Tucker Carlson's Latest. It doesn't get any better

[LFC]

Tucker Carlson = Putin's Parrot. This is a 96 second supercut.

[goldenvalley]

I listed to a podcast done by some folks from the Bulwark...a guy named JV Last and Sarah Longwell who does focus groups. Last said he's known Tucker for a long time...seemed to be fairly friendly years ago.  Said Tucker was always an anti-authority guy, didn't like being told what to do ever for anything, but seemed to be a basic small government Republican.  He said in reading the texts including the one about passionately hating Trump...that was in character for him, could mentally hear his voice.  But Last said the recent behavior baffles him; didn't see that duplicity in him from the old days; doesn't know how or why the change happened.  It didn't sound like Last is an apologist for Tucker but is pained by what Tucker has done.  He also said Tucker was the only "journalist" he knew who didn't need to be a journalist...he had plenty of money without being employed this way.

[pnwguy]

Mar 15, 2023 21:29:49 GMT goldenvalley said:

I listed to a podcast done by some folks from the Bulwark...a guy named JV Last and Sarah Longwell who does focus groups. Last said he's known Tucker for a long time...seemed to be fairly friendly years ago.  Said Tucker was always an anti-authority guy, didn't like being told what to do ever for anything, but seemed to be a basic small government Republican.  He said in reading the texts including the one about passionately hating Trump...that was in character for him, could mentally hear his voice.  But Last said the recent behavior baffles him; didn't see that duplicity in him from the old days; doesn't know how or why the change happened.  It didn't sound like Last is an apologist for Tucker but is pained by what Tucker has done.  He also said Tucker was the only "journalist" he knew who didn't need to be a journalist...he had plenty of money without being employed this way.

I met JVL, Sarah, and Tim Miller, who do The Next Level podcast for The Bulwark, when they were doing a live recording in Seattle in January.  FYI, Sarah and Tim both are in same sex marriages with kids.  They are astute politicos who are all Never Trumpers who all left the GOP.

Tuckums has a nepobaby bankroll of course.  But I sense he craves attention and the "I made my money all on my own" recognition that rich children often crave.  

[goldenvalley]

Mar 15, 2023 23:56:54 GMT pnwguy said:

I met JVL, Sarah, and Tim Miller, who do The Next Level podcast for The Bulwark, when they were doing a live recording in Seattle in January.  FYI, Sarah and Tim both are in same sex marriages with kids.  They are astute politicos who are all Never Trumpers who all left the GOP.

Tuckums has a nepobaby bankroll of course.  But I sense he craves attention and the "I made my money all on my own" recognition that rich children often crave.  

I almost bought Miller's book but I don't really have time to read it.  The summary in Politico was really interesting.

[pnwguy]

Mar 16, 2023 2:48:15 GMT goldenvalley said:

Mar 15, 2023 23:56:54 GMT pnwguy said:

I met JVL, Sarah, and Tim Miller, who do The Next Level podcast for The Bulwark, when they were doing a live recording in Seattle in January.  FYI, Sarah and Tim both are in same sex marriages with kids.  They are astute politicos who are all Never Trumpers who all left the GOP.

Tuckums has a nepobaby bankroll of course.  But I sense he craves attention and the "I made my money all on my own" recognition that rich children often crave.  

I almost bought Miller's book but I don't really have time to read it.  The summary in Politico was really interesting.

Since I listened to the audiobook version of Tim’s book from my library, which doesn’t generate much revenue to an author, I bought him a beer after the event.

[LFC]

Irony is dead.

Carlson accused American TV reporters of playing into China’s hands.

“You take a collection of dumb, desperate people in middle age hoping to keep on to their stupid TV jobs, you add scripts and some hairspray, and they repeat the lies for you,” he said.

[goldenvalley]

I wonder if he'll sue Tucker for defamation?  If I were him I'd want a live apology and money!   www.huffpost.com/entry/ray-epps-tucker-carlson-jan-6-conspiracy_n_641c9c1ce4b01ea5cd93344c

A participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack has demanded that Fox News host Tucker Carlson apologize on the air for falsely claiming the man was a federal agent.

Ray Epps of Arizona became the target of a right-wing conspiracy theory suggesting he went to the Capitol protest as an FBI informant to provoke supporters of former President Donald Trump into violence. Epps, who has not been charged in connection with Jan. 6 because he never entered the Capitol building, maintains that he went to Washington, D.C., to support Trump.

That didn’t stop Carlson and others on the right from promoting the baseless claim that Epps was working with the government. Epps’ lawyer, Michael Teter, sent a cease-and-desist letter Thursday to Carlson and Fox News general counsel Bernard Gugar, demanding a “formal on-air apology for the lies” spread about his client.

“Mr. Carlson and Fox News guests and contributors have incorrectly called Mr. Epps a federal agent, accusing him of acting as a provocateur of the riots,” Teter said in the letter, which was provided to HuffPost. “Oddly, Mr. Carlson now also espouses the view that those rioters were akin to peaceful tourists. This leads to the obvious question: is Mr. Carlson now accusing Mr. Epps of provoking peaceful protests?”

Epps came to the attention of conspiracists after he was videotaped the night of Jan. 5, 2021, urging supporters to enter the Capitol the next day. Epps was also seen on video the day of the riot attempting to stop a Trump supporter from attacking police.
In a rare statement released last year by the House committee investigating the attack, members of the committee concluded that Epps had not worked with law enforcement.

