Should you read “Tucker”?

 

Without glossing over his mistakes and freely sharing his regrets, Tucker shares his thoughts and feelings openly, these often feeling like stream of consciousness ideas are woven throughout as Moore brings out tidbits of information and background on Tucker throughout the entire book.  It was a somewhat bittersweet read, I’ve been a huge fan for years, but there’s a sophomoric side to Tucker that lacked class and was disappointing as well.  

Whether you think Tucker Carlson is brilliant or a bombastic buffoon, scholar or showman, insightful iconoclast or shortsighted grifter, you might consider reading Moore’s biography.  Will this book help you determine if Tucker is sincere or a snake oil salesman, a sage or simpleton?    The book is an opportunity to form a better informed opinion of one of the most influential people in today’s marketplace of ideas.  

Carlson has been labeled a racist, bigot, and homophobe.  It could be a calculated ploy or something otherwise, but it’s telling that Tucker allowed Chadwick Moore the opportunity to write this bio considering Moore is an openly gay man.  Tucker's longtime TV producer, Wells, also is gay, and the book goes to great lengths to expound on Well's "marriage" and the close working relationship Tucker shares with Wells.  

To have an honest critique of the man, don’t just hate a caricatures of Tucker, that is immature.  Moore is no Walter Isaacson or Ron Chernow but he’s good enough for what he does here.

What Moore does here is give a background into Tucker you probably haven’t been exposed to.  Charmed or privileged, you decide.  He definitely had opportunities many do not, but he also worked hard to make the most of the advantages he received.

You learn about Carlson and the life that shaped him. From his mother abandoning him at a young age, to being raised by his permissive father, to growing up in California, to his educational background, you get an inside look at Tucker you won’t find anywhere else. 

You might be surprised to read about his close friendship with Hunter Biden.  His continued admiration of Rachel Maddow.  Or his stint working at PBS. Or how he failed to graduate from college. Or his decision to abstain from alcohol after years of functional alcoholism.  Or, that he doesn’t own a TV, wear deodorant, or socks.  

Why should we all read this book? Carlson held record ratings on Fox, and his Twitter/X videos have had hundreds or millions of views. He is a lightning rod controversial subject, but he’s not without influence. Cultural differences aside, anyone with the audience capacity Carlson has should be looked into beyond one’s personal preferences. 

Tucker Carlson is just about as polarizing is Donald Trump, but he seems to be way more interesting. As with any celebrity or public figure, you see a side of them they want you to see. I don’t doubt this book is promotional for the author and the subject, and you have to filter what you read, but even so I think this book holds value.  

Fortunately the book isn’t presented as an idyllic gushy “oh look at perfect me” by any stretch.  Even though I appreciated learning more about him, I lost some respect for Tucker while reading the book.  

His gratuitous swearing seems juvenal.  For someone who makes his living in communication, he should know swearing is lazy.  I cringed at the repeated F bombs, not because I’m a prude but the repeated swearing felt so tacky, tasteless, and it simply lacked class. It seemed like a huge contradiction to the persona he tires to portray.  

In the end, the book left me with mixed feelings.  I like Tucker and his approach to current events.  I didn't like everything he had to say or how he said it when he was being quoted in the book, which I guess is healthy, I'm a fan (still) but I'm not a follower.  

Why travel: The magic of the moment

Tammy and I just returned from the U.P of Michigan.  It is a land of birch trees, hardwood-forests, lakes, and friendly people.  Very friendly!  My eyes were opened to more than just God's beautiful creation as we sat alongside Lake Superior at the uppermost tip of the U.P.  

I had an epiphany of sorts as we lazily strolled along the rocky shoreline of a lake that looks ocean-like when you try to take it all in.  For the first time in my life, I feel like I finally found the truest value in traveling.  I was so inspired by the sensation, I sat down at a beachside picnic table and tried desperately to capture thoughts that were rushing a thousand miles an hour through my brain.  

If asked to choose between buying a new car or an equally expensive trip, the practical side of us logically would lean towards getting a car.  The practical side of us would practically scream, "buy the car!"  You can't keep the trip or the travel, so why spend the money, time and effort to travel?  What if instead of seeing traveling as an optional luxury, we saw it as an activity that needs to be prioritized? 

 

Traveling might just be the best way we refresh and relax, but that is a paradox because, traveling is expensive, inconvenient, it's down right exhausting.  Booking flights only to zip though the terminal hoping you are on time.  Renting rooms that are less than spotless, at times.  You miss your own pillow, the comforts of home, and the ability to raid your own fridge anytime you want to.  

