I defended Tucker when he was trashed for interviewing Vladimir Putin, and I stand by that defense. On balance it is always better to have an opportunity to hear somebody important in their own words than to only get commentary on them.
Now I won't argue that Tucker couldn't have been more aggressive, in principle. On the other hand, it is difficult to believe that any journalist could have conducted a really tough interview with a man like Vladimir Putin. In general, I think Tucker did about as well as anybody could have, and I value the fact that he gave us 100% of what was said.
No other journalist would have done that. We would get a narrative, not the whole thing. Better the latter than the former.
Now that I have praised Tucker, let me eviscerate him. I can't believe the crap that he has been throwing at us about how wonderful Russia is in his post-interview videos. It is disgusting.
During the Cold War, useful idiots would go to Russia and give us reports that amounted to praising Potemkin villages put up to impress stupid foreigners, or cherry-picking things Russia does well (like their subway system) as if this is representative of what it is like to live in Russia.
Tucker says groceries in Russia cost about 1/4th of what they cost in America. What he doesn’t mention is the average Russian salary is 1/5th the average U.S. salary. pic.twitter.com/zwWCOTIMZi
— Joel Berry (@JoelWBerry) February 15, 2024
This is prime-grade gaslighting. Russia is a poor country where 1 out of 5 don't even have indoor toilets. The fact that there are wealthy people living nice lives in the country means little, and the "price" of something is irrelevant when your purchasing power--the real measure of what you can buy--is too low to get it. And the low price of something using hard currency matters little to people who use rubles.
I agree that American political leadership sucks; I also agree with Tucker's critics that Russian leadership sucks much more. The average American has a better life and more freedom than the average Russian, by a long shot.
BREAKING: Speaking at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Tucker Carlson, who traveled from Russia, says Moscow is much cleaner and safer than any major city in the US. WATCH.pic.twitter.com/OQSZEyvW5m
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 12, 2024
Moscow is a showcase city, in exactly the same way that Pyongyang is. Tucker is right that American cities are badly run, dirty, and way too dangerous. But unlike American cities, where only the very rich and the mostly poor live--we live in suburbs, which are extremely nice, European cities concentrate their wealth in the urban core. It is the suburbs, which you never see, in which the misery lives.
Generally speaking, American urban cores showcase our worst, not our best; the opposite is true in a city like Moscow. It may be weird and even stupid to have our urban cores be run by fools and allowed to deteriorate, but it is reality. Visit Detroit and you would think the region poor and declining, but the metropolitan region is beautiful and thriving. It's just spread out.
Tucker visits a Russian grocery store & buys enough food to feed his crew for a week
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) February 15, 2024
His team guesses what it’d cost in the US & their average guess was $400
The total in Russia was ~$100
Bidenflation has destroyed our quality of life in America
pic.twitter.com/92vvRFEDZL
Russia's subway system--built largely by Stalin--may indeed be an architectural wonder. America's subways may be the opposite. I wish it were different, although our subways tend to suck because Americans (outside of Boston, Chicago, and New York) use personal transportation because we can afford it. But those systems aren't gorgeous because our priorities are different, and we allocate our resources differently.
Americans focus on personal consumption, not public showcases. We could and should put more care and pride into our public works, and less into graft and consultants, but the crappiness has nothing to do with insufficient wealth.
America can and should do much better--our leaders are terrible. They also don't throw people out of windows and poison their political appointments.
TC Shorts: The Moscow Subway Station pic.twitter.com/xX8qRrda3X
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 14, 2024
Tucker isn't wrong that our leaders are terrible. I say so often enough. But I do so because I want our country to be LESS like Russia and China, and instead, we are becoming MORE like China and Russia.
Criticizing America for not being more like Russia is ridiculous, destructive, and blind to reality.
Just so. Putin obviously felt safe to finish the job, and, as a coward and bully, he is always most dangerous when he feels safe and triumphant. Consider why he feels that way now. Consider what can be done to prove him wrong. https://t.co/cleCCX4PnM
— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) February 16, 2024
It is mystifying that Tucker would be holding Russia up as an example to us all. Vladimir Putin is a KGB-style tyrant, not a paragon of virtue.
Q: In your interview with Putin, you didn’t talk about freedom of speech in Russia, you did not talk about Navalny, about assassinations
— Media Matters (@mmfa) February 16, 2024
Tucker Carlson: Leadership requires killing peoplehttps://t.co/sVhsX52ynP pic.twitter.com/wUjoVTkpR9
Ask Alexei Navalny.
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