We have a no-Pat Buchanan rule in our house. He is an unrepentant criminal and racist (Too harsh, you say? Remember this: as a member of the Nixon White House, he advocated that the president burn the famous Watergate audio tapes and just a few months ago, wrote a column claiming that slavery was just about the best dern thing that ever happened to Blacks).
In our house, we are fond of calling Buchanan names out loud -- dinosaur, being among the most tame (and the most printable here). Recently, after the umpteenth time hearing Pat bellyache about how Barack Obama is so weak or arrogant, or "not one of us," I decided: "No more Buchanan." Switch the channel if I come in the room. Note to self: Hit the mute button or watch 3 minutes of The Weather Channel just to get past his on-air segment.
But here's the dilemma, he's often pitted against the best analytical mind on television, Rachel Maddow.
How can I sacrifice hearing Rachel just to avoid the mean-spirited rants of Buchanan? And I do so enjoy the many times, Rachel has wiped up the studio with Buchanan's idiocy (and always with a smile and good nature) What to do? And then today, I read in this interview with the Washington Post that there's a far more important message behind the Rachel v. Pat story.
The Washington Post reports:
When Maddow was 19, two years after she came out of the closet, she watched with horror as Pat Buchanan took the podium at the 1992 Republican convention and called for a culture war against such liberal notions as "homosexual rights." [For those of you unfamiliar with this speech, it was by far the most hateful, divisive address ever given at a presidential convention.]
"I felt my country was declaring war on me," Rachel said.
On the air Monday night, Maddow recalled that experience, turning to her left -- where Buchanan, her fellow MSNBC analyst, sat. She told Buchanan that she was drawn to Bill Clinton's family that year after concluding that "they don't want an America that doesn't want me in it."
During a break and off the air, Rachel said: "Surreal is not the word," referring to her oft-pairing with Buchanan now. "The arc of what Pat meant to me, and what I'm doing now, is a great American story." Buchanan declined to comment after the awkward moment.
That does it. If Rachel can not only sit beside him, but take him on, I can bear to watch her smack downs of this tiresome old fossil. I assume Buchanan will not be a featured guest on her new television program. (And if a see Buchanan sans Rachel, I'm still changing the channel).
<span style="font-size: 1.2em;">[Note to MSNBC: You've already got a big, thoughtless bully in Joe Scarborough. Isn't that enough? It's time to give Buchanan his gold watch and adios party].</span>
Crossposted at The Progressive Puppy