16 September 2005
Tucker Carlson
Freedom & Progress has always appreciated the punditry of Tucker Carlson. While clearly a dedicated conservative, Tucker is always fair, constantly provocative, and quite challenging. F&P also appreciates Tucker's new show on MSNBC, The Situation. Apparently, Tucker is not doing so well in the cable news ratings race. F&P hopes that changes.
Last night's Situation was particularly engaging. The link to the entire transcript is below, but F&P would like to highlight two exchanges.
The first exchange is between Tucker and Louisiana's lieutenant governor, Mitchell Landrieu.
CARLSON: But as a philosophical question, why should the rest of the country pay to rebuild your city? I mean, if my house gets hit by lightning and burns down, I have no expectation that someone else is going to pay for it.
LANDRIEU: Well, I think that‘s a fair question, although we‘re talking about the largest devastation that the country has seen. I think that this particular region of the country is an economic engine for the rest of the country, especially emanating from the port of New Orleans.
There have been other disasters in the country that the American people have paid for. In 1976, we actually bailed out the city of New York when they went bankrupt. San Francisco has had some troubles over time with fires and the sort.
And you know, so I think this is part of the American landscape. I think the president said it very well, that you really can‘t imagine the United States of America without the metropolitan area of New Orleans. So you know, this is an investment on behalf of the American people that I think, if made wisely and well, will be repaid many, many, many times over by the southern part of the country.
CARLSON: As I said, I think it‘s probably the greatest city, certainly one of them, maybe the greatest city in the country, and I can‘t wait to see it rebuilt.
But aren‘t you worried that, especially on the heels of your governor‘s announcement last night that she thinks that the rest of the country, the federal government ought to pay 100 percent of the clean-up costs, that people are going to say, “Gee, we‘re paying for this war in Iraq. Gas is almost $4 a gallon. Kind of annoying that we‘re picking up the whole bill.”
LANDRIEU: Well, I am concerned about that. I would remind the American public, though, a large percent of this nation‘s oil and gas comes from off of our shores. We‘ve been sending billions and billions of dollars to the federal fist (ph) and really have not been getting our fair share back over the years.
I think that the American public understands that this was an American tragedy that requires an American response, and to date, America‘s response has been very generous and wonderful.
However, I do think that six months from now, when we‘re on the next big story, which I‘m sure is going to happen sometime soon, that it‘s going to be very difficult, it‘s going to be very hard, it‘s going to require tremendous sacrifice. And there will be fundamental debates that take place about who, how much, when, how, what it‘s going to look like, who‘s going to do it and what it is that we‘re trying to rebuild.
F&P opines that political soothsayers ought to keep an eye on the young lieutenant governor. Mr. Landrieu appeared articulate, sharp, and deeply authentic in his concerns and opinions.
The other exchange worth highlighting from last evening's Situation was this exchange with Chuck D:
CARLSON: And I think this just misrepresents what‘s happened. There were a lot of white victims of Hurricane Katrina, a lot of black, a lot of Indian victims. I just don‘t think there‘s an intrinsic race angle and it seems wrong for you to suggest there is.
CHUCK D: Let me tell you man when I look at New Orleans and one day I was looking at one news station, it could have been CNN, it could have been MSNBC, I forgot, it showed back how it used to be, remembering New Orleans and it showed like just a whole lot of white folks touring through New Orleans and, you know, that was admirable but the reflection on New Orleans is the fact that it‘s a black city. The majority is black, black mayor for the last two or three terms.
CARLSON: Yes.
CHUCK D: And for the first time you had a lot of Americans that didn‘t even know the makeup, the racial makeup of New Orleans when I know when I visited New Orleans it was just a disproportionate amount of poor people who just didn‘t get service by either the city, the state, or the country when it came down to figuring out what its needs were. Come on, the levee system going back to what, when was the levee system built?
CARLSON: Well, it was built hundreds of years ago and it‘s received...
CHUCK D: Hundreds of years ago.
CARLSON: It‘s received hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government in the past five years and it‘s still broke, which tells you something about the leadership in New Orleans.
CHUCK D: No, Tucker, listen.
CARLSON: But here‘s the point. Wait, but you make a great point. Hold on. You just said something really interesting. You said it‘s a black run city. It‘s had a black mayor for a long time and it has a heavily black city council. It‘s got a black chief of police. It‘s got a black Congressman. So, why is it necessarily the result of white racism when the people of that city aren‘t served by their leaders who are black?
