August 29, 2007
Tucker Carlson Fears the Gays in Local Park Restrooms
Via Wonkette, some lovely video of everyone's favorite political pundit/dancer with zero shame or credibility, Tucker Carlson. In the wake of the accusations of lewd activity in a men's bathroom against Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), Carlson appeared on MSNBC Live on Tuesday to proclaim Craig as seeming awfully guilty, and later told host Dan Abrams that some twenty years ago he and a friend once beat up a gay man who he says made a pass at Carlson in a public restroom in Georgetown Park. Awesome! Because as we all know, real men commit hate crimes.
He also went on to say that he currently avoids taking his son to the public restroom at the park where he plays soccer because of "creepy guys" hanging out in there. We know Carlson lives in Alexandria, so which park do you think he's talking about here? Not because we want to find any creepy guys in the men's room, more so we can show up with 50 drag queens and really freak Carlson right the eff out.
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Tucker Carlson lives in Foxhall in the District, not Alexandria.
Well, duh. Of course all the rough trade moved into the park toilets. That's what happens when you tell people you can't bang eachother out in the fresh air.
What about Ranger Hal and Boo-Boo?
Meridian Hill Park immediately came to mind, but that's not in Alexandria.
Georgetown Park is a shopping mall, not an actual park...but otherwise, yeah, looks like Tucker loves "Cruising."
Window into your typical MSNBC viewer's mind: Near the end of the clip, they have Tucker split-screened with a bathroom stall. "Oh, so that's what they're talking about!"
Am I the only one who thinks Carlson is flattering himself if he thinks a gay man would want to screw him -- his wife already has the unpleasant task of doing that every blue moon.
Tucker doesn't live in Alexandria anymore, unless he's moved in the past three months. The closest parks to his house are Battery Kemble, Potomac Overlook or Glover Archibold.
Um, Guest #7 - Larry Craig. Larry Craig. In conclusion, Larry Craig. Thank you.
Guest #9 - Have you not seen Larry Craigs statement..he is not gay, he never was gay. ;)
Larry Craig is a homophobe straight male that likes getting his pee pee played with by "straight" men.
PS. A real gay man doesnt need to go to public bathrooms to get action.
The creepiest bathroom in Alexandria is Carlson's; there's stuff growing in that wig of his.
To Larry Craig: Methinks you doth protest too much. Maybe your last act as a Senator should include helping figure out where to relocate the gay strip clubs in DC so you'll have somewhere to go to be not gay.
To Tucker Carlson: The cute bow ties aren't fooling anyone. You're a jackass who is even more offensive than Ann Coulter because you've had enough education to know better.
Hmmm. Something tells me you would respond very differently to a story about a strange man soliciting sex to an underage female minor in a ladies restroom. How is it that male minors being solicited in men’s rooms by men are supposed to be tolerant and understanding such behavior?
Has this page not droned on incessantly about female “victims” of cat calls by construction workers? So now you are trying to paint Carleson as a gay basher for this? Or for being a concerned parent who avoids taking his children into public restrooms where this is known to be a concern?
Please...
Guest 13, I doubt Carlson lives anywhere near a restroom where this is "known to be a concern." Please indeed...
#13 guest - beleive that the commenters are all criticising Carlson's claim to have gay bashed as a man when he was an adult. None of the comments in the original post or the comments are about his keeping the kid away from park bathrooms, just his claim to a hate crime. Stop changing the subject.
Hey! You're the voice from the Gloryhole!
(Actual Simpsons' quote.)
guest #13, 20 years ago, Tucker Carlson was a 17 year-old kid.
Number 15: Tucker said he was *in high school* when it happened, not an adult.
And he didn't say he was "solicited," as in just asked by the guy, but "bothered" which could be much more.
On separate occasions in DC, I have had two friends touched inappropriately while "vulnerable" at urinals by men coming on to them. Both friends responded, justifiably I think, with force.
