Halperin Calls the President a d*ck: 1-month suspension. Buchanan calls President "boy": crickets

Why does MSNBC continue to give a platform to this man? And it's not just an occasional platform. He's on the network from sunup to sundown - I swear he must live in the MSNBC studio.

Funny - when Halperin used a vulgarism to describe the President, there was no debate here or elsewhere over whether the term was offensive. Even those who weren't personally offended fully understood why others thought Halperin's comment was completely inappropriate and why he needed to be pulled off the air. Yet when Buchanan used a racially-insensitive (to say the least) term to described the President, we had to endure - once again - the ridiculous claim that the term REALLY isn't so bad and criticisms for "making everything about race."

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"Who you think you're talking to, d*ck?" doesn't send chills up my spine the way, "Who you think you're talking to, boy?" does . . .

~

I personally do not watch MSNBC, including the Maddow Uncle Pat Show, because he is a multipurpose hate bag, and he has been so for decades. Many people on DU have told me I am just too picky, Rachel only hosted him for a year or so. Well that is a year too long. The man is a Hitler apologist, no less. A full tilt and well recorded racist, sexist, homophobic piece of shit.
Or as the kids at MSNBC call him, Uncle Pat.

Buchanan in their "bi-partisan" trump card and whipping boy.

He is all the things you say, but Republican sums it up. What "friendly" Republican would you replace him with? :shrug:



--imm

I know that the term " boy " can have racist overtones, but it is very dependent on context as the word "boy" is extremely common and in the vast majority of cases it applies only to sex not to race. If it wasn't Pat Buchanan I would assume that the term was not used in a racially charged way, but Buchanan has such a long history of racism that he no longer deserves the benefit of the doubt.

that's why he's on MSNBC so much. It takes a lot of people to fill all that air time. Those paid consultants show up on one show after another, saying pretty much the same thing. They have to fill air time.

I esp get a kick out of it when the HOSTS of the shows then start appearing on each other's shows. Talk about desperate for guests.

Anyhoo, I've heard Buchanan use the term "boy," before, when it wasn't about a black man. So I'd have to hear the context in this instance. Off the cuff, though, I'd say that that's DEFINITELY an offensive term to use when talking about any man of color, so even though he'd use that term ordinarily, he would need to catch himself and not use it in that instance. Because of the background about the word and black men.

Having said all that, I've heard him say other things that lead me to think that he is racist. Not a mean racist. What I mean is...that inside his head, he has certain thoughts that he doesn't regard as racist, he being of a certain generation and maybe raised a certain way. Not like a skinhead who KNOWS that he is a racist and just hates people of color. But more like a ...let's say, a belief that, for example, black people don't work as hard as white people. That sort of thing. He would innocently infer that, not realizing that others would regard it as racist, but he would regard it simply as his observation...a simple truth. (Not that he ever said or implied that, but you get what I mean.) Anyway, I've heard him say things along those lines that lead me to think that he's racist. He's definitely sexist, though. In the same way that I think he's racist. Not a mean, "women should stay in the kitchen" thing. Just general sexist attitudes stemming maybe from his generation.

This is incredibly insightful and well said.

Your whole post is great, but a few things jump out at me:

He would innocently infer that, not realizing that others would regard it as racist, but he would regard it simply as his observation...a simple truth. Bingo! Therein lies the problem with much of what we've been seeing. Most people don't realize they have prejudices. We just think that our prejudices are fact-based "observations."

And you're right that, while there may be innocuous use of the term "boy" to describe men in other situations, the person saying it and the person so described matter.

Really nice, thoughtful, thought-provoking post - thanks!

His 1950s-casual bigotry-attention-getting schtick is weak and he needs to be off the air.

it's not a terrible word. It's slang for penis. Personally, I like them.