Notes From Planet Conservatism, Tucker Carlson Edition

Matt Welch | February 27, 2009

Contributing Editor David Weigel reports from the Conservative Political Action Conference for the Washington Independent, and discovers that, unless you enjoy the sound of boos, you can't call the New York Times a newspaper that tries to gather facts, and you can't warn activists that calling Barack Obama a "communist" is probably not persuasive messaging.

I spoke there last year–in a fun twist, I was basically defending John McCain's religosity (by explaining it, that is) to a mostly McCain-hating crowd–and the part of my shpiel that drew the most boos was a suggestion to a young activist that few methods of argumentation are less attractive to the opposite ideology than those that are inaccurate.

Here's Tucker Carlson getting booed:

And here's Carlson talking to Reason.tv at the Ron Paul Rally for the Republic:

Comments

EJM|2.27.09 @ 10:29AM|#

Maybe they're reacting to the fact that he's now a Cato senior fellow. ;)

Derrick|2.27.09 @ 10:32AM|#

Fr33Agents also has a piece today on Tucker's CPAC speech, which says "Instead of a newly minted libertarian, I saw the old, conservative Tucker Carlson at work. It seems that I was naive to expect that he would use his first public speaking appearance after the Cato announcement to reject the violence of the conservative movement in favor of a political philosophy that promotes a voluntary society." link here

Jerry|2.27.09 @ 10:38AM|#

And then Carlson tries to save his ass by saying Fox News is one of those accurate news organizations on the right, mirroring the New York Times. Lol.

Josh|2.27.09 @ 10:39AM|#

Planet Conservatism...that's a scary thought.

a name before submitting the f|2.27.09 @ 10:43AM|#

Ron Paul's foreign policy is reckless?

|2.27.09 @ 10:46AM|#

ANBSTF,

Starting wars is SAFE, man - didn't you get the memo?

Gilbert Martin|2.27.09 @ 10:57AM|#

"and you can't warn activists that calling Barack Obama a "communist" is probably not persuasive messaging."

Who cares?

It's fun to do so and, of course, it's also 100% accurate.

|2.27.09 @ 11:02AM|#

Carlson looks fatter than I recall. He also looks different without a bowtie.

He's really moving to Idaho with a bunch of guns and ammo?

|2.27.09 @ 11:32AM|#

This is really just conservative chickens coming home to roost.

What do you expect when you feed your base a steady diet or red meat, hyperbole and character attacks against your opponents.

Of course they are gonna boo -- that's what you've been training/pushing them to do for years now.

|2.27.09 @ 11:37AM|#

Seems like Tucker started out wanting to tell these CPAC kids how it is, but he quickly realized that Fox News had already melted their brains. Then he threw them a Fox News bone so he could escape the event alive.

MemphisTom|2.27.09 @ 11:37AM|#

I somehow manage to dislike and identify with Tucker Carlson at the same time.

I got one of those insane Barrack is a terrorist Muslim Communist e-mails from a guy who's about to graduate with a degree in Biology. I don't know how that happens to someone, but it scares me.

ChicagoTom-I shall fight you to the death.

|2.27.09 @ 11:46AM|#

ChicagoTom-I shall fight you to the death.

Oh it's on Tennessee-Boy :)

|2.27.09 @ 11:59AM|#

Yes, Jessee, the whole country is going to prove to you that we need a professional wrestler to come and save us, if only we can be so deserving!

|2.27.09 @ 12:33PM|#

You have to be utterly lobotomized to ascribe such a level of evil to the New York Times.

My only consolations are that these people are a hobbled minority, and they're too disconnected from reality to be a real threat. They're the most easily distracted people on the planet.

Oooh look it's ACORN! It's Fannie Mae! It's Nancy Pelosi! It's a welfare queen! A commie!

The rightwing media has done an impressive job convincing their followers to distrust all mainstream sources of information, from journalism to academia to science. What a sheep factory.

|2.27.09 @ 12:39PM|#

"The rightwing media has done an impressive job convincing their followers to distrust all mainstream sources of information"

Last nite on O'reilly, he read an e-mail from a woman that said, "I get the truth from Hannity and Rush..." alrighty then.

|2.27.09 @ 1:32PM|#

"What do you expect when you feed your base a steady diet or red meat, hyperbole and character attacks against your opponents.

Of course they are gonna boo -- that's what you've been training/pushing them to do for years now."

So, they're following the democrats lead, then. But two wrongs don't make a right.

Leftwing boogeyman|2.27.09 @ 2:31PM|#

Oooh look it's ACORN! It's Fannie Mae! It's Nancy Pelosi! It's a welfare queen! A commie!

Oooh look it's the NRA! It's Diebold! It's Karl Rove! It's a CEO! A libertarian!

BDB|2.27.09 @ 3:01PM|#

Is Tony the new joe?

BDB|2.27.09 @ 3:02PM|#

WHere DID all the Diebold conspiracy nuts go after the election btw? I never got them try to explain how Obama won every single swing state except for MO if the Republicans have the slick "election stealing" operation they claim.

Jordan|2.27.09 @ 3:06PM|#

Is Tony the new joe?

Tony's more like a more prodigious classwarrior or a slightly more coherent Lefiti.

Andy|2.27.09 @ 3:35PM|#

Does anyone even think he had a good point? Man, he goes out of his way to accuse the NYT of having a liberal SPIN and people jump on him for defending correct name-spelling. Classic.

Also, Ron Paul is on CNN RIGHT NOW!!!!!!

John Lofton|2.28.09 @ 12:17AM|#

Forget, please, "conservatism." It has been, operationally, de facto, Godless and therefore irrelevant. Secular conservatism will not defeat secular liberalism because to God both are two atheistic peas-in-a-pod and thus predestined to failure. As Stonewall Jackson's Chief of Staff R.L. Dabney said of such a humanistic belief more than 100 years ago:

"[Secular conservatism] is a party which never conserves anything. Its history has been that it demurs to each aggression of the progressive party, and aims to save its credit by a respectable amount of growling, but always acquiesces at last in the innovation. What was the resisted novelty of yesterday is today .one of the accepted principles of conservatism; it is now conservative only in affecting to resist the next innovation, which will tomorrow be forced upon its timidity and will be succeeded by some third revolution; to be denounced and then adopted in its turn. American conservatism is merely the shadow that follows Radicalism as it moves forward towards perdition. It remains behind it, but never retards it, and always advances near its leader. This pretended salt bath utterly lost its savor: wherewith shall it be salted? Its impotency is not hard, indeed, to explain. It is worthless because it is the conservatism of expediency only, and not of sturdy principle. It intends to risk nothing serious for the sake of the truth."

Our country is collapsing because we have turned our back on God (Psalm 9:17) and refused to kiss His Son (Psalm 2).

John Lofton, Editor, TheAmericanView.com
Recovering Republican
[e-mail]

Basment dweller|3.2.09 @ 12:07PM|#

wtf @ 12:17