David Brooks: Late-Night TV Is About Making Progressives Feel Good About Themselves

EXCERPT:

BROOKS: “Look in our current culture, and that one of the things that’s happened over the last 50 years is that, as progressives who have gotten control of various cultural institutions, they have excluded a lot of conservative and working-class voices. And so a lot of people feel completely shut out. And late-night comedy is the perfect example. You could be right or left. You could watch Letterman, you could watch Carson, and you could laugh. But now late-night TV is — it’s about laughter, but it’s also about making progressives feel good about themselves, making them feel smug. And even I can’t watch late-night TV anymore. But the difference is, you fight culture — if you don’t like the progressive culture, create a conservative culture. And to his great credit — I rarely get to praise Tucker Carlson anymore — but he went on his show and said, if the Trump Administration tries to damage free speech using this as a pretext, it’s time for civil disobedience. And so he understands you fight cultural power with cultural — countercultural power. That’s how the game plays. To use federal power is definitely breaching the line.”

(via RealClearPolitics)