Monday, July 14, 2008

John McLaughlin is old, ok


You can learn a lot from watching The McLaughlin Group (viewers in the New York area should note that the show moved to CBS and is on at 11:00 am). You can learn to be belligerent, the perfect way to cut off someone mid-sentence, just the right pitch that "excuse me" sounds like nails on a chalkboard (I'm looking at you Eleanor Clift), and most of all McLaughlin's jibber-jabbering way of highlighting news headlines and his signature "buhy-buhy." I mean, this show goes on because you never know what the hell is going to come out of McLaughlin's, Buchanan's, or Clift's respective mouths, but you know it will be hilarious and yes, semi-informative.

So I can't get all up in arms about McLaughlin's "oreo" comment. He's old, he's probably trying really hard to wrap his head around the Obama candidacy, and now throw in Jesse Jackson's "nuts" comment, and John is just looking for a fresh take on the whole mess. I would never call his comments this past Sunday (which unfortunately I missed, though I had the show on) racist, or call for an on-air apology like the folks at mediamatters.org are. Was his use of "oreo" in poor taste, and a bit archaic? Yes. But do I think he meant it in a negative and demeaning way, no, not at all. He probably should have just skipped the whole "oreo" analogy, and stuck with the main point that Obama must seamlessly maneuver between blacks and whites on his campaign for president.

And look at Michelle Bernard towards the end of the clip--she doesn't attack John for using the term "oreo"--she uses it herself to make her point. If it was soo offensive and soo terrible, don't you think she would have said something? I do. And you know Eleanor Clift would have attacked too, if she thought he meant it in a demeaning way. So I am gonna cut McLaughlin some slack on this one, and just hope he doesn't use anymore tasteless analogies.

2 comments:

Brandon said...

For once, McLaughlin looks more senile and out of touch than Pat Buchanan. Amazing. But I was watching the show on Sunday and thought it was an odd term for McLaughlin to use. Odd, but not anywhere on the level or in the same universe of Don Imus. McLaughlin is an American original and he better stay that way forever.

Throbbing Narwhal said...

Little known fact: McLaughlin was a Catholic priest. Unfortunately he wasn't very good at molesting children, it was like that I Love Lucy episode in the chocolate factory and the conveyor belt--she couldn't keep up and so she stuffed a bunch of them in her mouth.

Well that shit just doesn't fly with in the cloth. You're supposed to be stuffing them, not the other way around.