"Flying Pigs Dept." --- Tucker Carlson actually told the truth today

[Armstead]

On Chris Matthews Sunday, Tucker Carlson actually was tolerable for a few minutes, and told the dirty little secret.

Slightly paraphrased: "The leaders of the Republican Party basically have contempt for the evangelical Christians who support them. I know these Republicans, I work with them and they're my neighbors. And they basically are contemptuous of conservative evangelical Christians and are cynically using them to gain and hold on to power."

[salin]

1. oh my... he is pointing to the white elephant in the room...

don't worry - he always gets back on message quickly.

[blm]

27. The white elephant that all of us have been pointing to for YEARS.

.

[MADem]

2. Gee, change Christians to Indian tribes, and you've got Abramoff! NT

[Armstead]

8. No need to change it

Bill Moyers' documnentary on Abrahmoff and the GOP this week revealed that he and Ralph Reed used right wing Christians in a cynical way by leading a campaign to defeat gambling in one state, to make a casino in another state more profitable.

They basically have contemnpt for everyone.

[JDPriestly]

12. Cynicism -- the foundation of the Republican philosophy

Cynicism and greed. That is what Republicans are about.

[Cocoa]

15. I can't wait for the emails to come out

Ralph Reed writing Jack about the Christian "monkeys."

[badgerpup]

28. I forget where I saw it, but I think the term used was "wingnuts". n/t

[ck4829]

33. No need to change it

"The wackos get their information through the Christian right, Christian radio, mail, the internet and telephone trees ... Simply put, we want to bring out the wackos to vote against something and make sure the rest of the public lets the whole thing slip past them."
- Mike Scanlon, one of Abramoff's partners in crime

[Nimrod2005]

3. Sinking before you own eyes, while they can all see that he is naked

all at the same time...

[notadmblnd]

4. That was his actual quote?

somebody should put that up on billboards across the US.

[Armstead]

9. It is paraphgrased from memory, but very close

He actually seemed very sincere and worked up about it too. He said that social conservatives are finally realizing it, and they have every right to be upset at the way they have been used by the GOP.

There will probably be transcripts up.

[cui bono]

31. but the evangelicals aren't the social conservatives...

I'm now confused.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

37. They are the most extreme of the social conservatives.

[cui bono]

44. You're right. I misspoke. I shouldn't post so early. n/t

[xxqqqzme]

5. that's filed in the

'No Shit, Sherlock!' file w/i the Flying Pigs Dept.

[Rockstone]

6. You should have heard him friday

he said he hated the iraq war and he wanted to see the republicans punished for starting it.

He was livid at the idea that they might get away with this.

[salin]

10. where did Carlson say *that*? I have never heard

him utter a word against the war in Iraq. Would love to see/hear/or read that.

[Armstead]

11. He was against the war from before it started

One of his few redeeming qualities is that he was a conservative who actually sopoke out against the war during the debate before we invaded.

[salin]

13. I completely missed that.

Guess all his anti dem posturing on tag-team cross fire in the war buildup completely obscured that for me.

[Armstead]

14. He's a weird duck

He agrees with opponents of the war, but he finds some tiny semantical difference just so he can have a fight on TV.

But basically, his position was that we had no business going into Iraq, and it has turned out to be a decacle.

[salin]

16. is he as smarmy in his "I told you so"s to the right

as he is always to the left on any issue?

[Armstead]

20. Not really -- He is almost tolerable...

He actually is unswarmy in the rare moments when he stops trying to be an O'Reilly Lite and allows a little bit of intellectual honesty to seep through.

[Eric J in MN]

19. Tucker Carlson supported the Iraq War before it started...

...and changed his mind shortly AFTER it started.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Armstead]

22. I think you;'re wrong on this

I distinctly remember him being against it before it started because it seemed so out of character.

The conservatives who briefly broke out of lockstep at that time by opposing Bush on that stuck in my mind.

[salin]

23. I don't remember Carlson in that role, however Novak expressed

opposition. That I do remember.

[Eric J in MN]

24. From wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucker_Carlson#Supporting....

Supporting, then opposing, the U.S. war in Iraq

Carlson supported the U.S. war with Iraq during its first year.

