hit the nail right on the head, paul.

I didn't hear an apology in the video, nor a retraction. Just an attempt to reframe the statement's intent.

I don't think this was a mistake. Maybe a mistake that he spoke it on TV, but I'm pretty sure this is how Pat Buchanan thinks.

"If it's anyone's fault, I'd blame MSNBC for giving this roving windbag and professional inexpert a platform to blather for what feels like 24 hours a day."

Are you referring to Al Sharpton here?

Yes @2. Furthermore, when Sharpton confronted him, he laughed. It wasn't until later (I'm sure his handlers got hold of him) that he decided to retract.

Why oh why can't people give a proper apology. Even giving Pat every benefit of the doubt about his ignorance, notice the passive voice in his word choice. "Some folks took what I said as some kind of slur. None was meant. None was intended. None was delivered."

Pat Buchanan is a gifted speechwriter and knows much about word choice. So why didn't he just say, "I didn't mean it that way, but I can see why it was upsetting and I'm very sorry."

Plus, if you're a talking head who's been around as long as Buchanan has, it's a pretty week claim of ignorance that "boy" in this context is a slur. Borderline willful ignorance, if you ask me.

Well. He was one of few Right-wingers against the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. So I give a him couple of molecules of credit.

Sounds more like an old white guy trying to use what seems to him to be some young, hip, black slang with the result of sounding like a dumbshit.

Oh, this guy? The one who said Anders Behring Breivik "may be right"? What a surprise.

There was no apology and it wasn't "almost immediately"; it looked like he was on another program the next morning.

"..a shambling mound of rotten meat and Brylcreem.."

LOL! Eons ago, I had the 'privilege' of shaking the hand of Ted Stevens, that ol' Alaskan mound of shambling meat and Brylcreem, and, indeed, if I've ever laid eyes on a real-(un)live zombie, that was the time. I had to suppress an urge to wipe my hand off afterwards.

I don't know... "Boy" is obviously a racially charged thing to say, but "your boy" is something different I think. I have said that in the past, usually in two types of situations: (1) if someone is a fanboy about a person -- e.g., a friend of mine out here loves this certain Oregon politician, so whenever I bring the politician up I say "your boy Steve was there" or whatever, or (2) the person actually hates the person I'm saying "your boy" about (sarcastic use of #1).

Doesn't mean I don't think Buchanan was wrong ("your guy" would have been much better, for sure), but I agree with Paul that it probably wasn't malicious.

@8,

He was against them because he thinks brown people don't deserve democracy, not because he's some peace lover.

PJB's "boy" was Richard Nixon. Smart & full of bile for anyone who didn't share the same background.

"Your boy" has lost its racial connotations over the years.

@14 has it exactly right.

This is a perfect example of racists calling people out for what's in their own hearts. The real racists are the ones who find malignant or "charged" intent in otherwise innocuous statements.

It is clear to any and all that "your boy" means, "the guy you back," "the guy who you stand with," etc. and not, "the slave you own" or whatever you secret racists want it to mean.

Buke is otherwise loathsome but innocent of public or conversational racism here. This is bullshit. His comment is color-blind, but YOU are not. If he called, say, Gingrich, "your boy," you wouldn't say, "Why is he comparing Newt to a slave?"

This whole "controversy" is infuriating and undermines the battle for Civil Rights.

@14, that's how I see it. My boyfriend refers to my favorite male people (actors, musicians, Dan Savage...) as "your boy." When something political happens, he'll say something like, "What does your boy think of this?" And I'll know exactly what's he's talking about. That's how I interpreted this Buchanan clip.

Mmm apologists on the "your boy"-thats contemporary hip hop derived slang if anything. Unlikely ground for Pat Buchanans tongue to tread. "Your boy" within the linguistic context of someone of his demographic, over 50, white, male, upper class, Republican? That would seem to fit with the racial connotation more.

That's not to say Buchanan should have to reject his words-they're his.
What I need to see is Obama start punching back. Most Americans don't agree with Republican policy, Republican values, or old wind bag verbalizations.

I know Obama has the "can't be a angry black man" focus group driven drivel against him, but I gotta say, most Americans don't like pussies, or scrotums, either. He needs to start punching back on the Republicans bullshit.

In the past week he's been called a tar baby and your boy. E-fucking-nuff. Punch back on policy, and punch hard, or lose my vote.

