Thoughts on Pat Buchanan, the media, and how really bad the Bush years were

[Peacetrain]

I think all of us, have been floored somewhat by the craziness of Buchanan's rants lately on MSNBC. He, over the past few years had taken on an almost "crazy" uncle status (and you know what I am talking about) with Democrats. We listened to him, smiled, patted him on his balding head and went on our way.

Part of the that reason for tolerating Buchanan was his stance on the war. But the biggest reason, was that compared to the people in power at that time, he could almost sound a little reasonable. Again referring to the war question.


But for those of us, of a certain age, we remember Pat Buchanan. He is now. what he was then. He is a bigoted person who is scared to death that the world is changing.

When we listen to his rants, just think what those Palin gatherings during the election cycle were like.

We have had this kind of person in power for so many years, that nutty Buchanan could get a job on MSNBC and be tolerated as some sort of reasonable voice of the right.

We have been living in that kind of sewer of hate for the last 8 plus years. Look at how they have weaseled themselves into power bases such as things like C Street and K Street.

If nothing, and I mean nothing else had been accomplished but to move those people off the throne.. what a victory we have accomplished.

Don't get me wrong, I want all the things we elected Obama and the Democrats to do.

But just think how far we have had to come.

[BlooInBloo]

1. A lot of shitty conversation got normalized over the bush years...

Talking about the goodness of torture, bigotry against latinos (among others), and the like.

Reversing that inertia will take awhile. Hell - just getting the relevant people to *acknowledge* it will take awhile.

[Peacetrain]

3. They pulled the entire country into the cesspool they live in

and we literally became immune to as you said torture, degrading other people, degrading ourselves. We have been living in a nightmare, wrapped up in religious overtones. (And I am a committed Christian)..It will take a while.

[Lilyeye]

13. I agree. I don't know when this shit started brewing, but we have been setback as a country

on so many levels in the last 8 years. There seems to be so much hate, intolerance and discord between people. I have a question for some of the older people here. I am 22 so the only decades I remember are the 90's and the 2000's. Was the environment and atmosphere of America this bad in the 90's? Let me explain what I mean. In the last couple of years I've noticed this extreme hatred and tension between the American people whether it be because of political parties, race/ethnic groups, religious groups etc. Now I know that America has a history of these type of divides and discord; it’s nothing new or shocking. I am sure that there was plenty of tension and divides in the 90’s, but I also thought that in the 90's we were showing some progress and moving forward.

Now, I have seen family and friends be ripped apart because of politics and other social issues within the last couple of years. Let me give an example in my own life. I was very close with my aunt and cousin at one time. However, they have turned into these extreme right wing bigots in the last couple of years. My Aunt was always a republican, but I don’t remember political discussions ever being so hostile. My Aunt listens to right wing radio and has turned into someone I don't even like. We could be talking about a shooting that happened around the corner and she will waste no time trying to find a way to blame Obama or the democrats for it. She has a huge dislike for Muslims.

My cousin has gone on tirades about minorities being more racist than white people. She says that Obama only won because of racist black people and affirmative action. She also says that white people are being treated worse than other minorities. I've also noticed a couple of friends (around my age) spewing this same stuff and saying they feel discriminated against. (I bet most of them would agree with Pat.) Very often these feelings turn into bigoted remarks. It's gotten so bad that I don't even want to be around them. If I call them out for their behavior they just accuse me of being PC or say it’s because I'm a liberal who has white guilt. Just the other day, my friend and I were talking about Universial health care and her father went on this angry rant about Obama and democrats. He said they were going to ruin America and that Bush was a great President. Even my friend was embarrassed about her father. I don't remember dealing with stuff like this before. I've also had other people tell me that their family members have become unrecognizable because of their totally extreme political support and hatefulness.

I just feel like I can't go to any place without seeing or hearing people belittle each other over politics, race, religion, sexuality etc. I just want to make it clear that I am fully aware this is nothing new and people have been divided since the beginning of time. But it seems like politics and hate radio have poisoned and destroyed the progress I thought we were making. All of these idiots are coming out of the woodworks with their crap and its making me sick.

[lunatica]

17. Things were much worse in the past

This crime happened in 1930 and laws were ignored. Nowadays all they get to do is spew and if they do the crime they are prosecuted.



The Ku Klux Klan has been around since just after the Civil War around 1860 and was started in response to the newly freed slaves



Jim Crow Laws were about segregating the races and widespread in the South



The march to Selma where the peaceful marchers were met by police violence ordered by the State Governor, George Wallace. Note that there were white people marching also.



Ultimately Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965 which overturned the Jim Crow Laws.

[Lilyeye]

20. Thanks for responding. But this isn't what I meant.

I know that things were much worse in the past. That isn't even a question in my mind. I hope I can explain this right, but I am asking how was it like in the 90's when Clinton was in office. I always thought that in the 90's we had made some progress in our country and it seemed more hopeful. Now I understand that it wasn't perfect then either. You still had some of the same problems, but it did seem like we could try and move forward. However, as we got more deeper into the Bush years it just went to shit and it seems like we have went backwards as a nation. A much larger majority of people just seem more angrier and hostile now then they did in the 90's. However, I was younger at the time so my perspective might be different from a person who was older then. So I am asking the older how it was during that time. Better, the same, or worse?

