Tucker Carlson is taking an interesting turn. I’ve rejoiced at his turn against pro-war fundamentalism, but it’s always come packaged with a more sinister edge. In recent weeks, that edge has become really apparent, with his new closeness to open white supremacists. With today’s video, I dive into just one thing Tucker gets very wrong, World War II history, and explain how that may contribute to some of other right-wing mistakes…
When should we panic? Donald Trump has obviously given freer reign to the nativist and racist instincts of my country, but how out of the ordinary is it really? There was a large industry and policy community based around fear of the other long before Donald Trump. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that his cartoonish attempt to put into practice all the ideas that Republicans used to only pay lip service to at election time has INCREASED support for immigration and multi-culturalism in the United States. It’s an interesting question. People are undeniably being hurt, but it’s often just because already existing policies are being carried out in a more haphazard fashion.
This video plays with the question. It focuses on a panic the Trump administration is creating around Chinese students and workers in the US, and places it in the context of decades of hate towards other groups that our country has been swimming in. It points out that the new China-panic might actually be a result of the diminishing panic about other groups. I don’t have any firm answers here, but it’s very worth thinking about.
