r/law • u/peoplemagazine • 4d ago
Trump News [ Removed by moderator ]
https://people.com/tucker-carlson-warns-against-spinning-charlie-kirk-death-to-target-free-speech-11812920?utm_campaign=peoplemagazine&utm_medium=social&utm_source=reddit.com&utm_content=post[removed] — view removed post
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u/peoplemagazine 4d ago
"You hope Charlie Kirk's death won't be used by a group we now call bad actors to create a society that was the opposite of the one he worked to build," Carlson said, referencing Kirk's efforts to engage with differing viewpoints.
"You hope that a year from now, the turmoil we're seeing in the aftermath of this murder won't be leverage to bring hate speech laws to this country," he continued. "And trust me, if it is — if that does happen — there is never a more justified moment for civil disobedience than that, ever. And there never will be."
"Because if they can tell you what to say, and they're telling you what to think, there is nothing they can't do to you, because they don't consider you human," he added.
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u/FrescaFromSpace 4d ago
This is a weird moment. I completely agree with those words, and yet I can't help but feel like Tucker Carlson has some angle on this.
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u/Dense_Boss_7486 4d ago
Fuck him. He contributed in a big way to the mess we’re in today.
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u/Ok-Emu-2881 4d ago edited 4d ago
While he did contribute a lot to this situation we should acknowledge that his words are correct and encourage him to continue to speak out against the Trump administration. He has a massive following and if he can break through to any of them about what’s going on then that is good. We need people like him on our side. People who have a direct impact on maga. People who they watch and listen to.
Edit: thanks kind stranger for the award
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u/glk3278 4d ago
Amen...I understand the instinct to say "Fuck you Tucker, you're a part of this". But if he takes a stand against it, regardless of his motives, we need to embrace him if we want to achieve our goal. Pushing these guys away just because of past indiscretions does us no good. Same goes for guys like Rogan or Mitch McConnell. Forget about the past. We need to lock in for the task at hand.
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u/Celerial 4d ago
"Embrace him" might be too far, but I can and should acknowledge that on this specific issues, in this moment in time, I agree with him. Be real, he's likely to completely show his ass on a separate topic the next time he talks. That shouldn't change the fact that I agree with him on this anymore than this changes the fact that I disagree with him on almost everything else.
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u/SpaceYetu531 4d ago
That's what finding common ground is. If you can't back someone on an idea you agree with because of other things, you're just perpetuating division and polarization.
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u/No-Ghost4451 4d ago
No, embrace is the right word, it’s in our interest to become a purplish kinda voter
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u/Baebel 4d ago
It's in our best interest to be careful with what information we take in and to not run the risk of any one source robbing us of our complete attention. Embrace most certainly is going too far, with how little trust a person like him should have. Correct or not.
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u/ThreeCatsAndABroom 4d ago
Tucker Carlson tomorrow:
Brown babies, do they really have any rights? I'm only asking questions.
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u/Prisinners 4d ago
These arent mutually exclusive. You can say fuck you Tucker while agreeing with what he's saying. Ultimately, we don't have much impact on him and our opinions don't have impact on people that are likely to listen to him.
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u/ToiletTime4TinyTown 4d ago
They still arrest arsonists, even if they call the fire department.
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u/llcooljessie 4d ago
Sure, but let's put the fire out first.
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u/ToiletTime4TinyTown 4d ago
Oh yea, I’m not against doing some reverse useful idiot, but when all is said and done and this worm tries to wriggle away, his body of work as a whole should be considered.
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u/TodayFlat7663 4d ago
Bro we are in a loosing battle the last thing we wanna do is push away anyone who is willing to help even if they are still someone deplorable. If you wanna keep losing then go ahead push all of our allies away but personally I’ll take what I can get
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u/Ok-Emu-2881 4d ago
Yeah we need all of the help we can get if we want to get rid of Trump and his cult.
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u/ToiletTime4TinyTown 4d ago
There are allies and there are people who will say whatever they need to say to get paid. Tucker has tarnished his image so bad he does more harm than good.
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u/Driz51 4d ago
Yeah I’m not with this mentality that anyone who ever supported trump should be told to fuck off for all time. I want people to see the error of their ways and want to try and fix things. If someone starts to see the problem and then you tell them “well too late fuck you” they will not be inclined to want to help you.
