The Morning Sixpack - September 18, 2025 (the "Follow the Money" edition)
From Kimmel to Colbert, Fed cuts to FCC threats—Trump’s billionaire pals buy media, rig policy, and sell fascism as business as usual.
Editor: I have been saying it for DECADES. If you follow the money, you will learn why the shit in this world happens. Trump knows it, too. And he doesn’t care. It’s all part of the “strongman’s” authoritarian playbook. It’s a sad, sad day in America.
Follow the Money: Why Jimmy Kimmel Got Canceled
Jimmy Kimmel didn’t just lose his show because of a few pointed jokes—he lost it because the FCC and the Trump machine are leveraging billion-dollar deals to silence critics.
ABC’s suspension of Jimmy Kimmel Live wasn’t about “offensive comments” on Charlie Kirk’s murder. It was about Nexstar and Disney having multibillion-dollar mergers and acquisitions on the line. Nexstar is trying to buy Tegna for $6.2 billion, Disney wants the FCC to bless its ESPN–NFL Network deal—and the Trump administration is making it clear: if you want regulatory approval, you better take out the president’s enemies.
We’ve seen this movie before. CBS claimed it canceled Stephen Colbert for “financial reasons,” but the timing was almost comically convenient: Paramount’s long-pending merger with Skydance got greenlit soon after Colbert’s exit was announced. Trump cheered the move, of course, bragging about how Colbert was finished. That’s not coincidence—that’s extortion.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr basically said the quiet part out loud: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.” Translation—take out Kimmel, or your deals get buried in red tape. That’s not regulation, that’s racketeering with a government letterhead. And when the FCC holds your billion-dollar future in its hands, suddenly “offensive” jokes become a national emergency.
The truth is that this isn’t about protecting viewers, or even about Kimmel. It’s about money, leverage, and keeping Trump’s critics off the air while rewarding networks that play ball. Free speech is dying, not with a bang, but with a corporate shrug—and a wink from regulators who know exactly what they’re doing.
Source: Associated Press
Editor: If you follow the money, the pattern is obvious: Criticize Trump, lose your platform, but your employer keeps their merger. Stay quiet, and the FCC will fast-track your billions. This isn’t cancel culture—it’s extortion culture.
Follow the Money, Part 2: MAGA’s Billionaire Takeover of the Media
Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension is just the headline-grabbing tip of the iceberg—the real story is how Trump-aligned billionaires are quietly buying and reshaping America’s media into a compliant machine with the FCC ready to approve any mergers as long as they bend the knee to Trump and give him billions.
The big picture, as Axios lays out, is a 21st-century fascist playbook: Don’t seize the presses, just buy them. (The seizing will come later.)
Elon Musk turned Twitter into MAGA megaphone X after his 2022 takeover.
Now Larry Ellison—Trump’s billionaire ally—is angling to take over TikTok’s U.S. operations with a consortium of private equity and Silicon Valley money. Meanwhile, Ellison’s son David has already captured CBS News through the Skydance–Paramount merger and immediately installed a conservative ombudsman to police coverage. That family isn’t done—they’re reportedly circling Warner Bros. Discovery, which would put CNN under Ellison’s thumb too.
Think about that: two of the biggest news networks in America potentially controlled by one Trump-aligned dynasty.
It doesn’t stop there.
Jeff Bezos, who once played foil to Trump, has pivoted hard. The Washington Post killed its endorsement of Kamala Harris, retooled its editorial page around “free markets,” and softened its stance against Trump.
Over at Meta, Mark Zuckerberg gutted the company’s fact-checking program, elevated Trump allies, and rolled back “censorship” policies. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the billionaire behind the L.A. Times, went on Fox News to promise more conservative voices on his editorial board. Univision, once a progressive anchor in Latino media, has ingratiated itself with Trump under new ownership. Even the Baltimore Sun shifted right after being scooped up by Sinclair’s David Smith. The pattern is obvious: Bend right, survive—and maybe thrive. Resist, and watch your merger, license, or ad revenue evaporate.
Meanwhile, the money keeps flowing in both directions. These billionaires are writing big checks to Trump and his allies, and in return they get regulatory green lights, lighter scrutiny, and access to the corridors of power. The FCC has already been weaponized—Carr threatened Disney and ABC after Kimmel’s Kirk remarks, the same way CBS saw its merger glide through after Colbert’s cancellation. Deals worth billions ride on staying in Trump’s good graces, and network executives are reading the room.
And yes, the high-profile late-night hosts—Kimmel, Colbert, Fallon, Meyers—are the canaries in the coal mine. Trump has openly celebrated their downfall, calling on networks to silence them one by one.
But those are just the public examples. Behind the scenes, entire institutions are being rewired to accommodate Trumpworld: TikTok, CBS, CNN, the Post, the L.A. Times, Univision. Even publicly traded MAGA-friendly outlets like Newsmax are raking in cash as meme stocks riding Trump’s cult of personality.
