David Edwards of The Raw Story summed it up quite succinctly:
Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Sunday argued that a Walmart truck driver who allegedly critically injured comedian Tracy Morgan in a car accident should not face jail time because falling asleep behind the wheel was not always reckless.
Yup. That’s exactly what happened, although reading the actual exchange is a bit of a jaw-dropping experience:
Attorney David Schwartz told Fox News on Sunday that the driver could be sentenced to jail if he was convicted of reckless driving for falling asleep behind the wheel.
“Absolutely, 5 to 10 years in jail for death by auto, which is an act of recklessness,” Schwartz explained. “So, if he did fall asleep at the wheel, that’s one of the ways that you could commit reckless driving in New Jersey. And certainly the fact that a death occurred, 5 to 10 years in jail.”
“I’m not trying to take anything away from the tragedy of this,” Carlson replied. “But 10 years in jail for falling asleep? It strikes me as very different from taking drugs, drinking. Has that ever happened? Has anybody ever actually gone to jail for falling asleep?”
Tucker actually asked that question. Maybe he didn’t hear about the train conductor who fell asleep and crashed into an escalator at O’Hare airport or the train conductor who fell asleep and derailed in The Bronx. Mr. Schwartz could hardly believe his ears.
“For falling asleep and causing a death?” Schwartz asked. “Absolutely.”
But Tucker continued…
“But, I mean sometimes people — and I’m not defending anyone here,” Carlson continued. “I’m really struck by the idea that someone who falls asleep — which is something that everybody does every day, not necessarily considered an act of recklessness — does it unintentionally, nods off is a criminal.”
This was where Mr. Schwartz had to Dadsplain to a two year old.
“Tucker, if you’re driving a 16-wheel truck, a truck for Walmart, and you’re on the roads for the state of New Jersey, and you’re drowsy and you fall asleep, it’s certainly an act of recklessness,” the attorney insisted. “Not an intentional murder, but it’s an act of recklessness. And that’s where this reckless homicide comes in.”
I know this is like trying to explain calculus to a toddler, but “The people who drive large commercial trucks, fly cargo planes, and ferry millions of airline passengers are all subject to federal rules governing how much they rest.”
Like most conservatives, Tucker Carlson will understand this all perfectly well the moment someone falls asleep and kills a person he actually cares about.
And not a second before that.
It always humors me when non-attorneys start using legal words without at least looking up the definitions of those words.
Then again, Tucker Carlson is a huge fucking joke and one of the most deserving conservatives of wingnut welfare, so there’s no surprise with this latest installment of conservative dumbfuckery.
What most confused Tucker Carlson was the use of the word “reckless” when involved with a wreck. Especially one that probably involved a bunch of uppity black people he doesn’t find funny.
But…there was a wreck, how could it be reckless?!?
Tucker Carlson doesn’t need brain vitamins. He needs a lobotomy. That would solve most of his brain problems.
In Tucker’s case, destroying his frontal lobe would not be advised:
His seems not to be working well enough as it is.
It would simply make him less damaging to the country and its psyche.
What Tucker is thinking: One man’s federal rule governing rest is another man’s restraint on the free hand of the market.
Yes, you are likely correct about when such thinking will change.
Heck, why beat around the bush? Sure, the bow-tied twit is an increasingly reactionary conservative, but there’s plenty of racism all swirled up in his libertarianism.
Tracy Morgan may die as a result of this truck driver’s recklessness, and Tucker is surprised that the driver may be severely punished for killing black people. Just didn’t occur to him.
Tucker has a lengthy history of, ahem, “racially insensitive” comments. C’mon, let’s apply Occam’s Razor here.
I think that’s the point. Vehicular homicide–death caused by negligent operation of a motor vehicle–is a felony in all fifty states. There are about 300 vehicular homicides per year in the US, maybe 4200 since Tucker Carlson began appearing on television. Tucker Carlson has never commented on one. What made him suddenly pay attention to the plight of the sleepy manslaughterer? Other than that the victims were black people and one injured survivor is more famous and popular than Tucker Carlson?
The more likely reason is that it’s a Walmart truck. Tucker just doing his job protecting his corporate masters from a mega-million lawsuit.
he can’t protect them; the legal wheels are turning already b/c Tracy Morgan’s friend died
I’m sure there’s a case Walmart pressure made the driver keep on when he was sleepy and if he goes to jail they should too. Be gratifying to see somebody on TV defending the driver on those lines.
Yup, looky here: http://www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2014/06/wal-mart-trucking-abuses-kill
Is Tucker Carlson still on the elephant dole? Whatever do they get out of him?
A bow-tie. George Will’s future replacement.
Will’s already undead, he’ll be there forever as long as the formaldehyde supply holds out.
Don’t forget that F–ker Carlson was already born/adopted with a silver spoon in his mouth. From his Wikipedia entry:
Carlson was born in San Francisco, California. He grew up in Carlsbad, an affluent resort town north of San Diego. He is the elder son of Richard Warner Carlson, a former Los Angeles news anchor and U.S. ambassador to the Seychelles who was president of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and director of Voice of America. His adoptive mother is Patricia Caroline Swanson (born 1945), former wife of Howard Feldman and an heiress to the Swanson food-conglomerate fortune. He has a brother, Buckley Swanson Peck Carlson. A great-uncle was Sen. J. William Fulbright.
