Sunday Read: Duckworth slaps down Tucker Carlson's swipe questioning her patriotism

Fox TV host Tucker CArlson, left, questioned the patriotism of Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Conservative Fox News host Tucker Carlson learned the hard way: Don't mess with Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.

When Carlson said that the Thai American senator "hated" America, Duckworth, who lost both her legs as a helicopter she was piloting was shot down in Iraq, naturally took umbrage at Carlson's questioning of  her patriotism, Duckworth responded with a left hook on Twitter:

Carlson, who never served in the military, was still recovering from that tweet when Duckworth's wave after wave of body blows in a New York Times oped, July 9, finished off the pompous blowhard:

"Attacks from self-serving, insecure men who can't tell the difference between true patriotism and hateful nationalism will never diminish my love for this country -- or my willingness to sacrifice for it so they don't have to. These titanium legs don't buckle," she wrote.

She never advocated for tearing down statues of George Washington, that Carlson accused her of saying.

"What some on the other side don’t seem to understand is that we can honor our founders while acknowledging their serious faults, including the undeniable fact that many of them enslaved Black Americans.

"Because while we have never been a perfect union, we have always sought to be a more perfect union — and in order to do so, we cannot whitewash our missteps and mistakes. We must learn from them instead."

She said that Carlson's attacks, followed is simply an attempt to distract the public's attention from the poor leadership from the White House, from the blundering around the coronavirus pandemic, the confusing mythology and the historical truth surrounding race or the silence about the Russian bounties offered to Afghan Taliban fighters to kill Americans.

"Remember that part of what has always made America not just great but good is that every American has the right to question those in charge. Anyone claiming to stand up for 'patriotic' values should recognize that, because, without it, the country these impostor patriots claim to love so much would not exist.

"Our nation deserves leaders mature and secure enough not to race-bait or swift-boat anyone who dares disagree with them. After these past four years, and especially after these past four months, it’s clearer than ever that we must choose public servants who will focus on the serious issues facing our country — from the spread of the coronavirus to systemic racism to foreign adversaries threatening our troops’ lives — rather than cynical bullies who use schoolyard tactics to distract from their own shortcomings," Duckworth wrote.

Sen. Tammy Duckworth lost both her legs when her helicopter crashed in Iraq.

We now know where Carlson gets -- or got -- his racist and sexist material from. On Friday, Fox News fired Carlson's head writer, Blake Neff for racist comments he made on social media under a pseudonym.

Responding to a thread started by another user in 2018 with the subject line, "Would u let a JET BLACK congo n****er do lasik eye surgery on u for 50% off?" Neff wrote, "I wouldn't get LASIK from an Asian for free, so no."

Under the face account, on June 24, Neff commented, "Honestly given how tired black people always claim to be, maybe the real crisis is their lack of sleep." On June 26, Neff wrote that the only people who care about changing the name of the NFL's Washington Redskins are "white libs and their university-'educated' pets."

Neff reportedly wrote Carlson's monologue and presumably, the attacks against Duckworth.

Duckworth should expect more attacks to come in her direction the more that her name comes up as a strong candidate for Joe Biden's pick for a running mate.

As nimble as Duckworth is proving to be as her national profile rises, she shouldn't underestimate the efficacy of the goons working for the GOP and their ability to lie, twist the truth, and fabricate. They are experts at this type of negative campaigning. Remember what the Republicans did with veteran John Kerry and the dishonest but effective Swiftboat attacks that played a major role in derailing Kerry's campaign.

If Duckworth become Biden's pick for Vice President, expect the GOP to "swiftboat" Duckworth, whose service and sacrifice has thus far survived the attacks from her detractors.