In what might be the most bureaucratic comedy review in human history, the Federal Communications Commission has decided that late-night humor now requires governmental scrutiny. The target? Jimmy Kimmel’s joke about Melania Trump, which apparently warranted a full regulatory investigation faster than most actual policy violations.
The White House, displaying its trademark sense of proportionality, has demanded ABC fire Kimmel for calling Melania an ‘expectant widow’. Because nothing says ‘robust democracy’ like attempting to silence comedians through broadcast licensing threats.
Is this actually about the joke? Of course not. This is performance outrage, weaponized through the most mundane government mechanism possible — broadcast licensing. The FCC has essentially transformed into a comedy review board, complete with bureaucratic clipboards and humorlessness as their primary qualification.
Imagine the licensing exam now: ‘Rate this joke on a scale of government-approved chuckles’. Potential comedians will need to submit their material for review, presumably by a panel of mid-level administrators who last laughed during the Reagan administration.
The real comedy isn’t Kimmel’s joke. It’s watching a government apparatus spin up more machinery to police humor than to address actual societal challenges. Kafka would be taking notes — if he weren’t already busy laughing.