March 31, 2006
by John Albanese
I never much cared for Tucker Carlson. His generic brand of silly bowtie journalism
led to his dismissal from CNN (yes, he was fired), and his nightly broadcast
on MSNBC hardly warrants much attention. Frankly, the man is an intellectual
lightweight with limited talents, and I suspect his career will ultimately fade
away.
Sadly, America has become all too accustomed to so-called cable “news”
pundits who use their national platform to foist lies, distortions, misquotes
and smear tactics on the American public. I do not care to waste time here documenting
examples of Mr. Carlson’s many egregious lies. For those interested, a
good rundown of Mr. Carlson’s professional career and ethical lapses can
be found here: http://mediamatters.org/items/200406170002
But, it does appear that Tucker Carlson, as of late, has been engaging in drive-by-shooting-type
swipes at the 9/11 Truth Movement. Many in the 9/11 Truth community were encouraged
by Mr. Carlson’s invitation to Brigham Young University physics professor
Steven E. Jones to appear on his show, to discuss his recent paper on the collapse
of the WTC Towers and Building 7 on September 11th.
Unfortunately, the interview itself was a perfect example of Mr. Carlson’s
signature grandstanding, as he regularly interrupted and derailed any real debate
on the facts and substance of Dr. Jones’ work, refusing to even air the
video evidence Dr. Young provided to the network, while constraining the entire
interview to under six minutes.
In the days that followed, Mr. Carlson aired heavily slanted audio files of
viewer feedback, riddled with demonstrably inaccurate and hostile statements
about Dr. Jones and his work, with Mr. Carlson at one point referring to Dr.
Jones as “insane” and “a quack.”
On November 15, 2005 Mr. Carlson suggested, “if you really believe the
US government killed 3000 of its own citizens for no reason and lied about it
and invaded Afghanistan as a result of something it did, you ought to leave
the country?.”
On March 16, 2006 Mr. Carlson’s show somehow managed to connect the 9/11
Truth movement to fictional acts of terrorism. In an interview with Michael
Medved, a critic sharply opposed to the recent movie “V for Vendetta,”
Mr. Carlson, who admits to “have not seen it (the film) yet” held
court with Mr. Medved who stated:
“Here is a guy who’s going around murdering civilian leaders and at the same
time blowing up buildings at random. And I think that, for a lot of people
out there who believe, for instance that Bush planned 9/11, this film provides
confirmation.”
But last night, on March 30, 2006 Mr. Carlson used the misery of the 9/11 victims’
families to once again take a swipe at the 9/11 Truth movement. Referencing
the recent release of the 911emergency phone calls by victims trapped in the
WTC complex we were treated to the following exchange:
CARLSON:?? there is this growing 9/11 kind of revisionist movement.
That you’re going to hear, I predict, a lot more about soon. People saying
this was ? and this is a strong belief on many parts of the extreme left
and maybe on the extreme right, too, but that it was a government plot, right?
Where the government knew about this before it happened.And this is an antidote to that. This reminds people that, actually, no,
you shouldn’t make wild unsubstantiated claims about a day this horrible.MADDOW: Well, it’s interesting. I just did an interview about this on my
show on Air America Radio, because what’s amazing is when you look at the
actual polling data on what people believe about 9/11.CARLSON: Yes.
MADDOW: And very few people believe the official story.
CARLSON: I know.
MADDOW: In New York, it’s about half of New Yorkers think that what we’ve
been told about what happened on 9/11 isn’t what really happened. And conspiracy
theories have actually, quietly, behind the scenes, really taken hold of our
imagination on that day.(snip)
CARLSON: And that day, it will be used ? and I have to ? and I’m
not just pounding on the left because I’m a right-winger. It’s true. A lot
of those conspiracy theories are coming from the left and I think it reminds
people that, you know, you shouldn’t throw this stuff around. There’s no evidence
the US government was behind this or knew about it.That’s an outrageous thing to say.
MADDOW: But for me, I mean, I don’t think the conspiracy theories are only
on the left. I think there are conspiracy theories on this from every quarter.
There are so many of them. And it is actually…CARLSON: I’ve only seen them on the left, but I believe you.
An Undistinguished & Charmed Career
Tucker Carlson made a name for himself writing for the conservative magazine
The Weekly Standard, which is edited by William Kristol. It is interesting
to note that immediately preceding Dr. Jones’ appearance on Mr. Carlson’s
show William Kristol appeared as a guest. William Kristol, for those of us who
may have been living in a plastic bubble for the last five years, happens to
be chairman of the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), along with the
likes of Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle and at least six other members of
the Bush administration on the morning of 9/11. PNAC, of course, called for
the transformation of American policy in the late 20th century stating:
“Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary
change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing
event ? like a new Pearl Harbor.”
Nine months after these members of PNAC rose to power in the Bush administration,
America experienced its new Pearl Harbor, and most of PNAC’s designs for
foreign and domestic policy have come to pass.
Furthermore, Mr. Carlson’s undistinguished career also appeared charmed
as Ken Auletta wrote in the June 7 issue of The New Yorker. According
to Auletta, pressure from members of the Bush administration and other Republicans
prompted CPB (the Corporation for Public Broadcasting) to commission Carlson’s
show.
“This is the first time in my thirty-two years in public broadcasting
that C.P.B. has ordered up programs for ideological instead of journalistic
reasons,” Moyers wrote to me in an e-mail. “So now we have C.P.B.
funding two right-wingers, Gigot at the W.S.J. and Carlson at CNN-God bless
them both!-who already own big megaphones in commercial media. How does that
make public television different?”
Placed in this context it is easy to see how Mr. Carlson fits into the scheme
of things.
Perhaps we should listen closely when he says:
“?.. there is this growing 9/11 kind of revisionist movement. That
you’re going to hear, I predict, a lot more about soon.”
Prepare for a cultural war, my friends. Failing to suppress the 9/11 Truth movement
with a combination of censorship and disinformation campaigns, it appears now
that the PNAC may soon attempt to reverse its strategy ? and its fortunes.
We have all long waited for the day when the unresolved issues of 9/11 would
finally see the light of day in the mainstream media. It appears now that that
day may have finally arrived, and the gauntlet is being thrown down at our feet.
For once, I agree with Mr. Carlson. You will be hearing a lot more about this,
I predict, very soon.
We dare not fail to rise to the challenge – and fail to pick up the gauntlet.
By the way, feel free to continue contacting Tucker at tucker@msnbc.com and 1-877-TCARLSON.
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