Op-Ed: How Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon Could Save Political Discourse in America - An Open Letter
Yes, Don and Tucker, each of you will receive many excellent offers now that you are free agents (it seems that Tucker has already accepted one at Twitter). Along with them, why don’t you consider working together to save honest political discourse in America?
You have just received a huge gift of free, albeit negative, publicity. But what if you could reverse that negativity and use it to your advantage? And once reversed, how can you maximize and extend this fortuitous gift?
I have an idea.
As famous broadcasters, you are forever linked by your simultaneously announced terminations — within hours of each other and on the same day! Cosmic coincidence, collusion or blessing from above?
It is certainly possible that Fox and CNN conspired to create a coordinated vortex of negative news that they planned to benefit themselves while hurting each of you. Whether or not they conspired, here’s how you can turn the tables on that treacherous twosome:
You should play on your conjoined newsworthy notoriety and, in addition to any other offers you might accept, do a right/left show together — even if you only do it once per month. Because of all the hullabaloo, everyone in the country has heard about what happened, so the rollout and debut of such a show would be most newsworthy.
Are you ready to see the poetic justice in this idea? Fox and CNN will have to cover whatever you do together, or their failure to report will be headline news!
The show I’m proposing will have the two of you debating and providing left/right commentary on the big issues and news of the day, similar to what the “Point/Counterpoint” segment of CBS’ “60 Minutes” did from 1971 to 1979, and what CNN’s “Crossfire” did for 23 years, 1982 to 2005.
Fill the void left by those shows! If necessary, it could be a podcast to get around network control.
Tucker, you even provided the reasoning and described the need for the show I’m proposing in your first post-termination statement:
“When you take a little time off, [you notice] how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are. They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years, we won’t even remember that we had them. Trust me as someone who’s participated.
“And yet, at the same time — and this is the amazing thing — the undeniably big topics, the ones that will define our future, get virtually no discussion at all: war, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources.
“When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues? It’s been a long time. Debates like that are not permitted in American media.”
Why not do that show? Call it the “Don & Tucker Show,” the “Tucker & Don Show,” “Left Meets Right,” “Political Clarity” or just “Clarity.” Call it anything you like — just do it because we, the American people, need that forum to save America. You could be the catalyst to defeat the uni-party’s efforts to homogenize American principles into their opposite.
Just as you described the problem in your statement, Tucker, you hinted at the solution I’m proposing:
“Both political parties and their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them, and they actively collude to shut down any conversation about it. Suddenly, the United States looks very much like a one-party state. That’s a depressing realization, but it’s not permanent.”
“This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue, and so it won’t. The people in charge know this. That’s why they’re hysterical and aggressive. They’re afraid. They’ve given up persuasion; they’re resorting to force. But it won’t work. When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful.
“At the same time, the liars who’ve been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe: True things prevail. Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left, but there are some, and that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon.”
I want to turn your concluding call to hope back on you, Tucker, and offer it as a challenge to you and Don to do this show.
This free publicity and golden opportunity has been handed to you guys on the eve of the momentous 2024 election season — talk about ripe, fortuitous and, yes, providential.
Wow! Think about this: The credibility you create with this show could get you invited to be moderators at one of the presidential debates.
I’ve heard talk that you may have a non-compete clause in the contracts with your former employers. If possible, why not find a format that doesn’t violate those clauses (like podcasting)? Or perhaps you could maximize the newsworthiness of your show by violating those clauses and reap even more publicity every time your show airs and when you defend yourself in court against your former employers, a process that could take years.
Each legal filing and court appearance will be a news event. It will be positive publicity for you and negative publicity for Fox and CNN — dual Davids fighting dual corporate giants. And, if they did collude, they would fear that fact coming out in such a court case. They might even entice you with a good offer…
And, just in case the two of you doing a show together doesn’t work out, one or both of you could grab another person from the other side of the aisle to do such a show. That would be newsworthy all by itself!
Don’t let them silence you! Provide the American people with a forum for the hope you declare is real and greatly needed!
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