Tucker Carlson devoted the latest episode of his X/Twitter show to events to the Hamas/Israel war. He opens by searching for “the wise path forward” and asking what we should “do next in this chaotic moment.” For some reason, he doesn’t directly answer his own question. We are to infer, however, that it’s none of our business. It might be best to avert our eyes.
Tucker’s comments constitute little more than an exercise in minimizing the genocidal massacre that Israel has sustained. He asserts that if it’s moral outrage you’re looking for, we can easily find it right here at home. The deaths of homeless drug addicts are apparently akin to the cold-blooded mass murder of men, women, children, and whole families.
Among other things, Tucker is an unreliable narrator. He transforms Nikki Haley’s advice to Israel that it must “finish” Hamas into advice to finish “Iran.” It’s not the worst of Tucker’s rhetorical maneuvers, but it indicative of the dishonesty that permeates his comments.
“War begets more war,” he advises. Such mindless shibboleths can guide us on the “wise path forward.” John Lennon was unavailable to confirm.
Tucker invited Vivek Ramaswamy further to expound on the wise path forward. Ramaswamy’s comments are newsworthy. Alana Goodman reports on them in the Free Beacon story “Ramaswamy Says GOP ‘Selective Moral Outrage’ on Israel Driven By Money, Lobbying Groups.” One can cut through Vivek’s yammering with a slogan: It’s all about the Benjamins. Where have we heard that before?
I asked a trusted friend to take a look at the video for a second opinion. He responded:
It’s not America First, it’s America Worst. As a long-time Tucker fan, I found the discussion beyond upsetting. From Tucker’s dismissive “of course everyone condemns the violence” to his focus on blaming Israel’s intelligence failure (is that a short skirt Israel was wearing?) he just fails to grasp what happened and why. Children are being shot and snatched from their homes, and Tucker acts as if it’s nothing more than a border dispute. I almost shut it off after the first five minutes, but I’m glad I listened all the way to the end to hear his stupid sex life quip that confirms that Tucker is now a joke.
What is going on here? It strikes me as something very dark. Tucker’s tailspin puts me in mind of Charles Lindbergh’s descent before the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor. I can’t help but think back to the “Anti-Semitism for Ye, but not for me” episode of Tucker Carlson Tonight on Fox News.