Last night on Hardball, they were discussing Limbaugh's latest nonsense about how the president is deliberately "tanking" the economy to punish America for slavery. Uh-huh.
And Chris Matthews' question for his panel, Pat Buchanan and Eugene Robinson, was, "Does this sound right? Is this a reasonable argument?" As though this is a debatable point.
Pat Buchanan, thankfully, said Limbaugh was wrong insofar as he didn't believe the president was deliberately tanking the economy. However, the president, Buchanan said, thinks America has done some bad things through the years. I assume Buchanan thinks slavery, Japanese internment camps, the Native American genocide should be forgotten.
Buchanan went on to say the president isn't a "gut patriot" like Reagan and Kennedy -- suggesting the president doesn't "tear up like Reagan and Kennedy" when he hears a story about American heroism. First, I've never seen footage of either Reagan or Kennedy crying. I have, however, seen footage of President Obama crying.
What I think Buchanan was trying to say here is, 1) the president is a foreigner who doesn't understand Americanism, and, thus, 2) the president doesn't have inspirational things to say about America. You know, like stirring speeches and the like. The president never does that. This president. Who never gives inspirational speeches about American excellence.
Eugene Robinson said Buchanan's remarks were "insulting and outrageous." I don't mean to second guess a Pulitzer Prize winner, but Robinson's reaction was polite.