This isn’t the free market at work—it’s a hostile restructuring of the American information ecosystem. The billionaires don’t have to agree with Trump on every issue; they just have to protect their money, and in return they help protect his power. That’s how modern authoritarianism works. You don’t need stormtroopers when you can weaponize shareholders, mergers, and FCC leverage. The press doesn’t get nationalized—it just gets bought.
Source: Axios
Editor: This isn’t journalism evolving—it’s journalism being auctioned off to the highest bidder, with Trump as the auctioneer. Kimmel and Colbert are just the headlines; the real story is that the watchdogs of democracy are being house-trained by billionaires who know where the money is. Free press? More like fee press—and the bill is being footed by the American public.
Editor: And if you don’t bend the knee, they call you out for hate speech.
Pam Bondi Fumbles the First Amendment: Hate Speech Is Still Free Speech
Attorney General Pam Bondi went on record saying the administration will “absolutely target you” for hate speech—a statement so unconstitutional it could’ve been written in crayon.
The backlash was immediate. Bondi tried to walk it back, claiming she only meant hate speech that crosses into threats of violence. But that’s not what she said, and the nation’s top cop should know better. The First Amendment doesn’t come with a “no mean words” clause. The Supreme Court has been clear for over half a century: even the ugliest, most distasteful speech is protected.
The Court said it in Snyder v. Phelps (2011), when Westboro Baptist Church waved signs saying “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” at funerals. Hurtful? Absolutely. Illegal? No. As Justice Alito later reminded us in Matal v. Tam (2017), “the proudest boast of our free speech jurisprudence is that we protect the freedom to express ‘the thought that we hate.’”
Bondi’s comments came after the murder of Charlie Kirk, when some online voices said Kirk wasn’t worth mourning. Offensive as that may be, the Supreme Court has ruled time and again that tasteless doesn’t equal criminal. The Court has protected flag burners (Texas v. Johnson), anti-draft firebrands (Watts v. United States), and pretty much anyone willing to poke government in the eye. If those guys are safe, so are people making grim jokes online.
The danger here isn’t speech—it’s the government deciding what speech counts as acceptable. Once you hand that power over, it’s not just “hate speech” that gets silenced.
It’s dissent. It’s criticism. It’s anything the people in charge don’t like.
And that’s why Bondi’s loose talk is so dangerous.
Source: My Daily Grind News
Editor: Bondi’s mistake wasn’t a slip of the tongue—it was a test balloon. Float the idea that “hate speech” is outside the First Amendment, see how far you can push it, then walk it back when people howl. Classic authoritarian playbook. Never let politicians tell you they’re protecting you by policing your words—they’re protecting themselves by silencing you.
Editor: I guess I have to talk about the story that set this country on fire. There are so many unanswered questions. Like how did Trump get shot in the ear and there was never a congressional investigation with dozens of hearings and a 900-page final report?
Oh, not that story…
Unanswered Questions Surround Charlie Kirk’s Accused Killer
Tyler Robinson’s first court appearance offered more questions than answers about why he carried out the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The 22-year-old suspect was formally charged with capital murder this week, appearing on video before a Utah judge. Prosecutors laid out the bare bones of their case but left glaring gaps in motive and planning.
As one retired FBI agent put it: “I would certainly, and I'm sure the public would, like to know a lot more about exactly what motivated him.”
What we do know: Robinson allegedly scoped out the Utah Valley University campus, returned hours later, climbed onto a rooftop, and fired a single shot from a scoped bolt-action rifle that once belonged to his grandfather. Prosecutors say he texted his roommate—also described as his romantic partner—that he had been planning the attack for “a bit over a week.” Experts note the precision suggests prior reconnaissance.
In court filings, Robinson allegedly wrote that he killed Kirk because “I had enough of his hatred.” His mother told investigators her son had recently shifted left politically and grown more vocal in support of LGBTQ rights, while his partner was in the process of transitioning. Prosecutors have not tied any of these details directly to motive, leaving the exact trigger for his radicalization an open question.
Kirk, co-founder of Turning Point USA, was a lightning rod: hailed by conservatives as a defender of traditional values, condemned by civil rights groups for rhetoric they called racist, anti-immigrant, transphobic, and misogynistic. That polarization makes Robinson’s exact intent central—not only to this case, but to the broader debate about political violence in America.
Source: Reuters
Editor: The prosecution’s case is heavy on forensics but light on motive. That vacuum is being filled with speculation and political theater—exactly what Trump wants as he uses Kirk’s death to justify new crackdowns. The unanswered “why” matters, but let’s not pretend the administration isn’t already exploiting the tragedy before the facts are even in.
And let’s not talk at all about the “chat” that’s been printed that sounds like it was written by Ka$h Patel and Dan Bongino.
Fed Cuts Rates Amid Political Heat and Job Market Jitters
The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates for the first time in nine months, bowing to labor-market weakness and relentless political pressure from Trump.
