Does Pat Buchanan Really Defend Slavery On National Television?

by Thomas Wellborn

Today on MSNBC’s Hardball, political commentator Pat Buchanan appeared to be siding with slavery while discussing Virginia’s “Confederate History Month.”  As you can see below, it didn’t go well.

Buchanan: They (the South) wanted to be free of the Union.

Matthews: They wanted to keep slaves.

Buchanan: Jefferson wanted to keep slaves; Washington wanted to keep slaves.

Matthews: 600,000 Americans were dead because these guys wanted to keep slaves.

Buchanan: That is complete nonsense, Chris, the founding fathers had slaves.

Matthews: That was wrong.

…

Matthews: Who was right in the Civil War?

Buchanan: Who was right in the Civil War? I think in a way both sides were right; Lincoln had a right to save the Union; I think they had a right to go free.

Matthews: Was it right to fight that war?

Buchanan: Robert E. Lee was right to fight for his fellow folks in his state…

Matthews: Maybe if he said, “we’re not gonna fight,” there wouldn’t have been a Civil War…

Buchanan argued that the Civil War wasn’t about slavery and that Virginia seceded from the Union because Lincoln wanted them to turn on its own southern brethren and that Lincoln wanted to make slavery permanent.

During the 2008 presidential race Buchanan wrote  “A Brief for Whitey,” in which he praised how good America in general, and whites in particular, have been to blacks, and that slavery led to a very good place for blacks in America.

First, America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.

…

Second, no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans. Untold trillions have been spent since the ’60s on welfare, food stamps, rent supplements, Section 8 housing, Pell grants, student loans, legal services, Medicaid, Earned Income Tax Credits and poverty programs designed to bring the African-American community into the mainstream.

Has Buchanan, who is certainly no stranger to racial controversy, finally stepped over the line?  Should MSNBC disallow further commentary from this man?

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