Tag: Tucker Carlson

Tucker’s First Twitter Commentary

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Tucker’s first opinion piece on Twitter dropped today.  It started out talking about the media pretending that Russia blew up their own dam in Ukraine just like they pretended that Russia blew up the NordStream pipeline.  Then he used this as a jumping off point to show how the media feeds the American public the talking points that the regime wants promulgated and ignores anything that isn’t sanctioned.  As a case in point he mentioned the recent UFO story.  And to drive the point home he compared it to the way information was handled in the Soviet Union.

It was a nice coherent ten minute piece.  It goes without saying there isn’t an opinion piece on any of the cable or broadcast news shows that I would listen to for ten minutes because it would be too painful.

Well done Tucker.  Keep it coming.  And well done Elon.  Without you there would be no place this could be seen.

Podcast Musings on a Friday Morning

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So, I started my Friday as I usually do, listening to the mellifluous tones of the ZMan Power Hour podcast while I exercise.  And as luck would have it, today’s show was made up of several segments about things in the news.  I like this kind of show because he puts his slant on these topics and it gives him a chance to be amusing at the expense of the clowns involved.

For instance, he commented on the recent Banking Sub-Committee meeting that featured Senator John Fetterman.  After a few clips of Fetterman attempting to articulate complete sentences about the recent bank failures ZMan opined that the real takeaway was that the Democrats want Fetterman there because having a brain damaged hobo in the Senate further disrupts the norms of our society.  After all, if the most powerful deliberative body in the world can include a man who can no longer master the use of the definite article, “the” in his sentences then why shouldn’t the country go for decades without negotiating a budget for the federal government.

And I get his point.  But the reward for me is listening to someone who can interlard his speech with a description like “brain-damaged hobo.”  There’s an eloquence, a style there.  We have to enjoy our lives and having someone as witty as that provides the opportunity.  And he has a number of these witticisms.  Some he borrows from impeccable sources.  He has taken Oscar Wilde’s phrase, “It would take a heart of stone not to laugh at …” and used it to very good effect on a number of occasions.  He invented that excellent trope “Xirl Science” where he reads from the published papers of mostly female practitioners of usually social sciences like “gender studies.”  The contents are sometimes hilarious in their use of pseudoscientific jargon and obvious lack of rigor or even coherence.  But my all-time favorite ZMan-ism was when he called David French an obsequious rumpswab.  It doesn’t get better than that.

I don’t always agree with all of the ZMan’s conclusions.  But his analysis of what’s going on is usually very insightful.  And his podcast is extremely well done.  The audio quality is good.  His thought process is clear and well enunciated and there is enough humor with the often-distressing message about our times to keep us from gagging on the medicine.

So, he did a segment on Tucker Carlson’s banishment from Fox News and their replacing him.  And while discussing this he made the point that eliminating Tucker Carlson may have also been a business decision based on the reality of cable news economics.  Not enough people are getting their news from cable channels to make it a lucrative business.  The highest rated news channels get one or two million viewers.  There are YouTube channels that get ten times that.  If Fox News pays Tucker Carlson millions of dollars a year, then there isn’t that much left for their bottom line.  And they would prefer to pay chump change to some kid to read off the teleprompter instead.  And I think he’s right.  They’ll be “retiring” all the high salary pundits and hiring kids who just want a job.

And that makes sense.  If a place like Twitter will give a megaphone to independent contractors like Tucker Carlson it may not be long before cable news is a thing of the past.  And that’s good.  The news channels have been shown to be a racket with their sham objectivity and their willingness to lie for the powers that be.  In a sense what I do is no different from what the pundits perform.  The only difference is the economics.  And honestly, that seems to be shifting too.

The ZMan provides a quality product.  The value proposition he provides is very equitable.  He provides entertainment and valuable information.  That’s much more than you get from many cable news shows.  So, it was a good lesson I took away.

Now to figure out a way to make it pay!

Bud Light vs Fox News

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Nice graphical illustration of the scope of Fox News’ vs Budweiser’s problem. Both had conservative customer bases that were offended by statements the company made. But Bud Light kept their product, Fox dumped their best product.  Much bigger problem.

Tucker’s New Gig

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I saw this article about Tucker Carlson “floating the idea of hosting a Republican primary forum.”  And I thought about all the ways such an idea could go right and wrong.  But what I thought would be much more productive would be for him to assemble a panel of those on the Right who aren’t fake and allow them to speak to us about what they can and can’t do to make things better; straight talk.

Think about it.  Carlson knows all these people.  He knows who the phonies are, people like Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Nikki Haley and Mike Pence.  He knows things about the power structure in Washington that we don’t.  He could easily get all of the candidates with the possible exception of Donald Trump to accept an invitation.  And without a doubt he could come up with an agenda that would be illuminating for both the attendees and the public.

