Thank You, Tucker Carlson
One of the more striking mysteries of the Purim story is the alarming ease with which Haman convinces Achashverosh to sanction the destruction of the Jewish people. By universal account, the Jewish people were a successful and productive minority within the Persian Empire. Their insular communal structure, much like today, enabled the Jewish Persians to leverage their communal connections for the enrichment and enhancement of the broader society. They were economically productive and net contributors to society and certainly did not pose any danger or material risk worthy of a genocidal edict.
Yet, in a remarkable turn of events, in essentially one sentence, Haman convinced Achashverosh that the Jewish people were worthy of total annihilation: man, woman, and child. The pasuk records Haman’s epic and convincing presentation: “Yeshno am echad mefuzar u’meforad bein ha’amim b’chol medinot malchutecha; v’datéihem shonot mikol am; v’et datéi ha melech einam osim; v’la melech ein shoveh l’hanicham.” There is one people, scattered and separated among the peoples in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from those of every other people, and they do not observe the king’s laws; and it is not worthwhile for the king to tolerate them.
Haman’s presentation does not uncover any hidden evils or reveal a sinister conspiracy cooked up in a secret Jewish enclave. He simply observes well-known characteristics regarding an established minority, characteristics that are not particularly damning. Nothing about the Jews’ presence had troubled the Empire for decades. Yet Haman successfully transformed the same familiar facts into a case for destruction. What was it about his presentation that turned longstanding tolerance into an order for annihilation? What was the nature of his presentation to Achashverosh that resulted in such a strong reversal of state policy?
We are indebted to Tucker Carlson for giving us a glimpse into what Haman’s presentation must have been. Indeed, Tucker’s interviews are a real time demonstration of the techniques that Haman surely deployed. Over the years, Carlson has perfected his techniques, utilizing well-honed strategies including “just asking questions,” innuendo, suggestion, white lies, and just enough misplaced facts to give the veneer of a legitimate interview. One of Tucker’s particularly favored manipulations is taking the interviewee’s words out of context in real time, forcing the interviewee to defend a position that he does not hold.
In an effort to fully appreciate his style, in what has surely been a colossal waste of time, I have watched several of Tucker’s interviews. While they have not been great for my blood pressure, they have helped me distill his technique down to a formula. The formula is: (a) presentation of half-truths and cherry-picked facts in support of a biased narrative; (b) emphatic and constant appeal to his own moral character as a basis for seeking the truth; (c) well-timed “gotcha” questions, generally based on a loosely related inconsequential matter, such as the infamous question to Senator Cruz regarding the population of Iran; (d) feigned ignorance and constant claims of confusion whenever challenged; (e) false outrage, generally with an appeal to patriotism or some amorphous religious value; and (f) a liberal dose of smarminess, snarkiness, and smugness.
The recent interview between Tucker Carlson and Ambassador Mike Huckabee is an excellent opportunity to observe the Tucker playbook firsthand. Even by his own standards, Tucker outdid himself. It is truly a case study in slimy journalism.
Like many of his interviews, the conversation with Ambassador Huckabee is irritating to watch for anyone who values a genuine conversation among truth seekers. Ambassador Huckabee, to his credit, suffered through two-and-a-half hours of this embarrassment to journalism, putting up with a nonstop barrage of attempts to twist his words to achieve a viral “gotcha” clip. Some of the highlights included Tucker feigning outrage at Ambassador Huckabee’s alleged lack of patriotism, taking a pasuk in Sefer Bereishis out of context, asserting false facts regarding Jonathan Pollard, and accusing Ambassador Huckabee of failing to do things that are clearly outside of an ambassador’s portfolio. The innuendo, misdirection, faux anger, and falsehoods did not let up for most of the conversation. It was an avalanche of sheker, all artfully arranged to attack the State of Israel and the Jewish people. According to Tucker, however, he was innocently trying to understand and dispel his confusion.
As reprehensible as it may be, it is a true lesson in how to manipulate viewers, spin facts, and arrive at a conclusion so divorced from reality that it bears no resemblance to the real world. So, thank you, Tucker, for being a live, contemporary demonstration of what must likely have occurred in Haman’s presentation to Achashverosh.
Haman’s presentation must have taken all of the beautiful elements of the Jewish people, the fact that they built up their own separate neighborhoods, that they were well networked, created their own internal charitable societies, were not depleting the public welfare system, were contributing to society, established safe neighborhoods, and were assisting the Empire in all aspects, and he took those very facts and spun them on their face. He wove the facts into a narrative that supported the plot of a sinister, secretive society conspiring a rebellion by brazenly disengaging from the broader community. Under Haman, their self-sufficiency became brazen disregard for the Empire, and their unity transformed into a rebellious, secretive society. In a sense, it is one of the first instances of vnafoch hu of the Megillah story and perhaps the intent of the Gemara, Megillah13b, that no one knew how to slander like Haman. Through his convincing presentation and sufficient spin, he successfully convinced Achashverosh that good was bad, that a group that was beneficial to the Empire was in fact detrimental to it. As is clear from the pesukim, Haman presented this as being in the best interest of the king without any hint of personal bias or agenda. And, while not noted explicitly in the text, we can safely assume that the presentation included a smattering of self-righteousness and smarminess as well.
Apparently, biased spin and distortion is an ancient artform, an artform brought to the modern era by the media, with Confused Carlson as one of its leading promoters.
So, Tucker, we indeed owe you a tremendous debt of gratitude. Thank you for giving us insight into a mysterious passage in the Megillah and demonstrating how falsehood can be so convincing. Be advised, however, that the story ended in our favor, as it always does for G-d’s chosen people. And just as that story ended with us on top, so too G-d will continue to bless and guard his holy people. Chag Purim sameach!
Rabbi Binyamin Silver, Esq. is the rabbi of the Young Israel of Long Beach, a picturesque and growing year-round community minutes from Far Rockaway and the Five Towns. Rabbi Silver may be reached at [email protected].
