One of the major liabilities with witch-hunts is there is no central figure, no pope, or anyone else for that matter, who can issue a central, unfied ruling.
We’ve seen (yet) another example of this today as Twitter mobs have (yet) again tried to collect the scalp of Fox News mega-star Tucker Carlson, whose polemic yesterday outraged those who think a descent into total lawlessness is a good idea.
In response to the incident Kenosha, Wisconsin --- where Kyle Rittenhouse has been arrested and charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the shootings of two rioters --- Carlson said that Rittenhouse "decided to maintain order when no one else would."
The host continued, "Are we really surprised this looting and arson accelerated to murder? How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would? Everyone can see what was happening in Kenosha. It was getting crazier by the hour."
Despite the fact that Carlson clearly wasn’t defending Rittenhouse, but was making the very reasonable point that lawlessness leads to lawlessness the Twitter mob is of course denouncing his message as an example of white supremacy.
Honestly, woke Twitter mobs throw around eyeroll-inducing terms like "white supremacist" at this point, you have to wonder if they have macros built into their keyboards.
Variety was quick to jump on the bandwagon, with an article enthusiastically listing tweets from online activists demanding advertisers abandon Carlson.
The article even drew attention to entertainment-industry figures Billy Eichner, Ike Barinholtz and Julie Klausner –-- and if you don’t know who those people are it kind of explains why they’re trying to get attention by attacking Carlson.
While Variety’s writers and editors seem to have reached Kool-aid drinking levels of fanaticism, their readers luckily haven’t. The top comments on the article this morning were overwhelmingly pro-Carlson, with reader "linda d" making this particularly trenchant point:
"Not a fan of Carlson but he is stating the obvious. Watching the mob action for the past couple of weeks you knew that people were going to end up getting shot. It was just a matter of time. There is a reason we have gov’t and police. When they stand back this is what happens."
Twitter mobs and the broader cancel culture has created millions of linda d’s, fueling Carlson’s rise.
In June, Carlson was getting an average of 4.3 plus million viewers every night, according to Forbes, taking the title of highest-rated program in cable news from its previous owner, Sean Hannity. Debunking the myth that only cranky seniors watch Fox, Forbes continued that the network is dominating with viewers age 25 to 54, the demographic most valued by advertisers.
Woke inquisitors have to employ economic terrorism to try to silence an unrepentant iconoclast like Carlson because they can’t refute him. They could try actual terrorism but even that didn’t silence a man who seems at this point like he’s on a mission from God.
But while every activist bully on Twitter may enjoy their hit of dopamine every time when they pull something like this, corporate America has to eventually realize what a terrible long-term strategy this is. How many companies need to fall victim to "get woke go broke" before some executive is brave enough to say “Hey, who cares what idiots on Twitter say?”
What’s more important: reaching Carlson’s millions of devoted followers, or kowtowing to mobs who hate corporate America and capitalism to begin with?
Do those who want to "defund the police" also want to commit street crime on a mass scale?
Do those who want to cancel Tucker Carlson specifically also hate Fox News in general?
Canceling Tucker Carlson is as nonsensical as defunding the police.
Jared Whitley is a long-time politico who has worked in the U.S. Congress, White House, and defense industry. He is an award-winning writer, having won best blogger in the state from the Utah Society of Professional Journalists (2018) and best columnist from Best of the West (2016). He earned his MBA from Hult International Business School in Dubai. Read Jared Whitley's reports — More Here.
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