“…there are unseen forces that act; there is a spiritual realm, and we are subject to those forces for good and bad…”
— Tucker Carlson in a May 2 interview with New York Times journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro.
The forces I’ve typically been most concerned about are not unseen, although they are still forces for good and bad.
I’m thinking specifically about my ex-wife, Darlene. On the good side, she made a terrific spaghetti sauce.
Her bad side probably shouldn’t be discussed in a family-friendly news magazine. But I have shared some of the gory details with my therapist.
I haven’t talked much, in these columns, about my experiences with psychotherapy. I can safely say, however, that Darlene hasn’t been featured as often in recent sessions with my shrink, Dr. Spengler. I’m more likely to be sharing disturbing thoughts about Donald Trump and his MAGA followers, which includes several of my close friends. (I think Darlene voted for Kamala, but don’t quote me on that.)
Psychiatrists sometimes speak of sociopaths — people like Donald Trump, and some of my close friends — as “patient-makers.” They drive the rest of us to the psychiatrist’s couch.
Sometimes, they can even cause a person to get interviewed by the New York Times. As happened to commentator Tucker Carlson earlier this month, when he agreed to sit across the kitchen table from journalist Lulu Garcia-Navarro and pour out his guts. Metaphorically speaking.
Sort of a two-hour therapy session. Videotaped and shared globally.
Speaking for myself, I would never want my two-hour therapy sessions posted online for the whole world to see. Not that the whole world would watch it for more than 30 seconds, of course, but still.
One particular part of the May 2 interview struck me as pretty interesting, however, considering that Tucker Carlson used to be friends with Donald Trump, and maybe even a friendly advisor to the President.
They were calmly discussing the social media post by Donald Trump. posted on Easter morning, wherein the President threatened to wipe the entire Iranian civilization off the map.
Mr. Carlson, being a Christian, found that post to be quite disturbing. Like, on Easter morning? Really, Mr. President?
Ms. Garcia-Navarro:
On your show, the day after Easter, you noted he did not put his hand on the Bible during his swearing-in ceremony as president, and you said, “Maybe he didn’t put his hand on the Bible because he affirmatively rejects what’s inside that book.” And then on a recent show, you went further, saying: “Here’s a leader who’s mocking the gods of his ancestors, mocking the God of gods and exalting himself above them. Could this be the Antichrist?”
Mr. Carlson:
I actually did not say, “Could this be the Antichrist?” I don’t know where that comes from, but I know that those words never left my lips, because I’m not sure I fully understand what the Antichrist is, if there’s just one. I actually tried to understand it. I may have said some are asking that. I am not weighing in on that because I don’t understand it, just to be totally clear.
Unfortunately, nothing is perfectly clear in this reality we live in. A video posted online shows Mr. Carlson actually saying: “Could this be the Antichrist?” But videos can be faked.
Back when I was married, I often wondered if Darlene were the Antichrist. But I didn’t write about it in my weekly columns. Until now.
Mr. Carlson continued:
I want my audience to see what’s happening now in terms beyond just material. Obviously, the commodity flow through the Strait of Hormuz is essential to the global economy. Got it.
But I also think there is a world beyond our senses. Every culture and civilization has understood that from the beginning of time. And we’re in this weird, anomalous moment where we’ve been trained not to think that, but it’s real. And this is a realization that’s dawning on me. I wasn’t thinking like this at all until several years ago.
So I don’t want to pretend that I’m a shaman or anything like that. I just want to make the point repeatedly again and again that there are unseen forces that act, that there is a spiritual realm, and we are subject to those forces for good and bad, and I don’t think that any person can deny that.
I will gladly admit that I’ve was trained, as Mr. Carlson suggests, to believe “what you see is what you get” in terms of what’s real and what’s imaginary. Then I fell in love with Darlene, and it became very clear that nothing is actually very clear. As Dr. Spengler often reminds me.
These are tough times for nearly everyone, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better.
But the therapists are going to be laughing all the way to the bank.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.