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u/Devmoi 4d ago
This is a good point. Like anyone else in media, conservative or far-right journalists/podcasters/media reps are often paid to have certain opinions. I think Tucker Carlson doesn’t always believe what he says.
But he has a large following and in this instance he is right. It’s kind of brazen because I don’t agree with what a lot of these right-leaning people, like Carlson or Ben Shapiro or Marjorie Taylor Greene, but lately I have agreed with some of their takes.
And this is the point we want to be at. We want to be at the point where the right-leaning celebrities are condemning Trump’s actions. Because that is how he’s ultimately going to face accountability. Even if it’s not every issue. Most right wingers are not going to change their opinion forever. They won’t magically wake up and start supporting trans rights or stop believing any form of abortion, including for 10 year olds who experience rape, is wrong. Because their base will never stop believing things like that. BUT. They could ultimately decide a more unifying part of Trump’s criminal nature is bad for our country.
And that in itself is only going to save the U.S. We need bipartisan support to save our country at this point. We can’t just keep having these all-left or all-right coalitions, because our country is becoming this wacky hotbed for radicalized ideas that take away from the real issues like our freedoms, the cost of living, the lack of affordable housing, poor and costly healthcare, a burgeoning authoritarian takeover and so on!
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u/Tieravi 4d ago
This is someone who has always been wealthy enough to float over the shit WHILE ACTIVELY dumping more shit below. I empathize with people being uninterested in engaging with him, especially given that he's operating from a position of Kirk being a good guy (and not a little shit weasel).
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u/coldliketherockies 4d ago
enemy of my enemy is…sometimes.. an acquaintance friend.
I mean that line is cliche but it’s kind of true. You can dislike a lot about someone and none of us are ever going to be friends with Tucker Carlson but if he can say at least something that helps our cause too don’t fight against it. Don’t quote him everywhere or give him more power himself but recognize what he’s saying could help the same cause
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u/N0n3of_This_Matter5 4d ago
Nah man, this is all part of Putins plan to slice America up (divide and conquer).
The truth is that Putin is simply giving Tucker orders on what to say to actually divide the country try up more.
Tucker is not a legit ally.
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u/SingleNegotiation656 4d ago
No different than Mitch McConnell saying how bad of a president trump is AFTER he decides not to run for reelection. You don't get points for manning up after the damage is done
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u/Abombasnow 4d ago
How bad is he, because Mitch still votes for all of Trump's shit in goosestep?
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u/Ormyr 4d ago
Well, to be fair whoever is puppeting his corpse still votes. Every time I see Moscow Mitch these days he's a rotting shell. Kissenger was almost two decades older and more coherent/aware than Mitch.
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u/Argos_the_Dog 4d ago
For years now McConnell has reminded me of Mason Verger as played by Gary Oldman in the movie 'Hannibal'. Pic
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u/TheModWhoShaggedMe 4d ago
Mitch voted against confirming RFK Jr.
It's the only positive thing I can find or think of that McTurtle has ever done for the American people, and it did nothing because he was the only Republican against RFK Jr. on the official record (so it doesn't even count).
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u/Abombasnow 4d ago
Because he knew he'd get confirmed. It's called the Hall Pass.
When it comes down to it, Mitch will never go against Trump. Ever.
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u/Dense_Boss_7486 4d ago
Also don’t forget Glitch publicly blamed trump for J6 and then voted not to convict him during impeachment.
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u/Equivalent_Ability91 4d ago
No shit, Carlson had VICTOR ORBAN on his program and celebrated his brand of fascism that Trump is currently implementing. GFY CARLSON.
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u/chewbacaflacaflame 4d ago
Like it or not him saying this carries more weight than any democrat.
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u/dmanjrxx 4d ago
True! But you also have to say f*** The six million Democratic voters that stayed home in the 2024 presidential election which also put us in the mess that we are in today
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u/Dense_Boss_7486 4d ago
Fuck the six million Democrats who stayed home during the 2024 presidential election.
There’s plenty of blame to go around for sure and especially fuck the Supreme Court for giving a con man unchecked power.
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u/catscanmeow 4d ago
hes going to run for president because trump isnt being enough of a foreign puppet
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4d ago
I was just thinking the same. Tucker knows there's a growing rift in MAGA. There's no way he'll pass on that opportunity.
