There is a slow but steady groundswell emerging to "do something" about Pat Buchanan and the other talking heads who sit on their electronic thrones and spout the bilge that is white supremacy, and it’s tempting to jump on the bandwagon and go along with all the wailing and gnashing of teeth. But, (and believe me, it pains me to write this), Pat Buchanan matters.

He matters because

it’s important to know what the fringe is thinking, no matter how lunatic they may seem. He matters because he serves to remind us that we have a very long way to go in eradicating his kind of thought from the collective American conscience. He matters because the reaction to his message gives us a good indication as to exactly where the country stands, and on what side everyone in the country stands.

Pat serves to remind us that the current iteration of the GOP stands on a platform of exclusionary, duplicitous, hate-based philosophies. Pat serves to remind us that there is a segment of this platform staunchly defended by people who, left to their own devices, would turn the clock back to 1950, where a woman’s place was in the kitchen and an African American’s place was in the back of the bus.

The deal here, whether any of us like it or not, is that Pat Buchanan does matter, if for no other reason than because the Devil you know is better than the Devil you don’t.

© 2009, Mac Williams. All rights reserved.

• No Related Post