Internet Takes Umbrage at Buchanan Calling Obama 'Boy'

The MSNBC pundit indirectly launches a Twitter flame war

Today, MSNBC political analyst Pat Buchanan went on air explaining he never "meant" to "slur" President Obama by referring to him as "your boy" in a heated discussion with host Al Sharpton (who's reportedly close to securing his own show during the network's 6 p.m. time slot):

Let me clarify something that happened last night on the Al Sharpton show, a very spirited discussion. I was asked who was the big losers in these battles, and the big winners. And I said one of the big losers, using boxing terminology, was ‘your boy’ and I meant the President of the United States. . . . This was taken – some folks took what I said as some kind of slur – none was meant, none was intended, none was delivered – for the record.

During last night's broadcast, Sharpton took immediate umbrage to Buchanon's remark that "your boy" in the White House had caved to Republicans during debt ceiling negotiations and was likely to do so again.

"My what?" Sharpton shot back. "My president, Barack Obama? What did you say? He's nobody's boy. He's your president, he's my president, and that's what you have to get through your head."

Was Buchanon's remark out of bounds? Or, as the paleoconservative pundit explained today, was he merely using "boxing terminology"? See for yourself:

MSNBC looks to be done with the issue. But the question sparked a heated late-night feud between Mediaite managing editor Colby Hall and Gawker blogger Matt Cherette and Gawker/Crushable blogger Vanessa Prat, who responded to Mediaite's provocatively-titled writeup on the exchange "Wait…Was That Racist? Pat Buchanan Refers To President Obama As 'Your Boy' To Al Sharpton," a headline that was later changed. What ensued was a lengthy debate on the casualness in which bloggers assign something "potentially racist" and the opposing argument, that if the term inspires offense, it's worth writing about. Here's how the debate went down: