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The Conservative Anti-Establishmentarian As Shill

I noted the other day that the Daily Caller is attempting to market itself as the populist, true-conservative alternative to elitist, co-opted conservative outlets like National Review and the Weekly Standard. It's dismaying that DC editor Tucker Carlson, who is a really nice guy in addition to a very talented writer, has decided to take this career turn to Breitbart-ism.

Carlson's attempt to paint other conservative journalists as sellouts to the temporizing Republican establishment is especially comic if you consider this great little tidbit from Brad Plumer's fine piece about the comeback of Ralph Reed. The scene is the Faith and Freedom Coalition conference, where Carlson has shown up to rev up the crowd and engage in some self-promotion:

Even conservative journalist Tucker Carlson shows up to warn the crowd that the liberal media is indeed conspiring against them. Carlson’s presence is a surprise given that, when the Abramoff scandal broke in 2006, he ripped into Reed on his show, saying, “Conservatives will be tempted to defend these creeps, and I hope they don’t, because what they did was wrong and it violated conservative principles.” All, it seems, is now forgiven.

Brad's whole article-- about the return to respectability of the utterly disgraced Reed-- is a treat, so you should definitely read it, and if you're not a subscriber, subscribe.