[KakistocracyHater]

23. constant bs stories about the Clintons, constant attacks on Chelsea Clinton

& LOTS of nasty, gossipy, crap that the media joyfully spread everywhere, regardless of how crazy, unlikely, or impossible it was......Yet we were making progress-RuPaul, drag queen extraordinaire became more mainstream, women were portrayed more as adults.......Look at the culture of that time, see also the 1970s-with "Three's Company", "Bosom Buddies", women's lib literature, back-to-nature efforts.

The 1970s & the 1990s have alot in common & it is easy to see via books, television, movies, music of the time. I hadn't realized HOW MUCH progress was lost when Reagan took office, same as when Bush snuck in. Looking back is always beneficial, I'd rather be a pillar of salt any day, & it USED to be a compliment. Pillar of the comunnity, salt associated with purity.....

[Lilyeye]

25. Thank you for that insight.

[MadMaddie]

19. It will take all of us committed religous folks of all types, and Atheist

to return this country to simple manners and respecting others. We need to make it clear that war, murder, bullying, shouting people down is not acceptable behaviour.

The key is really simple, the Repugs thrived off of divide and conquor. The thrived on blowing up minor differences between Americans and making them wedge issues.

Our job is to get the message accross that we all have more in common than have been led to believe. Foremost, we are all Americans pursuing the American dream and how we get there does matter.

We will get there...you are right it will take a while.

[Lilyeye]

21. This is exactly what I mean.

I feel like the repugs have helped push this divide during the Bush years. Some of my family members have turned into rabid right wing tools during the Bush years. They were once pretty rational and compassionate people. I know that at many times in our nation's history it was even worse than this, but it did seem like we were trying to move forward before he came in office.

[Jazzgirl]

24. Picture Sarah Palin at the McCain/Palin rallies.

The hate she spewed constantly and the hate that has been spewed by repukes all these years is regurgitated by the M$M every day. They support it. Then you have extremely well-paid people like Rush Limpballs and Sean Insanity and Bill O'Liely. Sorry, but I just can't bring myself to speak their real names because those names are representative to me of who they are. I am 55 and feel like the world is on a backward vortex.

[vaberella]

8. +1. n/t

[depakid]

11. Not just the Bush years...

The rise of hate radio in the late 80's really devolved public discourse in America- and I'm not sure it's possible to get that cat back into the bag.

[Z_I_Peevey]

14. It all started with the 'Reagan revolution'

So many of today's cancers began then. Media consolidation. Gutting social programs. Talk radio/brainwashing. Deregulation. Almost every evil we fight today had its roots in that decade.

[SeaLyons]

2. yup....Rachel tried to tell him how he was dating himself...

he's just stuck in his racist ways. It is sweet to see these types make fools of themselves.

[Peacetrain]

4. Rachael looked like she was about to swallow her gum trying to reason with that turkey

[uponit7771]

5. Some of us WORKED for the crazy uncle "Pats" and it was hard to just smile. No he didn't hire

...you but he did hire your boss and when ever your name came up the crazy uncle "Pats" would by very warm to yah.

I remember these type of people, they made life hard for all of us ....in a very small sense they still do.

[PatSeg]

6. So true

I have to say Pat DID sound rather sane amidst all the whack-jobs of the Bush years. Last night he demonstrated his own special version of nutty. Even Rachel seemed shocked at how far he went with his "white guy" rant.

Occasionally he sounds relatively sane, but last night was not one of those times. Possibly MSNBC will start to phase him out now.

[PretzelWarrior]

7. kick

[vaberella]

9. K/R/BM'd. Great post! n/t

[Wednesdays]

10. K&R

:kick:

[jenmito]

12. K&R. At least people ON MSNBC talk about how crazy he is with his racist rants. n/t

[barbiegeek]

15. He's honest about being a republican bigot

He's not ashamed of being a bigot nor is he afraid to show Americans, what the conservative party stands for (whites only). It's only good for us.

[Bluenorthwest]

16. Anyone who is surprised by Pat's bigotry

has not been paying attention. I've not been calling him 'uncle', my uncles were good Democrats and not bigots. I have seen Pat as an enemy for decades. I guess everybody forgot his history, so here are some select quotations:

Pat on gay people:

"With 80,000 dead of AIDS, our promiscuous homosexuals appear literally hell-bent on Satanism and suicide," 1990

On Women:

"Rail as they will about 'discrimination,' women are simply not endowed by nature with the same measures of single-minded ambition and the will to succeed in the fiercely competitive world of Western capitalism." 1983

On Hitler:
"an individual of great courage.... Hitler's success was not based on his extraordinary gifts alone. His genius was an intuitive sense of the mushiness, the character flaws, the weakness masquerading as morality that was in the hearts of the statesmen who stood in his path."

On David Duke:
"Take a hard look at Duke's portfolio of winning issues and expropriate those not in conflict with GOP principles,

[Raine]

18. Thank goodness the sane are

now back in control.

[Jennicut]

22. I first saw old Pat during the 1992 Republican National Convention

I was 16. It changed me forever. At that moment, I turned away from my parents and became a Democrat, or at least an independent. My parents were very into the Repub party. They still are. And all these years later, at 33, I am still a Dem. That man was that hateful and disgusting.