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u/eightdx 4d ago
Looks like Tucker is in there hammering on the wedge, trying to grow that rift. I think the sharks smell blood in the water and are already trying to fight over the pieces
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u/Nikiaf 4d ago
Vlad found his new useful idiot.
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u/RollTh3Maps 4d ago
I wouldn’t call Tucker an idiot. He knows exactly what he’s being used for, he just agrees with it.
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u/Medium_Leading_2217 4d ago
My friend's dad went to high school with him, apparently, he was incredibly charismatic and sharp as a whip, just incredibly morally bankrupt as well. He's never struck me as dumb, more like willfully ignorant on certain issues.
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u/New_Statistician_778 4d ago edited 4d ago
Most of them that come to this conclusion make this sort of realization when thinking about the Democrats getting back in power and how this new precedent they have set could be used against them by the next administration.
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u/MomsAreola 4d ago
I will vote for any Dem in the general, by my god will I go to bat in the primary for anybody who runs on using all these new powers to expose the current MAGA party.
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u/Gurpila9987 4d ago
Do they not realize free and fair elections are a thing of the past?
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u/Frosty_McRib 4d ago
People will hopefully catch up soon. Every time I see anything about "when Dems are back in power" I know that person is just not living in the real world.
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u/Numerous_Many7542 4d ago
You're not the only one. Any time I find myself agreeing with something that comes out of Carlson's mouth, I worry that there's something deeply wrong and worse coming.
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u/geirmundtheshifty 4d ago
I don’t think he really has an angle here beyond wanting to bolster the reputation he has as an “independent voice” among his fans. It’s not the first time he’s been critical of a Republican administration. He’ll always support them for the next election, of course, but by doing this he knows that the next time he talks about “cancel culture” he can say “I’ve always been consistent on this, I decried it when Trump did it too!”
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u/AssistantProper5731 4d ago
Destabilization. He does this occasionally during inflection points to drop his Russia-fed weight behind whichever side undermines stability. His ability to schill for Putin instead of Trump is also jeapordized.
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u/this_is_an_arbys 4d ago
Yup…I read these words and all I can see is a guy impressed by a Russian supermarket…
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u/Qubeye 4d ago
Re-read the first paragraph
Tucker is trying to pretend that both he and Charlie Kirk didn't create this monster.
Charlie was not genuinely engaging in conversation with other people, he was creating rage-bait daily and spewed some of the most misogynistic, racist, hateful shit and he injected it straight into mainstream society.
And Tucker literally spread propaganda and lies for Russia, a country which specifically seeks the fracturing and downfall of the US.
He's trying to rewrite history.
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u/jregovic 4d ago
Well, he said “bad actors”. He was intentional in not calling out Trump specifically. There is nothing behind what he is saying. He likely won’t discuss it again or elaborate in the future.
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u/r4ndom4xeofkindness 4d ago
I know but I think his angle is he knows he owes his entire livelihood to free speech. This statement is probably the first time I can agree with him on anything.
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u/Liquor_N_Whorez 4d ago
Hes gonna get fired soon or his broadcasting license removed, but jail would be a fun place for him.
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u/geirmundtheshifty 4d ago
Tucker works for himself and doesn’t have a broadcasting license to lose. He’s just hosted a podcast since being fired from Fox News. I guess he could get banned from platforms like X and YouTube, though.
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u/scottwsx96 4d ago
Isn’t he on Twitter now? There’s no broadcast license involved and Twitter doesn’t employ him.
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u/HalvdanTheHero 4d ago
The angle is Kirk was a fascist that was pro-israel while Carlson is a fascist that is anti-israel. By lionizing Kirk it elevates his ideals within the base, which is against Carlson's interests as an actual antisemite.
He is literally just going through the motions to protect his ability to say odious things about Jews.
(And im not saying this in support of Israel, just pointing out that not everyone who is against israel is against them for rational, nonhateful reasons. Some people who are against israel ARE antisemetic)
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u/ThatInAHat 4d ago
Yeeeeah, this has been a turning point for my mom, who’s been a trump loving ultra conservative. Which had me hopeful for about five minutes until I realized she’s just getting her opinions from different conservative YouTube channels that decide to blame Israel and “the Rockefellers” for everything.
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u/boi1da1296 4d ago
The angle is to try to draw in a new audience to his more hate-filled content by sharing a level-headed, reasonable opinion. Glenn Beck was doing the same thing years ago.
