Patrick Buchanan: "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?"
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2011-10-25/patrick-buchanan-suicide-superpower-will-america-survive-2025
William Sorenson
Patrick Buchanan is no stranger to controversy. At the 1992 Republican national convention, he described the nation as engaged in “a religious war … a cultural war …for the soul of America.” A decade later, he wrote a book predicting the U.S. would be a Third World nation by 2050. Another ten years, two wars, a recession and a debt crisis later, he says America could now be on the verge of national suicide. He offers a plan to turn the country around, including cutting the military, freezing federal salary and benefits and a moratorium on immigration. Pat Buchanan offers his opinions about the fate of the country.
Guests
Patrick Buchanan
syndicated columnist, former adviser to three American presidents, Reform Party's presidential candidate in 2000.
Related Items
Read an Excerpt
From "Suicide of a Superpower" by Patrick Buchanan. Copyright 2011 by Patrick Buchanan. All rights reserved. Reprinted here by permission of Thomas Dunne Books:
Comments
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i did not hear one mention of the damage that wall street and financial institutions have done to this country...it may be included in the book, but if it isn't, this is not a complete synopsis of what has happened to america in the last 30 years...in my opinion, lobbyists and lack of financial regulation are the main ingredients in the stew of problems that face america today.
He lost me on page 2 of the introduction, following his question "For what is a nation?"
His answer describes a religion, or better, a tribe; not a nation at all, which is the Christian Conservative belief: that a nation must have a shared religion, ethnicity, etc. Which is historically untrue. How did that notion work out for Germany? Not at all well, nor for those deemed un-German.
Isn't it amazing how some people are able to post an informed, intelligent, Comment about a show before it even airs!
Oh, wait, they can't?
Never mind.
That being said, having read the excerpt from Buchanan's book, all I hear is the whine of a conservative who loved to "dish it out", but can't "take it" in return.
Dividing America? Pat, that's been your stock-in-trade (and that of the right-wing) for almost my entire life, and it continues full steam now. You, after all, are the one who adopted the "religious war" metaphor (with its overtones of crusades and inquisitions) - and that was almost two decades ago. It's a little late to be crying about a "divided America".
Sure, you say, we could be united again, if only we all think alike, worship alike, and act alike. (Oh, and let's throw a little "racial purity" in for good measure - so our genes are all alike.) Spoken like a true totalitarian, and every tyrant the world has ever known.
Here's an immodest proposal: why not try running this country according to the principles the Founders actually believed in, instead of the ones you conservatives fantasize about? You know, the ones actually written in the Constitution - that document you claim to revere. Let me give you a list of the "big ones":
1) Religious freedom and equality (Article 6, Paragraph 3, and the First Amendment).
2) Separation of Church and State (which is why those clauses are in the Constitution, and no reference to a deity exists in any of its legal provisions).
3) Due Process of Law (Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment).
4) Equal Protection of the Law (Fourteenth Amendment).
5) Freedom of speech and the press (First Amendment).
6) Security against unreasonable government intrusion in our persons, houses, papers, and effects (Fourth Amendment).
7) And the idea that rights don't have to be specifically enumerated in order to exist (Ninth Amendment).
You know, Pat, those principles you've spent your life ignoring, or trying to tear to shreds!
Why is this racial arsonist still allowed on decent programs? He's on MSNBC too much, and Diane is giving him airtime, too. This man oozes racism and everyone justs pretends it's political conservatism. Racism s racism. Time to stop pretending it's something that it's not.
Here's my opinion. I hope his book makes more sense than his MSNBC commentary during the 2008 election. I used him as a guide to determine whether my mother's dementia was getting worse. I figured as long as she made more sense than him, she was still ok.
Well, there's giving a platform, and there's conducting a good interview. When it comes to right-wingers, so many of them spend so much time in their little hothouse that they can't survive in the real world.
I'm looking forward to this hour to find out if Pat Buchanan is the worthless Dick Cheney sort of interview who's so tough and manly because he only go on shows where people won't or can't handle him.
KadeKo wrote:
"I'm looking forward to this hour to find out if Pat Buchanan is the worthless Dick Cheney sort of interview who's so tough and manly because he only go on shows where people won't or can't handle him."
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What? Buchanan is a frequent guest on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. When it comes to being "manly," Rachel has no peer.
Diane,
I'm a long time listener and supporter, but I won't be listening today. I'm offended you would give someone with such nativist views a platform on your important (and usually high-minded) program.
Just because MSNBC doesn't call Buchanan on his racism, doesn't mean you should validate it.
accountant wrote:
"Here's my opinion. I hope his book makes more sense than his MSNBC commentary during the 2008 election. I used him as a guide to determine whether my mother's dementia was getting worse. I figured as long as she made more sense than him, she was still ok."
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PB&J's last book, "Churchill, Hitler, and "The Unnecessary War": How Britain Lost Its Empire and the West Lost the World," was actually about the author, a devout isolationist & NSDAP fan, fantasizing about how Great Britian and the U.S. should have mimicked Switzerland.
PB&J is well known for his predilection of Die Aryan Volk, his distaste for Israel, and his Irish Catholic sense of superiority. PB&J doesn't represent anyone other than himself. He is an isolationist who happens to portray himself as a conservative. He has more in common with Joe Kennedy than he does with any Republican.