@15 He's been pretty universally non-interventionist since Vietnam. One of the few who actually learned lessons from that debacle. He was against intervention in Serbia, Bosnia and Kosovo. Them Slavs are pretty damn white.

And really does it matter WHY Buchanan would be against a war that resulted in the deaths of HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of innocent people?

Unlike some Stranger editors I could mention. Who were FOR invading Iraq. For all the "right" reasons?

Personally, I'd rather people be against an imoral war for the wrong reasons that for an imoral war for the right reasons.

@18 You miss the point. Gingrich isn't black. Calling Gingrich a "nigger" isn't the same as calling Obama one. "Boy" is a derogatory term whites used to belittle adult blacks through the Jim Crow era, and it survives to this day among older folks. It may not have been conscious on his part (debatable) but even subconsciously it's fucked up. Perhaps if he didn't have such a questionable record on racism and anti-semitism it wouldn't be as bad. What if David Duke called BO "your boy"?

I must be too young and not watched enough television in my life, I've never heard this used as a racial slur.

Really 23? How old are you? It's very much a slur. It's worse that John McCain calling Obama "that one" in the debates.

@24 and @22 THIS is the problem. YOU are the problem.

The point is - the expression "your boy" is now universal, a term used by everyone to describe anyone in the circumstance of saying - "the guy whose side you are on."

Person A: How did your boy Figgins do last night?

Person B: Ugh, 0-4 with a strikeout

You guys - BOY is a white patriarchal term that used to belittle former slaves!! Figgins is BLACK! You are calling him a SLAAAVE!!

Person A: Oh, that's bad.

You guys: The word BAD comes from "badling" which means "effeminate warrior!" It's a patriarchal term which belittles both men and women based on the viking ideal that women are less than men! Why do people forget that things are supposed to be insults!? I want people to know that unconscious harm is being done to them. don't say boy or bad!

Person A: Go Mariners!

@25

Just because you can think up some utterances does not make "your boy" universally acknowledged to be non-racist. Unless you somehow have access to the entire universe of speakers of languages. . . (ps it couldn't be universal anyway b/c there are people in the universe who don't know English and would never say it).

@25 Please go somewhere predominantly inhabited by blacks and start throwing the phrase around. See how long it takes before you get your ass handed to you. If you can't understand context in power and race relations, you are a hopeless idiot.

@27 - THIS is exactly the problem.

Your inherent deeply ingrained racist belief that blacks are violent criminals who can't control themselves and should be contained in the areas they "predominantly inhabit" is the problem.

Don't wave a red flag at a bull! Don't dangle a steak over a tiger's cage!! Don't make an "ok" sign to an Arab! Don't use the word "boy" in any context around a Black.

YOU are the problem. Not words and definitely not benign expressions. Buke doesn't infer in any way that Obama is black. YOU are offended in his place. YOU are the racist.

22/24/26 - Not sure we'll be able to convince you of this, but really, I think in common parlance there is a big difference between "boy" and "your boy". "Your boy" = the person (mostly in politics or sports, though I suppose I sometimes use it for entertainers) who you strongly support, who you're a big fan of, or as @25 says "the guy whose side you're on". It's also clearly meant to be a slight dig at the relationship the person you're saying it to has with the "boy" (as in, slightly mocking the fact that this person likes the guy so much -- "your boy" in politics probably implies you'd agree with anything he says).

Not that urbandictionary is the arbiter of all things, but apparently the listings for "your boy" basically correspond to exactly what I said @14 - someone the person either really likes or really doesn't.

Paul,
By and large, I agree with your assessment and some of the commentators on this one. Buchanan probably misspoke. However, I question MSNBC for even hiring Rev. Sharpton.

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_…

Racist piece of shit...

Amy C your comment just shows your are a racist, try calling a black person a boy to their face and see what happens..dont hide behind the internet..

@31 and you probably think the KKK and skin heads are ok too. KKK hid behind white sheets. If it was really a good thing go be a racist why didn't you guys show your face.. Probably to scared,,cowards!!

For the record we are talking about a middle aged white male who knew the "boy" phrase is just as inflamatory as the "N" word. He used it in the proper context to piss on african americans because he knew he could get away with it! Just shows all of us how religious he really is.. Just another racist hiding behind a suit and a pulpit..