In a January 1, 2004 interview with Plum TV, Carlson was asked again what his views were on the Iraq War, and Carlson said: "I do make some mistakes. I made a huge mistake in supporting the Iraq War. No doubt about it."<17> Four months later, on May 12, 2004, Carlson reiterated this opposition to the the Iraq War, telling the New York Observer: "I think it’s a total nightmare and disaster, and I’m ashamed that I went against my own instincts in supporting it. It’s something I’ll never do again. Never. I got convinced by a friend of mine who’s smarter than I am, and I shouldn’t have done that. No. I want things to work out, but I’m enraged by it, actually."<18>

[Armstead]

34. It's possible that my memory was faulty -- be I do recall he was...

..out of lockstep with his conservative GOP brethren early on. I do remember before it started being surprised at some of the things he was saying.

There may be fine distinctions on the timing, degree, etc. To verify either way would take some digging.

I can;t spend too much time on it. I also don't want to be defending Carlson too much, because I basically don't like him for a lot of reasons.

[salin]

35. another pigs fly moment?

(armstead defending carlson)

[Armstead]

39. Well that was a pigs fly moment, I'll admit

usually he makes me want to throw my shoe at the TV

[jazzjunkysue]

51. And today: "Well, we didn't want to take Iraq. Only Bush did."

And Bush tricked us.

Wow. My 3rd graders make more convincing arguements.

"I had to knock him to the ground and take his lunch money because all the guys told me to."

[Eric J in MN]

18. No, Tucker Carlson supported the Iraq War before it started.

Shortly AFTER it started, he visited Iraq and changed his mind.

He now says we shouldn't have gone in, but since we're there, we should build PERMANENT military bases in Iraq.

[soothsayer]

21. I've read he's a Dem in real life, but just plays a repuke on tv for

a job. Show biz. Like Rush. Tucker came on the scene playing a 'young republican bowtie wearing weenie' just cuz they needed one. It's just a living.

[Eric J in MN]

26. Rush Limbaugh is a conservative.

Limbaugh spouts bullshit against raising the minimum wage, but he really is against raising the minimum wage.

[hsher]

50. Tucker's a friend of mine, and...

Tucker Carlson is a personal acquaintance of mine. He's a libertarian married to a born-again Christian, and he holds several very conservative views on certain issues. But he is a STRICT conservative on those issues, which means they collide with "Republican conservative" issues. Tucker does not consider the Republicans true conservatives. He's conservative in a very old, 19th century sense, and an isolationist. On most broad issues he agrees with liberals, and he says he is "so frustrated" at what he considers "the extremists" among us libs. He is convinced most of America does not support abortion, is anti-immigration, is pro-Minutemen, and is unconcerned about free trade. He is wrong. Tucker just needs to get out more. Slowly I and his other liberal friends are just exposing him to other viewpoints and broader things, and he is beginning to see most of America is what he used to call "extreme". He's astonished by this and a little turned on by it. He is taking much closer looks now at what he used to believe.

The fact of it, bottom line, is that Tucker has a human conscience. It's bothering him more and more as he observes more about the Republican Party. He completely hates them now, and he has said privately he will ally with the Democrats as closely as he can stomach (his words) just to "get those useless fucking bastards out of there." I cannot verify this quote, as it came from another friend of mine who knows him too, but to me it sounds vintage 190 proof Tucker.

He will be liberal by 2010. Bank on it. He's more than halfway there. The other day on "Tucker", he said twice he wanted to vote for the Democrats.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8063292 /
Click, "Who would vote Republican now?" and watch the video.


www.yourmorningleibowitz.blogspot.com
The Daily Show as a comic strip

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

38. If he wants to be "independent" or "Dem leaning" then he needs to just

come on the fuck out and do that, instead of saying these critical things, and then retreating back into the bosom of Repub worship and Dem bashing every week or so.

[hsher]

48. Rockstone is right, Tucker did say it

Go to MSNBC and watch ALL the videos. He said it, all right. Good for him, my cool little Tuckie! I *told* you guys a few days ago on this very DU community Tucker was coming around...

