Quick Hits: Volume CCCX

 - The host of the most watched program on cable news is out of a job. 

Fox News on Monday ousted prime-time host Tucker Carlson, whose stew of grievances and political theories about Russia and the Jan. 6 insurrection had grown to define the network in recent years and make him an influential force in GOP politics.

Fox said that the network and Carlson had ''agreed to part ways,'' but offered no explanation for the stunning move, saying that the last broadcast of ''Tucker Carlson Tonight'' aired last Friday. Carlson ended the show by saying, ''We'll be back on Monday.''

Yet on Monday night, viewers tuned in to morning anchor Brian Kilmeade, who said that Carlson was gone, ''as you may have heard.''

''I wish Tucker the best,'' Kilmeade said. ''I'm great friends with Tucker and always will be.''

In an industry whose largest demographic has shifted to baby boomers, Carlson was seemingly an outlier in that he was bringing in a huge audience consisting of Gen X'ers and Millennials. That's an impressive feat given those groups have largely transitioned their consumption of political analysis/opinion to podcasts. While prog networks MSNBC and CNN have hemorrhaged viewers since Donald J. Trump left the White House, Fox News has consistently been a ratings juggernaut. But with the departure of Carlson, FNC may now endure a similar ratings dive. Carlson's success was not about the platform he was on but rather the content he delivered. As such, his viewers will go where he goes. 

So let the poo-flinging monkeys on the left enjoy their schadenfreude. They'll soon find out that being ousted from a highly rated cable TV news show isn't the death knell it was just a decade ago. 

- A President of the United States announcing he's seeking reelection is typically little more than a blip on the news radar. But when said POTUS is basically a walking cadaver whose approval ratings have been underwater the vast majority of his first term, such an announcement will definitely garner more scrutiny. 

Every generation has a moment where they have had to stand up for democracy. To stand up for their fundamental freedoms. I believe this is ours.

That’s why I’m running for reelection as President of the United States. Join us. Let’s finish the job. https://t.co/V9Mzpw8Sqy pic.twitter.com/Y4NXR6B8ly

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) April 25, 2023

Finish the job? Even though the vast majority of Americans no longer believe you should?

Very bad situation for our democracy. pic.twitter.com/axBHF2KU0f

— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) April 24, 2023

Sadly it appears we're headed toward a rematch featuring the crazed elder with a feeble mind versus Joe Biden. 

- From 1993 through 2022, the Green Bay Packers have had exactly two different quarterbacks start the opening game of each of season - a span of thirty years. 

For the first 15 seasons it was Brett Favre, who would go on to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

The QB who was the starter the subsequent 15 seasons (who will also wind up in the Hall of Fame five years after he retires) now has a new home. 

For the second time in 15 years, the Green Bay Packers are trading an aging icon to the New York Jets.

The Packers agreed Monday to deal quarterback Aaron Rodgers and their 2023 first-round pick (No. 15) and a 2023 fifth-round pick (No. 170) to the Jets for New York's 2023 first-round pick (No. 13), a 2023 second-round pick (No. 42), a 2023 sixth-round pick (No. 207) and a conditional 2024 second-round pick that becomes a first if Rodgers plays 65% of the plays this season, sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Monday.

The Jets were a top 5 defensive unit in 2022, but ranked near the bottom in points scored. But now the Jets' offense is loaded for bear with a unit consisting of Rodgers, free agent WRs Allen Lazard (a teammate of Rodgers' for five seasons) & Mecole Hardman, the 2022 Offensive Rookie of the Year in WR Garrett Wilson and RB Breece Hall (in 2022, he average nearly six yards per carry in 7 games before getting hurt). Oh, and the Jets' new Offensive Coordinator? That would be Nathaniel Hackett, who was Rodgers' O.C. in Green Bay in his back-to-back MVP seasons of 2020 and 2021.

I'm not ready to suggest the Jets are built to dethrone the Kansas City Chiefs or Cincinnati Bengals as the teams to beat in the AFC. However, you'd have to be dabbling pretty heavily in Ayahuasca to underestimate their chances. 

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