Well, that didn’t take long. For about five minutes, it looked like Sinclair and Nexstar—the two broadcasting giants carrying many of America’s ABC affiliates—were going to flex their muscles by refusing to air Jimmy Kimmel Live! after Disney dragged him back on stage.

But reality set in faster than a Marvel reboot. Just as quickly as they drew their line in the sand, the affiliates erased it with a broom and went right back to business as usual. Kimmel is back on the air, and Disney is still cracking the whip from Burbank. If this were a Western, Sinclair and Nexstar would be the gunslingers who rode into town, tipped their hats to the sheriff, and handed over their pistols before high noon.

It’s corporate theater at its finest: act tough for a minute, then fold the moment Mickey Mouse clears his throat. This wasn’t a principled stand; it was a quick game of corporate chicken. And we all saw who swerved first.

But here’s where things get even more complicated: while Disney was flexing its Hollywood muscle, President Trump stepped into the street too. His line about “testing ABC out on this” was a warning. Suddenly, we’ve got two gunslingers squaring off: Hollywood on one end, Washington on the other, and free speech stuck in the middle with no cover.

And that’s the real danger. We can’t expect corporations to be the guardians of free speech; they’ll always protect profits over principle. And we can’t trust the government either. Disney and its Hollywood buddies will silence critics to protect the brand, and politicians will always be tempted to muzzle their enemies.

At the end of the day, the First Amendment isn’t safe when both sides are itching for a showdown. Mickey Mouse may be annoying, but Uncle Sam with a censor’s pen is downright dangerous, and if we’re not careful, free speech is going to be the poor soul left bleeding in the dust at high noon.