I agree with 13, if a woman was sexually accosted by a man in a public restroom, no one would take issue with her responding violently.
Gays can be sexual predators too, and everyone has the right to defend themselves against sexual predators, whether gay or straight.
@#13: If Tucker had been a 17-year-old girl, been hit on in the ladies room, left, gotten a male friend, returned, bashed the guys head against the wall, and *then* called the cops, yeah, I'd have the same problem with his behavior. Of course, there's a difference between a gay (or "not", in Larry Craig's case) man looking for a consensual sexual encounter with another gay man in a men's restroom and a straight man hiding in women's rooms...for starters, there ain't much chance of any consensual sexual encounters resulting from hiding in the women's room, whereas, as Sen. Craig has so aptly demonstrated, there are chances of getting lucky in a men's room...say, one in Union Station...
im shocked at the general poor quality of fair journalism this post represents. not that i don't agree with the writer, tucker carlson is definitely a chode and transvestites scaring him in a park would be great, but i don't think this type of writing is appropriate for a site such as DCist especially given the "-ist" brand in general. writers, and editors especially, should remember that what's written here represents the opinions of more than just the author; and other people's concerns should be taken into account.
#14. So you know which bathroom he is talking about? Are you telling me pervs never hang out in bathrooms where they may get a glimpse of minors? Guess what, in the real world, this sort of thing actually happens and responsible parents make decisions accordingly.
#15. Incorrect. The story that Carleson told was one that apparently occured when he was in high school.
this ignoramus, isn't 17 a minor?
15, also, as I was correct, that this apparently occured when he was an minor, I was not changing the subject.
In the future, you should perhaps refrain from telling other people what to do. I would never presume to tell anybody what to do in a comment thread. I just make suggestions. Who do you think you are that makes you qualified to tell others what to do? Especially when you are wrong on the facts.
edthered, carleson actually agreed with you. But the subject of this post was carleson's apparent "gay bashing" when he was a minor, and a victim of what could be considered a sexual assault to a minor. Is vigilantism ever justified? No, I think not. But nor do I expect minors to respond objectively when victims of crimes. I expect that of adults.
#20:
It's a blog, not CNN, and one that openly leans pretty consistently to the left. If you're "shocked" that a lot of posts have opinions, you can't really have been reading for very long.
There's a difference between gays and sexual predators. And the difference is that Tucker Carlson hates the gays more.
Gay or straight, molesting or making lewd sexual advances--especially toward minors--is disgusting and immoral. But attributing all sexual assaults to gays is not much better, especially for someone who is willing to beat up a gay guy purely on suspicion.
Seriously, can you change the headline? Georgetown Park really is a mall.
Really.
It's not a park.
indiecognition, that is such bullshit. He goes out of his way to say the issue is not homosexuality, but public encounters and public sexual aggression.
Could someone pull a Nugent on Tucker.
Maybe, #27...of course it could also be possible that Tucker put his foot in his mouth and was just backpeddling.
Besides, the issue *should* be entirely about sexual predation...but Senator Craig only pleaded guilty back when he was caught to avoid further investigation into his sexuality. He didn't seem to really be worried about the disorderly conduct charge associated with sexual acts, as long as they weren't homosexual acts. And now that he's in hot water again, he isn't merely apologizing for exercising poor judgment in some way despite not breaking a law (which would be the grounds for attempting to appeal or argue against his guilty plea). He is instead hell bent on insisting that he's not gay and never was -- as if that would be the root of all evil. At least that's what the media has latched onto.
So yeah, the core of the issue is about sexual aggression. But most of the rhetoric from Craig and the media unfortunately is focused on sexuality, and clearly discriminates against gays as being wrong in comparison with heterosexuals.
If somebody makes unwelcome sexual advances to you (at you?) there's a certain window of time where you maybe, MAYBE, feel threatened enough, and you feel a need to physically defend yourself. Right?
Half an hour later with your meat-head buddy in tow falls outside this window. Way, way, way outside.