I don't know that he's on Maddow's show much any longer. On MSNBC he's a contributor, a regular on many shows (God knows why) rather than an interviewee to be subjected to actual scrutiny from others on the network.
This is a symptom of the same mediascape we swim in where the mainstream press coddled Bush all the way down to ~30% approval ratings, and yet Obama has to answer for his "unpopularity" at ~44%. It's called the GOP bump for a reason. And it's reflected in everything they do, as shown by a Pew study recently released.
(PS Rachel's "manliness"? Well, she should be running Meet The Press and maybe "President McCain" will finally be ousted from what seems like his permanent chair.)
You demean yourself and your audience by having this bigot on your show. I, too, will tune out. It is one thing to have a variety of opinions but quite another to have someone in the mold of Joe McCarthy, Father Coughlin, etc.
I'm guessing that Mr. Buchanan doesn't have a problem with the French, Italians, Polish, or Germans, etc. Pat Buchanan thinks that what's wrong with America is brown skin. After all, this is the man who had a clause in the contract for the sale of his home that said it could not be sold to an African American. I am shocked that Diane Rehm and WAMU would host this openly racist discussion.
The great divide is and always was the backward rural and small town dominated poor states (mostly southern) really third word countries and wealthy economic, liberal, urban centers.
This is the clash of civilizations playing everywhere in the world.
We used to laugh at soviet system not being able to provide for basic needs of its citizens.
Now we are talking about lost generation in US.
Okay, coming from anyone else but Crazy Old Racist Uncle Pat, talking about "rising to...the common ground of freedom", avoiding "society breaking down" or "Balkanization", might be worth listening to.
(Notice how crap that sounds even after excising the oogedy-boogedy words "multiculturalism" and "diversity".)
I never type in "I'm leaving" online, but I'm doing it now because if this were a lecture hall I'd like folks to see the empty seat I was sitting in.
I listen every day.
Pat Buchanan is a blatant self-promoter, pandering to fears and always seeing the worst of everything he views.
Thank you for having such a blood-stirring idiot on your show.
As others have said, he has claimed no responsibility for what he labels, and he attributes no responsibility to his cronies and Fellow Travelers.
Bush, the GOP and Wall Street plus The Corptocracy (oligarchy) all have created this mess, and it is still going on.
Ask this charlatan about Occupy Wall Street.
Thank you.
I respect Pat Buchanan but he is DEAD wrong. Immigrants and diversity are NOT the problem. Go to your local community college and you will see an environment dense with young immigrant students from ALL over the world.
I am already frustrated by Mr. Buchanan's discussion and he has only been on 10 minutes. His comments are bashing anyone who isn't white anglo-saxon protestant. Honestly if you did not fall into that category and male, the 1950s was not pleasant.
Every major city in the US had it's own immigrant areas - in Cincinnati, for instance, there was Over-the-Rhine where German was the most common language and Little Italy where Italian was most common. Detroit had a large Polish community. The point is, most immigrant populations in the US spoke their native language and their children learned both their parents native language and English. Why should people speaking Spanish be any more of a problem.
"After all, this is the man who had a clause in the contract for the sale of his home that said it could not be sold to an African American"
Prove that.
Pat B is not to be believed because he off the chart to the right. His talking points are right out of the Fox TV play book. He is completely ignoring the just say no Republican Party that is blocking all progress of the people. Pat get a life and tell both sides of the story. If the truth be told the Bush administration took us down the road of ruin and we need to get serious and support the truth not Pat B talking points.
Pat Buchanan is comparing apples to oranges when comparing the soviet union breakup to the possibility of the US breakup. We are not the soviet union.
The United States today doesn't look like Buchanan's 1950 "Father Know's Best" world. I don't know why anyone pays him any attention.
Mr. Buchanan has a very narrow view of America in prior decades. He ignores that which makes him uncomfortable. He assumes that new immigrants will not assimilate as other ethnic groups have. He values culture as a static thing rather embracing the reality of a dynamic force that is ever changing and adapting.
The man makes some good points, he always does! Nothing lasts forever, there is a good chance he's on to something P.C. or not.
KadeKo wrote:
"I don't know that he's on Maddow's show much any longer. On MSNBC he's a contributor, a regular on many shows (God knows why) rather than an interviewee to be subjected to actual scrutiny from others on the network."
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The exchanges between Maddow and PB&J make for good TV. Even after their views are aired, these two are still buddies But the reason why MSNBC loves PB&J is because he can be counted on to criticize Republicans, bash Israel, and praise Putin.
Here PB&J is challenged by his good pal and college Maddow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGtsfr_HXSI
thank you thank you thank you Ms. Rehm. i am a HUGE fan of Mr. Buchanan. i know the libs will have their panties in a bind over this but i applaud you for finally having a guest that the few conservatives in your audience can relate to.
Mr. Buchanan i will be buying your book.
Also, based solely on his name, I would like to point out to Mr. Buchanan that one hundred years ago his family would have been viewed as the invaders who were corrupting the morals of this country.
Almost got it: Not a "more perfect nation," Lincoln said "a more perfect union." That is the point: unity not diversity. Pat is right on point.
You dear, kind and patient woman......