The Media Landscape Without Tucker Carlson
John Kerry (Climate Czar for the Biden administration): The planet is at risk. I mean, it is at risk. We had 18 over-a-billion-dollar climate events in the United States last year alone. You see the record heat. So if you can’t see all those things and take them in and be motivated, something’s off, I think.
Jen Psaki (political analyst for MSNBC): Now I remember well that you have a bit of a sweet tooth. I do too. Do you want to go get some ice cream?
If you think MSNBC is a legitimate news source, you have no business critiquing Tucker Carlson. None. If you get your news from a source comparable to MSNBC, and all corporate media is comparable to MSNBC, you’re simply not qualified to weigh in on the subject of Tucker Carlson. Chances are you know nothing more of him than what you’ve heard from people exactly like Jen Psaki because you haven’t taken the time to form an opinion for yourself. You’re most likely more educated on ice cream than you are on politics.
The brief interchange between Psaki and Kerry is not especially unique for corporate mainstream news, although this one does tend to stick out for me. Something comparable can be found somewhere in mainstream news every day. The man appointed to deal with the climate emergency states how dire the situation is, and the reporter’s next comment is about ice cream. Nothing is worse than this. Nothing Tucker Carlson has said or done can be worse than this. Nothing said by a hooded Klansman burning a cross on someone’s lawn can be worse than this, because willful hate on a small scale does not compare to willful ignorance on such a vital issue.
I am not of Carlson’s tribe — never have been, never will be. I used to especially despise him in the early 2000’s when I’d see his smug face on FOX News pushing for the Iraq War with all the other neo-cons. But unlike all the neo-cons of that era — David Frum, Max Boot, William Krystol, etc., who still justify their support for the war despite their pretexts being revealed to be lies, Tucker had a change of heart. I’ve heard him apologize for it, said that if he could do it over again he would not be so smug and would not have pushed for the war. And he’s been backing that up by being much more skeptical now when it comes to his country’s justifications for war and proxy war. That makes him unique not only on FOX News but in U.S. news in general. And that makes him a unique threat that had to be dealt with.
Like liberal Phil Donahue before him, Tucker Carlson had the most popular show on his station. In fact, Tucker had the biggest ratings in cable news. Ever. But also, like Phil Donahue, Tucker spoke a little too loudly against the war machine. Carlson, like Donahue, had to go. Just like Jessie Ventura. Just like anybody who questions war propaganda. There is not one anti-war voice left in establishment media. That was Tucker’s unpardonable crime. Everything else you hear about him is window dressing.
Liberals are cheering Rupert Murdoch for firing Tucker, but FOX News isn’t going to get any less racist, homophobic or misogynistic. They’re just going to plug in a more obedient drone to replace him, with all the flaws of Tucker and none of the capacity or willingness to hold an opinion of his own. In fact, I can’t think of an establishment journalist who’s capable of expressing an opinion that deviates from what their employer wants them to say. Not one.
If I had a choice between an individual and a drone, I’d choose the individual any day, whatever his flaws. An individual can perhaps be reasoned with, bargained with, cajoled, appeased. A drone has no mind or will of his own. A drone is capable of any evil. Nazi Germany had many more obedient drones than it did overt racists or anti-Semites. Establishment news is peopled with nothing but drones now. There is no horror imaginable that they would not be party to.
P.S. You know how Jen Psaki was able to completely dismiss the unspeakable threat that climate change poses to the entire planet? I’m sure she’s equally capable of dismissing the threat of nuclear war. All of them are. And by the way, of all those who pushed the Iraq War on FOX News back in the day, only Tucker is not welcomed in establishment media.