Peloni: Following Carlson’s interview with Candace Owens, this should not be surprising, even as it is it remains quite disturbing: “They don’t care about their country at all”
Carlson’s comments came during an interview with Saagar Enjeti, the conservative host of the popular web series “Breaking Points.”
Tucker Carlson, the populist pundit who led Fox News’s evening lineup until his ouster in April 2023, said in an interview this week that Ben Shapiro of the Daily Wire “[doesn’t] care about the country at all,” accusing him and other pro-Israel voices of being “focused on a conflict in a foreign country as their own country becomes dangerously unstable.”
Carlson rattled off a series of challenges facing the United States– financial instability, insecure borders– and asserted that “they’ve said nothing about that, and they’re focused with laser intensity on foreign conflicts.”
Carlson contrasted this supposed apathy to his own concern for the US: “I have no choice,” he said, “I’m from here, my family’s been here hundreds of years, I plan to stay here— I’m shocked by how little they care about the country, including [Shapiro].”
Carlson’s comments came during an interview with Saagar Enjeti, the conservative host of the popular web series “Breaking Points.”
Enjeti, who hosts the panel show alongside Krystal Ball, a progressive, asked Carlson “what explains this…literal allegiance to narrative on Ukraine, [and] on Israel,” asserting that “so many of these people don’t seem to have this same level of care about actual American citizens.”
In a post to X on Saturday, former American ambassador to Israel David Friedman condemned Carlson’s comments, writing that Shapiro “is an American patriot who cares deeply about our country.” Friedman noted that “among other issues, Ben has been a forceful advocate for closing our Southern border and ending the massive inflow of Fentanyl that is killing our youth,” an apparent allusion to Carlson’s suggestion that Shapiro was neglecting those topics.
“@TuckerCarlson says that since Ben supports Israel he doesn’t care about America,” Friedman wrote. “I hope he doesn’t really mean that. It’s a shameful thing to say and he should apologize.”
Carlson: wealthy people heard a ‘dog-whistle that commanded them to worship Zelensky’
Speaking about Ukraine, Carlson told Enjeti that “every single person in the top one percent for income and influence…heard this weird frequency, this dog-whistle, that commanded them to worship Zelensky, and I’m not exactly sure what that was.”
It was not the first time that Carlson, the 53 year old heir to the Swanson TV dinner fortune, had challenged American support for Ukraine’s wartime leader. On the first episode of his online program following his firing from Fox News, Carlson described Zelensky, who is Jewish, as “sweaty and rat-like, a comedian turned oligarch, a persecutor of Christians, a friend of Blackrock.”
He also referred to him as “shifty,” “dead-eyed,” and as “a person who would enjoy flooding villages or starting a famine.”
“It’s painful to even quote that,” said Ian Bremmer of the Eurasia group, in a response to Carlson’s statements. “These are all antisemitic dog-whistles, with a sprinkling of blood libel, plain and simple.”
The Anti-Defamation League also denounced Carlson’s comments about Zelensky as antisemitic: “This is exactly the type of dangerous, hateful content that has no place in mainstream public squares,” the group said.
@peloni
Ok, if you are so demanding of DeSantis, why don’t you ask some hard questions of your idol – such as why did he blackmail the CDC into supporting his Warp-Speed vaccine program and why did he promise to continue his defunding of Social Security and Medicare by suspending the payroll tax if reelected, and why does he keep lying about things in his speeches (I am sure there are more issues).
Just because you are, apparently, independently wealthy doesn’t mean you can ignore tens of millions of the not independently wealthy elderly.
Correction: De Santis seems to have changed his position on Ukraine. Is it my imagination or has he gone back and forth?
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4357199-desantis-it-is-more-critical-to-support-israeli-conflict-over-ukraines-war-with-russia/
@Reader I checked the gas prices cited by Snopes and they were more or less accurate. I don’t know what Trump said specifically. Not really in a position to check the rest. CNN and Snopes have not been noted for their objectivity. I do recall that everything was more affordable under Trump from my own experience, at least in stores. The price of a bag of groceries is through the roof. At the time, everybody seemed pretty happy with the economy as today they are not. The Dems were openly worried about their electoral prospects on account of the great economy.
