Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon: Saving Political Discourse in America – A Letter

Op-Ed: A Proposal for Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson

Don Lemon and Tucker Carlson, two of the most famous broadcasters in America, were recently terminated from their respective networks within hours of each other. While this may seem like a negative turn of events, it presents a unique opportunity for the two to work together and save honest political discourse in America.

The Proposal

My proposal is simple: Don and Tucker should do a right/left show together, even if it’s only once a month. The show would have the two of them debating and providing left/right commentary on the big issues and news of the day, similar to what the “Point/Counterpoint” segment of CBS’ “60 Minutes” did from 1971 to 1979, and what CNN’s “Crossfire” did for 23 years, 1982 to 2005.

The rollout and debut of such a show would be most newsworthy, given the recent terminations and the fact that everyone in the country has heard about what happened. Fox and CNN will have to cover whatever they do together, or their failure to report will be headline news!

The show could be called the “Don & Tucker Show,” the “Tucker & Don Show,” “Left Meets Right,” “Political Clarity” or just “Clarity.” The name doesn’t matter as much as the content and the impact it could have on American political discourse.

The Reasoning

Tucker provided the reasoning and described the need for the show in his first post-termination statement:

“When you take a little time off, [you notice] how unbelievably stupid most of the debates you see on television are. They’re completely irrelevant. They mean nothing. In five years, we won’t even remember that we had them. Trust me as someone who’s participated.

“And yet, at the same time — and this is the amazing thing — the undeniably big topics, the ones that will define our future, get virtually no discussion at all: war, civil liberties, emerging science, demographic change, corporate power, natural resources.

“When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues? It’s been a long time. Debates like that are not permitted in American media.”

Don and Tucker could be the catalyst to defeat the uni-party’s efforts to homogenize American principles into their opposite. As Tucker said, “This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue, and so it won’t. The people in charge know this. That’s why they’re hysterical and aggressive. They’re afraid. They’ve given up persuasion; they’re resorting to force. But it won’t work. When honest people say what’s true, calmly and without embarrassment, they become powerful.

“At the same time, the liars who’ve been trying to silence them shrink, and they become weaker. That’s the iron law of the universe: True things prevail. Where can you still find Americans saying true things? There aren’t many places left, but there are some, and that’s enough. As long as you can hear the words, there is hope. See you soon.”

The Challenge

I want to turn Tucker’s concluding call to hope back on him and offer it as a challenge to him and Don to do this show. The credibility they create with this show could get them invited to be moderators at one of the presidential debates.

If they have a non-compete clause in their contracts with their former employers, they could find a format that doesn’t violate those clauses (like podcasting). Or perhaps they could maximize the newsworthiness of their show by violating those clauses and reap even more publicity every time their show airs and when they defend themselves in court against their former employers, a process that could take years.

Each legal filing and court appearance will be a news event. It will be positive publicity for them and negative publicity for Fox and CNN — dual Davids fighting dual corporate giants. And, if they did collude, they would fear that fact coming out in such a court case. They might even entice them with a good offer…

And, just in case the two of them doing a show together doesn’t work out, one or both of them could grab another person from the other side of the aisle to do such a show. That would be newsworthy all by itself!

Don’t let them silence you! Provide the American people with a forum for the hope you declare is real and greatly needed!