Reminder that the US taxpayer expends money to broadcast this to US servicemembers around the globe https://t.co/advoHlDGXT — Mike Black (@MikeBlack114) September 28, 2022 Back in the earlier aughts, Mark Ames wrote a piece for (IIRC) the Village Voice about ‘The Politics of Spite‘: Right-wing voters less compelled by any positive arguments than by a …
Late Night Open Thread: Tucker Carlson, GOP SpitemeisterPost + Comments (60)
For someone like Carlson, I suspect there’s a strategy to spitefulness. When Tucker shows up to backslap the Hells Angels, he’s not just trying to get a rise out of Democrats and normie conservatives. I think it’s part of his effort to condition right-wingers to a new type of politics by encouraging them to question their traditional assumptions of right and wrong. Sure, the establishment says crime syndicates are bad even if they happen to ride Harleys and mumble platitudes about freedom. But since when do you let the establishment do your thinking for you?
I’ve always believed conditioning the right was the barely hidden goal of Carlson’s Russia apologetics. In March, the economist Noah Smith astutely diagnosed the reason the socialist left and the authoritarian right each seemed so invested in seeing Putin prevail in Ukraine:
…If Putin defeats the Ukrainians, the conservatives that are standing against Putin will look ineffectual and weak. The Trumpists will then be able to solidify their control over the GOP. And it also means a victory for raw power and will (perhaps implying that efforts like the January 6th putsch are the preferred method for attaining power). But if Putin loses, then Trump and his allies who for years praised and defended Putin’s regime will be discredited. Success has a thousand fathers; failure is an orphan. Even more damningly, if Putin loses, it’ll be a success for the globalist order — sanctions and aid to Ukraine will represent a triumph of international cooperation. Exactly the kind of world order the Trumpists want so badly to smash…
… If Russia prevails in Ukraine over the West, it’ll create the sort of political space for insurgents that Smith describes—but only if the right is willing to claim that space. That’s what Carlson’s conditioning program is about, I think. He’s trying to cultivate in his audience an instinct to question—or spite—liberal pieties wherever they arise, from grand-scale geopolitics like “Russia is bad” to more pedestrian but no less correct beliefs like “Biker gangs are bad.” If nationalists intend to see their rebellion against liberalism succeed, they can’t let the enemy dictate to them what their morals should be. One small but vivid way to signal that is to show up as the guest speaker at Sonny Barger’s funeral.
If it bothers you, well, it figures that it would, lib…
Shortly after ridiculing John Fetterman for his tattoos, Tucker flew to CA this weekend to attend the funeral of Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger. Probably didn’t say anything to these guys about theirs. pic.twitter.com/PcXnboVqQ3
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) September 26, 2022
Also, IMO, relevant:
Only paid ones.
— Wombat 🇦🇺 🐨🌊🇺🇦🌻 (@BrisbaneMum67) September 26, 2022
Because it pays well.
— Erin Leigh🌻 (@pukeuprainbows) September 28, 2022