You don’t have to have been lying to be wrong. People misremember things or see them through the lens of later events or conflate them with other things. That’s why historians don’t regard memoirs as primary sources unless they were written at the time.
People even get mixed up and confused and misremember things from their own lives. That’s what happened to General Flynn and many other Trump supporters who were accused of lying to the authorities and imprisone for it.
humor:
“What is your favorite color?”
“Blue. No. AAAAAgh.”
“Monty Python and the Bridge of Death”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7iXw9zZrLo&t=22s
And, even if what you say about Trump and Social Security is true – he says oil will pay for it – but, even if so, Haley and De Santis are worse though they walked back some of it due to the outrage they generated. But, unless they change their minds, they all support Israel without Biden’s crippling restrictions. So, do you support Biden? Or, do you say, “a plague on all their houses” and abstain?
@Reader, Laura Both De Santis and Haley agree with Biden that the U.S. should continue to pour tens of billions of dollars into the war in Ukraine instead of seeking a peace agreement. Do you?
@Reader
Actually it does.
By passing legislation which allows election fraud go unpursued and the support of Obama’s TPP legislation which would have utterly killed the American job market are not “a project which you deem insufficiently conservative”. It only requires Desantis and his supporters to address his record on what should be considered to be very central topics and his very concerning positions on them, something which should be considered quite routine for a presidential candidate during a primary.
Also, expecting answers from him on these and other topics is not “populist demagoguery”, but just part of the process of choosing a president. If Desantis has an explanation for his betrayals of his constituencies while taking these actions, he should address it instead of remaining silent. And yet all we hear are crickets…which is of course still quite revealing.
@Sebastien Zorn
First of all, any politician will say and promise absolutely anything to get elected.
He is right – he doesn’t need to make any changes to Social Security – he will simply bleed it (and Medicare) dry by simply suspending the payroll tax again (to help the working people, of course) without even having to announce this measure.
No thanks for virtually calling me a liar – I saw the interview on YouTube probably a couple of years ago, I will try to find it again.
However, here is something else for you to enjoy:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/15/politics/fact-check-trump-announcement-speech-2024/index.html
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/trump-economy-better-under-democrats/
@Bear
@Laura
This statement is not in contention. It does, however, specifically ignore the four points which I raised, all but one of which was related to actions taken as governor, and all four which should alarm anyone who considers Desantis to be a “solid Conservative” as you and Laura claim. If he is so conservative, why did he offer Obama his support with the TPP, why did he change the election laws in Florida to help protect fraud, why did he not pursue testimony of the most obviously relevant whistleblower in investigating the vaccine scam, and why did he waffle on the very important topic of Ukraine within hours of stating his position on the topic.
This isn’t about party loyalties, as such challenges as are made here will only improve the candidate should he actually have an answer to these charges which his loyal followers seem to want to avoid addressing without explanation. Asking hard questions is the very point of primaries, and if we would all just fall in line and salute Desantis as Captain Conservative, it would only serve to provide the Dems with the opportunity to draw out these realities during the General Election.
I hold no loyalties to Desantis due to his record of governor, but I do expect him to answer for these highly questionable actions taken on significant policies which suggest him to be far less ‘solid’ on conservative topics which you might prefer to ignore in deference to “loyalty”. He, or his supporters, needed to answer these questions but have chosen to remain silent instead. Interestingly enough, the Dem and Rep talking heads have notably preferred to not address these issues as well, which to my mind draws a particularly interesting alarm.
@Laura “Nikki Haley has a World Economic Forum Problem – She’s Every Bit the Globalist We Expected”
By Jim Hoft Jan. 4, 2024 9:15 am 456 Comments
“Know your candidates:”
“Back in 2007 Nikki Haley was a member of the South Carolina state mission to China. Even as a freshman in the state legislature, Haley was a leading ally of Republican Governor Mark Sanford, She was invited to attend the World Economic Forum conference with the governor to China. Nikki Haley’s taxpayer-funded, business class trip cost South Carolinians $6,842.
Haley put out a press release highlighting her participation at the WEF conference in China, calling it “a rare opportunity” to meet with Chinese investors looking to expand their influence in the United States.