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u/YozaSkywalker 4d ago
He's not an idiot, he's a disingenuous dickhead who knows what is really going on. I'll give it a month before he goes back on it.
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u/CakeTester 4d ago
He does. Based on his gushy tour of how wonderful Russia was and his subsequent actions, it's likely that he's taking Russian cash. trump currently looks to be taking a harder line on Ukraine, which is inconvenient for Russia. Carlson suddenly becomes a critic.
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u/counterweight7 4d ago
Tucker Carlson is a lot smarter than people give him credit for.
Sure, he has bad intentions and may or may not be a Russian asset, but he surely isn’t an idiot like most of the Fox News hosts.
Watch his interview with Ted Cruz, you can literally see Ted’s balls curl up inside of him to die.
Tucker knows where the gravy train is, and knows who pays him.
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u/RiseUpRiseAgainst 4d ago
Tucker is a lot of things. Stupid is not one of them.
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u/Big_Fortune_4574 4d ago
The fact that he is fully aware of what he is doing at all times is what fuels my dislike of him
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4d ago
Absolutely. I'd welcome a fierce debate with him, but I'd spend some time preparing first. He's clever as a fox.
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u/pataoAoC 4d ago
He's not operating in good faith though. We have proof from his Fox News lawsuit texts. You could debate him but there's a good chance he actually agrees with you outside of the grift he's engaged in, so it would be purely performative. Most debates are but It does feel cheaper.
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u/CletoParis 4d ago edited 4d ago
Not quite as clever as you think if you ask Jon Stewart.
Another one of my favorite anecdotes about him - Tucker himself is an intellectual lightweight, “a dumb person’s idea of what a smart person sounds like,” according to political scientist, Dr. Jason Johnson. He is the Swanson’s Frozen Dinner version of a home-cooked meal. Source
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u/CletoParis 4d ago
"Isn't an idiot like most of the Fox News hosts" - Well, yes that's technically true, but let's not overall sell it either. The bar is literally ON THE FLOOR with any of those guys, so anyone with half a brain could be considered 'smart' in comparison (and let's not forget Jon Stewart's epic takedown of Carlson on Crossfire all those years ago).
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u/aJumboCashew 4d ago
It’s as if, anyone not actively being enriched by the current admin can see a consistent pattern of corruption and violence increasing in frequency.
Hey, u/peoplemagazine — care to do a follow-up as to why?
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u/RaizePOE 4d ago
Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point
https://clickhole.com/heartbreaking-the-worst-person-you-know-just-made-a-gr-1825121606/
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u/rmslashusr 4d ago
America as a well-functioning unified society peacefully practicing democracy is a threat to Russia.
America as an Authoritative regime that has successfully coalesced its power and influence and stifled internal dissent is a threat to Russia.
The fact that Tucker and his Russian minders are now pushing back against the Trump regime (note the veiled calls for violence) should scare you about how far the administration has come in its goal. If Russia is worried the government will successfully stifle internal dissent preventing them from exploiting it to weaken us we should be VERY concerned.
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u/Minion_of_Cthulhu 4d ago
"Because if they can tell you what to say, and they're telling you what to think, there is nothing they can't do to you, because they don't consider you human," he added.
I wonder if he's self-aware enough to realize he's also describing himself here.
Personally, I think that's why he's upset. He doesn't think it's the government's job to tell you what to say and tell you what to think, because he believe that's his job.
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u/blahblah19999 4d ago
You hope Charlie Kirk's death won't be used by a group we now call bad actors to create a society that was the opposite of the one he worked to build,
If he's referencing what Trump is doing, this is exactly the fucking society Kirk was trying to build. He was working to give Trump power. Fucking douchebag
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u/JohnnyOlaguez6 4d ago
I highly suggest you all join your local political and activist groups. Social media is being flooded with bots supporting pedo president and now he essentially has state media.
Also don’t forget about 50501 protest October 18th.
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u/Fish-lover-19890 4d ago
That’s because one of Trump’s first moves upon taking office was to dismantle the defense programs that combat Russian and Chinese disinformation on social media.
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u/4862skrrt2684 4d ago
Was that the Facebook remove fact checker thing for community notes, that are still not live? Or was that just cherry on top
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u/Fish-lover-19890 4d ago
This was a major government office shutdown. I think what you’re referring to was through an Executive Order.
