Photo by Robin Locke Monda
Pat Buchanan’s recurring role on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” has got to be some kind of border violation. And I mean that in the best possible way! It’s great to watch Buchanan trying to apply nuance to his irrational, nativist positions in the face of thinking, intelligent people from both the left and the right. The “Morning Joe” show is proof that, (1) not all Republicans are nut jobs, and (2) not all Democrats shoot themselves in the foot.
MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” models Democrats and Republicans communicating with intelligence, humor and a willingness to listen. Think what could be accomplished in a truly cooperative congressional environment! We could disarm the big mouths of the radical right while repairing America’s foundation and its vision for the future.
So what does Pat Buchanan have to do with art practice? Well…while eating my breakfast grilled cheese, I photographed Buchanan on “The McLaughlin Group.” It’s documented: Buchanan, framed, in my liberal-leaning living room. He’s bracketed by my highly personal and ongoing exhibit of cultural potpourri, currently including: an Art Deco-ish woman-vase, a “Buddha With a Computer” squeaky-toy, a digital clock, a push-pinned globe and a Bauhaus poster cum book cover. It was a split-second decision on my part. Call it “Not So Still Life With Pundit,” “The Bombastic Bureau of Chotchkies” or “The Cabinet of Pop Culture Curiosities.” In this mercurial world of cell phone cameras, digital TV and email messaging, curatorial decisions happen moment to moment.
P.S. ON MSNBC: I know there are a lot of women who have a real problem with Chris Matthews. I’m not defending his continued (and flawed) presence on MSNBC. I will say that any man who can admit — on live TV — to getting a thrilling chill up his leg when he listens to Barack Obama can’t be all bad. As for Keith Olbermann, MSNBC’s resident rabid left-winger, he really irritates me. He sounds like the right wing talk show idiotcrats I hate. Why would I enjoy the ugly rhetorical tactics used by the right, even if applied by a liberal?
P.P.S. RACHEL MADDOW MSNBC’s best move yet has been to hire Rachel Maddow. She’s brilliant, serious, smart-smart-smart, and not full of herself. Before she had her own show, Maddow was appearing pretty regularly as part of the pudit mix on “Morning Joe.” Each time I caught her on camera, there seemed to be more and more makeup ladled on her fresh young face. Since getting her own show, however, she seems to have turned that around. No more glamour lashes!
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How about that election Robin?
Although it is impossible to measure, I think part of the reason for the populace’s movement toward the left is the development of a progressive media culture that includes Keith Olbermann (I’m a fan and relate to his righteous anger in the face of rightwing stupidity), Rachel Maddow (love her even though I don’t like her beauty makeover), Air America, and left-leaning radio personalities like Randi Rhodes, Stephanie Miller, and Michelangelo Signorile. (Of course, the ineptitude of the outgoing rightwing regime surely helped to urge the citizenry to move leftward and to vote for change.) Personally I no longer had to turn the dial to WBAI to hear a different perspective, which was very satisfying because I never agreed with Pacifica’s shrill, predictable leftism.
Ironically we have Ronald Reagan to thank for a commercial news media that has a left-leaning perspective. In 1987 he vetoed legislation that would have put the Fairness Doctrine into law after a court case decided that the FCC did not have to enforce it. This doctrine, which I’d argue never really insured the inclusion of socialist or social democratic voices, advocated that all perspectives needed to be heard via the broadcast news media. Reagan’s veto allowed for the rise of Fox News as a rightwing mouthpiece, and then later the growth of MSNBC as a site of distinct perspectives from both the right (Morning Joe) and the center-left (Countdown with Keith Olbermann). So in this instance I am grateful for Reagan’s anti-regulation frenzy…
As for Pat Buchanan–he must have had some sort of makeover that has allowed him to be more avuncular (also he was against the War in Iraq). I too find him almost disarmingly charming and I figure if Rachel Maddow can treat him with respect, well then so can I. I just can’t stand Joe Scarborough though–I find the pretense that he’s an open-minded conservative hogwash!
My favorite cable news personality is CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. I know she is a serious journalist, but sometimes I just like listening to her perfect melodious voice!