The hell with F–ker Carlson. Lets talk about a “Democrat” in Virginia that’s as evil as any GOPer there. I suppose everyone has heard about Phillip P. Puckett by now. The guy is corrupt scum.
Out of the mouth of Glenn Beck sometime this week
“Well, it won’t be long now. Obama will be telling us when and how much we have to sleep.
Mark my words, it’s coming, folks!!!”
Exactly.
Yep, typical “GOP empathy deficit syndrome”.
The only thing to do is to inflict ALL manner of calamities on GOP stooges, so that they can grow beyond their self-centered infantile psyche.
It’s for the good of Humanity.
“After 9/11 I finally realized the importance of Ted Kennedy’s behavior at Chappaquiddick. Now that I have a tumor the size of a grapefruit squeezing my brain out my nose, I understand the need for government protection against predatory health markets.”
Senator Horace Boothroyd III
I could cut off Tucker Carlson’s head; scoop out and dispose of the “brain” (such as it is); replace the brains with banana pudding; let the pudding ferment to an hallucinogenic paste; and eat the hallucinogenic paste after a 3-day fast.
The visions would make more sense than anything Tucker Carlson has ever said in his entire life.
OT: Virginia Democratic senator Puckett to resign, possibly dooming push to expand Medicaid
By Laura Vozzella June 8 at 7:58 PM
RICHMOND — Republicans appear to have outmaneuvered Gov. Terry McAuliffe in a state budget standoff by persuading a Democratic senator to resign his seat, at least temporarily giving the GOP control of the chamber and possibly dooming the governor’s push to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.
Sen. Phillip P. Puckett (D-Russell) will announce his resignation Monday, effective immediately, paving the way to appoint his daughter to a judgeship and Puckett to the job of deputy director of the state tobacco commission, three people familiar with the plan said Sunday. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
The news prompted outrage among Democrats — and accusations that Republicans were trying to buy the Senate with job offers in order to thwart McAuliffe’s proposal to expand health coverage to 400,000 low-income Virginians.
Del. Scott A. Surovell (D-Fairfax) said Republicans were unable to win the policy argument about Medicaid expansion, so they have resorted to other means.
“It’s astounding to me. The House Republican caucus will do anything and everything to prevent low-income Virginians from getting health care. . . . They figure the only way they could win was to give a job to a state senator,” Surovell said. “At least they can’t offer Terry McAuliffe a job. I hope Terry continues to stand up to these bullies.”
Puckett, a senator since 1998, did not respond to calls seeking comment. Other Republicans denied that Puckett was offered the jobs in exchange for his resignation.
http://m.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/2014/06/08/901edf8e-ef54-11e3-914c-1fbd0614e2d4_
story.html
Maybe this will blowup and humiliate Puckett so much that he’ll be forced to eat crow for another year. It’s a red district but Puckett beat his most recent GOPer opponent by 20 points. Go figure.
Why would McAuliffe reward him this way if he really doesn’t want it?
“Hey Gov, I’m going to resign, spoiling your legislation and you are going to reward me with two appointments.” It does not compute, unless this is McAwful’s way of seeming to support Medicaid Expansion but “Oh, I tried but I was blocked!”
So what is in the minds of the folks who do the booking of Tucker for any show? What does one gain in ratings that couldn’t be achieved by a chicken and a blinking light?
What about Walmart’s responsibility? Not to let the driver off the hook necessarily, but was he working under rules which boiled down to “drive recklessly or starve your family?”
yes, that’s in the video clip. they will find out if Walmart was overworking the driver [sufficient rest time is required by law] or if they knew he had a tendency to fall asleep while driving yet kept him on the road – according to the lawyer on video clip, the latter is Walmart’s responsibility.
Sometimes when TV hosts ask stuff like that(and it extends far far beyond Tucker Carlson or Fox) I wonder if they’re just trying to get the other person to explain to viewers who might not be paying close attention or to fill out time.
After all, if the segment started with
Then you’ve got several minutes of dead air.
yes, much as I dislike Carlson, it’s a way to bring out all the sides of the issue -for example Walmart’s liability is where his questioning leads
Sorry, unless the driver was out partying the night before or has made some other choice causing this accident, I will not fault him. If Wal-Mart forced him to drive too many hours or too late at night, I can’t blame him. I’ve fallen asleep many times driving home from the Night shift. Once I crashed. No one was hurt, but a young man came up to my car and told me, “Are you all right? Wow! The way you avoided that guy on the bike was spectacular! Really great driving!”. I thought “What guy? What bike?” I was driving then the next thing I knew I was on a large median with all four tires blown. My fault? Well, in the sense that I wanted to feed my family and keep a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs. This was the only job I could get. Not long ago, I talked at the shift change to an old co-worker that is still on the Night shift. He has fallen asleep and crashed his car eight times in his career. The Night shift is an inhuman unnatural shift, especially with managers hounding you to never sit, never close your eyes. If night operations must occur, they should be scheduled for four or six hour shifts, no eight and never overtime.
Again, if the sleep was due to some choice, I agree, but having to work is not a choice.