“At the Most Basic Level, the News You Consume is a Lie.” Tucker Flies to Twitter By Charles Taylor (Florida)
Tucker Carlson is moving to sue Fox, to presumably free himself up to move to a new news venue. At present, he has gone to Twitter, using the facilities that is open to anyone, but there is a hint of great things to come. In a recent comment he showed that he will be producing interesting commentary, saying “At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie.” That should, to be self-consistent, be applied to the mainstream news, which is a sound reason for an alternative media to the legacy press.
“At the most basic level, the news you consume is a lie.”
Having come up against the limits of free speech at Fox News, Tucker Carlson announced in a video on Twitter yesterday that he is moving his show to the app.
In an appearance which has already garnered more than 16 million views, he declared that Twitter, famously acquired by Elon Musk, was the only major platform in the world which did not restrict speech.
“Amazingly, as of tonight there aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world — the only one — is Twitter,” he said.
Pledging to bring back his show, with his team that have been producing it for over six years, he also promised “we will be bringing some other things, too.”
Precisely what these things might be was suggested by his remarks on the manufacture of debate in the mainstream media.
The Definition of Freedom
Carlson did not take to Twitter to bewail his own predicament. He rightly points out that it is one we all inhabit.
“The rule of what you can’t say defines everything,” he observed, following his description of the limits of journalistic freedom in the west. These are rules — and limits — that we have all internalized.
“The best you can hope for in the news business at this point is the freedom to tell the fullest truth that you can but there are always limits — and you know that if you bump up against those limits often enough, you will be fired for it,” he added. “That’s not a guess — it’s guaranteed. Every person who works in English language media understands that.”
As readers and writers we are all aware that this is the reality we inhabit. It is valuable and revitalizing to hear someone in Carlson’s position pointing out the facts, and also their obvious conclusion, which is that without one basic freedom there are no others.
“You can’t have a free society if people aren’t allowed to say what they think is true,” he opines, saying that “speech is the fundamental prerequisite for democracy.”
The corruption of this foundational freedom has led to universal degradation — and not only in the manufactured limits of debate.
“The Gatekeepers are Still in Charge”
Carlson’s team showed their skill in distilling complex issues in the way they presented the function of the mainstream media.
In a brief segment Carlson showed how a false impression of free speech gives the impression of a free debate, when in fact all that is taking place is the repetition of approved narratives.
“For the most part the news you see analyzed on Twitter comes from media organizations that are themselves thinly-disguised propaganda outlets. You see it on cable news, you talk about it on Twitter,” he said. “The result may feel like a debate, but actually the gatekeepers are still in charge.”
What “debate” means in a “free press” is the attachment of grand-sounding ideals to a rigged performance. What is discussed is a story which has been sterilized of facts inconvenient to the powers who have corrupted the West. This power is not imaginary, nor the product of paranoid imaginings.
As the “Twitter Files” themselves revealed, digital and mainstream media is staffed by serving and former members of the U.S. intelligence services, whose ongoing project of the capture of the United States has been well-documented but is seldom mentioned.
People who point out that reality embarrasses grand claims to liberty, truth, justice, and the American way are called unpleasant names. In this system, the good names are reserved for wicked things.
This working definition — of fine words wrapped around their opposite — could equally apply to the term “democracy.” Free speech is a danger to democracy, which is the reason for its replacement with the repetition of slogans.
Why Does Tucker Matter?
Tucker Carlson’s frowning labrador persona is a very appealing routine. He appears onscreen like a soft-mouthed retriever, perplexed at why anyone would be so cruel as to hide his ball. You just want to love him.
Being a creature of the media himself, he embodies a polished operation, concise in delivery and deft in its crafted emotional appeal. We welcome him into our families like our faithful dog. He is a man who is difficult to dislike, and his affable charm is genuinely appealing.
Every media personality is in some sense a caricature. What matters is what — and who — animates the cartoon. On the strength of his actions, I cannot conclude on the current evidence that Tucker Carlson, despite his father’s own interesting career, is a bad actor.
He has deliberately and patiently denounced practically every insane policy of the powers who have corrupted the United States. These people exist and are powerful. His current contracted boss, Rupert Murdoch, is not a man known for forgiveness. He has his own limitations, but he is a man and not perfect. He seems unafraid to admit this.
Tucker Carlson could have had a long and very lucrative career trolling his audience in the established manner of the conservative grifter. He could make faces at the latest liberal madness and then go home to count his money.
He has committed a form of career suicide which is unnecessary, and his denunciation of the media is a damning indictment of the corruption of the American republic that he can never walk back. I refuse to call the man a stooge because he once applied to the CIA himself and took the advice of his dad.
“Try Journalism – They’ll Take Anyone”
This is true. It also gets everyone it takes, with few exceptions. Carlson is one, who regardless of this move would not suffer poverty.
Nevertheless, he has taken a decision which has cost him something. This is the meaning of having principles. If you have never lost anything in defense of them, you do not have principles but opinions. Journalism and principles are well acquainted, in the manner that dogs are with lamp posts.
Carlson is grateful, he says, for the fact Twitter exists. Had the platform not been acquired by the world’s most successful African-American, it is hard to imagine Tucker making any such move. Without this unique alternative, perhaps he would not have begun to question the corruption of American power at all.
I am also grateful we have a free speech platform on the scale of Twitter, and that a man like Carlson will be on it to defend the foundational principle of a long corrupted system. What a breath of fresh air this could be.
A Message of Renewal
“The news” is simply syndicated propaganda with less variation than a Netflix script. Entertainment is a lecture by delusional crazies who call you mad for noticing reality. Comedy is no longer funny, and to consult the television for information is akin to seeking the opinions of Lucifer.
Amid this diabolical mess, last night with Tucker Carlson promised a genuinely new release. Like all good showmen, he left us with a banger of a line: “Free speech is the main right that you have. Without it, you have no others. See you soon.”
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