The Sad & Empty Husk That Is 'The McLaughlin Group'

I sometimes work from a McDonald's near my house and most mornings the dining area is filled with the very elderly customers who live nearby. The tables are moved out of the way to accommodate the collection of walkers, oxygen tanks and other medical equipment necessary to ensure these early-risers don't die before the fast food can kill them. It's a sight that is equal parts frightening and inspiring. But it's also one that inspires me to spend a fair amount of time muttering to myself "Don't stare...don't stare."

I bring this up because I had a similar reaction this weekend when I watched an episode of The McLaughlin Group for the first time since there's been a Democrat in the White House. And while I don't want to be insulting, it was truly a disconcerting and sad experience.

The show premiered in 1982 and its fair to say that it helped form the way that television pundits talk about politics. Launched at a time when CNN was less than two years old and cable news was essentially a longer version of the broadcast networks nightly news programs, The McLaughlin Group was brash, distinctive and opinionated. Host John McLaughlin ruled the show with a belligerent and iron fist, bellowing questions and comments at the four panelists - two from the left and two from the right. The show was contentious but generally respectful. The show mattered to the professional political class and it helped keep Pat Buchanan relevant during his intermittent political campaigns.

But McLaughlin is now age 89 and to be blunt, has no business being on the air. Like Dick Clark in his last years, he's a propped up ghost of his former self. At times you can't quite grasp what he's saying and his former energy has been replaced by a tired effort to keep breathing. This formerly sharp television personality has been reduced to mumbling questions and notes from cards as he slumps further and further to one side of his chair.

I don't say this to be mean. Watching this week's episode, I felt sorry for John McLaughlin. And I would hope that when I hit that point in my life, someone I love would pull me aside and tell me it's time to gracefully exit the stage.

There's nothing wrong with getting older. But in the same way that I don't want to hear the great Elton John bleating his classic hits for 90 minutes, I don't want to a formerly vibrant television personality sitting in front of the camera with nothing left but ambition and an empty shell of a body.

One of the hardest things in the world is acknowledging that you've gotten too frail to do the thing you love. And one of the saddest things in the world is watching someone who hasn't yet come to that realization.