Nikki Haley released a statement at the time. ““Making life better in Lexington and throughout South Carolina means creating new business opportunities and learning how to strengthen the job-creating potential of our existing companies. Building new relationships and finding new ways to stay competitive in a rapidly-changing world are critical steps toward ensuring the future prosperity of our local communities.”
South Carolina was the only state invited to the WEF conference.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/nikki-haley-has-world-economic-forum-problem-shes/
@Reader “Former President Donald Trump rejected assertions that he’ll have to make changes to Social Security if he wins in 2024 because America is sitting on a pot of gold.
Social Security’s future has been called into question for years given the significant costs associated with the program. The fund has been dipping into reserves when the revenue it collects falls short of the amount it pays out and it’s projected to dry up in 2033 if no action is taken.
‘Politicians are unlikely to let the fund run out given the program’s popularity, but Social Security’s insolvency problem has 2024 candidates flirting with the “third rail of American politics.”
During Tuesday’s town hall with Fox News’ Sean Hannity, Trump criticized Governor Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley for their plans for Social Security reform.
‘”You don’t have to touch Social Security,” Trump said. “We have money laying in the ground far greater than anything we can do by hurting senior citizens with their Social Security.”
‘Trump’s plan to help save Social Security involves tapping America’s oil supply in a similar way that Saudi Arabia does. “It will take care of everything,” Trump said.
Saudi Arabia is the largest exporter of petroleum and made over $202 billion in oil exports in 2021, according to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Oil revenue helped start Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which is being used to invest in companies and industries outside of oil in the hopes of diversifying the economy.
“We have more oil and gas than they do,” Trump said. “We can be rich again.”
‘The U.S. Energy Information Agency reported that the U.S. is the largest producer of oil and in 2021, the U.S. exceeded Saudi Arabia’s oil production by about 10 million more barrels per day.
READ MORE
Trump’s Town Hall: The five biggest takeaways from Hannity interview
What Ron DeSantis has said about cutting Social Security
What Nikki Haley has said about cutting Social Security
‘At the start of the town hall, Trump told Hannity he will open up oil drilling in the United States on day one of his presidency if he wins in 2024.
‘Trump isn’t the only candidate talking about Social Security. At the Republican presidential primary debate on November 8, Haley advocated for raising the retirement age for younger people, including her own children. She would keep payments in place for people nearing retirement age and said payments need to better reflect life expectancy.
On Tuesday, Trump criticized DeSantis and Haley for wanting to “play around” with Social Security and DeSantis for shifting his position on changing the retirement age.
‘In 2013, DeSantis voted for a failed Republican resolution that would have raised the age to qualify for Medicare and Social Security to 70. In July, he told Fox News he was open to changing Social Security for people who were in their 30s or 40s. However, in November’s debate, DeSantis said raising the age made little sense given that life expectancy in the United States is declining.”
“Newsweek reached out to DeSantis via email for comment but did not receive a response prior to publication.”
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-reveals-plans-social-security-1849868
@Reader
I don’t believe you. This is why substantiation is important. Find the link to the article or video and post it if you want me to take that seriously.
All that turns up when I search for that is him warning that there could be another Depression (which is usually referred to as the “Great Depression” you know) like the one in 1929 if he loses.
@peloni
Republicans/Democrats, conservatives/Liberals, coalition/opposition, etc. in a government are not supposed to act like mortal enemies – this paralyzes the government and stifles its activity on behalf of its respective country.
They are supposed to compromise, otherwise the government becomes the proverbial house divided against itself which cannot stand.
For the most recent example see the Knesset in the last several years.
Therefore, just because a politician votes for a project which you deem insufficiently conservative, doesn’t mean that this politician has betrayed conservative values.
The mob, to its eventual sorrow, seems to always and everywhere be blinded by populist demagoguery.
I hope the 40 million or so of the elderly who rely on Social Security for their livelihood will realize before they vote that if Trump gets elected they will have to buy overpriced cat food to try and feed themselves, and they may eventually end up with no healthcare.
Plus he thinks a Great Depression would be great because it would clear out the “trash” (I heard him say so myself).
