Pat Buchanan: Is Osama 'one of us'?? Options

[teenbillybaby]

Is He One of Us?
by Patrick J. Buchanan
Posted 04/25/2008 ET

As one looks at the polls, the issues and the candidates, the election of 2008 resembles what poker players call a "lay-down hand."

Two-thirds of the nation believes the Iraq war a blunder. Sixty-nine percent disapproves of President Bush. Eighty-one percent thinks America is on the wrong course.

Inflation is at 4 percent and rising. Unemployment is 5 percent and rising. Gasoline, heating oil and food prices are soaring. The dollar has lost half its values against the euro. Homes are being foreclosed upon at Depression rates. The stock market is in a swoon. And 3.5 million manufacturing jobs have vanished under Bush.

Hillary and Obama have both raised far more than John McCain.

Democratic turnout in the primaries and caucuses is two and three times what it was for the GOP. The youth, energy and enthusiasm are on the Democratic side. Voter registration is rising dramatically, and the new registrants are almost all Democrats or independents.

Thirty Republican House members are retiring. In the Senate, the big question is whether Democrats will achieve a 60-40 margin to enable them to kill Republican filibusters.

By all odds, Republican retention of the White House should be as imperiled as it was in 1932, when the hapless Herbert Hoover faced FDR.

Yet John McCain, who presides over a disconsolate party many of whose leading lights not only do not love him, they do not like him, is even money to be the next president of the United States.

What explains this?

Answer: Barack Obama, the probable nominee of the Democratic Party -- his cool and pleasant demeanor aside, and his oratorical skills notwithstanding -- is being steadily pushed by his own mistakes, and rivals Hillary Clinton and McCain, outside the social, cultural and ideological mainstream of American politics.

Hillary's victory in Pennsylvania confirmed what Texas, Ohio and Florida hinted at. Barack has not closed the sale with Middle America. Moreover, he may never close the sale.

What is Barack's problem?

Though he has stitched together the McGovern wing of the party -- the anti-war crowd, the cause people, the professoriat -- with the Jesse Jackson wing -- 90 percent of the African-American vote -- he is being systematically pushed out of the heartland of the party, the white working and middle class. And reinforcing the impression in Middle America that Barack is "not one of us" is the core of both the Clinton and Republican strategies. And they are working.

In Ohio and Pennsylvania, resistance to the probable nominee hardened and calcified among Catholics, ethnics, union and blue-collar voters, even as Barack outspent Hillary two and three to one.

Racism is the reason, wail the pundits. But this is not a reason, it is an excuse. Barack, after all, ran up record totals in virtually all-white Iowa and is favored to win in virtually all-white Oregon.

Moreover, all politics are tribal. There was resistance in rural Pennsylvania to voting for an African-American, but there was also wild enthusiasm for voting for an African-American in Philly, where Hillary -- spouse of "our first black president" -- was getting about the same share of the black vote as Barry Goldwater.

On balance, as Joe Biden undiplomatically blurted out, the fact that Obama is a black man is an extraordinary asset in 2008. It is the reason a junior senator, three years out of the Illinois legislature, is running first for the nomination, and has become the favorite of a national media intoxicated with the idea of a black president.

Barack's problem is social, cultural and ideological.

Increasingly, he is seen not as a man of the middle, but as radical chic, a man of the liberal and leftist elite who confides to closed-door meetings in San Francisco that folks in Pennsylvania cling to guns, Bibles and bigotries as crutches, because they cannot cope in the Global Economy and government has failed them.

He is seen as a man comfortable with friends still proud of the radical role they played planting bombs in the 1960s, a man who feels relaxed about sending his daughters on Sunday to hear the racist rants of an anti-American berserker.

And if your wife, beneficiary of a Princeton-Harvard Law education denied to 99.9 percent of the people, says she cannot recall ever being proud of America before now, folks are naturally going to be suspicious about why you dumped the American flag pin.

On the big issues of 2008 -- amnesty, the hemorrhaging of American jobs, Iraq -- McCain is on the same side as George Bush, whose approval rating is 28 percent. McCain can be defeated on those issues.

But if, with a little help from Hillary, McCain can paint Barack indelibly as a man of the trendy and radical left, he can win. America will have nowhere else to go.

Journalists disagree on whether immigration, Iraq or the economy will be the major issue in 2008. The real issue may be -- and this is what is causing heart palpitations among Democrats -- is Barack Obama one of us, or is he one of them?