Then again, TC could just be whipping it out as part of that masculine posturing thing. Cause he's not gay and neither is anybody else on MSNBC. I mean, they said it right there on the air! In case we forgot!
And Georgetown Park is a mall, but the PARK WHERE TUCKER JUNIOR PLAYS SOCCER is a park, and that's where ol' TC fears the gays in the bathrooms. Come on.
Some ironic gems, courtesy of Jon Stewart's Crossfire interview transcript (http://politicalhumor.about.com/library/bljonstewartcrossfire.htm):
CARLSON: Well, here's an example of the civilized discourse.
Here are three of the questions you asked John Kerry.
STEWART: Yes.
CARLSON: You have a chance to interview the Democratic nominee. You asked him questions such as -- quote -- "How are you holding up? Is it hard not to take the attacks personally?"
STEWART: Yes.
CARLSON: "Have you ever flip-flopped?" et cetera, et cetera.
STEWART: Yes.
CARLSON: Didn't you feel like -- you got the chance to interview the guy. Why not ask him a real question, instead of just suck up to him?
STEWART: Yes. "How are you holding up?" is a real suck-up. And I actually giving him a hot stone massage as we were doing it.
(LAUGHTER)
CARLSON: It sounded that way. It did.
STEWART: You know, it's interesting to hear you talk about my responsibility.
CARLSON: I felt the sparks between you.
STEWART: I didn't realize that -- and maybe this explains quite a bit.
...
CARLSON: You had John Kerry on your show and you sniff his throne and you're accusing us of partisan hackery?
STEWART: Absolutely.
CARLSON: You've got to be kidding me. He comes on and you...
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: You're on CNN. The show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: What is wrong with you?
CARLSON: Well, I'm just saying, there's no reason for you -- when you have this marvelous opportunity not to be the guy's butt boy, to go ahead and be his butt boy. Come on. It's embarrassing.
STEWART: I was absolutely his butt boy. I was so far -- you would not believe what he ate two weeks ago.
...
CARLSON: But, if Kerry gets elected, is it going to -- you have said you're voting for him. You obviously support him. It's clear.
Will it be harder for you to mock his administration if he becomes president?
STEWART: No. Why would it be harder?
CARLSON: Because you support...
(CROSSTALK)
STEWART: The only way it would be harder is if his administration is less absurd than this one. So, in that case, if it's less absurd, then, yes, I think it would be harder. But, I mean, it would be hard to top this group, quite frankly.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
STEWART: In terms of absurdity and their world matching up to the one that -- you know, it was interesting.
President Bush was saying, John Kerry's rhetoric doesn't match his record.
But I've heard President Bush describe his record. His record doesn't match his record.
(LAUGHTER)
STEWART: So I don't worry about it in that respect.
But let me ask you guys, again, a question, because we talked a little bit about, you're actually doing honest debate and all that. But, after the debates, where do you guys head to right afterwards?
CARLSON: The men's room.
I can't believe I am defending Tucker, but as others have pointed out he was a teenager at the time, and the guy in the bathroom was arrested for whatever it is he did, so he wasn't just "making a pass". I think accusing someone of a "hate crime" is a bit extreme without knowing all the details. Tucker is still a douche though.
I loved John Stewart and all, and I'm not going to say I agree wholly with what Tucker was saying in his interview with him, but that interview always bothered me. Stewart completely copped out. He hid behind this idea that it's all just jokes and that he shouldn't be held to any serious journalistic responsibilities. That's true to a degree, but just because it's funny doesn't mean it's not serious. Satire is at its heart very serious (e.g. A Modest Proposal is not just supposed to make you laugh). And nowadays in his interviews, there's not much of a difference between how he interviews the subject and how a "serious" newsman would.
Stewart has created a responsibility for himself that is journalistic in nature, despite the veneer of humor. I think he'd accept that statement now. I just wish he could have admitted back then that throwing only softball questions to the Democratic presidential nominee was not living up to the responsibility he created for himself.