DeSantis was considered a super GOP governor by almost all conservatives and wildly praised. When he dared to run for POTUS, then the Trump started bad mouthing him and name calling him. Many of his staunches allies have followed making sure to smear, critique, name call, etc.
Same with Haley! If you run against Trump you will get be smeared for your sure.
When running against Trump you are not considered a political rival but a threat to the King who demands you kiss the ring and bow!
The negativity is not good for the GOP, conservatives or the USA. This is my view and observation. I know the most dedicated Trump supporters feel differently!
@Laura
I am wondering, through the lens of your definition of what it takes to be a solid conservative, is supporting further funding of Ukraine or opposing further funding of Ukraine the ‘conservative’ position, again in your opinion. The answer doesn’t really matter because Desantis took both positions within hours.
Also, why do you think Desantis would setup a statewide grand jury to investigate the Covid vaccine and the Covid con while failing to bring in Brook Jackson, the only on-site whistleblower at the vaccine trials, to testify before the grand jury about what she personally witnessed during those triials?
Another thing, do you consider the fast tracking of Obama’s pinnacle trade agenda,the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to be a conservative position on which to vote in favor? It might surprise you to learn that Desantis voted for the fast tracking of the TPP while he was a member of Congress.
One more thing, do you believe that election transparency is a conservative topic? If so, why did Desantis sign legislation which actually makes it illegal to vote with paper ballots? Even more curious might be the explanation for why Desantis signed legislation which made it illegal for anyone outside of his state government to investigate election fraud – so only Desantis and those who owe Desantis for their position in his govt are actually eligible to investigate election fraud, which seems kind of handy in the age of election rigging, but hardly a conservative move I would suggest.
inna2 references that this is very routine for Desantis, to claim legislation is doing one thing while the actual bill contains measures to do another. On this I will defer to her specific knowledge, but on these other topics, I do challenge you to actually explain why a solid conservative as you describe him would support these legislations which are the antithesis of conservative.
One thing more, I was very much in support of Desantis. It was only due to his lack of support for conservative measures such as I indicated above which drew me to be more cautious of the man.
I’ll wait for your explanation on anyone, or preferably all, of these bizarrely un-conservative actions with which Desantis acted while dealing with these topics.
@Laura Trump Recognized the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance Working Definition of antisemitism and extended Title VI civil rights protections to Jewish and pro-Israel students.
https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-definition-antisemitism
https://trumpwhitehouse.archives.gov/presidential-actions/executive-order-combating-anti-semitism/
DeSantis has been a solid conservative. Trump has flip-flopped on multiple issues. You may not like DeSantis, but he’s not bought and paid for. In fact, the establishment hates his social conservatism for which he has never wavered from.
Carlson has been supporting clear Jew haters. He has also now personally taken on the theme of dual loyalty (or non loyalty to USA) in his attempted smearing of Jews in the USA.
It is clear that resonates with some, including a regular commentator on this blog.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Shapiro. The Wikipedia article about Shapiro fully supports my claim that his overwhelming focus as a broadcaster and public speaker has been on American policy and society, not Israel. Smong the frequent themes of his podcasts are the alleged brainwashing of young people at American Universities in leftist ideology; the similar brainwashing of the American people by Hollywood in leftist ideas, foreign funding of American universities by authoritarian, corrupt foreign governments: opposition to abortion on demand, and support for the pro-life movement. There is also a section in the Wikipedia article about Shapiro’s support for Israel, and critism of Israel’s enemies, chiefly Eran and its terrorist proxies. However, there is only one paragraph focusing on his support for Israel, compared to eight or nine (I didn’t count them) that focus on his positions on dmestic American issues.
I don’t know where Carlson got his misinformation about Shapiro. But it does suggest that Carlson is influenced by the idea that American Jews are loyal to Israel and not to the United States.
Hi, Adam. You said,
I don’t think Tucker has studied Ben in depth. He’s fairly ignorant on some matters, particularly when it concerns religion, and he admits it. At one time, he talked about his inadequacy in explaining Christianity, using as an excuse the fact that he is Episcopalian (a particularly spiritually bankrupt denomination, in communion with Charles III Windsor). I made reference to this fact once on Israpundit, and was attacked for being a religious bigot.
