Ken Burns is full of it, doesn't even remember The McLaughlin Group featuring Pat Buchanan on PBS 1982-2016

 

 Ken Burns: "I Push Back" On Allegations Of Bias, PBS Had William F. Buckley On "Firing Line" For 32 Years

 

 

Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr., broadcast 1966-1999, was exclusively on PBS only from 1971, so 28 years.

Burns, a Democrat and Democrat donor, was 18 in 1971 and can't have been very well acquainted with the long-standing opinion already existing at the time among conservatives that PBS was hostile to conservatism.

 

As it was, neither The McLaughlin Group nor Firing Line ever received favorable time slots on PBS.

 

In point of fact, in Chicago back in the day Saturday night at our house was always make-pizzas-at-home-night, when most people went out. We wanted to stay home to enjoy watching both of these programs, which were broadcast back to back during the dinner hour on PBS, often followed by The Three Stooges and Svengoolie on a different channel, WCIU 26.

 

The playing field for conservatism was never level at PBS, and certainly isn't now.

Back in the day this creepy chick occasionally appeared on The McLaughlin Group, now she's wielding the tyrant's power in Canada

 

The new McLaughlin Group episode one: Tom Rogan has really porked out since McLaughlin's death

Better watch it buddy or you'll look like Jack Germond before you know it.

You can watch episode one in its entirety, here.

Rogan did a passable job, but appeared nervous and distracted. He'll need to focus and be himself if he wants to moderate the debate to be at all entertaining.

Evan McMullin was a real dud, mixing populism and white nationalism together in his incoherent analysis. Memo to McMullin: Steve Bannon is incoherent, don't imitate him. Pat Buchanan tried to set him straight, but as usual the young don't listen to the old.

The other two old warhorses, Eleanor and Clarence, looked like they were just happy to be there to go through the motions.

then

now

Jack Germond

The McLaughlin Group is coming back in 2018, with Tom Rogan as moderator

The old show worked because of the tag team of John McLaughlin and his longtime pal Pat Buchanan from the Nixon White House days. Both were excellent communicators with skills honed over many years, playing off the opinions of the assorted others.

Rogan brings nothing similar to the show, only affection.

Count me out.

Story here.

Roger L. Simon calls on John McLaughlin's Person of the Year for 2015 to resign, for the good of the country

James Comey.

Here.

"I am hugely angry at Comey, as you can see, but he still could perform a great service. He actually could resign and shine a light of truth on this horrific situation before it is too late. The Democratic Party, unlike the Republicans under Nixon, apparently doesn't have the courage to face what they have wrought. Perhaps, just perhaps, Comey does.  It would be a great act of patriotism."

Mort Zuckerman pays his respects to John McLaughlin

Here.

Mort puts his time on The McLaughlin Group at about 24 of the 34 years, but has been notably absent in the last year and otherwise has been more quiet than usual.

The last time I remember him writing much of anything was early in 2013 when he reiterated that America was in actuality experiencing another economic depression.

Like Eleanor Clift, Fred Barnes expresses gratitude for being included in The McLaughlin Group

Here:

I'm grateful to McLaughlin for having been part of it.

Eleanor Clift says goodbye to John McLaughlin, the way it should be done

You should read it, here:

Every issue was deeply researched, and John relished weightier issues like NATO enlargement, making us eat our vegetables before we would get to the easy headlines. ... We will miss his signature phrases, beginning with Issue One, and ending with Bye-Bye. And we will miss the man, who was always a blast to be around. John was an original, and while there are many imitators, he will never be overtaken. He got there first, and he created something that in its own way is as iconic as The Honeymooners with Jackie Gleason, a comparison I know John would love.

Offensive WaPo "obituary" for John McLaughlin lumps him in with his intellectual inferiors to dismiss him

Liberalism prefers processed news

Nixon loyalists remain unforgivable at WaPo.

Erik Wemple, here, a liberal fundamentalist if there ever was one, whom McLaughlin wouldn't have needed five minutes to wither, let alone thirty:

"pugnacious style as a host of a political chat show helped usher in the era of impolite punditry"

"goaded journalists and pundits into moving beyond fact into the argumentative terrain of ideological talking points and rhetorical hyperbole"

"Mr. McLaughlin’s impact can be glimpsed almost any night on cable news channels, for better or worse. ... his show’s staccato approach to wringing opinions from guests previewed the Internet’s addiction to fast and unprocessed news bites."

The McLaughlin Group is history: John McLaughlin dead at 89

Reported here.

The show was a singular venue for decades to hear weekly the "old right" point of view as understood by Patrick J. Buchanan, long-time friend and associate of John McLaughlin going back to the days of Richard M. Nixon.

Some of those ideas now find expression in the candidacy of Donald John Trump.

John McLaughlin, whose health appears to have declined markedly since Christmas, fails to appear on this week's McLaughlin Group

Watch it here, but it's uncomfortable without the old boy, who turned 89 in March.

What's up with John McLaughlin's hair?

Tom Rogan on McLaughlin group illustrates how an English accent and three degrees from London can't mask basic ignorance

"Obsession with minutae" at 8:30 and "him in solidarity with I" at 12:50.

Here.

From one imbecile to another: John McLaughlin in an oversized jacket awards "Person of the Year" to FBI Director James Comey

The jacket John has worn for years for this annual occasion now hangs like a bag on his shrinking frame.

Here.

