A man who dresses this badly called Canada what?!?

Tucker Carlson of MSNBC, upon hearing of Prime Minister Paul Martin's complaints about the American refusal to sign the Kyoto Accord, called Canada "the retarded cousin who you see at Thanksgiving."

I think I'm more upset at the fact that Carlson used an insult to people with developmental or physical disabilities with his attack on Canada than him attacking Canada. I'm surprised that no one in the United States, especially those support groups that provide care for the developmentally and physically disabled, has demanded an apology or a firing. But in the post-911 United States, demanding a right wing television personality apologize is probably not the most popular decision one could make.

Now, I'm not at all concerned with him attacking Canada. His opinion really doesn't matter much to anyone. After all, this is a "journalist" who got his ass kicked off of CNN after losing an on-air session with a "fake" journalist, that being Jon Stewart of The Daily Show. Now, Carlson is not really a journalist. He went through private schools (Dad ran PBS, Mom is heir to Swanson's Foods) and then wasted his time in college. He has no Bachelor of Journalism degree, no degree of any kind. I'm usually not one to worry about someone's credentials, but in this case, I'm willing to point out his flaws. Why?

Because there are people who pay attention to him. And to Bob "Scumbag" Novak. And Rush Limbaugh. And Ann Coulter. And Bill O'Reilly. The way these people discuss policies and politics is scary. There are probably extremists out there who shudder when these people talk about government.

Just for the record, I'm not saying that Howard Stern, or Michael Moore, or Al Franken have better credentials. The left isn't always more educated than the right.

But this needs to be said: sometimes the loudest, most accessible voice isn't the one that needs to be heard.

By the way, if Microsoft is still involved in MSNBC, I would imagine Bill and Melinda Gates wouldn't be too happy with Carlson's "retarded cousin" comments. The Gates happen to be very supportive of charities that assist people with developmental difficulties. And if there's one person you don't want to piss off, it's the guy with the huge bag of cash who can make you homeless forever with the snap of his fingers.