Censoring Colbert and Talarico

The FCC blocked CBS from airing an interview of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, and Stephen Colbert was none too pleased

Happy Lunar New Year! Today’s will be an abbreviated piece, as I need to get my sick dog to the vet and have extended family arriving throughout the day from the Hudson Valley, California, and Brazil to ring in the Year of the Horse! Never a dull moment….

The FCC is at it again.

Last night, Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, currently running for the U.S. Senate, appeared on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” to spread his message of hope and unity in the face of MAGA Trumpism.

But millions who tuned in would not see that interview. That’s because the FCC blocked CBS, which owns “The Late Show,” from airing it.

Colbert explained to his studio audience what was going on. “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said, referring to his guest Talarico.

Let’s unpack what happened, then do what we know we need to do next.

Colbert on censorship

We all got a little lesson in civics and FCC regulation from Colbert.

“You might have heard of this thing called the ‘equal time rule,’ OK? ” he began. “It’s an old FCC rule that applies only to radio and broadcast television—not cable or streaming—that says if a show has a candidate on during an election, they have to have all that candidate’s opponents on as well. It’s the FCC’s most time-honored rule, right after ‘No nipples at the Super Bowl,” he joked, flashing an image of Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction.”

Talk shows aren’t supposed to be impacted by that rule, though. “There’s long been an exemption… for news interviews and talk show interviews with politicians,” Colbert noted. “Now, that’s crucial. How else were voters supposed to know back in ’92 that Bill Clinton sucked at saxophone? But on Jan. 21 of this year, a letter was released by FCC Chairman and smug bowling pin, Brendan Carr.”

(I’ll never look at Carr the same way again.)

“In this letter, Carr said he was thinking about dropping the exception for talk shows because he said some of them were ‘motivated by partisan purposes.’ Well, sir, you’re chairman of the FCC, so FCC you.”

Three cheers for that word play!

Colbert continued, “Because I think you are motivated by partisan purposes yourself. Sir, ya smelt it ’cause ya dealt it. You are Dutch-ovening America’s airwaves.”

Then Colbert zeroed in on what was really going on. “Let’s just call this what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV, OK? He’s like a toddler with too much screen time. He gets cranky and then drops a load in his diaper.”

Colbert not the only target

“The Late Show” isn’t the only television talk show being affected by the new policy. The FCC also recently launched an investigation into “The View” which had featured Talarico as a guest.

As The Hill noted,

In January, the agency shook up its rules, which exempted some late-night and daytime talk shows from having to give equal airtime to opposing political candidates.

“Importantly, the FCC has not been presented with any evidence that the interview portion of any late night or daytime television talk show program on air presently would qualify for the bona fide news exemption,” the FCC said in a public notice last month.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr followed up with a threat: “I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether ‘The View’ and some of the programs that you have still qualify as bona fide news programs.” If not, his threat implied, they would be in violation of the equal time rule.

Barbra would like a word

The Trump White House is censoring programs and politicians it views as threats, but it’s forgetting the Streisand Effect. Whenever you suppress information from the public, it only leads to greater attention.

So to help prove that, I’m posting the entire Talarico interview below, and I hope you share this post with your networks to see what the White House and the FCC don’t want us to see.