“But it’s worth remembering that this was a satiric monologue and is broadly understood as such,” the Tribune Editorial Board writes (“That was a lousy bit, Jimmy Kimmel. But there’s no role here for government intervention,” Sept. 19).
Jimmy Kimmel’s monologue wasn’t “satiric” in the slightest. It was thoughtless and offensive, meant to push a false narrative regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
But let’s be honest. If Kimmel’s show was bringing in money to ABC, then it wouldn’t have suspended him. Kimmel’s statement — along with the foolish interview Federal Communication Commission Chair Brendan Carr gave describing possible responses — provided ABC with the out that it wanted. It could suspend him and blame the FCC and a president the left already despised.
More Top Picks Cold Plunges
This isn’t an attack on free speech. If that were the goal, it would have happened long before now. This is a business cleaning house, nothing more.
— Martin Wilk, Chicago
Demise of independence
I just want to remind letter writer Jeffrey Tenant of Naples, Florida, (“What free speech means,” Sept. 19) that ABC did not just choose to suspend Jimmy Kimmel. Like the pattern of this entire regime, Nexstar, which owns many ABC affiliates, responded to a threat by the head of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr. Nexstar wants the FCC to approve the number of stations it can own beyond the current limits, and Carr threatened that the FCC would take action against ABC affiliates over Kimmel’s comments.
I do not believe it is healthy for an independent media company to own too many stations, but I see this suspension not as a free speech issue but as the beginning of the demise of independent media.
— Paula J. Schneiderman, Chicago
The context matters
For the editorial board of a publication based in a city where Mayor Brandon Johnson just signed an executive order affirming the right to free speech and protest, the editorial on Jimmy Kimmel is laughable. The editorial board minimizes the danger of federal overreach while amplifying outrage over a late-night joke. That isn’t balance; it’s avoidance.
The context matters. In the hours after Charlie Kirk’s killing, right-wing voices on X scrambled to invent a transgender angle — anything to deflect from the possibility that the shooter leaned far right. That narrative manipulation is exactly what Kimmel was satirizing. The joke wasn’t graceful, but it didn’t come from nowhere. It was a response to a very real, very cynical effort to spin tragedy into culture war scapegoating.
Yet the editorial dissects Kimmel’s “wavering voice,” as if the national debate hinges on his delivery. Meanwhile, the editorial board barely acknowledges what it admits is truly “un-American”: the Federal Communications Commission chairman stepping in to pressure a private broadcaster. If history teaches us anything, it’s that bad jokes fade. Bad government precedents endure.
Chicago just witnessed its own city leadership take a public stand for free expression. The editorial board of the Tribune, of all institutions, should understand why that matters. Instead, it scolds a comedian and lets a regulator’s abuse of power skate by with a single paragraph. That’s not neutrality; it’s misdirection.
If the board wants to be the voice of reason, then be clear: Partisan operatives distorted the story, Kimmel mocked the distortion clumsily and only the government turned it into a question of free expression.
That’s where outrage belongs.
— Anna Louise Bellettiere-Kuyper, Homer Glen
City’s crime problem
I hesitate to write, but the flood of misrepresentation of Chicago’s crime problem and the attitude of our governor and mayor toward it expressed in letters cannot go unchallenged.
In her letter (“Leaders are failing us,” Sept. 17), Illinois Republican Party Chair Kathy Salvi writes, “The facts speak loudly: Chicago has led the nation in the number of homicides for 13 consecutive years.” That fact is stunning, but it is not how you compare crime statistics. Crimes are compared by the number of occurrences per 100,000 people. Chicago is the third most populous city in the nation. Its homicide rate is lower than many much smaller cities.
Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Brandon Johnson did not claim that all is well in Chicago. Both did point to the declining crime rate to show they have been working to reduce crime and these initiatives are showing some success. However, neither official suggested that we do not need any help from the federal government to reduce these crime numbers further. Both noted several ways the federal government can aid the city in its fight against crime.
They both welcomed federal help from the FBI and other agencies to create task forces to target major crime and to help get illegal guns off the street. During his news conference, Johnson noted that since he has been in office, the Chicago Police Department has removed more than 24,000 illegal guns from the streets.
What neither Pritzker or Johnson wants is the specter of military control of a civilian population. That is antithetical to our Constitution. The National Guard was great when troops were facilitating COVID-19 vaccinations at the United Center but is unprepared and its members ill used when tasked with fighting crime.
Pritzker and Johnson are right to draw attention to the problem of gun violence. Death by firearm is the leading cause of death of children in the United States. Despite this, Republicans refuse to address the need for gun control. This resistance was voiced by none other than Charlie Kirk who told an audience that we just have to “accept a few gun deaths” in order to keep “our” guns.
I can’t help but wonder what Kirk would say about gun control if we could ask him today?
— Janice Cody, Chicago
Immigration reform
I believe the legislative bodies in America enact laws to protect all of us. These legislators are paid, perhaps overpaid, to act in our better interests! Our country is sadly so divided, but our legislators endlessly pontificate, some to the right, others to the left. And, at the end of the day, nothing changes.
For decades, political candidates have campaigned on immigration reform. Yet there has not been any legislation passed regarding immigration reform by either party for decades. It is common knowledge that birth rates in America have slowed. Our future needs working people to perpetuate the good thing that is America. After all, we are all products of immigrants. What to do?
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is encouraging immigrants to leave America, then later return properly. Return to what? A broken-down, antiquated immigration system?
Currently it takes three to five years for an immigrant to obtain citizenship. Our world has significantly changed since 1965, the year the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed. Congress should make immigration reform its No. 1 priority. It should start with granting immediate citizenship to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. These good people are woven into the fabric of America. They work, pay taxes, serve in our military, etc. They deserve citizenship. Next, seek the goal of granting citizenship in six months. A deadline is needed.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement exists as a result of terrorists taking down the twin towers in New York and the passage of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. Thousands died, and some still suffer today. Those who wish us ill should not be allowed to freely enter America.
More Top Picks Best Robotic Pool Cleaners For Inground Pools
It is apparent that American law enforcement has the ability to identify the drug pushers, human traffickers and those with lengthy criminal records. It would appear then that law enforcement can also identify those who are not criminals. Shouldn’t America lend a helping hand?
President Donald Trump tells us so many foreign manufacturers will build plants in America. Many Americans choose not to work or work little. If so, who will work in these new plants?
The conclusion then is the divide in our country is squarely the fault of decades of failure by administrations both red and blue. All of us should demand accountability. Taxes are in reality an investment in the future of our country. We should expect a better return on our investments. Unite us, not further divide us.
— Joseph A. Murzanski, Orland Park
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].