Tucker Carlson (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Although principled and academic voices regularly criticize Tucker Carlson, he nevertheless commands one of the largest right-wing populist followings. Accordingly, Carlson’s recent rhetorical support for Vladimir Putin in any foreign policy arena should be viewed as representing one of the great political shifts by a large section of the right of the 21st Century. I will not pretend to know what it forebodes that the national Republican Party within living memory of Ronald Reagan appears, in parts, to be aligned and furthering Putin/Russia propaganda — nothing well. And to make matters worse, it appears that such drastic shifts where they exist on the right represent a long-term trend, not limited to this president or Tucker’s presence. In other words, although he commands widespread influence, neither Carlson nor this president represent “the Hokey Pokey,” they are not what it is all about.
It is the millions who put this president and Tucker Carlson in positions of power that are the issue. Not only has this support openly embraced a version of socialism that drastically raises taxes and government handouts to favored industries that are damaged by said tax increases. It more destructively continues to maintain vile, racist elements. In the end, however, the support for Carlson may only succeed in ushering in a great irony. Unless this support, and these elements, can establish a thousand-year Reich here in the United States (come get some), the Democrats will again take power. And members of Congress such as AOC might have a lot to thank this administration for in the end, for the revenue streams this administration has opened up — including arguments for the expansion of executive authority to utilize these streams — are going fund and execute a lot of the “progressive policies” of the future. Much to the continued frustration of those who value a more constrained executive.
In the meantime, I don’t believe this support for the president, nor Carlson, will ever crack. No matter the evidence, no matter the act. I believe this support when it states that it views matters as a rush the cockpit time or die, burn it all (the country) down, lest inevitable ruin strike anyway. That the Constitution is not enough to stand in the way of reorienting society in the way that a select group of others (of a particular or subset religious view, mind you) view as “moral law.” Any student of history has seen these elements before, including with Putin, but perhaps the most effective point to be made in response today is that ruin is not happening. For centuries now, the world has been steadily improving in a general sense, and shows no signs of stopping; in fact, just the opposite is happening the more these elements have decreased in power.
I submit the establishment system of market capitalism and our constitutional system of civil liberties has worked for more Americans today than it has harmed. Has it been a gruesome time here for many in the past, yes, but that can only logically change when the human struggle over limited (Earth-based) resources ends. Accordingly, I believe a majority of this country does not want to rush the cockpit and burn everything down, and thus we outnumber those who do. In this set of circumstances, no law will save us, other than the right to vote.
Tyler Broker is the Free Expression and Privacy Fellow at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. His work has been published in the Gonzaga Law Review and the Albany Law Review. Feel free to email him or follow him on Twitter to discuss his column.