There have been various articles on the web stating that suddenly there is interest in Tucker Carlson running for president in 2024. Apparently, Carlson has the best ratings of ANY cable news show, and he draws a very large audience. Why should we be surprised? If there is anything to be learned from the last three plus years it is that a significant portion of Americans are dyed-in-the-wool racists. They are the same people who think the Idiot is a great president and a normal human being....other than being the brightest and most stable person on the planet.
My reaction to Carlson running is an immediate sense that he'd never make it past the initial phase of the process, because his track record as a racist is so utterly well documented and there are enough Americans--of all colors--to short-stop him. He's only recently had sponsors flee his show because of such blatant racist comments. He's as off the wall and as nasty and dishonest as the Idiot. You may as well refer to him as the Idiot v.2. But....it would be a grave error to assume that he's as incapable as the Idiot is. He's ever so much more dangerous.
We are living in a time in which all the conditions for chaos and planetary cataclysm--i.e. the climate crisis, the population bomb and the potential for starvation of not millions, but BILLIONS, racial and religious conflicts that have the potential to spiral out of control...not to mention pandemics--are all swirling around each other, becoming a complex and existential nightmare... and we either will rise to meet the challenges, or we will fail and reap the whirlwind. Recall that all of this political 'sturm und drang' is a mere distraction from the ultimate challenge: will we do what is necessary to mitigate--or at least soften--climate chaos? Failing to address the Climate Crisis will mean 'game over'.
If we elect another idiot we will simply be putting the finishing touches on a failed democracy, and diving down the rabbit hole of a hellish future. Carlson has all the qualities necessary to be the dictator that the Idiot wishes he could be. And, his appeal to the lowest instincts of racist and hateful people is unquestionably powerful. He has the ability to communicate, despite the fact that what he does communicate is divisive and hateful. He is a very accomplished liar....has no hesitation in making what is his warped opinion seem like gospel. He is brighter and more charismatic than the Idiot and for the audience he attracts, he is messianic.
There is a part of me that is very concerned about this eventuality. Another part--the part I hope is dominant and will persist--that feels we are too far along the path of Hope and Change to simply turn away from it. I do NOT believe that sensible and intelligent Americans will make the same mistake we already made with the Idiot v.1 and anoint a leader who is so clearly a dangerous racist and a hateful divider. Trump is merely a clown and he's proven that far too many times to doubt it. But, Carlson is a master liar and manipulator who is not all tied up with mental illness...at least not in the same wholly debilitating manner that v.1 is.
The part of me that is concerned just feels this pang of sadness that such an asshole as Tucker Carlson could become the 'go to' voice of the right. To adopt him as one's source of 'news' and to accept what he spews means, of necessity, that one is in agreement with him....and I have a deep sense of dread that he is more capable and far more dangerous than the Idiot v.1.
So, don't take your eye off of this 'ball', because we do not want to wake up one cold morning in 2024 and realize that we must have fallen asleep and now this megalomaniac is in charge.
Oh, no!
No comments:
Post a Comment