Tyrants don’t like to be laughed at

See if this rings a bell:
In 1994 the voters in Italy elected, as their leader, a flamboyant demagogic mogul with no governing experience. Silvio Berlusconi vowed to lurch Italy rightward, and the nation’s neo-fascists rejoiced. He was not a fan of free speech. During his multiple stints as prime minister, he routinely attacked the media, particularly when it investigated his ongoing conflicts of interest, declaring at one point that reporters were using TV “as a criminal means of communication.”
He was constantly targeted for prosecution, and fought off his pursuers by sliming them as commies. By 2002 only a few voices of dissent were still on TV. One was Daniele Luttazzi, a comedian whose show, Satyricon, specialized in mockery. Berlusconi, fed up with being laughed at, said publicly that Luttazzi was making “criminal use” of the airwaves, and furthermore, “I believe it’s the (TV network’s) precise duty to stop this from happening again.”
Network management did its “precise duty” by purging Luttazzi.
Something else happened in 2002. Russian President Vladimir Putin was highly displeased about a satirical TV puppet show called Kukly (translation: Dolls) that lampooned Russia’s leaders, most notably him. Laughter was thereby banned. As far as we know, nobody on the show accidentally fell from an open window, but what we do know is that the puppet’s players vanished from the air, never to return.
In retrospect, Woody Allen was prescient in one of his early movies. He played a court jester who dared to tease the king: “It’s great to be back here at the palace! You know the palace, it’s 24 living rooms and a dungeon…But seriously, I love the new exercise His Majesty does to keep in shape. It’s called taxing the peasants.” To which the king roared, “I can’t take it any longer! Not funny!” – and beheaded the jester.
And we’re supposed to be shocked about what happened to Stephen Colbert?
Anyone who flunks Tyrants 101 should be force-fed an introductory course in reality. Only clueless naifs, who in this country number in the tens of millions, could possibly have believed that someone like Colbert would be immune in a second Trump term. Typically, pigs in power are malignant narcissists with egos thinner than eggshells. They can’t abide mockery; their gut impulse is to shut it down.
Fascist oppression isn’t hard to do, especially in a degraded democracy that once revered free speech. All that’s required are corporate money-grubbers who revere the bottom line and quake in fear of a convicted criminal.

Which brings us to corporate parent company Paramount’s fatuous claim canceling Colbert was “purely a financial decision.”
Yes, Colbert’s show was losing money. Young people don’t watch late-night TV, online media has fragmented the viewing audience, and I’m embarrassed to say I typically watch Colbert’s monologue on YouTube the following day. But savings could easily have been achieved by axing more losers from CBS’ prime-time lineup (at least six shows with plummeting ratings have been renewed) – or by simply moving money around, as huge corporate entities have long been wont to do. The top priority, however, was to kiss Trump’s feet and protect Paramount’s pending merger with a Trump-friendly media company.
The health of a democracy hinges on norms and the honor system, but today there is no honor.
The upside is Colbert will likely weather this storm with his credentials enhanced. Over the next 10 months he’ll play out his CBS contract by amping up the mockery – confirming the lyrics penned long ago by Kris Kristofferson: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose” – and dining to the point of gluttony on the unceasing anti-fascist feast. On Monday night’s show, it seemed like every top satirical comic showed to close ranks, and there was barely any time to savage Trump for anything besides Jeffrey Epstein.
Colbert did take a moment, however, to refer to his overlords as “the Paramount Family of Global Entertainment Properties and AI Weapons Systems.” The suits are gonna have a long 10 months.
And when his martyr gig runs its course, I assume he’ll swing a deal with a streamer that refuses to grovel, because at the end of the day it’s impossible to cancel laughter, even in our dire straits. We’ll continue to mock the thin-skinned tyrant because:
“Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away, and a sunny spirit takes their place.”
Mark Twain said that. And Colbert will sustain it.

Copyright 2025 Dick Polman, distributed exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.