While Jussie Smollett’s hate crime allegations are probably a hoax, the reality is that hate crimes in America are very real and on the increase. But white-supremacists' darling and proud gay-basher Tucker Carlson, insists otherwise!
Twice this week, Carlson brayed about the sheer awfulness of the Jussie Smollett situation. And no, Carlson didn’t say that the hoax makes it more difficult for those who are subjected to real hate crimes - he used the opportunity to whine about how the left is stoking false race hatred in order to help the Democratic party. Seriously.
Carlson began his White Power Hour week with this little screed:
"Who is dividing us? And who, exactly, is the victim in all of this? While Smollett claims that he's the victim, he tells us that he represents the most despised and unfashionable groups in America. That is why bigots doubt his story. The rest of us nod as if this were true because we're required to do that. That's how dishonest our society has become. Everyone must lie all the time. We know the rules, we have no choice.
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The much-hyped epidemic of hate crimes you've heard so much about essentially is made up. The premise is absurd. America is not a hateful country, it's the most welcoming place on earth. That's why, even as our children learn from their teachers what a bigoted country this is, millions continue to stream in from Africa and Latin America for a better life here.
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Stoking race hatred ensures continued power for the Democratic Party. Divided populations are easier to manipulate and rule. There would be no Democratic coalition without racial animosity. It's what holds their constituencies together. That's the point of identity politics. It is why they're forever reopening the wound.
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Hate hoaxes make ethnic groups fear and distrust each other. That's a dangerous thing to do in a country that is becoming more diverse by the day."
See, it’s really the liberals who hate America and, in their crusade to bring down white America, they make up hate crimes and, in so doing, are hurting America. Get it!
Friday, he pushed the same argument. He warned viewers that their kids will be subjected to the “lie” that “hate crimes overall are incredibly common, and the incidence of them is rising.” After playing clips of other media figures talking about hate crimes being a problem regardless of Smollett, Carlson pontificated:
"The problem with what you just heard is, it's a crock, it's totally false. In fact, it's provably untrue. Anyone who says otherwise, like the people you just heard, is either intentionally misleading you, or doesn't understand the numbers -- and that would include most journalists. Type in the phrase ‘hate crimes’ into Google and you will see story after story claiming that thousands of these atrocities take place every year in our country and the incidence of them is rising.”
He attacked the right-wing and white-nationalist favorite bogeyman, The Southern Poverty Law Center which keeps real data on real hate crimes and hate incidents:
"So, instead, reporters take their numbers wholesale from partisan activists who pose as researchers, or from wholly fraudulent organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center. These groups use moral panics to gin up fund-raising, they get rich doing it, so, of course, they continue."
Carlson complained that the SPLC “makes up” incidents by counting accusations, not convictions. “You have to be convicted of it, and once you are, I can count what you did as a crime -- otherwise, it's just something that you said. It doesn't mean anything. In real life, hate crimes are rare.”
Really? The data (which Carlson disputes) says that hate groups are at “an all time high.” The FBI reports that hate crimes have risen 17%. So Tucker is, uh, lying to suit his agenda.
What is a crock is everything that Carlson just said.
Watch Carlson lie and propagandize below, from the February 18 and February 22, 2019 Tucker Carlson Tonight.
It’s frankly shameful how the Right Wing thinks it’s okay to attack the Southern Poverty Law Center rather than acknowledge the truth. And making nonsensical absolute statements like Carlson is knowingly doing here doesn’t disprove the facts.
The reality is that there are still plenty of bigots and plenty of bigotry in this country, and the ascension of the Pence White House has given many of them license to come out and let their inner hater fly. By gaslighting the entire situation, angry Right Wing pundits like Carlson are working to allow the bigots and the would-be bullies to get away with as much violence as possible – because who are you going to believe – Tucker Carlson or your own lying eyes?