Tucker Purged
The purge of Tucker Carlson by Fox News came as a surprise to many, but not me. Having been in the conservative writing business now almost 50 years, it’s just normal behavior. Liberals pick up their wounded; conservatives shoot theirs. What’s different is Tucker is well off financially, both from his high salary and from family money (Swanson foods).
It’s still early in the story. No doubt we’ll know more soon. But some thoughts by me…
Tucker was by far the most prominent opponent of the Ukraine War, liberal or conservative. The liberals/progressives/leftists/Democrats almost to a man – excuse me, person – are for the war. Even Bernie Sanders, AOC and The Squad. The most prominent leftist opponent probably is Noam Chomsky, who pops up now and then on YouTubes at age 94.
Just a guess. But is getting rid of Tucker a prelude to direct Nato involvement in the Ukraine War? Maybe send in the U.S. Air Force to establish a No Fly Zone and 200,000 Poles in a ground offensive? I hope I’m wrong.
It’s worth remembering Fox News was not doing well until 9/11 and the subsequent Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Taking a cue from the Spanish-American War of 1898 and William Randolph Hearst – or Charles Foster Kane in “Citizen Kane” – it went all jingoistic, denouncing any conservatives who opposed the wars. (My opposition to that war in the Orange County Register I wrote about here.)
But a direct Nato war with Russia would be a lot different from fighting guys in sandals with Kalashnikovs in the mountains of Afghanistan or rooting out non-existent WMDs in Iraq – both of which wars we lost. What happens if the coffins start coming home to Dover Air Force Base? Will Fox News executives join the U.S. Army infantry?
Judging by what I’ve heard from my friends who also are Tucker fans, Fox News now is dead to them. There’s no point in it. No doubt the network will stress how it’s still “conservative.” But purging the most popular cable news host in the country sends a message: We’re pro-war and we’re going liberal.
Then again, I could be wrong on that. Maybe it’s just the Murdoch family didn’t like Tucker and his conservatism. The next generation supposedly is a lot more liberal. But it’s also worth remembering Rupert made his early fortune decades ago with his British tabloids printing pictures of young, naked women. That was the period between the departure of the old Christian morality that banned such things, and today’s woke/leftist/progressive/whatever morality that bans them for other reasons.
The entertainment branch of his network also put out such degenerate shows as “Married, With Children,” that corroded what was left of American morals. Although I always have enjoyed “The X-Files.” Not because of the stuff on aliens, which don’t exist. But because it undermined the legitimacy of the Clinton-era U.S. regime. And it was well done.
So I say: Good riddance to Murdoch, always a fake “conservative,” and the whole Fox News charade.
No doubt Tucker will end up somewhere with a new platform. I await his return.