As Howard Kurtz detailed this morning, Tucker Carlson has been slapped around pretty good by the lefties at MSNBC. Carlson, a rich kid used to having things his way, must surely be steaming. And indeed, he doesn't look happy in the picture above, from The Politico. And his now-rare smirk will be even rarer after Komissar Keith read this piece.
And as Politico's Alexander Burns explains in the accompanying article, straight from the GOP convention in St. Paul, Carlson is clearly edging up to the precipice of complaining publicly about the way he has been treated--and then is edging back away from the precipice. But hey, let Burns report, you decide:
Carlson, whose network has been criticized for a perceived* liberal slant, said television would suffer if it did not maintain some pretense of objectivity in its reportage.
“I’m not going to attack Keith Olbermann,” Carlson said, but continued: “I profoundly disapprove and am troubled by the model, on any channel, that lacks a neutral anchor or someone who poses as a neutral anchor.”
While true objectivity might be impossible, the former anchor said, “We should pretend. … One thing we always agreed on was, we may not have reached the ideal of objectivity but we’re all striving toward it.”
So what's Carlson's game? He might have thought that he was covering himself by weaseling around, trying to avoid naming names, not citing specifics, trying to associate himself, however pathetically, with "objective" quality journalism. I mean, jeez, a guy who suggests that we "pretend" to be objective? Who aspires Fakery? That's the standard to which journalists should aspire? Maybe in the sort of punk'd jackass alt.universe that Carlson inhabits, but not in the real world of serious reporters.
But in fact, Carlson will make even more enemies at MSNBC by what he said here. His statement, "I’m not going to attack Keith Olbermann," isn't going to fool anybody. In fact, Carlson is using the rhetorical device known as paralipsis--the Nixonian device of bringing up a topic by saying that you won't bring it up, e.g. "I would never accuse my opponent of being a wife-beater."
Thus the correct translation of Carlson's declaration about Olbermann is, "I AM going to attack Keith Olbermann." And of course, Olbermann knows it. Tucker, you aren't as crafty as you think you are. So expect to see Carlson on MSNBC even less--like, a lot less.
What's the end-game here? The Cable Gamer assumes that Carlson is looking for a way out of MSNBC. Perhaps he can land a gig at another news network, although that's unlikely. Or maybe he can write a tell-all book about his years in the business. That's much more likely. I wonder what security is like at MSNBC--you know, intranets, files, discs, zip drives, that kinda stuff.
*My only quibble with Burns' reporting is the word "perceived," at the beginning. I mean, come on now!
