America’s fear of anti-fascism
Open racism is tolerated. Anti-fascism is not. That’s why Trump branded ANTIFA a terrorist group even though it isn’t an organization at all.
The truth is simple. America never built an anti-fascist tradition. It built an anti-communist tradition. After World War II, it wrapped itself in a freedom myth while cutting deals with dictators.
Free speech as team identity
Most Americans don’t defend speech as a principle. They defend their own side’s speech.
My side’s words are free.
Your side’s words are propaganda.
With politics this tribal, free speech collapses into mutual suppression.
From McCarthy to today
Kimmel’s cancellation isn’t new. It’s the same logic that drove McCarthyism, Cold War purges, and FBI surveillance of Martin Luther King Jr. The difference is that back then repression was hidden behind “national security.” Today, it’s out in the open.
Closing
The mask is off. America’s myth of free speech is breaking down. Not because of new problems, but because the old tricks no longer work. Speech was never neutral. In today’s America, speech is violence and violence shapes speech. Without a shared community, there is no free speech, only power deciding who speaks.