Pat Buchanan's new book...

[LordShaithis]

Whilst in Borders, I happened to read the first chapter or so of Screamin' Mad Pat Buchanan's new book Where the Right Went Wrong. Surprisingly enough, it was interesting and made valid points in what little I read.

His point seems to be that the GOP has sold its soul to its corporate masters, and abandoned its principles. He laments the death of the small-government domestic policy and "mind our own business" foreign policy he feels the Republican Party used to represent, and cuts loose with some very harsh criticism of the current administration and the Iraq war.

He also feels the decline of traditional religion is harmful to the country's future, but get this, actually at least tries to put forth a rational reason for this. Rather than claiming that his vengeful god will bring us woe if we turn our backs on him, he draws parallels to Rome, and claims that the rise of Christianity over paganism sped their decline by eroding that upon which their culture was built. I don't know if I buy this, but it was refreshing to hear someone of his opinion at least attempt to support it with logic.

All in all, it's... interesting. Will probably pick it up soon.

[Darth Wong]

I like the way the Republicans essentially function as Robin Hood in reverse: tax the poor in order to give to the corporations. Look at their patterns; whenever they want to prove they're doing something about any given problem, the solution is always to throw money at a contractor somewhere. They also set up a timed series of weighted tax cuts which will gradually shift the tax burden considerably away from the wealthy and toward the poor and middle-class ... which will find themselves tasked with the burden of paying off the debt they're accumulating right now in order to pay off these big companies.

[Dalton]

I always thought Pattie was a loudmouth. It's good that he can make his point this time without causing overmodulation on my stereo.

As an aside, After watching enough MSNBC some of the anchors and commentators I once thought of as conservative Republicans seem to be getting more and more independent. Seems like they're getting disenfranchised with today's GOP as well...

[Equinox2003]

I also am 'disenfranchised' with today's GOP, and I had been a lifelong
Republican.
I never really paid much attention to ol' Pat though. He is always ranting
about something or another. Like the time he wanted to 'close' I think he
said the US border with Mexico to curb illegal immigration, even though
the highest number of illegal immigrants in california at that time were
British!
Yeah get rid of all the Mexicans pat, and watch business after business
close.....many businesses can function only because of the slave wages
they pay them. Not like anybody else is going to do those jobs anyway.
Anybody here feel like harvesting? or washing dishes? or washing cars?
I thought not. And keep in mind they pay taxes when they buy things
with the slave wages they get. Pat is always good for a few ultra right
wing rants that sound good on paper, but would not work in reality.
Maybe he should have got the message when he ran for President in 92
and won zero states.

[Darth Wong]

Pat is always good for a few ultra right wing rants that sound good on paper, but would not work in reality.

His complete political platform is madness, but that doesn't mean he is incapable of writing a good article about a specific issue.

[Glocksman]

Like the time he wanted to 'close' I think he
said the US border with Mexico to curb illegal immigration, even though
the highest number of illegal immigrants in california at that time were
British!

Somehow with an estimated 12 million illegal Mexicans in the US, I doubt the truth of that statement. Proof, please.

[Sam Or I]

Not like anybody else is going to do those jobs anyway.
Anybody here feel like harvesting? or washing dishes? or washing cars?
I thought not.

I am calling Bullshit. I have seen people of other races in all these positions, at minium wage pay. (Not under the counter like the Hispanic community). It is because of the slave labor wages, and the amount of illegal aliens looking for illegal work is the only reason you can make this statement. If there were no Illegal immigrants I am sure the jobs would be filled (at minium wage).

[Patrick Degan]

He also feels the decline of traditional religion is harmful to the country's future, but get this, actually at least tries to put forth a rational reason for this. Rather than claiming that his vengeful god will bring us woe if we turn our backs on him, he draws parallels to Rome, and claims that the rise of Christianity over paganism sped their decline by eroding that upon which their culture was built. I don't know if I buy this, but it was refreshing to hear someone of his opinion at least attempt to support it with logic.

His historical analysis here is quite flawed. If anything, Rome's adoption of Christianity was the force which delayed the downfall of the Western Empire by at least a century, and provided the glue which held the Eastern Empire together until it was conquered by Muslims in the 12th century.

Rome's downfall is far more attributable to its extreme class inequality combined with military overextention and an economic system which was ill-suited to cope with the rising burden of financially supporting the imperium. There's where some of the parallels he may draw are far more applicable.

[Equinox2003]

Glocksman, that info was taken from a report on CNN I believe, in 1994
when a california state ballot initiative called prop 187 would give all
californians the right to 'inform' or 'report' and thus cause some type of
grief for anybody 'suspected' of being illegally in california.
Now, since it was worded as 'suspected' this had many hispanic groups
saying that they would one and all be 'suspected'. While I can understand
how they felt about it, the reporter, in closing commented on the fact that
hispanics were only the second largest group of 'illegals' in CA the top being British.
That is as specific as I can be, as that is all the info I have, that report from 1994. By the way the prop 187 did pass and was thrown out later in court.
SAm or I, you are calling bullshit are you? You would wash cars dishes
and harvest huh? yeah right....
former ca gov gray davis said on LArry King last fall how a farmer hired
nothing but whites after his hispanic work force was deported....come
5pm on the first day....they were all gone!
Bullshit huh? I think not.

[Durandal]

He also feels the decline of traditional religion is harmful to the country's future, but get this, actually at least tries to put forth a rational reason for this. Rather than claiming that his vengeful god will bring us woe if we turn our backs on him, he draws parallels to Rome, and claims that the rise of Christianity over paganism sped their decline by eroding that upon which their culture was built. I don't know if I buy this, but it was refreshing to hear someone of his opinion at least attempt to support it with logic.

Actually, the rise of Christianity specifically (not just any competing religion) is what ended up screwing Rome in the end. The Roman Empire had been assimilating the religions of conquered nations since its inception with no problems. But Christianity is a religion that's highly evangelical and intolerant of even the existence of other religions by nature. So once it got into power at the top, of course it started mucking around with things.

Pat's just replacing the common "God will smite us" rhetoric with the even more common "Our culture will be corrupted and society will decline" rhetoric. The only difference here is that he's latched on to a tenuous example of societal decline in history to prove his point.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

I like the way the Republicans essentially function as Robin Hood in reverse: tax the poor in order to give to the corporations. Look at their patterns; whenever they want to prove they're doing something about any given problem, the solution is always to throw money at a contractor somewhere. They also set up a timed series of weighted tax cuts which will gradually shift the tax burden considerably away from the wealthy and toward the poor and middle-class ... which will find themselves tasked with the burden of paying off the debt they're accumulating right now in order to pay off these big companies.

That post was scarier than The fucking Ring and 28 Days Later combined.

[LordShaithis]

Maybe he should have got the message when he ran for President in 92 and won zero states.

Buchanan on the Daily Show, when Stewart asked him why he wasn't running again, said something to the effect of "I've already lost three times, the American people have spoken."

[LordShaithis]

Oh, PS:

His complete political platform is madness, but that doesn't mean he is incapable of writing a good article about a specific issue.

He also makes a great point of rebuttal when a Republican tries to paint all anti-war types as flaming liberal hippes.