James Comey testified recently before the US Senate to Lindsey Grahamnesty that he has no idea how weapons purchased over the internet reach their buyers.

And neither does Lindsey.

They can't even SPELL fascist at The McLaughlin Group let alone explain it

Ordinary Americans aren't being slaughtered by an influx of Christian refugees illegally storming the country despite the best efforts of border enforcement.

To the left, just saying "No" is demagoguery and calling the cops is fascism.

The Most Important Investing Advice You Can Read, Maybe Ever

Il Duce

From "Why Politics and Investing Don't Mix" by Barry Ritholtz in The Washington Post, this time without a single typo:

Liquidity is a major factor in how the economy and stock markets perform. Trillions of dollars in fresh cash was very likely to goose equities higher [in 2003]. (Sound familiar?)

And maybe the best thing he's ever written, too.

Read it all, here.

P.S. Martin Walker said as much on May 8, 2009 on The McLaughlin Group, as we pointed out here. Nerves of steel those guys have, and guts of iron.

Democrats "Attacking Most of the American People"

The following was here:

April 1, 2010

Enemies of the state

Monica Crowley

During President George W. Bush's two terms, you couldn't drive far without seeing a particular bumper sticker: "Dissent is the highest form of patriotism." Now that Democrats control the White House and Congress, the left treats dissent as the lowest form of treason. When the left agitates over government policies, it's considered righteous anger. When the right - and much of the center - agitate, it's painted as the rantings of the criminally and violently insane.

With Obamacare signed into law, Democrats have stopped congratulating themselves long enough to notice that the American people aren't cheering on the sidelines. According to a CNN poll released last week, 58 percent oppose President Obama's handling of Obamacare, while Gallup shows him this week with a 46 percent job approval, his lowest yet. A CBS poll released after the House of Representatives passed Obamacare showed Speaker Nancy Pelosi's favorable rating at 11 percent and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's at 8 percent, higher only than Beelzebub's.

Aware that their "reform" is rejected by most of the American people and that they will face serious consequences in November, the Democrats have decided that the best defense is a good offense: Attack those who oppose Obamacare. It doesn't seem to bother most Democrats that that pernicious strategy puts them in the weird and politically untenable position of attacking most of the American people.

Over the past week, a parade of Democrats have accused members of the Tea Party movement and other opponents of Obamacare of threatening them. There may be an infinitesimal number of looney tunes who have engaged in that kind of unacceptable behavior out of hundreds of millions of Americans. But the Democrats have dishonestly extrapolated from a few claimed incidents to taint all those who reject Obamacare as wild-eyed wackos.

If this sounds familiar, it's because the Democrats have shown a disturbing pattern of demonizing those who disagree with them. A year ago, Mr. Obama's Department of Homeland Security issued a report for law enforcement called "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." It suggested that anyone who opposed abortion, illegal immigration and oppressive taxes, supported gun rights or served in Iraq and Afghanistan should be singled out for special attention. Why? Because such people might burst into a spasm of violence at any time. There was no mention of being on the lookout for potential violence committed by Islamic jihadists, even after actual acts of violence committed by an Islamic jihadist in Little Rock. (The Fort Hood shooting happened later.)

In other words, if you go to church, believe in protecting innocent life, own a gun or defend your country, the Democrats consider you a potential enemy of the state. It was no coincidence that the Homeland Security report was issued just as the Tea Party movement was gaining real national traction.

Not surprisingly, then, once they had passed their widely unpopular health care bill, the Democrats moved quickly to delegitimize opposition to it. Their defiant move in the face of overwhelming popular resistance gave them another excuse to equate big-government progressives with good patriots and small government advocates with potentially violent nutcases who must be watched.

As if on cue, this week, Homeland Security, the FBI and the Department of Justice's Joint Terrorism Task Force carried out raids against a purported "Christian militia group" in the Midwest. According to reports, nine people have been charged with plotting to kill police officers with "weapons of mass destruction." The indictment describes the group as an "anti-government extremist organization" and the FBI special agent in charge, Andrew Arena, cast it as "radical and fringe." That may be, but the description has a conveniently familiar ring to it.

Interestingly, the head of the Michigan branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Dawud Walid, rushed to announce the raids at a CAIR banquet at about the same time the story became public. "We salute the FBI for breaking up a militia that was seeking to harm American Muslims," he said. It's curious that he would know that at a time when the FBI still had the investigation under seal. (We're still waiting to hear why Homeland Security and the FBI chose to use the descriptive word "Christian" when they seem unable to use the word "Muslim" in connection with Islamic extremism.)

It's mind-blowingly coincidental that these raids on a supposedly "Christian" militia group would come at the exact moment that Democrats were trying to change public opinion on Obamacare by claiming persecution by their opponents. They have cast Tea Partiers, conservatives, independents, Christians and militia members as all cut from the same unstable, volatile cloth. How can anyone take their opposition to the Democrats' agenda seriously when they're toting guns and being raided by Homeland Security and the FBI? They're all nuts, don't you know?

The Democrats handle dissent by isolating it, smearing it and delegitimizing it in order to crush it. The warning should be clear: If you have small-government, traditional values, you may be considered by your own leadership to be an enemy of the state.

Monica Crowley is a nationally syndicated radio host, a panelist on "The McLaughlin Group" and a Fox News contributor.

The Return of The Mummy

"We're going to get a recovery, because the amount of deficit spending taking place, a corpse would sit up." -- Martin Walker, UPI, 5/8/09 on "The McLaughlin Group"