I’d say this could be a series of discussions where the first few episodes should completely steer clear of the 2024 election.  Instead, what is needed is an honest discussion of all the things that are pushing the country down the dark road it’s on.  Congressmen and senators could talk honestly about the barriers that prevent honest change from happening.  They could talk candidly about the way lobbyists control the direction and specifics of legislation.  Past officeholders from the executive branch could shine a light on exactly who runs the federal bureaucracy.  And I mean name names.  And they could provide suggestions on how that mess could be repaired.  The ultimate coup would be if Carlson could convince Trump to speak candidly about the way that the federal government stonewalled his attempts to enact his various policy directives.  Then he could give his ideas on how this interference could be prevented in the future.

And even more important, I’d like to see a bunch of Republican governors sitting down together; Ron DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Bill Lee, even a waffler like Kristi Noem could be there.  They truly are the most powerful office holders on our side.  Carlson could ask them to speak to the problems they face and also what things they see as opportunities.  And he could ask them how they plan to help their constituents escape the effects of federal government interference in their lives.  And how they plan to coordinate their efforts.

I wouldn’t be surprised if most of these officeholders refused to get involved in such a project.  Even politicians who aren’t out and out crooks like McConnell and Graham don’t want to stick their necks out and get put under the spotlight.  After all, speaking the truth is treason in Washington D.C.  But with so much of the Republican electorate now solidly red-pilled to what’s really going on in Washington it is in the interest of these politicians to convince their constituencies that they aren’t just part of the problem.  Because a lot of people are coming to the conclusion that voting in Republicans is a useless activity.  If that idea gets too ingrained even red state senators and congressmen may find themselves out on their ears.

So, this is just a lot of hot air.  But Carlson could provide a public service (and make an enormous amount of money) if he can convince some of these conservative lawmakers to push back the curtain and let us know the ugly truth about our government.  The truth is a remarkably valuable commodity.  Providing the gory details to the American public would be a public service of enormous consequence.

Think of it as one of those livestream podcasts where the viewers get to ask questions.  Carlson could take the top five questions based on number of questioners and at the end of the show have his guests answer them.

And I guess he should host a 2024 debate show.  I’d be interested in his questions and his refereeing of the candidates.  It would be hell of a lot better than what the mainstream media does every four years.

Ya Gotta Laugh

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We live in such strange times.  Sometimes the headlines are a patchwork of tragedy, comedy and just plain weird.  I guess you’d have to call the Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney story a comedy.  So is the Tucker Carlson story.  In each case you have a corporation applying the woke rules and shooting itself right in the groin.

Then there’s the story of the Marine who stopped a lunatic on a New York subway car by putting him in a chokehold.  Now he’s probably going to be put on trial for murder.  That sounds like a tragedy.  And everything else is somewhere in between.

The banking industry meltdown and the studiously ignored stagflation is a looming catastrophe that we’re supposed to shrug off.  And the daily appearance of another whistleblower to announce that the Biden administration is constantly breaking the law and simultaneously shielding itself from these crimes is a tragicomedy so outrageously obvious that no one would believe it if it were the plot of a movie.

And heaven only knows what tomorrow will reveal.  Today we heard that the Ukrainians launched a drone attack on the Kremlin to assassinate Vladimir Putin.  The repercussions of that attempt may turn out to be the biggest tragedy of the century.  As it is, the Ukraine war has the potential to destabilize the balance of power in the world.  This new twist may cause an escalation that takes on a life of its own.

But none of these things changes the fact that we all have to live.  We fret about the tragedies and wonder about the looming catastrophes that threaten from every side.  But we still have to laugh.

So, I read about Anheuser Busch’s corporate leaders declaring that all of this was a mistake and that there was no campaign to make Mulvaney a spokesman for Bud Light.  And they’ve promised to triple the advertising budget and fill up the television commercials with young people wearing cowboy hats at Zac Brown Band concerts.  And I can’t help but laugh.  Anheuser-Busch-InBev has hundreds of beer products.  They could have selected a dozen craft beers and dedicated them solely to transgender awareness and the drinkers of Bud Light would never have known or cared.  But someone at corporate, probably that ditz Alissa Heinerscheid or maybe her boss Daniel Blake, decided that it was time to replace all those rednecks with the millions of Audrey Hepburn impersonators who must drink Bud Light while soaking in the bathtub in full pancake makeup.

They just couldn’t help themselves.  When you’re a woke evangelist, you’re always fighting the good fight.  And so, they not only announced the Mulvaney sponsorship they released the video of Alissa Heinerscheid denigrating the present patrons of Bud Light as being not only benighted knuckle draggers who suffered from being terminal “fratty” but also were declining in numbers and therefore responsible for their product’s declining market share.  This will be a beautiful thing to watch.  Anheuser Busch won’t go out of business.  But this will be so painful that the people in the front office will never forget it.  And hopefully a lot of people who have right-wing customers for their products will also take note.  And I just have to laugh.  They did this to themselves, the chumps.

