Noteworthy: Silencing comedy hosts not exactly a pro free speech move

By Bruce Penton on September 24, 2025.

First Stephen Colbert, then Jimmy Kimmel. Pressure from the Trump administration killed one late-night talk show and temporarily eliminated the other, and there’s only a couple of late-night chatterboxes left.

Will Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon, Jon Stewart and John Oliver now tread more softly with their barbs toward Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd? Will they quit talking about politics altogether?

Former president Barack Obama was quick to weigh in on the matter after the Kimmel suspension news broke. “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent – and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”

(It probably won’t make President Trump happy, but ABC announced Monday afternoon that the Kimmel suspension was ending and that the late-night comedy guy’s show was scheduled to return last night.)

Jokes about the president of the day and his administration have been a staple of talk shows for decades – and both Democratic and Republican administrations have been regularly skewered by the late-night hosts. But free speech is free speech. Heck, if KKK rallies and Nazi gatherings have been allowed to go ahead in the U.S., why such thin skin over biting jokes? Attorney General Pam Bondi’s suggestion that criticism of the president or the current administration may be declared ‘hate speech’ and possibly subjected to criminal charges is just ridiculous.

In Canada, thankfully, no such government intervention on free speech has been threatened. In fact, Canada doesn’t have a comparable program, but I’m sure if Rick Mercer or George Stroumboulopoulos were given a TV platform and made cutting jokes against Mark Carney and Pierre Poilievre, their shows wouldn’t be cancelled under threats from the government.

Things have definitely changed. In the 1970s, before he was forced to resign, president Richard Nixon appeared on Laugh In, a show in which he was often the butt of jokes. But he took it in stride, and even agreed to utter the show’s catch-phrase line ‘Sock it to me,’ although when he put the emphasis on ‘me’, it turned out even funnier and made the president look even more out of touch. But a lot more human.

• E-bikes have become ubiquitous in Canada, but are they bicycles or are they mini motorcycles? Police in Ontario recently charged an e-bike rider with speeding after he was clocked doing 82 km/h in a 50 zone. A story in the Brantford Expositor said the list of charges included “modifying a power-assisted bicycle and operating a motor vehicle on a highway without insurance.”

Doing 82 in a 50 is dangerous no matter what sort of vehicle is involved, but to do it while riding an e-bike seems especially risky – to the rider and the public.

• There was another stellar lineup of speakers at Pecha Kucha 35 at the Esplanade last Saturday night. Not surprisingly, a capacity crowd was on hand to listen to 10 people speak for six minutes and 40 seconds each on nine different subjects.

Eight of the speakers gave solo performances, but Misty Zanger and Barry Finkelman double-teamed the story behind the 2026 Special Olympics Summer Games that will be held in Medicine Hat Aug. 11-15.

Approximately 1,700 athletes from across the country will converge on Medicine Hat for the Games, which will again test the strength of our city’s famous volunteer reputation. Approximately 1,500 helpers will be required. Because of the large contingent of athletes and spectators coming to the city, the week-long event should be a boon for Medicine Hat’s hotels and restaurants.

If you’d like to volunteer, go online to https://www.socmedhat2026.ca/volunteers and click on the registration button.

• Short snappers: Ever wonder how many baseballs are used in a Major League season? Someone from The Athletic actually counted balls used in two games, extrapolated it over 162 games for the 30 MLB teams and came up with this number for the 2024 season: 289,713. Each ball was in the game for slightly less than three pitches. … How do I know I’m old? The internet told me that The Mary Tyler Moore show, one of my all-time favourite sitcoms, debuted 55 years ago this month. … To what extent is Las Vegas hurting from what’s going on politically in the States? On Valentine’s Day this year, Caesars Entertainment Inc. stock market price was $38.74. On Monday, it was $25.30. Vegas desperately wants Canadians to come back, but Canadians and travellers from other countries are apparently saying no thanks.

Bruce Penton is a retired News editor who may be reached at brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca

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