Last night, FOX news commentator Tucker Carlson criticized Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth (D). In response to her saying we should have a “national dialogue” about statues of George Washington, Carlson called her patriotism into question. She agreed to go onto his show if he would apologize beforehand for said questioning. Carlson refused, and last night called her a “coward” and a “fraud.” He continued to impugn her patriotism. For those who did not know, Sen. Duckworth was a Blackhawk pilot with the Illinois Army National Guard in Iraq. She lost her legs after her helicopter was hit by an RPG and crash landed. Calrson did not serve in the military.
I hate to say ‘as a veteran,’ because it usually demeans the point a person is trying to make. But, I use it as a preamble here only to explain my perspective. I grew up a child of the 80s with President Reagan and GI Joe and toy guns. I gravitated to the Republican party both because of where I grew up (conservative midwest) but also because of my sense that they respected those who fought for their country (keep in mind, I was young). I remember disliking President Clinton because I thought he was a “draft dodger.”
The idea that the entire Republican party would give President Trump a pass on: 1) his own draft dodging; 2) his criticism of Khizer Khan and Gold Star families; 3) his criticism of Senator McCain; 4) the Russian ‘Bounties’ on soldiers in Afghanistan- to be honest, I would not have believed it had you told me. That Carlson can come on national television and say that a wounded warrior, double amputee lacks courage and patriotism- I feel like we’ve hit bottom, but I guess we’ve further to dig. I suppose patriotism is now the exclusive province of conservative white men, and if you served but don’t fit that model then you don’t love America like they do.