Andrew Breitbart’s BigJournalism carried an op-ed by Ben Shapiro, 28, Editor-At-Large of the Breitbart.com sites, attacking MSNBC not for firing Buchanan, but for hiring him in the first place. Shapiro came up with an interesting conspiracy theory: MSNBC only hired Buchanan.
BigJournalism’s editor Dana Loesch, 33, criticized Media Matters and Color of Change for their campaigns against Buchanan. But she agreed with Shapiro that Pat was “designed to be a off-putting stereotypical caricature”. Apparently, she just felt that she had to speak out because “these groups have enacted such action against numerous individuals for years, even individuals far less controversial than Buchanan.” [Controversial Pat Buchanan Forced Off of MSNBC, February 18, 2012]
BigJournalism also linked to a piece by on Pajamas Media called MSNBC Fires Antisemitic Contributor Pat Buchanan For the Wrong Reason, by David Swindle, 28. No prizes for guessing the right reason.
The Media Research Center, founded by Buchanan’s former finance Chairman Brent Bozell III, has been virtually silent on the MSNBC affair. The sole mention came from its Director of Media Analysis Tim Graham, who simply reported on the firing without condemning MSNBC or the groups attacking Buchanan.
Graham did note, however, that “Buchanan's fears about the ‘end of white America’ might seem awfully overblown.” And, while not as conspiratorial as Shapiro, he also argued that MSNBC used Pat in partly to be “a friendly sparring partner to make Maddow more ‘mainstream.’ Now they just don't care at all how radical they look.” [Pat Buchanan admits I’ve been dumped, February 17, 2012)
These Establishment conservative media watchdogs are obviously in a bind. They are too afraid (of what?) to defend Buchanan, but at the same time, they do want to attack their favorite enemies at MSNBC and Media Matters. Hence this conspiracy theory that MSNBC hired Buchanan just to make conservatives look stupid and racist.
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