[teenbillybaby]

I wrote Osama!! Oops!!

[teenbillybaby]

Iraq, Iran. Don't confuse me!!

[Donald DeFreeze]

If by "one of us" Buchanan means "people like Pat Buchanan", probably not.

Buchanan has been a DC insider, paid by Nixon as speechwriter, suckled by think tanks and subsidized by their offshoots for 40 years.

That would make him a, you guessed it, elitist.

Obama's mother fed her son with AFDC money.

Don't ever be fooled by what these puling blowhards tell you. Pat Buchanan is an expert on "family values" despite having no children of his own, an expert on the military without ever having served and an expert on "free enterprise" while being on the government on non-profit think tank payrolls his entire adult life. He's never run a business, never raised a kid, never shouldered a rifle and is yet an authority on all of these.

He's the "kind of guy you could have a beer with", if that beer was at a private function somewhere at a minimum of a grand a plate.

In other words, part of a ruling class that is desperate to remain in power or relevant.

Best to ignore.

[teenbillybaby]

I didn't know some of that about him.

I'm impressed with Pat's ability to get to the heart of a matter. I also like that he seems to have studied and learned a lot more from history than most politicians and never loses a sense of humor.

In this particular case, Pat is right that if Obama lets others (his political opponents) define who he is and what he stands for, then he has little hope of being the nominee or winning a general election.

Pat's also one of the only media or political figures who came out strongly against the Iraq war before it started, so I give him some credit for that.

[fake guest]

If by "one of us" Buchanan means "people like Pat Buchanan", probably not.

Buchanan has been a DC insider, paid by Nixon as speechwriter, suckled by think tanks and subsidized by their offshoots for 40 years.

That would make him a, you guessed it, elitist.

Obama's mother fed her son with AFDC money.

Don't ever be fooled by what these puling blowhards tell you. Pat Buchanan is an expert on "family values" despite having no children of his own, an expert on the military without ever having served and an expert on "free enterprise" while being on the government on non-profit think tank payrolls his entire adult life. He's never run a business, never raised a kid, never shouldered a rifle and is yet an authority on all of these.

He's the "kind of guy you could have a beer with", if that beer was at a private function somewhere at a minimum of a grand a plate.

In other words, part of a ruling class that is desperate to remain in power or relevant.

Best to ignore.

Buchanan is most definately NOT one of us.

[Flipper]

If by "one of us" Buchanan means "people like Pat Buchanan", probably not.

Buchanan has been a DC insider, paid by Nixon as speechwriter, suckled by think tanks and subsidized by their offshoots for 40 years.

That would make him a, you guessed it, elitist.

Obama's mother fed her son with AFDC money.

Don't ever be fooled by what these puling blowhards tell you. Pat Buchanan is an expert on "family values" despite having no children of his own, an expert on the military without ever having served and an expert on "free enterprise" while being on the government on non-profit think tank payrolls his entire adult life. He's never run a business, never raised a kid, never shouldered a rifle and is yet an authority on all of these.

He's the "kind of guy you could have a beer with", if that beer was at a private function somewhere at a minimum of a grand a plate.

In other words, part of a ruling class that is desperate to remain in power or relevant.

Best to ignore.

Heh.

Your post makes me wonder if you even bothered to read the above piece, or you simply saw the name "Pat Buchanan" at the top and let your jerking leftist knee do your talking for you.

Pat Buchanan is about as rogue a former Republican as can be.

You obviously know very little about the man and his politics aside from the stock-in-trade lefty asessments/reactions to him.

Old hat, my boy.

Pat Buchanan has so much in common with ostensible left today, mainly because he call things like he sees them, and speaks the truth at will (as in, it's by accident as a result of lack-of-political-bias).

A vocal, hardcore critic of Bush II.

Against the Iraq War from the git-go.

Perennially opposed to the globalist agendas set forth by the last (at least) 4 presidential administrations (L'il Bush and Mr. Clinton included here) and something of a sage in terms of how he predicted said agendas' drain on American jobs and our economy.

You may not like/be able to relate to where he comes from, but you need to educate yourself a little before spewing falsehoods. You really expose your own reactionary ignorance above.

Also, should military service be a prerequisite for election to the office of President ?

Should only former generals and commanders be eligible to serve as Commander-in-Chief ?

Your above comments certainly suggest you believe so.