And right at the very same time Fox News fires Tucker Carlson.  The replacement for his show is getting 48% of the audience that he used to bring in.  And it’s had a knock-on effect on the rest of the line-up.  And it’s getting worse.  Enormous numbers of people are canceling their memberships in the premium plans that Tucker contributed to.  Fox is losing a lot of viewers.  And Tucker Carlson has the potential to take his audience wherever he decides to go next.  And I just have to laugh.  They did this to themselves, the mooks.

So, in the midst of the meltdown that is Joe Biden’s America there is still a way to have a laugh now and then.  It’s a wry chuckle and it’s mixed with a groan.  But it’s a laugh nonetheless.  And we go on and we live our lives.  So, until the Russian ICBMs start landing in Dunwich, I’ll continue doing my best to enjoy my life and share a laugh with you.  And Alissa Heinerscheid, this Bud’s for you, ya dope.

A Former Fox Insider Speculates on Tucker Upending Fox’s Position

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Ken LaCorte has an excellent blog that talks about right-wing stuff in an intelligent way.  Here he speculates on Tucker teaming up with Newsmax or some other smaller right-wing station and pulling with him his fans.

“Could Tucker join forces with some of his former Fox News colleagues and create a new conservative media powerhouse? With the combined star power of figures like Bill O’Reilly, Megyn Kelly, Glenn Beck, and Greta Van Susteren, a rival network could pose a serious challenge to Fox News’ dominance in the conservative media sphere.”

I think the answer is yes.  My question is Newsmax the right vehicle.  I’m wondering if someone like Elon Musk could be a better vehicle.  And instead of the listed journalists I think people like Taibbi and Greenwald provide more journalistic clout.  But we’ll see.

 

 

 

 

What’s Next for Tucker Carlson?

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Well, now there’s no reason to watch Fox News anymore.  It should be interesting to see how Carlson decides to go forward from here.  I’m assuming he’s not hurting for money.  He should probably start a channel on Rumble and put up a paywall.  He’s one of the more interesting people in broadcasting.  People will pay to get his content.

The other possibility is he goes into politics.  That I see as more problematic.  Politics is a very dirty game.  If you don’t need to use it to make lots of dirty money it won’t be an interesting career.

I think Carlson could form some kind of relationship with the likes of Matt Taibbi, Glenn Greenwald, Salena Zito, Sharyl Attkisson and a few other real journalists to produce a media outlet that would provide the kind of reporting and opinion that can’t be found anywhere else in the media.  They would have believability.  That’s something that is so sorely lacking everywhere else.

If done right and without all the overhead that comes with a Fox News or a CNN, Carlson and a few reporters could break away from the dying landscape of network and cable news shows that no one needs or wants anymore.  News and analysis.  With the internet and a few resources like Rumble and maybe Elon Musk’s Twitter who needs studios and boardrooms?

Come to think of it, Carlson interviewed Musk last week.  Maybe those two could strike up a deal where Tucker’s content was available exclusively on Twitter with some of it behind a paywall.  It could make both of them a lot of money.  And it could serve as a model for the future.  I’ve heard that Musk wants to add a “substack” option to Twitter.  Having someone like Tucker Carlson as his first big “channel” might be just the thing he needs to steer talent to his platform.

So anyway, Tucker’s “firing” could be a very opportune moment to start seeing a new journalism.  Without the bloat of the dinosaur media, a cadre of people who want to tell interesting stories that have some resemblance to objective reality could provide a service that people would be willing to pay for.  I, even I, would pay a little bit for that.

Now it’s also certain that all the usual suspects on the Left will be gunning for Tucker Carlson.  I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a target for the Justice Department’s attack dogs.  Their hatred for him probably rivals how they feel about Donald Trump.  After all he’s another traitor to his class.  They’ve already once gone after his family at home.  He had to move away from Washington to protect them.  This is not a trivial threat.  Hopefully he’s made enough money to be able to afford professional security services.  But no one is safe from the abuse that the FBI can bring to bear.  We’ll have to see whether these problems crop up for him.

Well, these are interesting times.  Tucker Carlson has been the only truthful voice in mainstream news commentary.  I hope that he will be able to find a way to continue shining a light on the criminal activities of the Washington regime.  There isn’t any other voice out there that has both his reach and credibility.  Hopefully someone like Musk who has the reach and also the money to set up a platform for him will come along and take advantage of this interesting opportunity.

Tucker Carlson Spells Out Why the Shooter’s Manifesto Hasn’t Been Released

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Tucker Carlson is almost alone in the mainstream media as someone who is willing to say obvious truths when he is confronted with them.  Here he talks honestly about psychotic and often drugged up Leftists shooting up our former country.  And why that is not a good reason to take away guns from normal Americans.