While Charlie Kirk may have been a well-known figure in his particular arena, he didn't have access to the 1.04 million or more viewers that wise guy Jimmy Kimmel lured in nightly. The frat boys that once tuned in to Kimmel, Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon made it a point to end their pizza and beer-fueled pre-bed time with an economy sized dose of fraternity humor.
Those circumstances didn't seem to make the TV stars particularly effective in a political sense. Regurgitating jokes written earlier that afternoon might be funny in a post-modern sense but don't seem to have a serious effect on the audience. When is the last time someone attempted to turn off the lights forever on an over-paid bozo that needs a shave?
In a somewhat different circumstance, what if someone like the recently departed Robert Redford or Gene Hackman or David Lynch would have been the subject of criticism or humor on the basis of their perceived failings?
