The New Republic Rears Its Ugly Head

We didn't catch Peter Beinart on MSNBC Wednesday Night and we're sorry we missed him..  He is the editor-in-chief of the New Republic, and judging from the quality of that publication, he's a talented guy.  The New Republic is about as good as it gets as far as serious liberal magazines go [affirmative action in process: yes, we lower our standards for liberal publications].  We've seen him around cable news and he's even appeared on the McLaughlin Group.  Which makes one wonder: are the producers that desperate or are they just deaf and blind?  Mr. Beinart is shrill and mean in his on camera persona and is not, how can we put this delicately, telegenic.  Here's the exchange between him, Pat Buchanan, and Catherine Crier on Terri Schiavo's plight:

BUCHANAN: You know how she's dying, Peter? The way they died at Dachau and the way they died at Andersonville.
BEINART: That's outrageous! That is an outrageous statement.
BUCHANAN: It is not. They were starved to death and they were denied water.
BEINART: It is outrageous, outrageous for you to say that. First of all the doctors have all said... BUCHANAN: Why do you want her dead so badly, Peter?
BEINART: She cannot feel the pain that we would feel from starving and compare it to the Nazis. When this woman, when the courts and this woman wanted to die it's just outrageous, outrageous.
CRIER: And Pat, how dare you? Pat, how dare you ask us how much we want this woman to die because there's no one on the other side of this that wants her to die. If I could will her to get up...
BUCHANAN: Well why don't you give her some food and water?

Having seen Beinart on TV, it was easy to imagine him rising out of his chair as he shouted "Outrageous, outrageous!" at Pat.  It was very similar to Larry O'Donnell shouting "Liar, liar!" at John O'Neill.  But, of course no one beats the Buchanan in a shouting match  and it was delightful to hear  Peter and Catherine walking, nay, running, hand -in-hand into the buzz saw.

In case you missed it: we can starve people to death if they don't feel the pain "the way we do."  Good.  I'm glad we clarified that.