Here's what I'm going to ask. Are there any men on this board who were NOT approached by or been the recipient of a pass made by a gay man over age 18 when they were minors? This includes the boy scouts and camp. I thought not. It's a tough subject because we've all been in the public restroom or park when someone tried something. I didn't beat the guys up, nor did I think to call the police, I mean one of them was homeless and crazy, it's not like he was representative of anything but crazy.
He might agree with your statement Reid, but I don't think he'd own up to it. Why take on that responsibility, when you can continue to hide behind the humor/parody angle? He's really getting the best of both worlds, and I love the guy to death, but I agree he's built himself into a figure with a higher responsibility than just following the talking puppets (or south park, or mind of mencia, or whatever is on before him nowadays).
Here's what I'm going to ask. Are there any men on this board who were NOT approached by or been the recipient of a pass made by a gay man over age 18 when they were minors?
I'm scratching my head to a bloody pulp, but I just can't recall any guys making passes at me. I guess between the morbid obesity, bovinal body odor, and penchant for quoting Monty Python ad nauseum, I just wasn't much of a target for their amours. But hey, I'll keep scratching; I'm sure there's something traumatic that the old brainpan is trying to suppress.
This is fun! It's like Rashomon meets Memento only with more sodomy.
Here are the important points, since so many others are having "gay panic" to be sensible:
1. Yes, he was 17. But what he said was that he "went and got a friend," meaning he'd left the men's room, was ostensively safe, but then went back to confront this man.
2. In going back to confront him, Tucker and another person, whose age and strength level we don't know, beat the man in the head.
3. Perhaps the more prudent move would have been to contact law enforcement, since HE HAD ALREADY LEFT the men's room.
4. Laughing about beating an alleged gay man in the head on national television, no matter the circumstances, could help people think that doing so is okay, even humorous.
5. Really? Do I have to spell this out for people? DCist's original article got it right -- the "guests" have it wrong.
guest 34, you're perpetuating an awful idea that is flatly not true -- that gay men are child molestors.
Most men who go after little boys are indeed not gay. They have major issues.
Most gay men go afer other gay MEN.
Stop spreading the stupidity.
I'm not one to condone public bathroom sex, as it gives all gay guys a bad name, but Carlson got propositioned, then left the bathroom, went and got a buddy then CAME BACK to bash the guys head into the toilet stall?
That's a bit of overkill.
He could have just left and called the cops. That's what normal people would have done.
Well 23, I see your point, but at 17, Tucker was old enough to be sentenced to death in a lot of states (including Virginia)...so our society clearly expects a certain degree of responsible behavior from it's 17-year-olds.
38, correct. 37, what is so wrong w/being a vigilante? Do you watch 'To Catch a Predator"? Wouldn't you like to pummel some of those freaks? It's not gonna change what they do whether you beat them or arrest them. They are what they are. Maybe the bow-tied ass clown and his buddy went back to teach the guy a lesson and maybe they saved some kid that day...same result as if the cops would've showed up. I bet back then, the cops would've beat his ass too! What's the F#@$ is wrong with giving a deserving person a good ol beatdown. Not b/c he's gay, b/c he's a predator! I tell this to my female friends who get groped in clubs. Make a scene, hit the guy, or if you make a big enoough stink some guy will do it for you. Silence is weakness is acceptance.
Sordid, you just trying to get a rise out of people? Because you're awfully close to hate speech there.
Police are actually trained to handle these situations. You, however, sound like the worst possible person to deal with such an issue. Try therapy.
Carlson has "clarified" his story considerably, to include being grabbed by the guy initially, and he and his friend coming back, finding the guy still there, and basically just holding him until the authorities arrived. The revised version sounds a lot more "concerned citizen" and lot less "righteous gay basher" ... at this point who knows which one is closest to the truth, or if the incident happened at all?