We probably should have had a separate thread on this a couple of weeks ago. First of all, I never know how much the highly partisan commentators believe what they're saying, or how much they're just play acting to get viewers, listeners or readers. But maybe Tucker Carlson in sincere in his apparent love for rightwing dictators and his disdain for Western democracy. Father Carlson
There is a section of the political right that is either implicitly or explicitly willing to give up on democracy in favor of social order. Steve Bannon and Erik Prince were talking about how we should be rooting for Putin earlier today explicitly because he is "anti-woke" and "anti-LGBT." To them liberal democracy has destroyed the social hierarchy and they are happy to pursue authoritarians to restore it, even at the expense of democracy.
Conservatives have lost their party to the Tea Party; the quicker America realizes that, the better...
We talked about this a few years ago when I was trying to figure out if the rightwing affection for Putin and Russia was simply following in Trump's lead. "If he likes them, it's good enough for us." But then I realized the rightwing attraction was pre-Trump. And a lot of it seemed to be American evangelicals drawn to Putin because he was so anti-gay. But Carlson's affinity seems to be something more than simply not liking gays. Maybe it is the social hierarchy you mentioned. Getting back to a stricter class system where poor people know their place and brown immigrants simply aren't allowed in. He's made his disdain for them pretty obvious.
As I said in the other thread (and righties got mad at), there is a large contingent in this country actively rooting for Vladimir Putin.
Carlson can make some very salient points at times and he can say some really stupid wacky stuff. I don’t know how anyone can suggest that anything Putin ever does is good for America in any way.
It's more than disgraceful. Back in the 60's, these same type Neanderthals were screaming "Love America or leave it" to those who opposed the Vietnam fiasco (and I served my country in that era in that region of the world!). What is happening now by a minority of right wingers is even more despicable. We ought to commission a troop carrier, call it SS Carlson, and send him, those with the t-shirt proclaiming I'D RATHER BE RUSSIAN THAN A DEMOCRAT, and all the other @#$%& traitors to Russia forth-damn-with!
I think there are a variety of views out there for different reasons. For the record, the Republicans I know personally do not like or praise Putin, and I don't think the Republicans who feel that way are the majority. But there are some on the right who I think are just rooting for Putin because Trump gets along with Putin and/or the left views Trump and Putin as aligned. Those are the "I'd rather be Russian than Democrat" types. Some on the right like Putin because they think he is mostly sympathetic - or at least not antagonistic - toward their increasing Nationalist principles. Interestingly, there seems to me to be a bit of rift in the White Nationalist circles about Putin. Most seem to be pulling for him because he's White, non Jewish, and they see him as willing to uphold traditional values which they support. Some are suspicious of Putin and are noting how Putin justified going into in Ukraine in order to de-Nazify it. Naturally, many of these people think the Nazis were laudable. But it seems like most of them assume Putin's just using the anti-Nazi rhetoric as part of his eight dimensional chess and is sort of trolling the world with it (wink, wink). It's enough to make your head hurt. I have no idea what is really in Tucker's head on this stuff. It's one thing to say Ukraine isn't perfect and that Europe needs to step up. That'd be one thing. But Tucker really seems to go out of his way to deflect or mock criticism of Putin, even when that criticism isn't tied to a domestic or partisan debate.
Funny thing is Putin never took any Eastern European land when Trump was in the WH... So I fail to see how Carlson has bandied Trump to Putin or to anything going on right now in Europe. Maybe he's so anti China that he thinks this is a "necessary" evil to keep Russia from forming a military tie to China. Either way, much of what he espouses come from what's going on on the WEF and the NWO crap the Euros are trying to tie the U.S. into. The most dangerous man on the planet, or to our free Constitutional Republic, is not Putin or Xi Jinping... It's Klaus Schwab.
This is the guy Trump pardoned. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn just issued a statement blaming Biden because he “ignored and laughed at Putin’s legitimate security concerns, and legitimate ethnic problems in the Ukraine,” … while we continuing “to demonize Russia.” - Ron Filipkowski
I remember when Republicans despised Russia. Now they’re it’s sycophantic lapdog while Russia’s totalitarian leader invades a free country. Its truly mind numbing.
