Do they though?
Is it true that Tucker Carlson is fascinating as well as repellent?
Tucker is hard to replace with just another cable-news face, Hirshman noted, because “he doesn’t just repeat things that others are saying but rather he cooks up these ridiculous issues in an ever-evolving list of grievances”.
What’s more, he’s remarkably good at capturing attention and giving his viewers the language to express their anger, racism and hate.
In that sense, Carlson is something like Donald Trump, who famously called himself a “ratings machine”. You can despise what these men are saying and still have trouble tearing your eyes from their TV presence; they possess a kind of perverse gift, like one bestowed by an evil godmother upon an ill-fated infant in a fairy tale.
I don’t think it is true. I have no trouble at all tearing my eyes from their tv presence; the only reason I ever look at either of them is because they are so destructive. Fascinating alluring evil they are not. Am I missing something?
My husband insists Trump has charisma. I can’t see it. I find him repellent, but not in a fascinating way. I can’t stand to watch or listen to Tucker Carlson for a full minute, so I guess I don’t find him fascinating, either. I just wish they’d both go away so I can return to a world in which they have no place in my mind.
I don’t buy that either. He’s more like a vacuum where charisma goes to die. He’s stupid, he’s crude, he’s clumsy, he’s lazy, he looks ridiculous in his clothes, his hair is a standing joke – so no. F on the charisma.
But, of course, there is the fact that lots of people do love him to bits, but I think that’s more to do with loving his rage and hatred and sadism – but maybe to them that spells charisma.
The instant I hear Trump’s stupid drawl, I turn off whatever electronic thing it is that is producing it.
I’ve heard newspapers are written for a 6th grade reading level. I would guess the writers are capable of more. I don’t see cable news hosts as being capable of more. I think they get more credit than they deserve because the subject matter is what holds people’s interest, not anything these talking heads have generated on their own. In the case of Carlson, O’Reilly, and Lemon — If these guys insult our intelligence, then they probably aren’t as clever as people think they are. They are self-important and pompous because they are on TV and have an audience. I can’t watch the shit. Of course one has to have perspective to make this judgement, but just look at Trump who cheated his way to a Bachelor’s in Economics vs. Obama who earned a JD (Magna cum Laude to boot). Obama doesn’t insult our intelligence, but Trump has no choice, he doen’t have the capacity otherwise. Has anyone seen Trump converse in an intelligent way when he knew he wasn’t on camera? I mean are there any examples at all? I’ve never seen any. Some people must like being talked down to, but I’m not one of them.
iknklst @1 I agree, Trump is about as watchable as a compost pile. Same with most cable news hosts. I’m not an expert on charisma, but I do know who I find interesting and who I don’t.
Yeah, I’m with you, he seems to be exceedingly boring. The only positive thing about him is that he hosted Kara Dansky, I think on multiple occasions.
Watching a compost pile is far more entertaining.
He’s an angry rube – or he plays one on tv – and that alone is enough to capture the angry rubes looking for validation from a ‘reputable’ source.
I would pick up the Weekly World News occasionally, and I am convinced that it was written as a satire rag. It was The Onion that people didn’t pick up on. One of the regular columns was by “Ed Anger,” a pen name for an anonymous “You know what grinds my gears?” type of everyman who didn’t like the world outside the 50 states. My first clue that it was satire was an article about traveling to Spain and ranting that people there don’t speak English, they speak “Chili Pepperese.”
That’s what Carlson is. He’s Ed Anger. Loving the attention, but knowing he’s full of shit while he’s getting it. That dumbounded expression of his is practiced.
@GW – I get the impression that Kara takes multiple hot showers after her appearances on shows like Tucker’s. Lot’s of scrubbing. She had to be talked into doing them with Carlson and only agreed because the other outlets ignored her requests to explain the effects that gender ideology has on women.