Brunswick Beacon, 05.04.23
Tucker Carlson learned the cost for slinging mud that day: three-quarters of a billion dollars, Fox agreed to pay. The Big Lie wasn’t just a ploy to win the ratings game. It drove an insurrection, it defamed Dominion’s name.
Tucker told big lies before, and he told big lies after. “Immigration makes us poor,” and nonsense even dafter. “White supremacy’s a hoax,” and “why should I hate Putin?” “Elites want to replace white folks,” and “women cause mass shootin’.”
“They smell” your fear, “they’re primitive, not hard to understand.” And, “women are like dogs that way, they’ll bite you” out of hand.
He liked to talk about declines in men’s testosterone, which made folks speculate about the level of his own. He recommended boosting it by tanning private parts. I recommend that he go first: I’m confident it smarts!
In public, he called Donald Trump both “sensible and wise.” In private, talking to his staff, he cut Trump down to size. “I hate him,” Tucker told them, right after the election. “I can’t wait to ignore him”—then came the insurrection. He called him “a demonic force.” He called him “a destroyer.” When that leaked out it caused much grief for Fox, his then-employer.
So, Tucker Carlson paid the price. Which outrage got him fired? His love for Putin means, at least, there’s one place he’d be hired.
“Our Tucker has been fired,” cried Russian state TV. “Beloved Tucker, work with US!” they pleaded, hopefully.
Steve Bannon raged! “Who are you guys?” he sputtered with a scoff. He urged us all to boycott Fox, “Just turn the clicker off!”
O, elsewhere in our favored land the sun is shining bright. A band is playing elsewhere, and elsewhere hearts are light. Elsewhere folks are laughing, and elsewhere children shout. But there is no joy in Mudville—Tucker Carlson got thrown out!
Linda McConnell Baker
Leland