I shed no tears over the news that Tucker Carlson is out. I’ve always found him entitled; it’s no surprise that his father makes tons from neocons. Well, last night Chris Matthews had Carlson as a talking head on his program. It was a generous and kind gesture to a guy who must be in pain. Further evidence of Matthews’s greatness.
Speaking of the maleness of MSNBC’s political team, let it be noted that a few weeks ago, maybe as far back as two months, the self-important Joe Scarborough was scornful on air toward Rachel Maddow, taunting her over her assertion that the religious right is on the decline. Scarborough’s tone struck me as personal and mean. He seemed to hold over Maddow, who’s a lesbian, his claim to normalness and his connection with real America (before he was a hack, he was once a congressman from Florida). He said in so many words, You won’t be singin that tune next November, when the religious right delivers again! Well: Rachel Maddow was right. She had seen the writing on the wall in McCain’s rise and Huckabee’s lameness. A tide that began in 1978 has broken. One of the great uncovered stories of the ’08 campaign. (Up there with the stranglehold of the Religious Left, the Israel lobby).
