Even though I am a Canadian, a lot of the television I watch has been created in the United States. I try not to watch American news channels, but I do enjoy a lot of American fiction and satire. There are some brilliant movies and television series that I like, and some channels that rebroadcast several British TV shows which strike a chord in me.
I also enjoy some late-night US talk shows with hosts who thumb their collective noses at whomever happens to be in power. I’m getting on in years, so I have seen these men and women flip the bird at politicians of all kinds, from across the political spectrum. Lately they have been focussed in one direction, and I chuckle at their insubordination every time.
In recent weeks, though, I have read about some of those television channels bowing under various pressures. They have been bullied, bribed, threatened, and blackmailed. Their funding has been removed or reduced. Their programming has been decimated. Their star performers have been let go or put on notice.
Now, the jewels in the American TV crown are being snatched away. Removed. Going or gone. Apparently, someone couldn’t take a joke.
I know how they feel. I can take a joke once or twice, but if it is repeated often enough I get quite indignant. Not so much that I want to destroy anyone’s career, but enough to want to limit interaction with the person who mocked me.
I don’t have the power to do anything more than that, and that is a good thing. I can simply limit interaction and let the bad vibes pass me by. That’s how thicker skins are developed. But what would I do if I couldn’t avoid the lampooning? I would want to remove that hurt from my world.
How would you remove a hurt from your world if the hurt was on national and even international television, and if you had enormous wealth, and if you had immense political power? I know it’s hard to imagine, but I think that is what we are seeing.
There ought to be a special word for what happens when a gem is removed from its setting, but as far as I can tell it is, simply, “removal.” That’s it. It’s gone. What about when the removal is brutal and unnecessary? What if the removal is illegal? Or if the jewel is reflecting uncomfortable images?
We are watching someone rip out a jewel because it reflected their flaws, and now the American television crown will not easily be restored.
Snowbird of Paradise 
Anne, Thank you for this blog entry. Living in the USA, I believe I lose perspective. I keep reading about the Felon traveling to other countries to “make deals” and that just sounds so improper or inappropriate to me. It even sounds underhanded and cheap. But it is actually happening and countries along with companies both in the USA and abroad are capitulating. Some reporters phrase that as “bending the knee” to the Orange Felon. Since when do we permit our elected officials to carry on like thugs/criminals (well, he is one of those)? I am disgusted and ashamed and feel as though I could strike out at anyone who utters the word ‘MAGA’ in my presence. Amazon, under Bezos’ leadership, bent its knee. Why has the world not boycotted Amazon? CBS, a television network, has succumbed. I could go on but I will spare you. I did hear that tonight on late night television many comedians are gathering in protest. Is that true? I don’t know but I am going to record Colbert’s program just in case. Living in America is no longer anything of which to be proud.
This is certainly turning out to be an inflection point in history. People here still love America and Americans, but feel betrayed by the current leadership. As you say, though, businesses still have to find a way to trade, so these deals are ramping up the rhetoric.
In Canada, many people are avoiding American businesses such as Starbucks when there is a local or national alternative. Amazon is definitely seeing less business here, but it has become the go-to place for a lot of things so it will survive.
Enjoy Colbert while you can!