Growing up in Washington DC is a unique experience. DC is the very definition of urban life, and so, I was introduced to gangs at a very young age. Not street gangs, as it were, but political gangs. I knew about Republican, and Democrat gangs long before I knew what a Crips or Bloods was.
As a lad I loved newspapers.
DC was a mecca of news in the 70's and 80's. Back then newspapers were more
neutral. They didn't lean, and they rarely interpreted. They were skeletal and
as a reader you were forced to draw conclusion yourself. You were responsible
for adding the muscles, blood, and nervous system to the story. My family and friends didn't
care as much about news topics as I did, and so I didn't have much opportunity
to spar, and wrestle with these ideas. I was without a mentor. I had all
this material and no lab to experiment.
So one day I'm flipping
through the channels (back then we had 10), and I see this group of people arguing about the news
of the week. I immediately stopped, and watched intently as these men spoke. I
fell in love that day. The panel was so biting, so informed, so opinionated.
The cadence of smart people talking was music to my ears, and has remained so
to this day. From that time, I never missed an episode. The McLaughlin Group was
my family now. I had a safe place to test my logic, my intuition, and my
resourcefulness.
My favorite panelist was
Jack Germond. A grumpy cantankerous writer for the Baltimore Sun at the time.
He was a democrat but he had the demeanor of a republican. Today's democrats
could learn a few lessons from him. He was thoughtful, and unapologetic.
Pat Buchanan was an
inspiration. He knew so much. McLaughlin would often try to trip him up with
obscure references, and left field questions. Buchanan knew them all...
answered them all. I was in awe at his breadth of knowledge. He inspired me to
be intellectually curious. I still don't know how that guy never became
president.
I got to see the essence of
“the Hedgehog and the Fox” play out every Sunday Morning.
John McLaughlin had created
an American Original. He blazed the trail for Crossfire, Politically Incorrect,
Realtime, The Daily Show, The O'reilly Factor, Morning Joe, Fox News, MSNBC.
The idea of rivals going after each other in an intelligent thoughtful way was
unheard of in 1982. When you look at ESPN, and see First Take know that it has
the DNA of the McLaughlin Group.
John McLaughlin died last month. His show died with him. I'm still grieving. I miss it, at this moment, with 100 % metaphysical certitude.
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