In all the stunning things about ABC’s swift removal of Kimmel, its longtime late-night host and Oscars-hosting face of the network, perhaps the least surprising was that a comedian was at the center of a battle over free speech. As long as jokes have been told, comedians have drawn the ire of the powerful. That has often put comedians on the front lines of free-speech battles, from George Carlin violating obscenity laws to a satirical puppet show trying to exist in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. In authoritarian regimes, crackdowns on speech usually make comedy a target. “If you have any concern or belief in real freedom or the Constitution and free speech, this is it,” said the stand-up comedian and podcaster Marc Maron.