Saul Landau
Exciting!
Pat Buchanan, presidential candidate, opposes corporate globalization which, he
claims, benefits a handful of multi national giants and leaves crumbs for the
poor. Buchanan says he stands for elementary justice for working people. He
blasts the plutocracy that has stolen trillions from the pockets of the poor and
the middle class.
Shouldn’t
progressives find such rhetoric refreshing in the age of boring centrism?
Downright exhilarating amidst the mindless media diversion? Compare Buchanan’s
rhetoric to Boring Gore or Gestalting Bradley! Or the leading Republican
contender whose paucity of ideas contrasts dramatically with the size of his
campaign treasury. George junior Bush, who allegedly snorted cocaine after
having first purchased it, has imprisoned lots of Texans for doing exactly what
he did. Of course, he’s yet to admit it! Perhaps, like what’s his name, he tried
it but didn’t inhale.
Buchanan
predates the drug culture. He marches to the radical populist beat. OK, so he’s
not exactly in step with progressive opinion on abortion. What’s more important,
a hint of radical redistribution of wealth or abortion, a right that women can
re-win for the umpteenth time? Pat opposes affirmative action -well, it’s not
working well anyhow. Pat wants US jobs to stay in the US, so he opposes NAFTA
and new immigration, especially workers of color. That doesn’t mean you should
equate Pat with the fascist Father Coughlin of the 1930s. Coughlin tried to stop
immigrants from taking our jobs. Pat gets excited too over non-Americans taking
American jobs. That doesn’t mean Pat’s a fascist.
People
say Pat claims it wasn’t necessary to have fought Hitler, just so as to tap into
the anti-Semitic vote. And believe me, the anti-Semitic vote is there for the
taking. But just because Pat has championed people accused of running Nazi
concentration camps doesn’t mean he actually hates Jews.
Pat’s
friends from the Nixon White House where Pat wrote speeches for Tricky Dick
swear Pat’s not an anti-Semite or a racist. They say the same about Nixon who
called Jews kikes and Jew Bastards. Pat was a good campaign strategist. During
the 1972 presidential campaign he advised Nixon on how to combat his Democratic
rival George McGovern. "Never murder a man who is committing suicide,"
Pat said, attempting to restrain the volatile Nixon from overachieving.
Buchanan
defends flying the confederate flag. He’s not for reviving the symbol of the
slave past. He’s just whistling Dixie to get the redneck vote. Alright, balance
the issues. He shows a drop of insensitivity to the suffering of blacks, Jews,
women, and immigrants on the one hand. I won’t even mention gays. Pat stands
against the new world trade order and the elite that benefits from it. Could you
vote for such a man because economic issues override all else? Well, within a
year you’ll have to decide! Unless, of course, we get a real candidate!
