Should CBS Fire Colbert?

TV wise guy Stephen Colbert went on a tirade this week on his show against President Donald Trump over the way the President cut off an Oval Office interview with CBS news reporter John Dickerson. It was one sentence in particular that has led to demands from many quarters-including the gay lobby- that Colbert be fired.  This is when he cracked that Trump's mouth was only good for a "c--k holster" for Putin.



Get the picture? Here, courtesy of Variety, is the monologue.

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/late-show-stephen-colbert-homophobic-donald-trump-1202406991/

Granted, Trump's treatment of Dickerson was  unpresidential, but Trump is usually unpresidential. On the other hand, Colbert dropped even the pretense of any respect for the office of the president. He was wrong. So should CBS fire him?

I say no. Not that I am any fan of Colbert or any of the other talk show comics. I believe in freedom of speech, and I don't think Colbert has any animus toward gays in spite of his tasteless joke, which had no place on TV. I think an apology is in order, and I think Colbert needs some remedial training as to what type of language is FCC-approved on TV. But I wouldn't support his firing, nor would I support a boycott of companies that sponsor his show. If Colbert's audience enjoys his one-sided barbs at Trump, they are free to watch. If others find it offensive, they are free not to watch. Let the market decide. I would be gratified if Colbert's audience dried up, but I have seen too many examples of censorship from the left to support censorship from the right.