Kathy Porter on Tucker Carlson
Takoma Park Mayor Kathy Porter appeared on the Tucker Carlson show on MSNBC last night. He clearly invited her on to ridicule Takoma Park for its resolution to impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Mayor Porter was unruffled throughout, and kept to her clear message that Americans have a right to petition their government.
Carlson appeared unprepared. For example, he brought up the Nuclear Free Zone designation to suggest that Takoma Park is a "parody" of a liberal town. But he didn't seem to know what the NFZ designation meant. At one point he said that the city of Takoma Park prohibits businesses in town from doing business with the nuclear industry. Not true. I think that there's room for discussion over the Nuclear Free Zone, but it should be informed.
Carlson seemed to just go with stream of conscious discussion points. For example: "Some years ago, when Takoma Park declared itself a nuclear free zone, there was some concern that Takoma Park was going to create an army or a militia or something and, kind of, strike out on its own. Is that—in the cards?" Kathy Porter's reply? "No."
At the end of the segment, Carlson questioned Porter on the "fairness" of the Speaker of the House taking the Presidency in the event of a successful impeachment. Mayor Porter: "Well, it's in the Constitution. I didn't make that decision."