Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr. Wins Wings of Justice for Standing Up to the Right Wing on Cable News

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Lawrence F. O'Donnell, Jr.

BuzzFlash Reader Joshua Epstein has been lobbying for Larry O'Donnell to be given his own show at MSNBC. We second that while also bestowing on O'Donnell the BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award.

For some years now, O'Donnell has been that rare progressive voice of strength on cable newscasts who, among the typically weak-kneed and self-identified "centrists" representing the "Democratic side," is not afraid to stand up against ill-reasoned, obnoxious, bloviating "opposing views." O'Donnell has repeatedly proven himself willing and able to punch back against bully ideologues and fools spouting right-wing talking points mechanically like bullets spraying from an AK-47.

Among the latest of many such instances was O'Donnell's smackdown of Pat Buchanan who tried to argue that University of Notre Dame should not welcome President Obama to their campus. It was the fighting Irish-American pundits, fighting each other about the Fighting Irish university and the hot-button abortion issue. Lawrence O'Donnell left Pat Buchanan whimpering. This week, he also described the trumped up tax "tea party" protest as "an orchestrated attempt by Dick Armey, Newt Gingrich, people who are trying to repair the Republican Party. They know that the Republican Party is in shambles. ... That's why they're pretending that this is a grassroots movement."

In another courageous confrontation, O'Donnell faced down the "SwiftBoat Veterans for Truth" back in 2004. And in 2008, when Pat Buchanan characterized author and former White House press secretary Scott McClellan as insufficiently loyal to the Bush Administration, O'Donnell made toast of his co-pundit. As Crooks and Liars commented: "It's great to hear Pat Buchanan complaining about the lack of courage in a White House, where White House staff did not come out and try to expose that White House. Pat was part of the most corrupt administration in the history of the United States, the Nixon administration ... But to this day, you can't get Pat Buchanan to say one negative word about the criminal operation called the Nixon administration that he worked inside of. That's what I call loyalty."

Another reason to applaud O'Donnell is that he was one of the literary and proudly progressive writer/producers who brought "The West Wing" to Americans season after season, providing relief from the non-fictional West Wing nightmares of the Bush Administration. He shares two Emmys for those efforts.

O'Donnell's political cred goes back to his stint as a senior advisor to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and as chief of staff for the Senate Finance Committee in the early Clinton Administration years. He's been through Congressional battles over budgets, healthcare, Medicare, Social Security, and more, and he was chief of staff for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

This cable pundit whose pugilism deserves our appreciation comes by it honestly. His trial lawyer dad, Lawrence O'Donnell, Sr., who died in February, was described delicately in his Boston Globe obituary as "a colorful, often combative presence in Boston's courts." Combativeness in upholding right is a good thing. We're glad it got passed down from father to son.

You won't always agree with O'Donnell, but because he speaks forcefully and doesn't suffer fools, we salute Lawrence O'Donnell, Jr. and name him this week's winner of the BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award.

* * *

Nominated by BuzzFlash staff. To see a full list of past Wings of Justice honorees, click here.

WINGS OF JUSTICE

Technorati Tags: BuzzFlash Honors Lawrence O'Donnell BuzzFlash MSNBC Progressives Cable Pundits Right Wing Pat Buchanan