CHUCK D: Because when they yell loud enough they‘re not heard. I mean, look, if Hoover Dam could stop the raging Colorado River, I‘m pretty sure that they could have came along with a strong enough levee system to stop Lake Pontchartrain.
But now, you know, here‘s the fears. The fears where racism really turns its ugly head on what‘s going to happen to New Orleans, (INAUDIBLE), probably the black people that have moved out probably won‘t be able to afford to get back in and New Orleans, the new New Orleans is fears that it will probably be one of the most magnificent cities and probably will be protected against a hurricane ten.
And then this exchange on the infamous Kanye West statement:
CARLSON; Well, but hold on. I just don‘t—I‘m sorry to get hung up on one thing but you keep accusing Bush of racism or applying that Bush is a racist and...
CHUCK D: No, I will have to echo Kanye West‘s statement.
CARLSON: OK that Bush hates black people or whatever.
CHUCK D: No, no.
CARLSON: But wait a second.
CHUCK D: Kanye West didn‘t say hate.
CARLSON: What about the—what about the...
CHUCK D: Wait, wait, wait, Tucker.
CARLSON: Doesn‘t like black people.
CHUCK D: No, he didn‘t say doesn‘t like.
CARLSON: What did he say?
CHUCK D: He said doesn‘t care, does not care for black people.
CARLSON: If you don‘t care about—if you don‘t care about people who are dying...
CHUCK D: If the media makes the mistake...
CARLSON: ...you hate them. I mean it‘s the same thing. You don‘t care about people who are suffering in New Orleans you‘re a hater in my view.
CHUCK D: No, you can‘t say it‘s the same thing. It would be like, you know, you just don‘t acknowledge them and you kind of feel like they are not even there and often black people in this country feel that, you know, unless our back is up against the wall that we‘re not acknowledged at all.
Now, F&P did not engage in the debate over what role, if any, race played in the Katrina response, but many pundits have. Tucker asserted his opinion (which is a fair representation of conservative opinion on the matter) and allowed Chuck D to assert the opinion that he and many intelligent and educated Americans of all races share. Both sides had equal time and both sides were persuasive.
F&P congratulates Tucker Carlson for playing fairly in a tough game and always holding his own. Who knows, maybe one day, your humble author will be invited into the Situation.
Last night's Situation was particularly engaging. The link to the entire transcript is below, but F&P would like to highlight two exchanges.
The first exchange is between Tucker and Louisiana's lieutenant governor, Mitchell Landrieu.
CARLSON: But as a philosophical question, why should the rest of the country pay to rebuild your city? I mean, if my house gets hit by lightning and burns down, I have no expectation that someone else is going to pay for it.
LANDRIEU: Well, I think that‘s a fair question, although we‘re talking about the largest devastation that the country has seen. I think that this particular region of the country is an economic engine for the rest of the country, especially emanating from the port of New Orleans.
There have been other disasters in the country that the American people have paid for. In 1976, we actually bailed out the city of New York when they went bankrupt. San Francisco has had some troubles over time with fires and the sort.
And you know, so I think this is part of the American landscape. I think the president said it very well, that you really can‘t imagine the United States of America without the metropolitan area of New Orleans. So you know, this is an investment on behalf of the American people that I think, if made wisely and well, will be repaid many, many, many times over by the southern part of the country.
CARLSON: As I said, I think it‘s probably the greatest city, certainly one of them, maybe the greatest city in the country, and I can‘t wait to see it rebuilt.
But aren‘t you worried that, especially on the heels of your governor‘s announcement last night that she thinks that the rest of the country, the federal government ought to pay 100 percent of the clean-up costs, that people are going to say, “Gee, we‘re paying for this war in Iraq. Gas is almost $4 a gallon. Kind of annoying that we‘re picking up the whole bill.”
LANDRIEU: Well, I am concerned about that. I would remind the American public, though, a large percent of this nation‘s oil and gas comes from off of our shores. We‘ve been sending billions and billions of dollars to the federal fist (ph) and really have not been getting our fair share back over the years.
I think that the American public understands that this was an American tragedy that requires an American response, and to date, America‘s response has been very generous and wonderful.
However, I do think that six months from now, when we‘re on the next big story, which I‘m sure is going to happen sometime soon, that it‘s going to be very difficult, it‘s going to be very hard, it‘s going to require tremendous sacrifice. And there will be fundamental debates that take place about who, how much, when, how, what it‘s going to look like, who‘s going to do it and what it is that we‘re trying to rebuild.
F&P opines that political soothsayers ought to keep an eye on the young lieutenant governor. Mr. Landrieu appeared articulate, sharp, and deeply authentic in his concerns and opinions.
The other exchange worth highlighting from last evening's Situation was this exchange with Chuck D:
CARLSON: And I think this just misrepresents what‘s happened. There were a lot of white victims of Hurricane Katrina, a lot of black, a lot of Indian victims. I just don‘t think there‘s an intrinsic race angle and it seems wrong for you to suggest there is.
CHUCK D: Let me tell you man when I look at New Orleans and one day I was looking at one news station, it could have been CNN, it could have been MSNBC, I forgot, it showed back how it used to be, remembering New Orleans and it showed like just a whole lot of white folks touring through New Orleans and, you know, that was admirable but the reflection on New Orleans is the fact that it‘s a black city. The majority is black, black mayor for the last two or three terms.
CARLSON: Yes.
CHUCK D: And for the first time you had a lot of Americans that didn‘t even know the makeup, the racial makeup of New Orleans when I know when I visited New Orleans it was just a disproportionate amount of poor people who just didn‘t get service by either the city, the state, or the country when it came down to figuring out what its needs were. Come on, the levee system going back to what, when was the levee system built?
CARLSON: Well, it was built hundreds of years ago and it‘s received...
CHUCK D: Hundreds of years ago.
CARLSON: It‘s received hundreds of millions of dollars from the federal government in the past five years and it‘s still broke, which tells you something about the leadership in New Orleans.
CHUCK D: No, Tucker, listen.
CARLSON: But here‘s the point. Wait, but you make a great point. Hold on. You just said something really interesting. You said it‘s a black run city. It‘s had a black mayor for a long time and it has a heavily black city council. It‘s got a black chief of police. It‘s got a black Congressman. So, why is it necessarily the result of white racism when the people of that city aren‘t served by their leaders who are black?
CHUCK D: Because when they yell loud enough they‘re not heard. I mean, look, if Hoover Dam could stop the raging Colorado River, I‘m pretty sure that they could have came along with a strong enough levee system to stop Lake Pontchartrain.
But now, you know, here‘s the fears. The fears where racism really turns its ugly head on what‘s going to happen to New Orleans, (INAUDIBLE), probably the black people that have moved out probably won‘t be able to afford to get back in and New Orleans, the new New Orleans is fears that it will probably be one of the most magnificent cities and probably will be protected against a hurricane ten.
And then this exchange on the infamous Kanye West statement:
CARLSON; Well, but hold on. I just don‘t—I‘m sorry to get hung up on one thing but you keep accusing Bush of racism or applying that Bush is a racist and...
CHUCK D: No, I will have to echo Kanye West‘s statement.
CARLSON: OK that Bush hates black people or whatever.
CHUCK D: No, no.
CARLSON: But wait a second.
CHUCK D: Kanye West didn‘t say hate.
CARLSON: What about the—what about the...
CHUCK D: Wait, wait, wait, Tucker.
CARLSON: Doesn‘t like black people.
CHUCK D: No, he didn‘t say doesn‘t like.
CARLSON: What did he say?
CHUCK D: He said doesn‘t care, does not care for black people.
CARLSON: If you don‘t care about—if you don‘t care about people who are dying...
CHUCK D: If the media makes the mistake...
CARLSON: ...you hate them. I mean it‘s the same thing. You don‘t care about people who are suffering in New Orleans you‘re a hater in my view.
CHUCK D: No, you can‘t say it‘s the same thing. It would be like, you know, you just don‘t acknowledge them and you kind of feel like they are not even there and often black people in this country feel that, you know, unless our back is up against the wall that we‘re not acknowledged at all.
Now, F&P did not engage in the debate over what role, if any, race played in the Katrina response, but many pundits have. Tucker asserted his opinion (which is a fair representation of conservative opinion on the matter) and allowed Chuck D to assert the opinion that he and many intelligent and educated Americans of all races share. Both sides had equal time and both sides were persuasive.
F&P congratulates Tucker Carlson for playing fairly in a tough game and always holding his own. Who knows, maybe one day, your humble author will be invited into the Situation.
# posted by Publicola @ 3:00 PM 
