One of the oddities of America’s generally left-leaning cable news channel, MSNBC, is the occasional appearances of far-right icon Pat Buchanan who ran for president in 2000 as an independent to the right of the Republican Party. He’s not just a guest, he’s a paid analyst who represents the dark side of conservatism. He’s often regarded as racist, especially in the way he opposes immigration and supports the rights of ‘beleagured’ white men.
Now the grandfatherly pundit is defending the Norwegian bomber saying that he may have been right. As a result, many liberals are calling for MSNBC to fire Buchanan. But should we really silence him?
Sure, he has a right to express his opinions, distasteful as many find them. But beyond the free speech issue is a deeper issue. Burying the darkness won’t make it go away. The views of Buchanan and others like him need to be exposed to the light of day, to the scrutiny of the world. Otherwise, when the dark beliefs are covered over, such people only talk among themselves. The hate and disenchantment grows and finally boils over into violence, or into actions that threaten many.
We see that now with the Tea Party congressmen doing all they can to crash our economy to prove that they are right. Originally, they were ignored and dismissed as nut cases. That ended with the 2010 congressional election. They are no longer meeting with their own kind and plotting the take-over of America. They are doing it, and yes, they are nut cases.
One good thing about the election of so many of the Tea Party candidates is that now the American people, and the world, sees just how crazy and serious they are. They’ve been exposed. Their irrational views are publicized every day, and they are falling out of favor – not that they ever were ‘in favor’ – with the vast majority of Americans. In all likelihood, many of them will be kicked out of office next year when voters return to the polls.
That said, we need to hear Pat Buchanan and his brethren so we can expose the darkness to the light. But we can’t just point fingers. We all need to bring our own darkness to the light. It’s true for individuals and for society, and that’s the way we evolve as individuals, as a race.
– Rob
Here are some related headlines:
“Pat Buchanan: ‘Breivik May Be Right’,” Media Matters, July 26, 2011
2. “Phil Griffin: ‘MSNBC Stands For Something …Is Really The Place To Go For Progressives’,” Mediaite, June 20, 2011
3. “Buchanan: ‘What is happening now to white men right now is exactly what was done to black folks for years.’,” Think Progress, May 6, 2009
4. “Buchanan Argues For Immigration Moratorium To Preserve White Dominance,” Think Progress, August 22, 2006
5. “Buchanan complains that with Kagan, Supreme Court will have too many Jews,” Media Matters, May 14, 2010
6. “MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan defends Hitler. Again.,” Media Matters, September 2, 2009
7. “Breivik Was Influenced By American Islamophobes Behind ‘Ground Zero Mosque’ Hysteria,” ThinkProgress, July 25, 2011
8. “Discussing Ground Zero mosque, Buchanan invokes Nazis attempting to march in Skokie, IL,” Media Matters, August 4, 2010
I agree that the darkness of division and secrets needs to be in the spotlight so all can see and chose. I’ve recently heard a lot of people venting their agenda with the words, “It’s basic common sense” and I disagree as no one agenda can be common on a global scale.
Change is hard and scary on an individual level so the transformation occurring on a global level will not be done with the stroke of a pen. Whatever trauma may come will be followed by a brighter light. So I will watch all events with hope because when the economies of the world unite, it is bad business to go to war.
Great points, Terri. I especially like that last part – bad business to go to war.
I don’t think censorship works as it sends it underground where it becomes more extreme. The US economy is in ‘interesting’ times – I gather though that an agreement has now been reached.
It’s not enough to just point out the darkness; we must BE the light that casts it out.
Marianne Williamson. 🙂
Excellent reminder, Nat!
I’m not an American but I so agree with you on this. It’s important that the radical minority be allowed to speak and be exposed for who they are and what they actually stand for…and they’ll sink their own ship.
And they seem to be doing that quickly here in the U.S.
I absolutely agree, Rob. It will be interesting to see what happens to these Congressional leaders if the economy collapses and people do not get their checks. As for working on our own darkness – we cannot evolve as a species until everyone does exactly that.
John McCain recently compared the congressional Tea Party members to Hobbits. When angry protests erupted, he quickly backed off and apologized to the Hobbit community. 😉
yes yes yes – exposing their darkness to the light!
BRAVO!
[standing – applauding]