[andydp]

Tucker C has managed to get a double hit out of the leaked documents:

He publicized the leaked documents because he claimed they said Ukraine was losing. Where did he get those figures ? From Russian bloggers !

He did get the Air Defense stratus right.

The article:

www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tucker-carlson-shared-made-up-casualty-figures-from-leaked-intelligence-to-argue-ukraine-is-losing-the-war/ar-AA19S9iy?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=0a32cbeead1a423aaea30a204889041b&ei=10

I also posted this in the Ukraine thread.

[LFC]

Tuckums continues to be Putin's top propaganda agent in the U.S., maybe the world.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 17, 2023 14:57:23 GMT LFC said:

Tuckums continues to be Putin's top propaganda agent in the U.S., maybe the world.

He's gone the way of Rod Dreher with Orban...

[indy]

Rod legitimately went off the deep end. As revealed by the Dominion suit, Carlson and most of Fox..lol I almost typed newscasters but whatever they are anyway...are just performers who laugh at the audience behind the scene.

[LFC]

Tucker Carlson issues an apology for lying about the election. It's real because it's on the internet.

[LFC]

Tucker Carlson has a career because he's subsidized by cable packages, not because he draws advertisers. In fact he's driven most of the respectable, big money advertisers away.

Tucker Carlson has lost virtually all of his advertisers. A typical broadcast includes no national brand advertisers, a few direct response ads from companies like MyPillow, and house ads promoting other Fox News shows.

[snip]

Carlson has the right to say whatever loathsome things he wishes. And Fox News can choose to broadcast those views on television. But Carlson and the Murdochs do not have a right to have those views subsidized by millions of Americans who never watch Fox News. But that's exactly what is happening. And those dynamics have allowed Fox News and Carlson to weather a near-universal advertiser boycott.

Here's how it works. Cable companies pay "carriage fees" to networks for the right to carry their channel. These fees are then passed on to users in their monthly bills. In 2020, Fox News made more money from carriage fees ($1.6 billion) than advertisements ($1.2 billion).

Other channels, of course, also receive carriage fees for their content. But the Murdochs have negotiated exorbitant fees for Fox News that are far greater than any other non-sports programming.

According to a survey conducted late last year, about 14% of cable TV subscribers watch Fox News regularly. But every cable TV subscriber pays an average of $1.72 a month to receive Fox News. In contrast, 31% of cable TV subscribers regularly watch FX (owned by Disney) but the channel adds just $0.81 to an average cable bill.

This means, for every actual viewer, Fox News receives a $7.75 subsidy from people who never watch Fox News. This is a higher subsidy than other non-sports channels, like FX ($1.79), CNN ($3.18), and TBS ($2.79), receive. And none of those channels regularly spreads white nationalist talking points to millions of viewers.

[goldenvalley]

Apr 20, 2023 20:35:10 GMT LFC said:

Tucker Carlson issues an apology for lying about the election. It's real because it's on the internet.

Well maybe if Fox took a chunk out of his pay check to help pay the 3/4 of a billion dollars he might cry.  

[goldenvalley]

I'm not sure I believe this.  The 3 paragraph article in WaPo basically only quotes the below:

“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said in a statement. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. "

His last show was this past Friday, April 21.

The New York Times article is essentially the same as WaPo.

[pnwguy]

Apr 24, 2023 15:50:13 GMT goldenvalley said:

I'm not sure I believe this.  The 3 paragraph article in WaPo basically only quotes the below:

“Fox News Media and Tucker Carlson have agreed to part ways,” the network said in a statement. "We thank him for his service to the network as a host and prior to that as a contributor. "

His last show was this past Friday, April 21.

The New York Times article is essentially the same as WaPo.

CNN is confirming as well.

Like the old saying about what do you call 100 lawyers at the bottom of the ocean?  A good start.  But to really do anything different they need a different audience.  Fox has played a leading role in creating the American Taliban.

[AnBr]

CNBC: www.cnbc.com/2023/04/24/tucker-carlson-leaves-fox-news-in-wake-of-dominion-defamation-settlement.html

[AnBr]

Rolling Stone: www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tucker-carlson-fox-news-end-relationship-1234722551/

[pnwguy]

Now that Fox sees it has to be 200% In for Mango Mussolini, it was going to be a long term liability to have their top rated host quoted as hating him with a passion. Hannity and Ingraham have shown their comfort with orange knee pads, but Tuckums didn't have the same level of zeal.

[goldenvalley]

I wonder if anyone else at Fox is departing suddenly.  Seems like texts and emails came from a lot of people there.

[andydp]

Apr 24, 2023 16:20:26 GMT goldenvalley said:

I wonder if anyone else at Fox is departing suddenly.  Seems like texts and emails came from a lot of people there.

Weren't Maria Bartiromo and Jeanine Pirro scheduled for an appointment to the chopping block ?

[indy]

The funniest thing about this is that everyone involved keeps referring to it as a news relationship.

[LFC]

Best comment I've seen so far:

Carlson “retired” to spend more time with his masculinity.

[pnwguy]

Tuckums may be taking a private jet to Moscow to negotiate a new nightly show on RT. Perhaps Vlad will find an old Order of Lenin medal to bestow on him at a Kremlin ceremony.

[indy]

I find it hard to believe this will begin and end with Carlson. It seems likely a lot more heads will roll.