Ship of Fools, by Tucker Carlson

I really enjoy Tucker Carlson's show on Fox News.  He's entertaining, thoughtful, and unafraid to confront liberals and call out liberal stupidity.  If you, too, are a Tucker Carlson fan, you must read his new book, Ship of Fools: How a Selfish Ruling Class is Bringing America to the Brink of Revolution.  It has all the attitude of his show (Sometimes I could hear him in my head.  It's uncanny how the printed page can capture his style of speaking so well.) applied to a wide range of timely, important topics.

Like many commentators, Carlson recognizes Donald Trump's ascension to the presidency as a populist rejection of elitism, "a throbbing middle finger in the face of America's ruling class."  Part of the problem is that the anti-establishment liberalism that shaped Democratic leaders from the Clinton generation is now the establishment.  The American people were ready for someone who wasn't cut from the liberal establishment mold.

On a few points, Carlson took stances that surprised me a bit.  His populism comes through.  He's concerned about wage inequality and bloated CEO salaries.  He's also concerned about the environment.  The problem with today's environmentalist movement, he writes, is that they are more concerned with government control and the religion of global warming than they are about the actual condition of our river and lakes and forests.  He has a point.

On some issue, like free speech on campus, in the workplace, and on social media, he's as righteously indignant and bombastic as you would expect.  How dare liberal politicians and academics say they are in favor of free speech, and then act to stifle speech with which they disagree.  Carlson himself has become a target, with Antifa demonstrating as his home and terrorizing his family, attempting to shut Carlson up. 

Ship of Fools is like a collection of Carlson's nightly monologues, only extended with more examples and context.  Disagree with him if you like, but you won't find loosely held or poorly thought out opinions here.  Carlson speaks and writes from conviction and evidence, with a willingness to hear from the other side.