Despite his many shortcomings, Carlson is a staunch supporter of the Make America Great Again movement; and THIS is why he and other Trump allies have been SWATted, indicted, arrested and maligned by enemies of the movement.
Another reason why Carlson’s attack on Ben Shapiro is unfair: I have watched Shapiro’s broadcasts for some time now, and the great majority of them have focused on the present condition of the United States, not Israel. The corruption and misdeeds of the Biden family, the impoverishment and near disappearance of the American middle class and similar domestic American concerns were the focus of most of his podcasts. It has only been since October 7 that his focus has shifted to Israel. But even here, his focus has been on the American-Israel relationship, not other Israeli concerns.
If my recollections about Shapiro’s videos are wrong, I hope another Israpundit reader who is better informeds than I am will correct me.
@Sebastien
Very nicely stated responses. Well done!
@Laura
Tell me you are suffering from TDS by demonstrating the worst element of TDS, namely denying Trump has any set of values or interests beyond himself. In fact the Trump Doctrine is quite an impressive format for strengthening, not Trump, but America. Also, Trump’s pursuit of reciprocity on security, trade and national alliances provides a healthy promise for America and its success in the future. While you may disagree with the values which Trump espouses, and it is a legitimate discussion as to what values are actually in America’s long term and short term interests, it is entirely illegitimate, and a mark of a true TDSer to accuse Trump of having no values beyond his own person.
As to tearing the country apart, this is what TDS has done to the nation, simply to delegitimize and reverse the reforms which the American people overwhelmingly supported when they voted for Trump, and why the Bird Brain Haley and the bought and paid for Desantis can’t get enough support to necessitate Trump sharing a debate stage with them. The American people chose Trump, and it looks like they will choose him again, and when you suggest that Trump was able to gain such support while only pursuing narcissistic policies, it demonstrates both a great ignorance of the basis upon which his policies are based as well as a woeful disdainful for the American people who keep choosing him over the TDS format of life.
@Tanna
Michael S. accuses me and others here of being intensely anti-American because he needs to draw attention away from his latest anti-Jewish statements on this thread.
Some more places where you can find them (“Court Jews” – about the American Jewish officials, “big mouth Jews”):
https://www.israpundit.org/no-trump-didnt-committ-actionable-treason-or-espionage/comment-page-1/#comment-63356000253053
https://www.israpundit.org/how-dangerous-are-the-anti-israel-conservatives/comment-page-1/#comment-63356000268492
https://www.israpundit.org/judge-unseals-mar-a-lago-raid-warrant-reveals-why-fbi-is-investigating-trump/comment-page-1/#comment-63356000253055
There is more.
Looking back at this, I can’t understand not only why you implore me to show love to Michael who keeps lecturing Jews on how they should be G’boys and how they don’t have the right to feel insulted when good people who America belongs to insult them, but why anyone here would care to keep explaining things to him, as though it matters or helps.
@Laura As for who is tearing the country apart:
“Did Trump spur a Baltimore clean-up?
Last week — following Trump’s tweet calling out Baltimore — we reminded readers that: Once upon a time, Baltimore was thriving…
Noting former mayor William Donald Schaefer’s positive leadership and attention to detail, concluded:
imagine a mega-initiative to clean-up the inner city — haul away the garbage (and maybe some of the rats).
Hire Baltimore’s notorious squeegee boys (and other unemployed residents) to attack the problem.
It wouldn’t fix all of Baltimore’s problems, but it would be a conspicuous step forward.
image
Well, the city administration didn’t rally the notorious squeegee boys (nor anybody else, as near as we can tell).
But, some people did step up…
============
According to Baltimore’s WBAL TV:
“Hundreds of volunteers participated in a massive cleanup in west Baltimore, inspired by the president’s twitter attack last week on Baltimore.”
Nearly 300 volunteers showed up with a truckload of garbage bags, rakes and glove and began cleaning up one of the neighborhoods on the west side.
They removed a toilet, chairs, tables and spare tires, among other things, from piles of trash in a west Baltimore alley.
