Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.
I wrote last week about what I would be watching for in Tucker Carlson’s interview with Vladimir Putin and how I would deal with Putin had I been in Tucker’s seat. I warned that people on the right are looking for an American dictator to swoop in and save them from all the problems created by the elites. On the left, they’re already imposing a kind of dictatorship through the administrative state.
I also warned you about Aleksandr Dugin, often called “Putin’s brain,” and how he would push Putin to talk about our immorality, transgenderism, and loss of faith. I said Tucker could maybe let Putin get away with it one time, but then he would need to cut him off and say, “This isn't about America and her people. If you want to talk about the American war machine, the president, or Congress, go ahead, and we’ll listen.” I was expecting Putin to spin the conversation toward that angle, but he didn’t. I think part of that is because Tucker Carlson did a really good job.
Putin didn’t say anything new. Maybe to some people he did, but I have been describing what Putin was talking about for years: the fact that we created this Ukrainian problem. I outlined it on my giant chalkboard about Ukraine during President Trump’s first impeachment. What Putin said about Russia’s historical claims are true. I don’t like it, but we need to recognize it as true so that we don't get wrapped up in yet another war.
At least we know the truth of why we’re probably in this war. That doesn't make Putin correct on the war.
What does concern me is how Tucker Carlson’s interview is being spun in Russia, particularly by Dugin, and I’m afraid that many Americans will fall for it.
Dugin last week published an essay titled, “Tucker, Putin, and the Apocalypse.” At first, it sounds benign. But read on, and it gets worse and worse and worse.
Dugin begins by describing Carlson’s interview as “pivotal for both the West and Russia.” I would agree, but not for the same reasons as Dugin. He says “Tucker Carlson is becoming a focal point of two polar opposites within the Russian society" whom he calls the “ideological patriots and elite Westernizers.” Dugin is describing the dynamic in Russia between those who think, “Let’s just become part of the West,” and those who say, “No, we’re Russian.”
If I were Tucker Carlson, I would respond to Dugin immediately.
"For patriots,” Dugin asserts, “Tucker Carlson is simply ‘one of us.’ He’s a traditionalist.” I’ve warned my audience in the past about “traditionalism.” It means something different when people like Dugin invoke it.
Dugin also says that Carlson is “a right-wing conservative, a staunch opponent to liberalism.” Well, yes, he is, but not in the way that Dugin means.
Dugin is for the end of all modernity. Understand what that means. The end of all modernity. He believes the world should be pushed back to the way it was before the Enlightenment. I don't think Tucker Carlson is for that.
I encourage you to read the entire essay. It will give you valuable insight into the Russian perspective and the narrative Dugin is spinning about Tucker’s interview. However, I want to draw your attention to the part of the op-ed where Dugin describes something deeply troubling that is always dismissed. I urge you to dismiss him at your own peril. Dismiss him just like you've dismissed the leadership of Iran at your own peril.
Here’s what he has to say:
Tucker Carlson conducts a reality check: Does the West understand what it is doing, pushing the world towards the apocalypse? ... Look what the globalists have done and how close we are to it!
It is not about the content of the interview with Putin. It is the fact that a person like Tucker Carlson is visiting a country like Russia to meet a political figure like Putin at such a critical time. Tucker Carlson’s trip to Moscow might be the last chance to stop the disappearance of humanity. The world can only be saved by stopping right now.
The world can only be saved by stopping now. For that, America must choose Trump. And Tucker Carlson. And Elon Musk. And [Texas Governor Greg] Abbott. Then we get a chance to pause on the brink of the abyss. Compared to this, everything else is secondary. Liberalism and its agenda have led humanity to a dead end. Now the choice is this: either liberals or humanity. Tucker Carlson chooses humanity, which is why he came to Moscow to meet Putin. The whole world understood why he came and how important it is.
I would not want Dugin writing something like that about me, and I doubt Tucker Carlson did anything to deserve that. Remember, when Dugin says “we’re fighting liberalism,” he means something very different from what comes into our American minds.
I am a classical liberal. That means that I am for the Bill of Rights. I want a small government. I believe I should answer for my own actions and that you should answer for your own actions. That’s classic liberalism in a nutshell. When Dugin refers to the West’s “liberalism,” that’s what he actually means. He doesn't mean “leftists” when he talks about liberals like we do. He’s an enemy of classical liberalism. He’s against freedom of choice. He’s against individual liberty.
What is Dugin for? He is a doomsday prophet who believes that the apocalypse must come to wash the world in blood. He also is the man who opened the door to the key relationship between the Iranian Twelvers and Russia. They have one thing in common: They both believe chaos leads to the rebirth of the world. One thinks the 12th Imam will call it forth. The other, Dugin, believes it is Christ who will bring it about.
When Dugin says, “We’re fighting liberalism,” he means something very different from what comes into our American minds.
Dugin believes that is the way that Russia will control: through bringing about its end. That's the kind of man we're dealing with here. He's very dangerous, and he's no friend of America and the principles that you and I hold dear.
If I were Tucker Carlson, I would respond to Dugin immediately. Don’t be fooled by Dugin’s attempt to lure Tucker Carlson and, consequently, you and me into becoming his allies. We are no allies of Dugin. And Dugin is no friend of the principles of freedom and liberty that we cherish.
