Last edited Sun Jun 2, 2019, 08:14 PM - Edit history (1)
Your're all missing the point, yet again underscoring the need to be as explicit as possible in everything one writes around here, lest one run the risk of being misunderstood. Apparently, the least bit of irony and sarcasm must always be accompanied by multiple cute animated symbols to avoid confusing and offending others. That, and posting tens of thousands of comments over the years to bolster one's "cred." Tell me, is there some sort of secret handshake, too, Mike?
This has nothing to do with Tucker Carlson, his despicable comments or whether I (or any of you) would sell my soul for a huge amount of money to do the same. It's about pointing out that Hannity, Ingraham, Doocy, Geraldo, Carlson and all the rest of that crew on FOX News are nothing more than well-paid actors, trained seals barking on command, playing their parts in Rupert Murdoch's elaborately staged Kabuki play of good versus evil. Toss them a fish or two, or $6 million, and they'll eagerly clap for whatever the talking point of the day might be.
These talking heads are merely interchangeable cogs in Murdoch's propaganda and misinformation machine. Their job is simply to distract and divide, create fear and hatred, cause outrage and constantly upset the tender sensibilities of liberals and progressives. And they're really, really good at it, judging from the pavlovian responses elicited on most progressive social media sites.
Jon Stewart, then hosting the Daily Show, famously had a heated confrontation with Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala on their now-defunct CNN show, "Crossfire," back in 2004. Stewart referred to the hosts as "partisan hacks," blaming the show for being "divisive" and reducing arguments to "two-sided political theater."
"Here's what I wanted to tell you guys: Stop. Stop hurting America," Stewart said. Carlson reponded, saying he thought Stewart was a good comedian, but his lectures were "boring." Stewart then mocked Carlson for wearing a bow tie, later calling him a "dick," saying he wouldn't be Tucker's "monkey" after Carlson begged Stewart to "please, just be funny."
"You're doing theater when you should be doing debate," Stewart responded. "What you do is not honest. What you do is partisan hackery." When Carlson mocked The Daily Show, Stewart noted that he "only did comedy," adding "You're on CNN. The show leading into me is puppets making crank phone calls. What is wrong with you?"
Crossfire was canceled soon after Stewart's appearance. Many believed this exchange caused Carlson to leave CNN in humiliation. Paul Begala wrote about the heated confrontation in an op-ed on CNN titled, "The day Jon Stewart blew up my show." (You can watch the whole thing on the intertubes if you want.)
That's my only point. Reacting to Tucker Carlson's racist, nazi, white nationalist schtick is a complete waste of time. You cannot change the media landscape, and taking this shit seriously is a fool's errand. If you must do something useful, write dozens of letters to Tucker's FOX News advertisers, letting them know you won't buy their products so long as they continue to support Tucker's antics. That's how O'Reilly got fired, when he cost Rupert Murdoch too much money.
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