Life comes at you fast, Jimmy Kimmel

Kimmel scored loads of positive press recently when he came out against the GOP’s latest effort to replace the Affordable Care Act. Kimmel has also come out in favor of stricter gun control measures. His speeches have been so somber, and so well-received, that CNN’s Bill Carter dubbed the ABC funnyman “America’s conscience.”

But following late-night television’s deafening silence in response to allegations that Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein is a prolific sexual predator, Kimmel said Friday he doesn’t want to hold the title bestowed on him by CNN.

“First of all, the Harvey Weinstein thing, people like this false equivalence of that’s somehow equivalent to what happened in Las Vegas,” he said Friday in an interview with “Good Morning America’s” Amy Robach.

Kimmel delivered a tearful monologue calling for stricter gun control laws within 24 hours of a deranged man shooting and killing more than 50 people at a country music festival in Clarke County, Nevada.

The Weinstein story, “came out, like, I think moments before we went to tape on Thursday and we didn’t have a show on Friday,” he said in his defense.

The Weinstein story did indeed break last Thursday. Like many of his colleagues in the late-night comedy business, Kimmel didn’t touch the story until Monday of this week. However, as noted by the Daily Beast, Kimmel went after the story mostly as a means to attack Donald Trump Jr.

“Next time you’re defending your father and you think it’s a good idea to draw a comparison between him and a freshly accused sexual predator, don’t. It doesn’t help,” Kimmel said.

He then made a joke about Weinstein.

“I’m not in the movie business,” Kimmel, who hosted the Oscars this year, said in response to critics who said his righteous indignation extends only so far, and that it doesn’t include anything about sexual harassment or sexual abuse.

Weinstein is “not a friend of mine,” added the comedian, who has been tapped to host the Oscars next year.

It’s a difficult tightrope to walk, being a serious-not-serious person.

For those who aren’t familiar with the clown nose on/clown nose off shtick, it goes something like this:

A late-night comedian uses his platform to take on major political issues. His supposed takedowns are shared all over the Internet. People love it. People hate it. He is seen as a serious participant in major, ongoing national debates. People begin to cite him as a pro or a con in said debate. The clown nose is off.

But then another issue comes up. It’s a separate matter, but it’s still important. For whatever reason, the late-night comedian is suddenly shy, usually because he is compromised in some way. Perhaps the story reflects poorly on him. Perhaps it reflects poorly on his party, his network or a personal friend. He doesn’t have much to say, if he says anything at all. Confronted with his newfound silence, he shrugs and responds, “Hey, I’m just a comedian.” The clown nose is back on.

Basically, it’s a routine that says, “I am to be taken seriously until I say so.” It insulates the speaker from serious criticism, because no one wants to be the person criticizing a court jester. It’s a fool’s errand.

This is how Jon Stewart operated all those years behind the desk of the “Daily Show.” He made a handsome living savaging conservative positions, and his rants became the stuff of Internet traffic legend. But he was never held to the same standard as other serious political commentators precisely because he sermonized from a comedy pulpit.

Sure, you can complain that Stewart actively avoided stories like the Anthony Weiner scandal, despite that the story was pure comedy gold, while focusing all of his attention on Republican failures. But what are you going to do? Hold him to the same standards as a serious anchorman?

So what if a significant number of viewers considered Stewart a legitimate source of news information, even though the host was an unabashed partisan political operative? This is a comedy show! Don’t be so serious!

Anyway, enjoy these brilliant takedowns of the Second Amendment, religious liberty and conservative Supreme Court Justices!

Honk! Honk!