# What's Tucker Carlson trying to do? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570 "2009-03-16T00:31:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/21 "2009-03-16T21:00:07Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Well, if any little closet queen had irrational reason to hate Jon Stewart, it would be Tucker Carlson. Seriously, who did he blow to get on the pundit circuit? I think it was a guy named Kenny. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/22 "2009-03-16T21:04:38Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Tucker Carlson was just saying what we are all thinking. If by _we_ you’re adopting the imperial plural and mean you, then we agree. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/23 "2009-03-16T21:11:56Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Tucker Carlson was just saying what we are all thinking. “_we are all_”? Who is “we”? Even in England they know what’s what. [America cheers as satirist delivers knockout blow to TV finance gurus](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/15/usa-tv-jon-stewart-economy) > [@](#): > > For the past 10 days the US has been gripped. Even President Obama tuned in as the country’s foremost TV comic, Jon Stewart, unleashed an extraordinary broadside against TV’s top financial commentators for their part in the unfolding economic crisis. > > …[read on for a wonderful article] While actually I don’t think the entire US even knows about the Stewart/Cramer/CNBC “fued” it’s a safe bet that those who do, those who aren’t themselves partisan hacks or employees of CNBC, are on Stewart’s side here. Your time is done. Over. Kaput. Go listen to Glenn Beck or watch a Chuck Norris movie or something. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/24 "2009-03-16T21:13:25Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Carlson is a smart guy and a very good writer. He is not good on television because he is a thoughtful person who doesn’t think in sound bites. And yet he’s desperate to be a talking head on TV, when that’s not even what he’s good at? > [@](#): > > disheartening to anyone who cares about democracy and the quality of public discourse Stewart is the exemplar of the poor quality of public discourse? His whole reason for being is criticizing the mindless circus that is the popular media. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/25 "2009-03-16T21:15:27Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > “_we are all_”? Who is “we”? **puddleglum** and Tucker Carlson, of course. Unless…I’ve never seen Carlson and **puddleglum** in the same room. Hmm… ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/26 "2009-03-16T21:16:50Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Stewart’s offense that Carlson can’t forgive isn’t Cramer or even the Crossfire appearance, but something far worse. His unforgivable offense is having the popularity, the cred, the respect, the wit and the audience that Carlson would gladly drop his trousers and let an out of control chimp abuse him any way that he wanted to for but in spite of his inherited wealth and generic boy next door cuteness and picturesque wife and kids et al will never have. Yep, you got it. > [@Sampiro](#): > > The absolute biggest “F&ck You” Stewart could give to Carlson on tonight’s show, the one that would send the little Elvis-villain into apoplexy, would be to completely ignore his comments and not even give him a minute’s worth of TDS’s audience. I’m hoping Stewart won’t of course- I like to see Carlson get slapped- but I think that Carlson totally is baiting him for some scraps and exposure. I agree. It’ll be fun if Stewart takes him on, but it’ll be even more funny if he doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2009, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/27 "2009-03-16T21:21:30Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > Where does he call Stewart a “partisan hack”? > It sounds more like he said “partisan attack”, but I could be mistaken. > [@](#): > > KURTZ: You don’t buy the notion that Jon Stewart is angry? I mean, Jon Stewart’s been… > > CARLSON: Of course he’s angry. And he’s angry about a lot of things. > > KURTZ: Right. > > CARLSON: But look, was Jim Cramer the only analyst to call it wrong… > > KURTZ: No. > > CARLSON: … to, you know, come up with stupid stock picks? Of course not. He criticized Obama’s budget, and that’s what started this, because in the end, Jon Stewart is a partisan hack. Although I find it quite interesting that Stewart accused Carlson himself of “partisan hackery” during his 2004 Crossfire appearance. It’s like Tucker Carlson can’t even come up with original labels to call people. It’s the equivalent of “I know you are, but what am I?” , but about 5 years after the fact. ---
**Author:** ![Alistair\_McCello](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Alistair\_McCello](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alistair_McCello)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/28 "2009-03-17T00:56:44Z")
What really confuses me about this line from Carlson is that Stewart did not attack Jim Cramer, so he could not have attacked Jim Cramer in response to any remarks about Obama’s plan. The piece that started the whole thing was making fun of CNBC in it’s totality without focusing on any particular person. It only became about Cramer because other pundits decided to talk about it that way and Stewart went with it. So unless Jon Stewart is a master of manipulation and subterfuge and managed to make an elaborate plan to trick pundits into goading him into attacking Jim Cramer, then his original comments could not have been in response to Jim Cramer’s commentary regarding Obama’s policies. Unless I am missing some vital information here it looks like Carlson is working from a flawed premise. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/29 "2009-03-17T01:06:37Z")
He’s trying desperately to stake a claim to relevance. Jon Stewart depantsed Carlson (and Paul Begala, too) years ago and he’s trying to get back at him. Not gonna happen. He’s toast. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/30 "2009-03-17T01:08:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s trying desperately to stake a claim to relevance. Jon Stewart depantsed Carlson (and Paul Begala, too) years ago and he’s trying to get back at him. Not gonna happen. He’s toast. Yeah, the mob has pretty much spoken. He’s got a- quite deserved- kiss-of-death reputation for news shows. His exchange with Stewart included: CARLSON: You need to go to get a job at a journalism school, I think. STEWART: You need to go to one. I’m not sure if it Stewart knew Carlson’s background, but (like Hannity, Limbaugh, and Beck- and unlike Stewart) Carlson’s a college flunk out with no credentials in journalism, political science, law, or anything else. He got into the trade through family connections to Heritage Foundation (a conservative “think tank” to which Carlson’s family gave money). ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/31 "2009-03-17T01:12:47Z")
