Tucker’s dilemma
Most Americans couldn鈥檛 care less what Vladimir Putin thinks about them.
Not Tucker Carlson.
He鈥檚 a TV star in Moscow.
That鈥檚 鈥檆ause he鈥檚 considered to be America鈥檚 voice of reason over there.
He was featured at least four times in one week on Russia鈥檚 TV screens, peddling his uniquely obtuse musings regarding the motives of Vladimir Putin and his war machine that was aimed squarely at Ukraine.
According to Carlson, Ukraine 鈥渋s not a democracy,鈥� but a client state 鈥� a 鈥減uppet鈥� of the West.
Further, he threw in a few barbs about the motives of Democrats, while ignoring those of Putin.
鈥淒emocrats will find you guilty of treason if you don鈥檛 hate Putin,鈥� he said on his popular Fox News program.
It鈥檚 popular because Carlson freely attacks Biden, Democrats, other media outlets, or anybody who isn鈥檛 an employee of Fox News 鈥� nightly.
He gained a fair amount of attention in Russia, being the near-singular American apologist for Putin until Putin unleashed his vicious assault on Ukraine.
Suddenly, Carlson needed to change the subject.
He is no dummy.
His reason for downplaying Putin鈥檚 motives for Russia鈥檚 ominous military build-up along the Ukraine/Russia border, by calling it a 鈥渂order dispute,鈥� evaporated.
There was a new raison d鈥檈tre for one of Carlson鈥檚 carefully staged monologues 鈥� Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Jackson had just been nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Carlson figured that since Judge Jackson is Black, there might be problems with her qualifications.
Did he say he had a problem with them?
No.
He just implied that there might be problems with them.
That implication came in the form of specifically requesting to see her LSAT scores.
Her LSAT what, you ask?
Well, there鈥檚 a reason why you may not know what an LSAT score is. Because there鈥檚 never been a request by any yahoo on TV to see them.
For the record, an LSAT test (Law School Admission Test) is a standardized test to determine 鈥渢he skills necessary in the first year of law school.鈥�
How did I know that? Google.
It鈥檚 a safe bet that Jackson had sufficient LSAT scores.
She got her bachelor of arts degree from Harvard; she became a staff writer for Time Magazine; she received her law degree from Harvard Law school after she鈥檇 been the supervising editor for the Harvard Law Review; she worked as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice 鈥� Stephen Breyer (whom she hopes to replace); she had her own private legal practice; she鈥檚 been an assistant federal public defender; in 2013, she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate, for U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia; and in 2021, she was confirmed by the Senate to join the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit. (Have you noticed that all of this is one, long run-on sentence? That鈥檚 because Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson has had one long run-on career of accomplishments.)
Tucker Carlson鈥檚 phony request to have Jackson reveal her LSAT score is close to being nakedly racist.
The same as when Republicans kept referring to President Obama as a 鈥渃ommunity organizer,鈥� after he served in that capacity for three years 鈥� 20 years before his run for president. And long before he served in the Illinois legislature and as a U.S. senator.
Even while he was president, a certain racist kept trying to prove he wasn鈥檛 an American.
This stuff gets old.
Recently, a guy called into the Uniontown radio station and said about Jackson鈥檚 nomination, 鈥淭his president will go to somebody who will lean so far left, they can鈥檛 stand up straight.鈥�
There鈥檚 nothing in her record to indicate that.
But what was truly infuriating was when that guy said, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e sacrificing quality for tokenism and partisanship.鈥�
That鈥檚 the very definition of racist.
But there鈥檚 no use trying to convince that caller, or the talk show host who went along with him 鈥� that by nominating a highly qualified Black woman for a position is by no means 鈥渟acrificing quality.鈥�
It鈥檚 an enhancement.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.