March 18, 2019

MY CORNER by Boyd Cathey

“First they Came for Tucker Carlson, then for Judge Jeanine”: Where Is the Fox News Channel Headed?

Friends,

One of the few fearless and unapologetic voices remaining on Fox News is Tucker Carlson, but over the past three months he has been the subject of an intense campaign by the shrill and fanatical Left, in particular the “anti-right wing watch dog” group Media Matters, to get him off the air.  And he has also earned the enmity of “establishment” conservatives, as well,   including Neoconservatives (and semi-Never Trumpers) such as Ben Shapiro and National Review’s David French, who thoroughly dislike (and fear) his message of a populist, America First, and traditionalist conservatism.

Perhaps only because of his high prime time ratings Carlson remains on the air—but the attacks have been relentless, and a major attempt to have advertisers drop him has had some success.

Recall, also, that last year a frenzied radical Leftist mob attacked Tucker Carlson’s home in Washington DC: “Antifa Comes for Tucker Carlson,” November 9, 2016: http://takimag.com/article/antifa-comes-for-tucker-carlson/print#ixzz5WMfdiqug

More on this in a future installment. But for the time being I pass on some fascinating background sources:

 “Revenge? Tucker Carlson Exposed Media Matters’ Smear Campaign Against Conservatives in 2012,” March 12, 2019, at: https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2019/03/12/revenge-tucker-carlson-exposed-media-matters-smear-campaign-against-conservatives-in-2012/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=daily&utm_content=links&utm_campaign=20190312

“Tucker Carlson's remaining advertisers targeted in new call for boycott,” March 11, 2019, at: https://www.aol.com/article/news/2019/03/11/tucker-carlsons-remaining-advertisers-targeted-in-new-call-for-boycott/23689418/

“Tucker Carlson Routs Conservatism Inc. On Unrestrained Capitalism—and Immigration,” January 11, 2019, at: https://www.unz.com/article/tucker-carlson-routs-conservatism-inc-on-unrestrained-capitalism-and-immigration/

“Tucker Carlson Claims Market Capitalism Has Undermined American Society. He's Wrong,” January 4, 2019, at: https://www.dailywire.com/news/39964/tucker-carlson-claims-market-capitalism-has-ben-shapiro

And an excellent defense of Carlson by the superb writer Christopher De Groot:

“A Defense of Tucker Carlson,” March 15, 2019, at:https://www.takimag.com/article/a-defense-of-tucker-carlson

While Tucker holds on, under siege—and continues arguably as the only true voice of effective populist conservatism left broadcasting in prime time, another Fox personality has not been so fortunate. And the circumstances are ironic, to say the least.

For the past several weeks Fox has served up a steady diet of attacks on a couple of newly-elected Democratic congressman whose public comments, say various pundits on the network, are anti-semitic. In particular, Leftist Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN) has come in for her share of criticism. Omar’s comments have included references like “it’s all about Benjamins [$100 bills]” (an apparent reference to the political influence of wealthy Jewish Americans), the “problematic role of lobbyists in our politics…AIPAC” [American-Israeli PAC], and accusations of the “dual loyalty” of some Jewish Americans.

The question of whether those comments are indeed anti-semitic or not was immediately subsumed in frenetic attempts to censure Rep. Omar in Congress, and calls for new steps to guard against “hate speech” in America.

And it was Fox personality Judge Jeanine Pirro who managed to get caught up in it and discover that even in pushing back against Islam, there are limits, restrictions on just what you can say at that network. This past Saturday night on her evening program Pirro made some comments about Rep. Omar—comments which had the misfortunate timing of coming right after the shooting in a mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Here is what she said:  “Omar wears a hijab, which, according to the Quran 33:59, tells women to cover so they won’t get molested. Is her adherence to this Islamic doctrine indicative of her adherence to Sharia law, which in itself is antithetical to the United States Constitution?”  

[“Fox News Channel Pulls Justice With Judge Jeanine Pirro Show From Next Weekend’s Schedule,” March 17, 2019, at: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2019/03/fox-news-channel-pulls-justice-with-judge-jeanine-pirro-show-from-next-weekends-schedule/?utm_source=TGPemail&utm_medium=email&utm_content=subscriber_id:553014025&utm_campaign=Auto%20Send%20from%20The%20Gateway%20Pundit%20on%20March%2017,%202019%20at%2003:06:06%20PM]

Apparently, that was enough to get her suspended, her program off Fox for at least two weeks.

Interestingly, Judge Jeanine made those remarks in strong support of Israel and in stout opposition to Representative Omar.

But Pirro lacks the audience base that Carlson possesses, and Fox can thus treat her differently, at least for the time being. Nevertheless, there is a lesson here…and it is something I’ve mentioned in previous installments in this series.  [See, for example: “Report: Fox News Installs Meditation Room with Muslim Prayer Rugs,” May 18, 2018, at:  http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2018/05/18/report-fox-news-installs-meditation-room-with-muslim-prayer-rugs/]

Fox News has its gatekeepers, and this may well signal a direction in which the network is headed. With the exception of Tucker Carlson, most real and unapologetic populist conservatives are not given air time. There are restrictive parameters at the network—racial, sexual, ethnic—which guide both reporting and punditry. Feminist conservatives, gay conservatives, Muslim conservatives are all welcome, as long as the narrative of equality for all is preserved. But cross the line, and the hammer comes down.

Here’s hoping that Carlson can survive.