So with all the hazards and hassles, why travel?  Or better yet, why is travel good for your soul?

A change of scenery is good from time to time, even though it comes at a cost.  What is about travel that makes it so beneficial and therapeutic? 

Yes, new and different sights stimulate our minds, causing us to see life in a new way, to think new thoughts, but more than these, travel causes us to grapple with time.  Specifically, to wrestle with the here and now.  

It is difficult to be present in the moment, and to be aware of being present in the here and now.  Travel is an intangible gift, you can't hold onto it, but you enjoy it all the more because it is passing, but you are in the moment, present, and alive.  

We can't keep anything of traveling.  Souvenirs are merely talisman, miserable ones at that lacking any magic at all -- they are keepsakes, touchstones, but in the end just mere reminders.  Travel itself, the eating foreign foods, seeing the unfamiliar, meeting people who speak-think-act-sound differently, you can't package up those experiences at a roadside tourist trap.  

Travel reminds us of the transient nature of life.  Visiting, journeying, the pilgrimage -- the act of traveling itself is so beneficial and necessary for our wellbeing because it is perhaps the one time in our lives we are attentive to "the moment."  Yes, the trip is stored in our memories, but what is in our mind isn't transferable with an exchange of currency, it can't be mounted on the wall, frozen in place, or saved for later.  

Travel is about "now."  It is exciting, stimulating, interesting, entertaining, only as it happens.  

We live in the now but our minds are perpetually shifting elsewhere, ebbing and flowing like the tide, drifting to the past or obsessing about the future, or daydreaming about how "if only..."  It is while we travel we are sensitive or perhaps more sensitized to the present.  

Throughout life, most of the time we either grieve past loses, or anticipate a better future.  We stay consumed with a past we can't change and a future we aren't promised.  Travel has the element of the red dot on every map in every rest area that declares, "You are Here"  We only savor this "You are Here" element in transit, in the movement of travel.

Whether it's the sand between our toes, or trying to see all of an unending forest, or to take in all of the strange and delightful tastes, sights, smells, or to feel the warm caress of the ocean breeze on your entire body, to pause for the musical sound of a roadside waterfall, these all cease when the trip ends.  Try as we might, we can't recreate these experiences at home.   

We can try to re-live these wonderous experiences in our memories, but we never seem to be able to duplicate the pure joy of the moment, of the discovery, the exploration, or the amazement we experience while we travel.  That experience we long to embrace eternally is too temporary.    

To pause and reflect on being in the here and now, to actually enjoy the day for what it is, to take a break from the daily grind of chores, responsibilities, and the other obligations of life and to really enjoy the moment.  To do otherwise would be like farming the land in season and out, but never harvesting the crops.  

This is the gift travel imparts, it is harvesting the fruits of our labors.  Maybe this is why traveling together multiplies the joy of travel.  You witness the smile, see the relaxation, experience the satisfaction together -- you know what you have in the moment is special yet now there is an external confirmation to let you know this moment is real.

You'll remember the moment better, together, with more clarity and celebration as together you reflect on the trip.  There's always more fun & laughter traveling with your ever-after.

Appreciating what the locals take for granted daily, soaking it all in, knowing more than likely you'll never be here again, this sensation is invaluable, maybe worth more than getting this year's newest gadget of the day.  This gift of travel is priceless for our personal growth and development, it helps us appreciate the here and now.  

The mysterious rapture we feel as we travel enriches our souls like nothing else on earth.  Our eyes eagerly devouring the landscape, envisioning the vividness of it all, taking in a sky that on this day seems somehow bluer and brighter.  The treetops all seem taller.  The lakes all look clearer.  And our troubles all feel smaller.  Even the flowers, grass, and simples stones capture our interest and attention like never before, as if we had emerged from a dank cave and removed the blindfolds we've worn our entire life.  

When else can you recall allowing yourself the child-like luxury of lingering around, for example, to admire architecture that otherwise would be deemed ordinary?  It's ironic we pause to even look at this or that while we travel when you consider how a week on the road flies by faster than a shooting star whenever you travel near or far.

Somehow, standing in the shadow of an old statue, sipping whatever from a paper cup, it now tastes better than when we are drinking the same beverage from our best crystal or ceramic mugs at home.  Shuffling silently though a museum or an art gallery, suddenly our steps have renewed purpose.     

Eventually all of us make one final trip, but before then, travel far and wide and soak up as much of this world as you can.  Travel is no longer optional in my book, it is the best gift we can give ourselves.