Encore of Revival: America, July 5, 2021

Tucker Carlson makes claims and claims are made about Tucker Carlson. We haven’t seen this much media attention-gathering brilliance since Trump. Did Tucker gossip with journalists on the other side? Can anyone prove FBI involvement in the January 6 revolt? Did the NSA really spy on Tucker? More than evidence, history has the public convinced it’s all plausible.

The NSA’s denial that Tucker was a target would be more believable with two circumstances: 1. if it came from the White House which would have something to lose if the denial was proven false and 2. if the feds hadn’t given credence to Snowden by martyring him. But, lacking these, many find it all too believable.

Just as believable is the notion of Tucker being in a gossip circle. Scandals are everywhere, after all.

But, the bigger problem with Tucker isn’t a theory, it’s a result. He is divisive. He points out problems in the other side, but without any path to restoration or friendship. Listening to him stirs hatred and fear—for whichever opinion is different from that of the listener. Democratic and Republican voters could tend to hate and fear each other more after listening to Tucker. That’s Tucker’s type.

Bickering and unrest are stirring up all over the country. Some is warranted, much is not, but all of it is what we asked for when we decided to win arguments and fights instead of supporters and friends.

Grimly yet hopefully, I wish you a Happy Independence Day.

Trump

Trump tells Florida rally that New York prosecutors are behaving like third world dictators // Daily Mail

News Media, Journalism & Free speech

NSA denies spying on Fox News host Tucker Carlson // NBC News

Tucker Carlson Says The NSA Wants Him Off The Air. Fox News Isn’t Following His Lead // NPR

Stelter: Why isn’t Fox News fact-checking Carlson’s January 6 claim // CNN

Tucker Carlson: NSA hits back at allegations it spied on Fox News host // BBC News

The Questions Raised By Tucker Carlson’s Reported Leaks To His Media ‘Friends’ // Forbes

Have Tucker Carlson and Ron DeSantis filled the ‘Trump void’ for the left? | TheHill // The Hill

Fox News Really Wants You to Think Its Ratings Aren’t Down // Yahoo News

Mark Levin, the Fox News host who won’t stop criticizing other Fox News personalities // MSN News

Security & Public Safety

11 people in custody after hourslong armed standoff on I-95 // AP

Wakefield Standoff Suspects Claim To Be Part Of Group Called ‘Rise Of The Moors’ // CBS Boston

Massachusetts cops issue urgent ‘shelter-in-place’ warning with eight heavily armed men on the run // Daily Mail

Pandemic

WHO warns that coronavirus variants are spreading faster than vaccines can stop them // Yahoo News

Face Masks to Become ‘Personal Choice’ as UK Lifts Covid-19 Lockdown // MSN News