They hauled out 12 to 14 tons of trash, including three complete dumpster loads.
The volunteers completely cleared out what was an impassable alley “making a real difference and a real dent in the condition of the neighborhood.”
============
Here’s the kicker…
According to WBAL:
Most of the volunteers don’t live in the neighborhood.
Many of them live in other states, such as Ohio and North Carolina.
Nearly all of them heard about the cleanup from Scott Presler, the organizer.
Presser is a grassroots conservative activist who ardently supports President Trump.
The cleanup was attended, in large part, by supporters of President Donald Trump
Hmm…
https://homafiles.info/2019/08/09/did-trump-spur-a-baltimore-clean-up/
===========”
“Case in point…in the Twilight Zone” – Rod Serling
“Dee Dee Dee, Dee Dee Dee Dee…” 😀
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGZuzNm05do
@Laura
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2017-05-04/ty-article/.premium/when-trump-helped-resettle-evacuated-israelis/0000017f-f313-d487-abff-f3ffad6e0000
@Laura Did Trump’s Private Jet Carry a Sick Child from California …
Snopes
@Laura
The only thing Trump values is himself. He’s a self-absorbed narcissist who is ready to tear the country asunder if he doesn’t become president again.
@Harris
Yes, I understood that you did not intend to suggest an agreement with Carlson’s views. Notably, Carlson’s lack of regard for that which he claims to hold most dear, ie America and what defined her as a great nation, is the very essence of what Trump is falsely claimed to espouse, namely a perversion of American values and a truly opportunistic interest in winning irregardless of how the process of achieving a victorious outcome might actually come to pervert America into a much darker image of its former greatness.
Trump is a truly remarkable man in that despite all the chaos and all the viciousness with which he has faced, he has never lost track of the unwavering goal of the values for which he is fighting. Some may attribute it to this or that, but whatever the basis of his moral fortitude might be sourced upon, he clearly has never wavered into the cesspool of bigotry and hatred in which Carlson has moved towards with both feet, and Trump has had far more reason to do so than has Carlson. In considering the distinction between these two men, I am reminded of a phrase which I heard long ago that battle may not change a man so much as it actually serves to reveal his true nature. In any event, I agree with you and others who expect to see Carlson persist in the hate baiting practices which he has come to openly support, which is both a regrettable and worrisome expectation for anyone who truly hopes to see America regain her greatness once again.
@Peloni:
I should clarify , regarding ‘American lens-: That’s TUCKER’S view on what’s good for America. Not mine. I happen to agree with you on what’s good for America.
The diss on Ben Shapiro and the ‘THEM” (that includes me) was way below the belt and will land him new fans from the Nick Fuentes folks.
Tucker should be doing damage control, but I don’t think he will. So I do expect him to slide down the shithole he’s dug for himself.
Tanna,
You’re dealing with people who tend to be intensely anti-American in their posts (Reader in particular). There’s no sense, in trying to reason with them.
For those interested,
It’s “logic” like the above, that keeps this thing going. The immediate target is Donald J. Trump, and the ultimate target is Middle America. This is a major election year. Anyone who can’t see the motives involved here is naive, to say the least.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-780907
@Harris
Reader said that.
@Tanna
What makes you think that Michael (I wouldn’t say that he wants to kill Jews) doesn’t want someone to kill Jews?
Do you read what he writes on this website?
Mr. Reader, Im not suggesting that you show love to people who want to kill Jews, I was speaking of Michael.
Peloni, Gave us the bottom line. Let me repeat it!
@Harris
Carlson is openly and actively supporting antisemitic tropes while also having very recently specifically offered Candace Owens his platform to promote her antisemitic diatribe which began with her accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. This is not a legitimate view thru an American lens, as you describe it. Antisemitism is not an acceptable value in America and Carlson’s attempt to normalize it as such is simply contemptible.
Also, I would argue that peering thru an American lens does not support what Carlson has done in his attack against his competitor, Shapiro. It is not a purely American perspective which led Carlson to castigate support for Israel as being illegitimate or unAmerican. Indeed, Israel is America’s greatest ally in the Middle East and the destabilization of the Middle East is not something unrelatable to American interests, even ignoring Israel.
