Intent to commit harm......

 

   In society at large, if a person does something that is clearly and pre-meditatively intended to cause harm to others, even animals, that person can be held to account for their actions.  If it can be demonstrated in a court of law that this perpetrator had the worst of intentions, they can receive a significant jail sentence, depending on how much harm was inflicted.

  So, why is it, then, that the people with access to millions of viewers and listeners are not held to the same standard?  I suppose there are all sorts of legal nuances that come into play, including the right to exercise free speech as per the First Amendment.  But, it seems clear that we are sitting on our hands as nasty people like Tucker Carlson spew all kinds of anti-vax misinformation.  And, it's not a difficult task to find specific individual cases where someone has listened to these idiots, refused to wear a mask or get vaccinated.....and caught Covid and ultimately died.  Just yesterday, I read of a bride who caught Covid and died after listening to misinformation.  And, there is a steady drum-beat of stories that echo this same sequence of events.  Naive person hears someone on television, thinks to themselves: "Jeezum, he (or she) must know what they're talking about, right?  I mean, they're on TV.......right?"  Sadly this is becoming so common that one hardly notices as it pops up again and again.

  This is a clear-cut case of the 'pundit' spreading misinformation which is believed by people who are apparently too helpless to do their own research and instead choose to take the deadly advice of an asshole like Tucker Carlson.  He pretends to have their best interests in mind and he's full of advice to anybody foolish enough to listen to a word he says.  But, ol' Tuck has a different agenda in mind than what his followers imagine he has.  He is recruiting for the far-right.  His on-air spiels are laced with innuendo and not at all subtle connections to White Supremacy, and, lately, he's getting very fascist in his leanings, even more so than in previous years. Several liberal pundits have come right out and called Tucker a Nazi.  And, if what is meant by that is that he's a devoted white supremacist who is willing to use any and all manner of subterfuges to stall the progress of diversity in America....then, yes, he's a NAZI.  In fact, Josef Goebbles would be proud of how Tucker Carlson lies so profusely and with such hubris and self-righteous piety.

  For reasons only his feverish brain can comprehend, Tucker Carlson is one of those people who believes that having a strong, authoritarian leader and government is the best path forward for America.  It's not difficult to imagine why he feels that way.

  Allow me to take a stab at this:  Tucker, like so many of his listeners, is terrified that America is becoming a different country than the one that has been ruled by old white men since its inception.  The handwriting is on the wall, and it's saying that the Brown Wave is coming.  So, get your guns ready, be prepared to lie, cheat and steal if you must, because anything that is necessary to push this immense change back to where it came from is what you will need to do.  

  It seems almost too obvious to mention--again--but, a significant portion of red-state America is moving towards acceptance of the idea that legal and honest elections are no longer viable.  They will simply allow the people of color and ethnicity who are rocking the boat to gain the upper hand.....and, that--for red-neck America is unacceptable.   

  So, if lying, gerrymandering, court-packing, bogus laws that allow state legislators to overturn election results because they 'disagree' with them, are what is called for then so be it.  They are not hindered by any apparent input from their individual or collective consciences.  Honesty is cast aside like a red-headed step-child and we're off to the races...on our way to creating a full-blown autocracy.  Yes, a dictatorship.

  And, guess who wants to run that abomination.  Why, yes, it's the mentally ill idiot in Florida who thinks he's master of all and God's gift to America.  

  However, it's not a given that he'll even be able to run.  He's pretty sure that he controls the entire GOP now and can launch an assault against any politician who is foolish enough to challenge his supremacy.

But, there is also a tsunami of legal problems that is bearing down on his little beach at Mar-a-Lago.  He's got some serious legal minds who have him in their sights and they apparently are stock-piling some potent ammunition while they plan how to indict and prosecute him.....for a whole slew of things, everything from taxes and stealing to trampling sundry laws and rules....not to mention his lying to the American people almost every time he opens his ugly little hooter. 

Nightmares do come true after all, eh.