‘Do it the easy way or the hard way’: FCC chair sparks free speech crisis

FCC chair Brendan Carr this past week warned ABC to “do this the easy way or the hard way.” Hours later, ABC benched late night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel—right as the network’s media partners push a multi-billion-dollar merger that hinges on FCC approval. Pres. Trump piled on, declaring that any critical coverage of him should be “illegal.” Why all the government threats, corporate capitulation, and muzzling of free speech leave our democracy hanging on by a thread.