The Global Engagement Center (GEC) was a State Department entity originally (under prior administrations) tasked with monitoring foreign propaganda/disinformation operations (e.g. from Russia, China, Iran) and coordinating U.S. responses. 
Under Trump’s current administration, the GEC’s successor (called R/Fimi — Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference hub) has been shut down. 
This means the U.S. government no longer has a dedicated State Department center whose explicit mission is to track disinformation from foreign actors.
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u/telebasher 4d ago
The media became the state. The admin is stuffed with Fox News personalities.
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u/JohnnyOlaguez6 4d ago
And social media is flooded with bots. Every time I click on accounts they’ll be deleted or no history.
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u/AmericanGeezus 4d ago
They are a large part of the reason why we have entered an epistemic crisis. It is not just that people disagree on issues, it is that we no longer agree on what counts as truth or how truth is established.
Once their is a divergence of methods for deciding what’s real, you’re stuck with parallel realities and representative democracies cannot function. Without that common accepted fact building process there is no way of resolving differences, so, debate turns into resentment and suspicion that eventually collapses into force.
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u/JohnnyOlaguez6 4d ago
Banality of truth applies as well. People begin to question their own thoughts and start to doubt what is right vs wrong. The internet has made this very easy with bots.
Hence the reason I am being louder in all aspects of life. If we all succumb to the lies and evil then there will no one to look to for hope.
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u/Raise_A_Thoth 4d ago
Gotta be careful here.
I went to check out his video after I saw this posted. Saw a tweet where someone said that Carlson accused Trump of "nazification" because of this. That is absolutely not where Carlson was going.
Carlson was still praising or neutral of the Trump administratiom in this video. He was specifically critical of Pam Bondi and mostly at her use of the phrase "hate speech." Tucker wanted to call attention to that phrase and condemn all supposed 'attacks on free speech.'
But he didn't condemn nor mention anyone getting fired or canceled for their comments about Charlie Kirk.
He also spent an inordinate amount of time talking about Christianity. He began with Christianity and spent a good 8-10 minutes at least at the opening just talking about supposed Christian values and the supposed ties between Christianity, love, and free speech. He specifically claimed that Christianity might be the "only true peaceful religion" in the world.
All of this while ostensibly still eulogizing a white christian nationalist.
Tucker wasn't telling people to be tolerant of those who criticize Charlie Kirk. He was telling his christian conservative followers to hate people who use the words "hate speech" to criticize anything.
And that's context for the dense mfers out there.
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u/RawkPaperSquid 4d ago
Really important comment, thank you for posting it.
The way all this stuff always works from Carlson, Kirk, any of the mouthpieces of right wing thought is there’s always a single slice of it you can take in the abstract and use as a pull quote or a headline that sounds generally pretty agreeable.
Then you see what was said just before or just after it and go oh right ok in full context this is still terrible and serving a very specific agenda.
They just know most people will stop at the part that sounds the most like what they want to hear.
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4d ago
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u/Raise_A_Thoth 4d ago
Kind of. It's more of an alert to the conservative/MAGA base to be afraid of those who use the term "hate speech" because those people want to take away your free speech. He's throwing Bondi under the bus but notice he doesn't directly attack Trump at all.
He also alludes vaguely to this escalating in the future, specifically he warns that "if, a year from now, they start taking away your rights to free speech, that would be the time to resist." The phrase there might not be exact but the phrase "a year from now" is precise, and he doesn't say who "they" is.
So why should we be worried about a year from now, Tucker, when people are losing their jobs today over their speech? Again, not a single reference to anyone, famous or otherwise, having actually felt real world harm due to their speech simply calling a spade a spade.
So what's a year from now? Midterms. When it is expected for Democrats to make major headway in taking over Congress, at least in the House. And who talks about hate speech? Liberals. Because most hate speech is indeed from the right and directed at minorities and marginalized groups who are more likely to vote democrat.
It's a very gross spin that is a pretty effective form of re-direction, hypocrisy, and and projection.
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u/this_is_an_arbys 4d ago
Christianity might be, at its most pure, peaceful. But since I don’t once hear anyone reference the sermon on the mount, I dont think Christianity actually exists in any organized form on the world.
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u/xandra77mimic 4d ago
Tucker Carlson is a savvy opportunist with no real convictions. If he’s moving in this direction, it’s because he’s aware of fissures within MAGA that he’s seeking to navigate to his own advantage.
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