On his nightly Fox News show, Tucker Carlson shared a bombshell accusation. The US Government is run by a secret society that operates above the elected officials we send to Washington, D.C.
Carlson bases this claim on an unnamed insider. This source has seen CIA documents withheld from the American people, and from the US Congress, for nearly 60 years. This insider believes the United States is run by an unelected government that follows its own mandate, not that of voters.
According to Carlson’s insider, this shadow government killed John F. Kennedy.
Carlson’s source believes the CIA orchestrated a regime change in the United States on November 22, 1963. This source goes on to describe the US political process as a charade. “It’s a whole different country from what we thought it was. It’s all fake.”
The implication extends far beyond JFK. Carlson’s insider suggests the political stability that Americans take for granted, including its elections, its laws, and even its wars are curated by an untouchable cabal in Washington. Ultimately, Carlson’s source believes the operating principle of American life is not democracy nor a constitutional republic but a soft dictatorship run by operatives more recently referred to as the Deep State.
After Carlson’s show aired, JFK’s nephew, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., agreed with the newsman’s bold speculation. Kennedy tweeted matter-of-factly that his uncle was removed by “coup d’état.”
“Think of what this means,” Carlson says. “[W]ithin the US Government, there are forces wholly beyond democratic control. [T]hey can do whatever they want.“ Evidence related to JFK’s assassination continues to be withheld, Carlson points out, even after all participants in the affair have died. To Carlson, it’s further evidence that the shadow government is still in charge.
There are many reasons to be skeptical.
Carlson’s reporting is based on the word of one unnamed person. Carlson risks his reputation and career (and, hypothetically, his life) to share an unverified story. Is he reckless? Carlson is no anonymous blogger. His news show is one of the most-watched in America. He has a lot to lose.
Another issue is the report itself. “If a secret society has this much power, why was Tucker Carlson allowed to make this claim?”
The easiest answer? The conspiracy is a myth.
And yet, the substance of Carlson’s report isn’t a surprise to a lot of people. It has been the obsession of conspiracy theorists for nearly 60 years. Did the US Central Intelligence Agency kill its own president John F. Kennedy? Many without hard evidence have said yes. Marginal figures have written books and produced documentaries over the years trying to prove it.
Tucker Carlson brought this story into the American mainstream.
Adding to the complexity of truth and motive, Fox News appears to have signed off on Carlson’s report. Under the Murdoch sons, Fox News holds nine of the top 10 most-watched cable news shows. The Murdochs didn’t need to dredge up the JFK affair to get ratings.
How about proving the claim to disprove it? Why might a powerful group in Washington, D.C. allow Tucker Carlson to verify its existence? Why would the Deep State let Carlson accuse it of seditious murder in front of three million viewers?
One answer might surprise us. What if the Deep State knows the modern voter won’t care?
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said it in his tweet. Democracy has never recovered from the assassination of JFK. He could mean several things. For example, our faith in the security of our democracy was shaken when a sitting president was killed in broad daylight.
And yet, Kennedy’s nephew most likely means something else. The course of democracy was changed. The Deep State, having achieved its ends in changing the president, went to work.
At the time JFK was assassinated, the concerns of voters were completely different than they are today. Strong borders, a balanced budget, international diplomacy, an emphasis on the nuclear family, and personal responsibility were paramount values in the United States. JFK summed it up. “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.”
Fast forward nearly 60 years. What are the values of the United States today? Open borders, unfettered government spending, a deemphasis on the nuclear family as fatally flawed, and a rising belief in America’s fallibility spurring a nationwide grievance culture are the realities many voters seek to implement.
What changed?
If Carlson’s inside source is to be believed, for over half a century the Deep State has promoted an alternate message to Americans. The former national message was about independence. Through the Deep State, it became about individuality. The message had been about personal responsibility. Through the Deep State, it became exclusively about holding others to account.
From academia to the press, from the church to corporate life, and ultimately the military, one by one, the pillars of American society were dismantled and replaced with a tenuous scaffold.
The Deep State remakes the United States as a global citizen, as one country among many unified through global commerce into a centralized government. It isn’t the country Americans founded.
To generate support from the public, the Deep State needed to change the identity of the country. Is there any rational reason why America’s greatest fictional heroes of the last 25 years are barbaric criminals? Tony Soprano, Walter White, and Frank Underwood would have been the villains caught by heroes of an earlier era played by Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood. Audiences were seemingly trained to accept a villain’s values to “do whatever it takes.”
Is it entirely believable that a modern voter and fan of House of Cards would take the side of an alleged plot against JFK? Similar to the aims of the Ukraine conflict, the nascent Deep State in the 1960s was trying to remove the Russian aggressor from Cuba. JFK wasn’t willing to fight to a necessary degree. He dragged his feet. Much as the critics of Ukraine are accused of supporting Putin, some felt JFK’s cautious approach was proof he was a Communist sympathizer.
In the calculus of Frank Underwood, JFK should have played along. The communist threat was too dire to indulge in half-measures. Nuclear war was possible. It was regrettable, but the president stood in the way. The modern Hollywood screenplay has familiarized us with this thinking.
And yet, people over 50 remember the high ideals of American democracy. Expediency is uncivilized. JFK’s assassination marked the lowest point for a high-minded country. People, whoever they were, broke the boundaries of law. They took matters into their own hands and betrayed us all.
Americans under 50 have been told a different story. They live in an internet reality where too much choice is overwhelming. They look for Spotify to curate their playlists. They look to Netflix to recommend shows it knows they’re looking for.
How many voters would appreciate knowing an extracurricular group is curating the government? In the new America, choice is seen as, at best, a frustrating exercise. At worst, it’s dangerous to give people too much freedom. Today’s activists and journalists call for the government to censor public opinion. They believe society will function better if social media is curated to fit their likes and tastes. Otherwise, the anarchy of mass opinion will overwhelm.
How much of a democracy is the United States in practice? More to the point, how much of a democracy do modern Americans want?
Two days after his bombshell report, Tucker Carlson stopped trending on Twitter. Social media has moved on.
Abstract image Milad Fakurian.