Indeed, Carlson’s dismissal of the conflict in the Israel belies either a great ignorance or a great bias against America’s interest in the region – and no one would suggest that Carlson is ignorant. The effect of this war on trade and supply chains alone demonstrates the reality that American interests in this war are very much at stake. Where is his American lens in considering the effect of allowing terror to dominate a region which commands the greatest concentration of maritime trade routes which very much affects the already flagging economy in the US. As the world’s greatest maritime power whose economy is dependent upon world trade, America is very much a target of the war being waged against Israel, and yet I have yet to hear Carlson address this issue in any way which doesn’t ignore this fact.
Additionally, America’s greatest geopolitical adversary, China, will become the great beneficiary of Carlson’s desire to ignore this conflict, which only compounds the obtuse nature of Carlson’s disdain for those who share a strong concern for Israel’s victory in this war.
So even thinking thru an exclusively American lens does not excuse or explain Carlson’s vilification of those who strongly support Israel. A strong, vibrant and successful Israel provides for a stronger, more vibrant and more successful America, and no matter what Carlson might think about Israel or the war in Gaza, his antisemitic rhetoric being used to denigrate his opposition demonstrates an important character flaw which I contend should earn the scorn from us all.
@ Zorn: “In any country Jews are aliens with citizenships who fool themselves into thinking that it is their country and they are the same as everybody else and it cannot happen here.”
I agree. It’s just a matter of time in any country.
re: Carlson. He has gone into full provocateur mode. The more controversy and outrageous statements, the more attention and the more viewers. I’ve learned a lot from him over the years and agreed with about 80-90% of what he said. He has always exagerated, often to the tune of ‘”THEY ALL want x , y, z”.
I loved his initial shows where his guests were a veritable conga line of lefty freaks. When that list seemingly got exhausted he brought on guests that seemed to be there to buttress an argument of his (Bolton, Abbott and a few others excepted.) And he had some very good ones, Alex Berenson for example.
Somewhere around the time Kanye came on it changed to having someone who just had some opinion to come on. I think this coincided with the FOX Nation show he was doing at the same time. Some of those guests just were not that impressive. Then when he got into folks like Kid Rock and Nugent it became apparent that he was really trying to ingratiate himself with a certain cultural demographic.What really did it for me were the interviews with Andrew Tate, some
ultimate fighter type who converted to Islam because it’s more macho or some bs like that. The guy is also a sex offender so Islam lets him get away with that.
All said, I never thought of Tucker as ‘pro-Israel’ or ‘anti-Israel’. He thinks EXCLUSIVELY through an American lens and we shouldn’t expect him to be anything else. He may SEEM to be pro-Israel one day. And we shouldn’t expect him to be so on the next. That’s just the nature of the guy. For all I know, he may be hanging with Nick Fuentes or Max Blumenthal by next Christmas, if that brings him more attention.
@Laura
This is a straw man argument as no one is calling for support to be sent to Russia. Russia has no need of support from the US, only a need to be dealt with in a fair and equitable manner. If this had been US policy in the period of 2014-2022, or from 2007-2014 or from 2000-2007, the US and Russia would be enjoying a very strong relationship, there would be no war in Europe, and China would be isolated as is in the interest of both the US and Russia. Also, there would be no need of support being sent to Ukraine as Ukraine could have become a very prosperous and stable nation rather than becoming the most corrupt and most unstable nation in Europe under the influence of the US and its efforts to destabilize that nation rather than to reform the inherently corrupt and plutocratic govt which needlessly came to be the result of the US guided changeover from its Soviet economic structure.
So, while I agree with you, no support should be sent to Russia, so too no support should be sent to Ukraine. Peace and prosperity rather than war and subjugation should be he pursuit of US policy, in Ukraine, in Europe, in the Middle East and at home. Unfortunately, war and strife has been the desired policy pursued in all of these regions to the great regret of all the affected peoples in these regions and around the world.
Well Tanna, then you definitely should not be supporting Russia.
