Fascist Fox News contributor and white nationalist pundit Tucker Carlson delivered a solemn warning to his viewers in July of this year. As noted by Dave Holmes, writing for Esquire, it was one we all would do well to take seriously.
On Thursday night, Tucker Carlson pointed his dead eyes directly into a television camera and told his viewers that if Democrats win the White House and the Senate, “you will not recognize America one year from now.”
Holmes’ take on Carlson’s dire prediction is well worth reading, as he sarcastically reviewed the state of the country as it existed at that time, just one short month ago, concluding:
No shit it’s going to look different one year from now.
It goddamn better look different one year from now, because look at it now now.
Nothing much about the country has changed since Carlson’s dark admonition. Unemployment remains staggering, the economy remains moribund, and the COVID-19 virus remains out of control with no visible effort at the federal level to contain it. People remain largely homebound, family vacations remain tense, limited and truncated, most schools are fully or partially closed with children struggling to acclimate themselves to online learning. Most restaurants and bars are clinging on for dear life as indoor dining is largely limited. Service industries such as hospitality and personal care are struggling or already permanently shuttered. States are going bankrupt and cutting services due to lack of tax revenue. People unable to pay their rent are being evicted and many, mostly older, Americans continue to die gasping and alone, unconscious and wired to ventilators.
But to pick up where Holmes left off, we should explore Carlson’s thesis to its logical conclusion. If we assume a Democratic House, Senate and White House next year, there are certain things we would expect to see one year from now that yes, would certainly be different from the way they are now.
And Carlson is right—many of those changes would render the country we see right now “unrecognizable.”
First, we would expect to see a President who regularly addresses the concerns of the American people. One with a competent press secretary who is actually capable of intelligently answering reporters’ questions as opposed to simply reading off sycophantic talking points notes prepared in advance. One who empathizes with Americans faced with the worst public health crisis, and possibly the most devastating economic crisis, in over a century. The difference in tone would be quite visible and striking.
And we would likely see a President who gives actual press conferences, Tweets little or hardly at all, seldom talks about or praises himself, and doesn’t belittle, insult or threaten the press. So that would be different as well.
The President himself would be free of any financial entanglement with the Russian Federation or any other hostile nation. He would therefore not be susceptible to blackmail. He would not be seen going out of his way to praise dictators and murderers such as Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin. He would not repeatedly insult our Allies or break treaties or trade agreements because he would want our country to be respected and worthy of other nations’ trust. So those would be some differences that Tucker Carlson and people like him would immediately notice.
On the personal side, that President would not have a pending lawsuits in multiple Courts alleging fraud or other misconduct against him, would not have a record of personally defrauding Americans out of their hard-earned wages. He would not be defending himself in a defamation suit involving credible allegations of rape, and he would not have a multitudinous and credible history of sexual assault. That would be a change from the current situation. He would also have a wife who actually loves him, one who by her achievements and intelligence would be an actual role model for other women and girls aspiring to achieve success. So that would be different.
That president will likely enlist a Cabinet filled with competent people as opposed to ideological zealots and corrupt incompetents chosen for their aversion to the agency they are supposed to lead. It will be a Cabinet without glaring conflicts of interest and its members, unlike those in the current administration, will be expected to actually perform their job on behalf of the American people, rather than enriching themselves and their associates.
The heads of the EPA and the Department of the Interior, in particular, would be people dedicated to preserving, rather than destroying the environment. That would be a major change, as would the reversal of current policy that ignores man-made climate change or claims that it is a “hoax.” The Department of Labor would represent workers’ interests instead of acting to undermine them for the sake of corporations. The Department of Justice would act to enforce civil rights instead of weaponizing agency resources to jeopardize them. The State Department would not be a laughingstock and we would actually be conducting a coherent foreign policy rather than one that seems solely geared to destroy American’s stature in the world and please Vladimir Putin. Our intelligence agencies would be respected, not mocked, ignored or vilified, with appropriate oversight at both the Senate and House levels.
From a legislative standpoint, we would expect to see continued relief to Americans passed along the lines of the HEROES Act currently languishing as the result of Republican inaction. Until a safe vaccine for the SARS-CoV-2 virus is widely available we would expect to have continued social distancing orders in place in many areas, along with a huge influx of testing made available in order to safely determine who can work and who has to quarantine until they’re safe. Certain industries would be tapped for this effort and those that refused would be nationalized and converted for the public good (something which should have been done at the outset of the crisis). It is, after all, a pandemic. We would expect to see considerably more money making its way into middle and working class Americans’ pockets. We would see the Affordable Care Act expanded, with particular emphasis on ending the opioid crisis, and universal child care would be subsidized so Americans can return in full to the workforce. Folks like Tucker might complain, but since the Fairness Doctrine will be reintroduced there will be plenty of voices competing with him.
As for the legislative side, America would also be a far cry from what it is right now, with a Congress passing bills, one after another, in tandem with the Senate. Looking forward, the grotesque tax breaks provided to corporations for the privilege of offshoring our economy will be repealed. A New Deal-style program of public works involving clean energy initiatives modeled in large part on the Green New Deal will be put into place, creating millions of new jobs for an American workforce still shell-shocked by the Trump economy. Immigration policy will be systemically overhauled and changed, with emphasis on providing access and asylum for immigrants seeking to become part of the American experiment. Schools, four year colleges and community colleges will be provided the funding to invest in the education of our children and citizens. A universal basic income will be debated and discussed by both legislative bodies for the first time. Sensible measures against gun violence will be instituted. Military outlays and defense spending will receive closer scrutiny in the context of the need for economic recovery, but our armed services will be respected, not denigrated or used as pawns for political ends. Social Security will be strengthened, rather than gutted. Again, big difference there.
Republicans will be sidelined and ignored at the federal level, for the most part. The filibuster will be abolished. At least two Supreme Court appointments will probably occur within six months. Judges will be selected based on their quality rather than their ideology. Criminal Justice reform will be dictated from the top down with an Attorney General who actually respects the law, civil rights laws will be enforced, and corruption within the administration will be addressed and punished. That would be a far cry from what we are experiencing now.
The country will rejoin the community of nations in the curbing man-made climate change. The country will also rejoin the community of nations in condemning and combating violence against women and ethnic minorities. We will take an adverse stance towards nationalistic dictators and once again emphasize human rights and democracy as our guideposts. We will regain our lost respect at the United Nations, the G-7 economic community.
Above all, we can expect a tone from the Oval Office that will emphasize human dignity and respect of all people, regardless of their race, creed, religion, or sexual orientation. We can expect a Congress and Senate that actually works more for the interests of the American people than corporations and the mercurial whims of a sociopathic criminal.
So yes, Mr. Carlson, you will not recognize the country that exists in just one year’s time, with a Democratic House, Senate and Executive Branch. It will not look like the country today at all, in fact.
And you will be free to stay or leave, as you see fit.