[lonestarnot]

7. Oh well gee what a fucking surprise Tucker pucker.

[Eric J in MN]

17. Some of them realized they got ripped off...

...when a Constitutional amendment agaisnt gay marriage was a big issue during the 2004 election, and Bush seemed to lose interest in gay marriage right after the election.

[gauguin57]

25. Perhaps Dancing With the Stars is mellowing our little Tuckie!

Maybe the bowtie he recently eschewed contained lead or other toxic chemicals that have been rotting his brain all this time.

Or ... not.

[cui bono]

30. I still want to see a video of that! n/t

[autorank]

29. They don't hold a candle to Reagan.

He used them shamelessly and gave them nothing! This was admirable

[gollygee]

32. Even a stopped clock . . .

oh well. Good for him I guess.

[tblue37]

36. Well, they may be his neighbors, but if he is outing their

cynicism and hypocrisy on TV, they are not going to be his friends.

[Coventina]

40. I'd love to have a link, if possible.

My dad seriously needs to hear this.

[AnnieBW]

41. He also mentioned

the potential of another Congressman with a page problem, and this one is a heterosexual. Hmmmm....

[watercolors]

42. I heard that also!

nt

[ourbluenation]

43. Tucker Carlson is a libertarian. He was against the Iraq war always.

He's got some wacky views about small government, you know, the free market can take of everything stuff. But he and tweety have been against the Iraq war from day one.

[Joanne98]

45. Put it on youtube, then send it to the churches.

[Disturbed]

46. Yeah, he is a Libertarian and has said that

Busholini is actually a Liberal. Most Libs were and are against the Illegal Invasion of Iraq and the US Govt. doing Nation Building of other nations.

[hsher]

47. I told you guys Tucker was coming around

Check out some of my earlier posts about him. Tucker's a friend of mine. I know him personally, and he knows I'm a liberal. He welcomes that. For quite some time now he has been secretly asking many of his liberal friends and associates lots of questions about what we believe, and why, and he's been respectful while we answer. He has also been listening very quietly. When the Foley story broke, his face became very dark and he stared down a minute. I could tell he was extremely disturbed. So I did one of my TDS comic strips about what I figured his reaction would be. He visited my site and said my take on his reaction was fantastic. Later that day on MSNBC he tore WH RW-er Lisa Sanchez a new one and then whipped Pat Buchanan and this other guy who were trying to be subtle apologists for Foley's behavior. Tucker has kids and this scandal was not lost on him.

He's coming around.

Secondly, though, Tucker's been sliding towards the left for some time. He was the reporter who broke the Karla Faye Tucker v. Bush story where Bush was making fun of the born-again Christian female death row inmate, who begged for clemency when Bush was governor. Tucker broke that story in Talk Magazine in late 1999, and the Bush camp never forgave him for it. They turned on their smear machine and pointed it at him, claiming he was not "a true conservative". Well, in Tucker's opinion, he considers HIMSELF a true conservative and these GOP-ers as traitors. I'm with him on that. Anyway, don't consider this the flight of pigs. Tucker Carlson is less right and less conservative than you think he is. Eventually he's going to surprise you even more. I know him, and I can report in good faith that he actually has a soul, and a conscience.

The Dancing with the Stars thing was a bubble popping to the surface. You're going to see many more symptoms of it soon. It's called, "Tucker's conscience is forcing him left." He'd hate me for saying that about him too early, but wait and see.


www.yourmorningleibowitz.blogspot.com
The Daily Show as a comic strip

[sendero]

49. File this under..

.... "duh". but I have to admit it's rare to hear anyone say it on TeeVee.

[dweller]

52. did the cleanup crew find his tongue on the set floor?

for if bowtie-boy told the truth, it would have snapped off then and there.

dp

[ginnyinWI]

53. and did you hear what he said at the end of the show?

In the "Tell me something I don't know" part, he said that another Congressperson would be exposed as having some kind of similar scandal as Foley. By his tone I assume another Republican. So we shall see--he said it would come out sometime in October.