No, it comes from having moral clarity. Russia is still an evil empire but lacks the resources to reestablish that empire at the moment. That you defend Russia’s unprovoked imperialistic invasion of Ukraine reveals that YOU’RE the one confused and uninformed. You are conflating domestic politics with that war. You think that by defending Ukraine you’d be on the same side as the Democrats, so your kneejerk reaction is to support Russia. However, you need to know that the likes of Chomsky and other radical leftists are also supporting Russia as are Iran and China. If you defend Russia, you are by extension supporting China, NK, Iran and hamas. Russia is waging a war of conquest. I recall a time when conservatives used to believe that eastern Europe should be free from Russia, now they want Russia to regain its empire. This is far from the party of Reagan.
It’s interesting that Russia backs hamas while Ukraine backs Israel. That should tell you everything you need to know.
https://forward.com/culture/449269/the-secret-jewish-history-of-teddy-roosevelt/
“Roosevelt was the first president to appoint a Jew to a Cabinet position; a champion of Jewish rights at home and abroad, he was a vocal supporter of a Jewish homeland in Palestine; an advocate (mostly) of immigration, based on his firsthand dealings with Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants who had settled in his hometown of New York City, and a defender of Jews in the wake of the Kishinev pogroms of 1903. He even kept two Jewish menorahs on display at his 95-acre estate on the North Shore of Long Island, Sagamore Hill….”
I encourage Jews all over the world to start making Aliyah plans to Israel.
This is for their own sake and children’s sake but also to strength Israel.
@Tanna
No, I don’t paint barns.
What you call painting with a broad brush, I call looking at the big picture and understanding the context.
Of course, it is not 1848 but while the level of technology keeps advancing, the human nature doesn’t change.
Eisav and Yaakov will be reconciled when Moshiach comes and it is stupid and suicidal to show love to someone who shows murderous hatred toward me and mine – it’s like saying “Kiss those who murdered Jews on October 7”.
Reader, could I get you to help me paint my barn? You use a fairly broad brush. the world is not the same as in 1848. Remember, “Esav hates Yaakov” I wonder why? What is important to remember is that Esav and Yaakov are twin brothers. They have the same DNA. the midrash said, Esav looked exactly like his father. In the future they will be reconciled and for now we need to show a little love to each other.
@Michael are ONLY Christians real Americans?
Michael should only Christians be allowed to live in the USA?
As far as pouring the American treasure into Israel –
The US doesn’t really have its own treasure – the income from taxes in the US is somewhere between 3-4 trillion dollars a year.
The US treasure consists mainly of the 30-plus trillion dollars of borrowed money (the biggest creditor, I think, is still China) which the US has never had any intention to repay.
The IDF happens to be a part of the US Central Command, and the US military base in Qatar happens to be the headquarters of the US Central Command (right next to the headquarters of Hamas).
The American military experts have been present in Israel throughout the war collecting the military, technology, and other information beneficial to the United States.
90% of the American aid to Israel has to be spent on buying weapons manufactured by the US military-industrial complex, and numerous other countries are the beneficiaries of the US aid.
@peloni
Michael has just explained to you that making what Jews consider antisemitic statements is essential to the people who are considered American patriots and MAGA supporters.
Believe him, he is right.
In other words, in order to be counted as a proper patriotic populist conservative one has to show his disdain for the Jews – this is nothing new, for example, Wagner converted himself from an exiled liberal into a loyal German conservative (after the failure of the 1848 European revolution) by “anonymously” publishing Judaism (Jewishness?) in Music.
Michael is right because he is not Jewish and as such he doesn’t have the Jewish need for the denial of reality which is too painful for the Jews to contemplate, namely that they will never be accepted by their host countries, no matter how long they have lived there or how patriotic they might be, or even if they know the local language better than the natives.
Michael has just written that the US is his country but not yours – yours is Israel.
Believe him, swallow your pride, and quit trying to argue with him.
and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
This Shapiro statement of supporting Ukraine against Russia, must come from a deep democrat, liberal part of Ben’s soul. Or he is just misinformed on the reasons behind the Ukraine war. Or maybe, it just goes to show Ben is human and even thou he is God’s chosen he is / can be wrong just like any other human being. We human beings are complicated……..
When I’m King of the USA, All free money stays at home first, and we will only support other nations in relation as to how much they support ISRAEL.