-Caveat Lector- -----Original Message----- From: Damian B. Cooper [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: 23 September 1999 05:43 To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [prj] "Isolationist!" - "nativist" - "racist" - "fascist" - "Hitler-lovin' Nazi" - >From another list ... > > >Taking an "America First" position is indeed >politically incorrect and deserving of the most >vicious defamation and demonization. This is why >Pat Buchanan is being pummeled at virtually every >turn with such unfounded epithets as >"Isolationist!" - "nativist" - "racist" - >"fascist" or "Hitler-lovin' Nazi." > >Sure, and Karl Marx was a born-again Christian. >Suggestion ... > > Read his book "Republic not Empire" and make up >your own mind instead of again blindly relying on >a bunch of subjective moral relativists in pursuit >of an anti-Western agenda. > >Konrad >__________________________________________________ >______________________ > >September 22, 1999 > >BUCHANAN VERSUS THE WAR PARTY: AN EPIC BATTLE >by Justin Raimondo > >Pat Buchanan's blockbuster book, A Republic, Not >an Empire, - the magnificent manifesto of >conservative noninterventionism reviewed in my >last column - has the War Party in a panic. Both >the "right" and "left" wings are up in arms, >howling for the blood of the heretic. How dare he >challenge that holiest of interventionist holies, >World War II, the crucible of the Soviet Empire >and the creator and guarantor of the modern >Welfare-Warfare State! >THE LYNCH MOB GATHERS >From such worthies as Bill Kristol, William >Safire, >Charles Krauthammer, and all the usual suspects on >the neoconservative "Right," to Chris Matthews, >the >Anti-Defamation League, Salon Magazine, and what >remains of the Popular Front coalition of the >1930s, >the chorus of condemnation is not only loud: these >people are practically frothing at the mouth. This >impressive display of Left-Right unanimity >underscores the narrowness of the politically >permissible and the reality of the ideological >dictatorship we are living under. The war cries of >the >media lynch mob are stunning in their vehemence >and their variety: "Isolationist!" - "nativist" - >"racist" > - "fascist" - "Hitler-lovin' Nazi" - >the string of epithets is endless, and you can >feel the spittle on your face as the words, >propelled by hyperventilated outrage, leap off the >page. All are all piling on Pat in a frenzied (and >barely coherent) attempt to not only rebut his >case but to completely discredit and banish the >subject from public discussion - permanently, if >possible. > >A TEST CASE >For the War Party, this is a test case. If they >can defeat and destroy Buchanan on this issue, >then their job is made all that much easier the >next time they want to launch a "humanitarian" >invasion of a sovereign nation. The argument will >go something like this: >THE ARGUMENT FROM >INTIMIDATION >"So, you oppose sending U.S. troops to, say, >Colombia, or to the Caucasus - what are you, some >kind of isolationist-nativist-racist-Nazi >Buchanan-loving subversive? What about World War >II? What about Hitler?!" >There will be no argument, no debate over the >merits of the issue - because the goal of Pat's >opponents is to make rational discussion of >foreign policy a hate crime. The War Party has big >ambitions for the new millennium, and they aren't >going to let the American electoral process trifle >with their plans. >TRUMPING HISTORY >The desperation of these people, in their frantic >flailing at Buchanan, reached comic proportions >when they pulled out their real trump card - >Donald Trump! Known as "The Donald" to those New >Yorkers who have come to know and disdain him over >the years, the multimillionaire casino operator >and real estate developer has had a reputation as >a man-about-town with a remarkable penchant for >vulgarity - both in his architectural tastes and >his personal life - but never, until this moment, >as an historian. >THE PLAYBOY HISTORIAN >Alas, the New York playboy's debut as a social >commentator specializing in diplomatic history is >not exactly auspicious. Trump bellows that >Buchanan "is denigrating the memory of those who >died in that war." Does this also apply to critics >of the Vietnam war - and, if not, why not? >THE DRONE >"Pat says Hitler had no malicious intent toward >the United States," Mr. Trump said in an >interview. "Well, Hitler killed six million Jews >and millions of others. Don't you think it was >only a question of time before he got to us? He >tackled Europe first and we were next. Pat's >amazing." What is amazing is a media that takes >The Donald seriously. Asked if he had even >bothered to read the book he was denouncing, Trump >reassured his Newsday interviewer that "I've seen >the phrases we're dealing with." Phrases is right: >at most, Trump skimmed a few sentences and was put >through his paces by the Bush team. Here is the >ugly reality of the smear campaign that is now >going into high gear: since it doesn't matter what >Buchanan actually wrote, it wasn't really >necessary for Trump to read A Republic, Not an >Empire - given that he was even capable of >completing such a task. Indeed, it would be better >for an attack drone such as Trump not to >understand, all the better to repeat his baseless >mindless smears. >A VULGAR PLUTOCRAT >Trump, the vulgar plutocrat and vainglorious >peacock of Manhattan high society, is the perfect >antipode to Buchanan, with his penchant for >scholarly debate and almost monkish dedication to >ideas. In publicizing Trump as a real contender >for Pat's working-class base, the Hate Buchanan >claque is going way way out on a limb, with one >political consultant quoted as saying that "blue >collar guys look up to [Trump]. The cars, the >women, the money." The assumption that "blue >collar guys" have no political ideas and opinions >worth discussing, and that they will cast their >votes on the basis of something so facile as "the >cars, the women, the money," is a remarkably >blatant illustration of the bottomless contempt >the elites have for ordinary Americans. >IT ISN'T WORKING >The sneering tone is unmistakable, but there is >also an undercurrent of fear: these smirking grand >strategists, Bushians and others, who are egging >The Donald on, are genuinely frightened. They >loathe Pat Buchanan and will do anything - >anything - to stop him. But the sniggering pair-up >of Buchanan and Trump in a championship fight for >the Reform Party nomination, meant to denigrate >and drag a great man down to the level of a smarmy >clown, isn't working, and neither is the smear >campaign. >A GIANT AMONG PYGMIES >With every newspaper columnist, left and right, >railing against Pa, and every TV talking head >pontificating on the gravity and horror of the >Buchananite heresy, Buchanan is everywhere, on >every talk show, fighting back and more than >holding his own. Pat squared off against Rush on >the radio, against Bill Preuss and the haggish >Mary Matalin (will you please cover that neck?). >Matalin hectored him about "anti-Semitism," >smirking all the while, without offering any >evidence to refute. In the past twenty-four hours, >it seems, Pat has taken on virtually every talking >head with an agenda and an axe to grind. It is >Pat versus both the "right" and "left" wings of >the Establishment: a single man facing down a >mighty coalition - a nearly equal contest, and at >the very least an epic one. >WILLYA LOOKIT THAT?! >The historical pronunciatmentoes of The Donald are >not, perhaps, the most articulated and detailed, >and the vindictive lies being spread by Pat's >ex-friend Mona Charen, in which she seriously >accuses him of being in favor of quotas - for >white people! - are not the most convincing. There >is lots of vituperation, but not a lot of >substance. So far the only half-serious attempt to >critique Buchanan's book comes in the pages of the >Weekly Standard. But Robert G. Kaufaman's hurried >critique, snidely entitled "Wrong from the >Beginning," is even less convincing, in its way, >than The Donald's. For Kaufman employs the "willya >lookit that!" technique, in which the polemicist >holds up a viewpoint with which he disagrees as if >its falsity is self-evident. But since Kaufman >does not bother to let us know why these views are >false - or even destructive and evil - this >technique, as employed by the author, has the >exact opposite of its intended effect. In the end, >Kaufman can only make the argument from authority, >dropping names in a furious effort to divert the >reader away from the fact that he has no argument. >"Buchanan's claims about twentieth-century history >are a deliberate rejection of Republican foreign >policy notions," Kaufman avers, "both of the >idealism of Ronald Reagan's cold warriors and the >ostensible realism of Richard Nixon and Henry >Kissinger." >AND YOUR POINT IS . . . ? >But - so what? That indeed is the whole point of A >Republic, Not an Empire: that it is high time we >moved beyond the Cold War paradigm of Nixon and >Kissinger, and reclaimed the foreign policy the >Founders intended us to follow. Do we really want >to follow the doctrines of a man like Kissinger, >for god's sake, whose policies prolonged a >disastrous land war in Asia? Is the foreign policy >of Richard Nixon really such an ideal model for >the post-Cold War world? And why is the advice of >Richard Nixon - as much as Pat no doubt respects >and even admires his former employer - worth less >than that of George Washington and John Quincy >Adams? >A CANARD? >Kaufman writes: >"Buchanan revives Charles Tansill's old canard >that an insidious combination of pro-British >sentiment, the interests of Wall Street bankers >fearful of Britain's defaulting on its huge loans, >Theodore Roosevelt's militarism, and Woodrow >Wilson's zealous idealism dragged America into a >costly war in defiance of our previous tradition >and our national interest." >THE HAZARDS OF SELF-PARODY >But simply calling an idea a "canard" is hardly an >argument or even an explanation: but the reader >who >expects either from Kaufman is in for a >disappointment. As if to mock his readers, or >unconsciously parody himself, Kaufman then goes on >to take the ultra-Anglophile position that even >getting >involved in World War I was not only inevitable >but >necessary, since >"American security has always depended on a >European balance of power, which a German victory >would have obliterated. It made strategic sense >for America to stay out of European conflicts >while Britain operated as the effective balance, >ensuring that no continental power achieved a >decisive aggregation of power. By 1917, however, >Britain could no longer contain German power >without the active participation of the United >States." >HAIL BRITANNIA >This makes perfect sense - from the viewpoint of >the British Foreign Office. England has >historically resisted the consolidation of a >single power's dominance over the European >continent, depending on the United States to back >her up when she wasn't quite up to the task of >playing the role of the dissonant note in the >concert of Europe. But if, today, we have a single >European Union, with a single currency and a >fast-evolving army, dominated economically and >demographically by a resurgent Germany, then what >was it all for? If even England, today, is >integrating itself into this continental >super-state, then why did Americans die in the >Argonne and Chateau Thierry? This is the question >that Buchanan asks in his book, but Kaufman is >hardly up to the task of even acknowledging it, >let alone answering it. >THE ART OF UNDERSTATEMENT >In a sentence that takes the art of understatement >to new heights, Kaufman writes: "Franklin >Roosevelt made mistakes, no doubt, particularly in >his dealings with Stalin's Soviet Union"! If >handing over half of Europe to the horrors of the >Gulag can be fairly described as a "mistake," >rather than a crime, then God is dead and >everything, as a half-mad German philosopher once >said, is permitted. >THE ART OF HEADLINE-WRITING >Another headline was "Buchanan's Views on Hitler >Create a Reform Party Stir," by Francis X. Clines >[New York Times, September 21, 1999] - as if, in >challenging the wisdom and necessity of World War >II, Pat is trying to rehabilitate the German >dictator. The article quotes very selectively >from the book, a sentence or a phrase torn out of >context. Clines avers that "in a separate chapter >criticizing the power of numerous American ethnic >groups over foreign policy, Mr. Buchanan writes, >'After World War II, Jewish influence over foreign >policy became almost an obsession with American >leaders." He somehow fails to point out that >Buchanan is merely quoting the well-known views of >such notorious anti-Semites as George Kennan, John >Foster Dulles, and Harry Truman. (p. 336) And, of >course, up pops The Donald, whom Clines quotes >liberally - it would be funny if it weren't so >pathetic. >TIME AND AGAIN >While we have seen all this before - it happens >every time Pat runs for President - there is a new >edge of hysteria to the hate-filled venom that is >filling the airwaves, the Internet, and the op ed >pages of the nation's newspapers. There have been >numerous "news" stories about the controversy over >This book, and they all have variations on a >single theme of "Buchanan is a Bigot," such as the >Reuters headline, "Buchanan Book Stirs Charges of >Anti-Semitism, [September 21, 1991], based on a >Reuters story. But the story has nothing to do >with the book: not a word of the book is cited as >"evidence" of alleged bigotry, there is only the >victimological braying of the Anti-Defamation >League, and vague accusations from various >authorities attesting to Buchanan's inveterate >evil. But the book mentioned in the headline is >completely disappeared, and in its place there is >only the venom of the professional character >assassins, a kind of intellectual Mafia determined >to enforce its monopoly in the realm of foreign >policy. >THE BUCHANAN CHALLENGE >These strong-arm methods are not going to >intimidate Buchanan. The bipartisan foreign policy >of global interventionism that has drained us of >troops and treasure for over fifty years is being >challenged by a very brave and very able man. With >the Reform party and a great chunk of the GOP in >tow, Buchanan is intent on forging a new American >majority, a new consensus in which a >noninterventionist foreign policy is the linchpin >that holds the coalition together. A cool $13 >million in campaign funds awaits the Reform >party's presidential nominee - God help the >Establishment if Buchanan ever gets his hands on >it. >------------- >Justin Raimondo is the editorial director of >Antiwar.com. He is also the author of Reclaiming >the American Right: The Lost Legacy of the >Conservative Movement (with an Introduction by >Patrick J. Buchanan), (1993), and Into the Bosnian >Quagmire: The Case Against US Intervention in the >Balkans (1996). He is an Adjunct Scholar with the >Ludwig von Mises Institute, in Auburn, Alabama, a >Senior Fellow at the Center for Libertarian >Studies, and writes frequently for Chronicles: A >Magazine of American Culture. He is the author of >An Enemy of the State: The Life of Murray N. >Rothbard (forthcoming from Prometheus Books). >http://www.antiwar.com > DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. 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