It's Time For Buchanan To Retire

August 2nd, 2011
by F. Grey Parker

I am not calling for Pat Buchanan to be fired by any organization. I am not calling for a boycott of advertisers on networks which give him a platform. Yes, Last week he shocked us with his "analysis" of the Christianist terrorist, Anders Brevik, by saying he "may be right" about the vulnerability of Europe in the face of the Islamist movement.

Still, Buchanan has a history of making points poorly and being outright wrong. Consider his argument that America didn't really need to fight the Nazis in World War Two.

Buchanan's writings on international matters have always been useful, even when terribly misguided. Conversely, his contribution on domestic matters has been consistently appalling throughout his career. Who can forget his "Culture War" speech from the '92 Republican Convention? If I were to use his pronouncements from 20 years ago against him, I would be ethically obliged to go after MSNBC for hiring Rev. Al Sharpton as well.

Buchanan may be no William F. Buckley but he is also no Glenn Beck. He has been a participant in the reasonable pundit process for some time. Perhaps, I had just grown used to his various lapses of taste.

Then, I read his column from yesterday evening:

"Mocked by the WallStreetJournal and Sen. John McCain as the little people of the "Lord of the Rings" books, the tea-party "Hobbits" are indeed returning to Middle Earth – to nail the coonskin to the wall." Emphasis Ours

He wrote that. That's really what he wrote. Earlier this evening, he was smacked down during a discussion with Sharpton for calling President Obama, "your boy."

There is a new pattern in Buchanan's work and it's rapidly emerging. It is very ugly. Until recently, this capitalization on clever little race-tropes, naked aggression towards Islam and plays on "otherness" in general was more the purview of mouth-breathers like D'Souza and Newt.

Buchanan's experience with media can lead to only one conclusion: this is intentional. He's not stupid. He knows what he is doing.

It is time for Buchanan to go. I would, as free speech extremist, argue that he should take responsibility for himself, apologize and go away of his own volition. If, however, he does not?

Then we need to speak up, too.

The Jobless Recovery - A Simple Explanation

July 25th, 2011

The reason job creation has been largely collapsed for the last decade has never been made more clear than this; via PoliticsUSA:

"In a recent report in a JP Morgan memo to their investors from Michael Cembalest, the chief investment officer he says, “US labor compensation is now at a 50-year low relative to both company sales and US GDP.” Cembalest continues to explain why corporate profits are so strong while the rest of the working class are feeling the pinch, “reductions in wages and benefits explain the majority of the net improvement in margins.” 75% of the increase in profit margins directly correlate with the reduction in workers’ wages."

A little over a decade ago, a fundamental redefining of investment concepts took hold throughout America's boardrooms. A policy of depressing wages, off-shoring profits, extending work hours and decreasing benefits was instituted at a vast majority of our corporations at the expense of both development and expansion. One does not need to be a Keynesian to see that this trend, coupled with the massive Bush 2 tax cuts, has ultimately resulted in a net negative effect on domestic demand.

From the JP Morgan Report

The long term non-sustainability of this posture seems not yet to have dawned on the executives or shareholders involved. Nor, it seems, has it occurred to them that refusal to invest in the very country which has made their fortunes possible is very nearly unpatriotic.