The quarter-point cut brings the Fed’s benchmark rate down to 4%–4.25%, the lowest in nearly three years. Chair Jerome Powell admitted the “downside risk is now a reality,” pointing to cracks in job growth and a cooling labor market. Eleven of 12 voting members backed the move, though one newcomer—Trump ally Stephen Miran—pushed for a larger half-point cut.
But let’s be clear: This isn’t enough for Trump. The self-described “King of Debt” wants rates driven back to near-zero so he can juice the economy, goose the markets, and supercharge borrowing before the next election cycle.
Powell insists the Fed’s independence remains intact, but the backdrop tells a different story. Trump has spent months hammering Powell publicly, Senate Republicans just confirmed Miran straight from the White House, and the president even tried to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook over a mortgage dispute before the courts blocked him. Count on Trump kicking this all the way up to the Supreme Court, where they will side with him on “executive prerogative” or some other bullshit.
The once-sacrosanct line between the White House and the Fed looks more like a smudge, and Trump won’t stop until Powell and the rest are cutting to his preferred basement-level rates.
Trump’s War on the Fed: Lisa Cook, Mortgages, and Manufactured Scandal
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Markets cheered the decision, with stocks climbing on expectations of more cuts this year. But inflation hasn’t gone away—it ticked back up to 2.9% in July. Fed officials are gambling that modestly higher inflation is a safer risk than letting the job market unravel, especially as Trump’s tariffs and immigration restrictions cloud the economic picture.
Meanwhile, Trump is already crowing that Powell isn’t cutting fast or deep enough—proof that the rate-setting game is now as political as it is economic.
For consumers, the immediate effects will show up in credit-card interest and small-business loans (not really—that’s the “company line”). Long-term borrowing like mortgages may be slower to respond, though they’ve already eased as investors bet on further reductions.
The bigger question: Is the Fed making policy based on economics—or politics? Because the man in the Oval Office has made it clear that anything above rock-bottom rates won’t satisfy him. And they just capitulated in the face of rising inflation.
We know the answer.
Source: Wall Street Journal (gift article)
Editor: The Fed is trimming with scissors while Trump wants to bring a chainsaw. A quarter-point may calm markets for now, but the “King of Debt” won’t rest until money is practically free again—and he’s proven more than willing to break the central bank to get it.
Editor: Last but certainly not least…
Yeah, It’s Fascism—JD Vance Just Doesn’t Want You to Say It
John Kelly, Trump’s former chief of staff and a conservative Marine general, flat-out called Trump a fascist—and he had the receipts.
JD Vance, now Trump’s loyal VP, is outraged that critics use the f-word to describe his movement. But Kelly, who spent nearly 18 months inside Trump’s White House, laid it out clearly: Trump is “certainly an authoritarian,” openly admires dictators, and “certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure.” That’s not spin—that’s one of Trump’s own (former) top aides reading from the dictionary.
Kelly went on to say:
“Well, looking at the definition of fascism: It’s a far-right authoritarian, ultranationalist political ideology and movement characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hierarchy.
Certainly the former president is in the far-right area, he’s certainly an authoritarian, admires people who are dictators—he has said that. So he certainly falls into the general definition of fascist, for sure… He certainly prefers the dictator approach to government.
The pattern isn’t new. Italian writer Umberto Eco warned in the 1990s of “Ur-Fascism,” a fuzzy but recognizable set of traits: cult of tradition, irrationalism, branding disagreement as treason, obsession with conspiracies, fear of outsiders, and a glorification of weapons and machismo. MAGA checks every single box. Eco said fascism would return as a ghost; in 2025, it’s walking right into cabinet meetings.
Read his book here:
Meanwhile, Trumpworld keeps giving real-time demonstrations. Jimmy Kimmel was yanked off the air after FCC threats. Fed governor Lisa Cook had to sue to block Trump from firing her over a bogus mortgage excuse. Trump pledged to brand Antifa a “major terrorist organization,” despite it not being an actual organization.
And Tiffany Trump was yachting off the French Riviera while her father-in-law, Massad Boulos—Trump’s senior Africa adviser—was in Libya cutting oil and gas deals. That’s not just nepotism, it’s government and family business blurred into one floating oligarchy.
So when JD Vance asks, “What do you want them to do when you call them fascist?” the answer is simple: WAKE UP!
If you’re a MAGA supporter, reconsider before you become complicit. If you’re a fellow traveler, stop making excuses. If you’re neutral, neutrality is surrender. And if you oppose MAGA, then oppose it with everything you’ve got.
Kelly, Eco, and the evidence all say the same thing: The ghost of fascism isn’t a ghost anymore—it’s here, and it’s running the show.
Source: The Bulwark
Editor: When your government silences critics, purges regulators, brands its enemies as terrorists, and sends the presidential daughter’s in-laws to mix oil deals with diplomacy while the family parties on a megayacht—call it what it is. JD Vance doesn’t want you to use the word fascism because it hits too close to home.