Oh man am I a cynic. I took it as marketing’s response to the Limbaugh focus. There are a few parallels (e.g., can’t criticize Limbaugh), and if the right can start repeating the Stewart is the left’s leader, no one will stand up to him, he’s irrelevant to the direction of the party, etc., it puts things somewhat in balance. The media loves one-against-another type confrontation. Not reality, of course, but who said anything about reality? ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/32 "2009-03-17T01:29:32Z")
[geek hijack]Can someone please draw Jon Stewart as The Comedian? He saw the true face of twenty first century media and chose to become a reflection, a parody of it. [/geek hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Alienhand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8edcca/32.png) [@Alienhand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alienhand)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/33 "2009-03-17T01:54:27Z")
> [@Alistair\_McCello](#): > > Unless I am missing some vital information here it looks like Carlson is working from a flawed premise. Not that it’s vital information or possibly even accurate, “partisan hack” and “DNC operative” started getting slung around by freepers on Friday and started appearing on some Stewart youTube video comments on Saturday. Carlson is not a republican but he is a conservative and as **Sampiro** has identified he is connected to, at least, The Heritage Foundation. It’s not impossible that Carlson came to the same conclusion on his own, but the sameness of the accusations towards Stewart raises my eyebrow a little (not as much as **Rhythmdvl** ’s but still a little :)). ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/34 "2009-03-17T03:02:46Z")
> [@Alienhand](#): > > Not that it’s vital information or possibly even accurate, “partisan hack” and “DNC operative” started getting slung around by freepers on Friday and started appearing on some Stewart youTube video comments on Saturday. Carlson is not a republican but he is a conservative and as **Sampiro** has identified he is connected to, at least, The Heritage Foundation. It’s not impossible that Carlson came to the same conclusion on his own, but the sameness of the accusations towards Stewart raises my eyebrow a little (not as much as **Rhythmdvl** ’s but still a little :)). And work those eyebrows…two…three…and sneer! and sneer! Work the eyebrows … two … three… The Heritage Foundation is one of Hannity’s major sponsors. Will anyone be surprised if Hannity/Levin/et al drop Stewart’s name in one of their monologues? ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/35 "2009-03-17T16:59:13Z")
Did not mention Carlson at all on Monday. That was probably the best move. Trashing him would have been too easy and it would have been exactly what Carlson wanted. ---
**Author:** ![puddleglum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puddleglum/32/137_2.png) [@puddleglum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puddleglum)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/36 "2009-03-17T18:39:42Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Stewart is the exemplar of the poor quality of public discourse? His whole reason for being is criticizing the mindless circus that is the popular media. Stewart is one of the main attractions in that circus. Carlson had a intelligent, informative show on MSNBC that got cancelled and Stewart is riding high with his content free snark fest. If Stewart was interested in the quality of public discourse he would stop with the dumb attacks and the cycnical posing. He pretends to be interested in the quality of political dialougues, but in reality he is only interested in getting cheap laughs from people who share his prejudices. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/37 "2009-03-17T18:53:07Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Stewart is one of the main attractions in that circus. I could not agree with you less. Stewart is perhaps the sole person on television who routinely points out how the news media fail to address issues of public import with seriousness. The fact that he is doing it in an entertaining manner is merely gravy. > [@](#): > > Carlson had a intelligent, informative show on MSNBC that got cancelled 1. Bullshit. Carlson’s show was one of the many on the air that treated public affairs as a sporting match and that used ringers as “analysts.” Carson himself has absolutely no expertise in any matter of public interest and his comments were not based on any actual reporting, simply reactive bloviation. 2. Carlson’s show got cancelled because he wasn’t making MSNBC enough money. It’s merely coincidence that it happened just as Stewart took him down on the air. > [@](#): > > and Stewart is riding high with his content free snark fest. Stewart is the only person on television who does honest critique of the news media. With the media doing such a bad job, they are fully deserving of scornful commentary and “snark.” > [@](#): > > If Stewart was interested in the quality of public discourse he would stop with the dumb attacks and the cycnical posing. Have you noticed that Stewart’s method of critique actually seems to be working, unlike any other critic? The “quality of public discourse” has less to do with not cracking jokes than it has to do with honest addressing of the issues. If you can do it in a way that’s funny and attracts an audience, I see no reason not to. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/38 "2009-03-17T19:00:14Z")
Don’t waste your time ascenray. In puddleglum’s world, “content free” is synonymous to “his opinion isn’t mine, and therefore worth ignoring.” ---
**Author:** ![Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@Long\_Time\_First\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Long_Time_First_Time)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/39 "2009-03-17T19:13:52Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > Stewart is one of the main attractions in that circus. Carlson had a intelligent, informative show on MSNBC that got cancelled and Stewart is riding high with his content free snark fest. If Stewart was interested in the quality of public discourse he would stop with the dumb attacks and the cycnical posing. He pretends to be interested in the quality of political dialougues, but in reality he is only interested in getting cheap laughs from people who share his prejudices. Yes, you’re 100% correct. Stewart only is interested in getting cheap laughs because Stewart is a comedian who is hosting a comedy show. He knows he doesn’t appeal to everyone, very few topical comedians do. As those who post on blogs like to say…it’s a feature, not a bug. What is the name of the network that carries The Daily Show? ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570/40 "2009-03-17T19:24:38Z")
Guys, **puddleglum** is still a fan of George W. Bush. One of the 22 percenters. Make of that what you will. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-tucker-carlson-trying-to-do/489570.md?page=3)