So it turns out that, more than a decade ago, Tucker Carlson said some insensitive, rude, and vile things … while he was talking with a shock jock. Shocking, we know. But leftists are on it.

While conversing with “Bubba The Love Sponge,” Carlson used salty, misogynistic, racist, and degrading language about women, blacks, Iraqis, and others. It was indeed objectionable. He also made comments defending white men for “creating civilization and stuff.” That’s an arguable point, regardless of the race-baiters’ “outrage.” In any case, the muckrakers at Media Matters — try not to laugh, but it’s a leftist website dedicated to finding conservative bias in the media — dug up those comments, fomenting hysteria and calls for boycotting and firing Carlson from the Fox News show he’s been hosting only since 2016.

Now, we’re not going to defend everything Carlson said. In fact, we’d likewise condemn a lot of it. But context matters, as does a simple question: Did Carlson’s comments reflect his actual beliefs? Leftists aren’t concerned with that. They’re too busy trying to get his scalp.

Carlson addressed the controversy in his monologue last night:

As anyone who’s ever been caught in its gears can tell you, the great American outrage machine is a remarkable thing. One day you’re having dinner with your family, imagining everything is fine. The next, your phone is exploding with calls from reporters. They read you snippets from a press release written by Democratic Party operatives. They demand to know how you could possibly have said something so awful and offensive. “Do you have a statement on how immoral you are?” It’s a bewildering moment, especially when the quotes in question are more than a decade old.

There’s really not that much you can do to respond. It’s pointless to try to explain how the words were spoken in jest, or taken out of context, or in any case bear no resemblance to what you actually think, or would want for the country. None of that matters. Nobody cares. You know the role you’re required to play: You are a sinner, begging the forgiveness of Twitter. So you issue a statement of deep contrition. You apologize profusely for your transgressions. You promise to be a better person going forward. With the guidance of your contrition consultants, you send money to whatever organization claims to represent the people you supposedly offended. Then you sit back and brace for a wave of stories about your apology, all of which are simply pretexts for attacking you again.

Not just attacking you — attacking the very culture of First Amendment-protected free speech that helped make America great in the first place.