More News Is Good News

In January, the writer, TV commentator, and Cato Institute senior fellow Tucker Carlson launched The Daily Caller. With cult writers such as Matt Labash and Jim Treacher contributing—plus a boatload of startup money—the website has promise. But does the world really need another political news site? When we asked Carlson that question, he gave us three answers.

1. It doesn't. The world needs better governments, greater supplies of clean water, and more decent restaurants with $10 entrees. But I think the world certainly could use and enjoy another political news site provided it was good enough, and I think ours is.

2. We're trying to add to the sum total of known facts by reporting our own pieces. It's more expensive, but we don't really have a choice. It's not like we're going to beat Drudge at aggregation.

3. I hope to have a sense of humor. After pointless wars and crushing national debt, the trend that most bothers me is humorlessness. It's everywhere, like CO2 emissions but smellier and more dangerous. Everyone's so uptight and pious and self-serious. People lose their jobs and have their reputations destroyed for accidentally using the wrong word. It's scary, but more than that it's tiresome. So I hope in our small, plodding way we can fight that epidemic, starting with jokes about global warming and homelessness.