ut the choice of Carlson doesn’t just show the neediness of the left. It also shows the decrepit state of American conservatism. Most of Fox News’s public enemies can make policy, or at least propose legislation: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi, Andrew Cuomo, Bill DeBlasio. For its own champion, the new right is stuck with a television host, one who (despite rampant speculation) has expressed no interest in seeking elected office.
For a brief moment, Senators Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz seemed like they might be focal points for the left’s hatred, yet two months after the Capitol riot both have receded. Fascination with Marjorie Taylor Greene flared up for a few weeks, then died down just as quickly. Only Carlson endures, week in and week out.
He endures because, from his position of political powerlessness, Carlson often seems the only major voice for battles that ought to be the work of an entire political party. After nine months of racial reckonings, it would be nice for some Republicans to point out the shortcomings of the Derek Chauvin murder case and defend Chauvin’s right to a fair trial. Instead, GOP senators have released paeans to Floyd’s abbreviated life, and only Carlson is doing the hard work of pointing out that Floyd may have died of a drug overdose rather than suffocation. The nominally pro-military GOP might be expected to protest the bizarre feminization and politicization of the armed forces, but instead, Carlson is in the rhetorical lead.
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