Tucker Carlson

I’m still young enough to remember a time when the new Esquire or Vogue or Rolling Stone was anticipated for the type of journalism that didn’t strive to beat you over the head with some sort of moral or right think—when writing was unadulterated and sought to capture life as it was and not how the author thought it should be. “The Long Slide” by Tucker Carlson is a refreshing time-capsule of that type of journalism. It’s a pleasurable read, funny, serious, and absurd. Held show more against the current zeitgeist it exposes the calorie-rich sustenance deprived drivel we’ve been being fed this last decade. The articles herein are heartfelt, curious, and honest. I read it in a day as page after page I smiled, gasped, laughed, and shook my head. Makes me want to dig out some of those original Hunter S. Thompson pieces and relieve the magazines of my youth. show less

I loved the opening passage: Imagine you are sailing along placidly on a tranquil sea and then the ship's crew goes seemingly crazy endangering your and all the other passengers' lives. Apparently the author lifted this scenario from Aristotle or Plato so this is not a new condition. Unfortunately anyone deeply imbued in the doctrines of the Democratic elite is not likely to be enlightened by reading this book. It should give the openminded reader pause however.

"Ship of Fools" is searing expose’ of the self-interested performance by today’s ruling class in America. This thin layer of society includes D. C. politicians of both parties, the owners of major media outlets (Facebook, Yahoo, Google), newspapers, cable news stations, and powerful heads of top universities. It includes the best-connected lobbyists, lawyers, & scientists. Tucker Carlson compares our existing situation to a cruise ship where something has gone terribly wrong. The show more passengers are not focused on the problems and the ship’s crew has gone insane… acting grandiose, aggressive, and drunk with power. Despite the crew’s incompetence, the passengers are powerless to take control and steer the ship, thus trapped on a ship of fools.

Originally an allegory from Plato’s Republic written hundreds of years ago, the final outcome of the journey has never been revealed. Tucker claims the ship’s demise has now become a reality which helps to explain why Donald Trump was elected President. “It was a throbbing middle finger in the face of America’s ruling class”.

"Ship of Fools" is broken down into seven chapters addressing various critical issues.

In a nutshell, the elite are focused on a New World Order in which they rule the planet. Immediate goals: Unsecured open borders with more immigration- in any way that can be accomplished by promoting globalism, diversity, and an abstract concept of fixing climate change– but above all, maintaining their own wealth and power. As a result, the primary concern and support goes to the richest and most influential investors, welfare recipients and illegal immigrants, with the concept that immigrants can be roofers, maids, fast food servers, or any number of low skilled labor jobs… and welfare is not a problem because the upper middle class pays most of the taxes. Don’t try to compete for the elite power or live in their highly restricted neighborhoods. You most likely will not get in.

Tucker talks about poor foreign policy and the foolish wars that the United States has been fighting for 20 years with no strategy for success or withdrawal… Iraq, Somalia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya, and Syria. The goal is generally to usurp a “bad dictator”. But then what? We leave countries in chaos for years, even decades. And Max Boot, one of the D.C. elites, appears to be a war monger with a lot of persuasive power over several most recent past Presidential administrations. Tucker asks, “What happened to the past anti-war liberals?” Peace – Love – and “hell no, we won’t go” are a thing of the past. Now there is a battle cry for open hunting season- pick a target and “bombs away”. The entire elite “anti-Trump” establishment wants WAR.

A chapter is devoted to the First Amendment, Free Speech. Tucker reiterates many examples of forced censorship- the cries of “hate speech” at anything that differs from the mainstream opinion, that is construed as offensive and results in someone’s hurt feelings- from college campuses to court rooms, and corporations to public media. That leads to a chapter on Diversity. I would love to cite several profound quotes, statistics and facts from the book, but limited word-space must prevail. I will say that Tucker believes with good reason that Saul Alinsky’s theory of “divide and conquer” is in effect. And it seems to be working.

“Elites Invade the Bedroom” is Carlson’s chapter chronicling examples of “anti-man” rhetoric, especially “anti-white man”. “They Don’t Pick up Trash Anymore” addresses environmental protection and climate change. The most shocking fact I learned in this chapter is that 40% of the forest fires in California between 2006 and 2010 were caused by illegal immigrants deliberately set to mislead Border Patrol Agents and divert their attention so groups of illegals could slip by without getting caught. In 2016 an illegal immigrant set fire in Sequoia National Park which caused 29,322 acres to burn to the ground causing $61 million in measurable damages. Where was that on the news?

And here’s another little tidbit. A lot of the money designated for improving the environment and controlling climate change in organizations like The Sierra Club is being siphoned off to support illegal immigration, transgenders, and literally anyone fighting oppression, because of abstract scientific theories of physical and emotional “toxic pollution”. Meanwhile, whole neighborhoods in California are suffering from streets soiled with feces and used hypodermic needles.

"Ship of Fools" not only confirmed my suspicions about the ruling elite, but reveals who exactly is pulling the strings in Washington, their motives, and their end goal. It’s very alarming, even frightening.

The first step towards resolving the problem is to read this book. Unfortunately, the author leads the reader to believe there is no easy fix. In the meantime, the American voters will most likely continue to elect radical, outspoken, courageous individuals who are willing to stand up to the ruling class. show less

I never read current political books, but this one was highly recommended by a relative, and I felt compelled to give it a shot. It wasn't exactly what I expected . . .Carlson is much more of a populist and less of a conservative than I anticipated. He addresses many of the issues where there is major contention in the U.S. between the progressives and the more extreme conservatives, and basically points out that the middle is being left out in the cold by the elites. He talks about a show more variety of topics - from war to feminism to environmentalism. I found myself agreeing with many, but not all of his observations (I'm more libertarian and more pro corporation - who knew), but the overriding theme is that the elites of this country are quite self serving, but at the same time want to feel good about themselves by taking meaningless moral stances that don't actually jive with the reality that normal Americans face. I thought he supported that thesis quite well. show less