Pretty silly notion in this country/any democracy where a pretty important aspect of the quaint little notion that is "balance of power" is civillian control over the military.

You really should stay out of political discussions, Donny. You are way to easily exposed as an incredibly ignorant dolt.

This post has been edited by Flipper: Apr 27 2008, 08:20 PM

[Donald DeFreeze]

Pat Buchanan is about as rogue a former Republican as can be.

He ran as a Reform, but is a registered Republican.


"Following the 2000 election, Reformers urged Buchanan to take an active role within the party. Buchanan declined though he did attend their 2001 convention. In the next few years, he identified himself as a political independent, choosing not to align himself with what he viewed as the neo-conservative Republican party leadership. Prior to the 2004 election, Buchanan announced he once again identified himself as a Republican, had no interest in ever running for president again, and reluctantly endorsed Bush's 2004 reelection."

And I know nothing? What kind of homosexual identifies with a man that has suggested a quarantine for his fellows? One that really hates himself and for a reason.

It's laughable that a dimwitted, embittered preppie whose education led him to the career of a spark-plug salesman sees himself as an expert in Poly-Sci, much as it is absurd that a she-male afficianado holds court on other people's dating problems and mental illnesses.

Thank God the Internet gives such a pitiful specimen an outlet or we'd be looking at a Dahmer.

[coughlin]

anyone else convinced that donald defreeze & flipper are actually the same person?
their styles here are virtually identical, esp. when they go at "each other."

[Donald DeFreeze]

Nope.

I don't walk around with a belly frull of Asiatic jism, Mr Coughlin.

That would be the Dainty Dolphin.

[JET]

anyone else convinced that donald defreeze & flipper are actually the same person?
their styles here are virtually identical, esp. when they go at "each other."

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever seen the two of them on at the time.

[Flipper]

the Dainty Dolphin.

Not bad.

[Flipper]

BUT, Donny-doo...

The funnystuff doesn't take away from the fact that your utter ignorance is so easily exposed by a "spark plug saleseman" like me.

You are obviously more than a little angry that I owned your ass up above here.

How's about some honest-to-goodness factual rejoinder ?

Ooopsy, WAIT !!

Donny-D doesn't read-up enough to engage in this kind of thing.

He's got his hands full just cutting and pasting leftist pablum in response to a true-blue political genius like Mr. Buchanan.

Pshaw.

[Donald DeFreeze]

BUT, Donny-doo...

The funnystuff doesn't take away from the fact that your utter ignorance is so easily exposed by a "spark plug saleseman" like me.

You are obviously more than a little angry that I owned your ass up above here.

How's about some honest-to-goodness factual rejoinder ?

Ooopsy, WAIT !!

Donny-D doesn't read-up enough to engage in this kind of thing.

He's got his hands full just cutting and pasting leftist pablum in response to a true-blue political genius like Mr. Buchanan.

Pshaw.

Sparky, excuse me "Thparky":

"Factual Rejoinder"?

You said Buchanan was a "former Republican". He isn't.

You also said this:


Also, should military service be a prerequisite for election to the office of President ?

Should only former generals and commanders be eligible to serve as Commander-in-Chief ?

Your above comments certainly suggest you believe so.

They don't. Flipper, as one-dimensionally-challenged as you are, even you know what a "strawman" is. That is your creation and those are your words, not mine. "Eligible"? "Commander in Chief"? "Civilian control of military"? Uhh, where was that anyway?

Dude: At no point in any post of mine did I ever suggest any of that. Pointing out that someone that never served in the military is not as much of an oracle on that subject as someone that did is plain common sense. Buchanan's "expertise" on the subject of wars and history doesn't come from participation but observation, making him no more qualified to pontificate than anyone on this board, including an AutoZone employee. Pat Buchanan's takes on history are barely better informed than Jeff "Skunk" Baxter's are, and both of them have had government sinecures at one time--because they were connected and for no other reason.

The rest of the post was superfluous projection, attributing ideas to me that were never stated.

Once again:

Pat Buchanan writes a great speech. He has a marvelous vocabulary and he knew what to kiss and when. before think-tank patronage on the right was so pervasive. But the idea that a guy that never ran a business, raised a family or went to West Point/Annapolis is somehow the equal to a Steve Jobs, a single mom that puts her children through college, or a Wesley Clark or David Petraeus is just plain deluded. Pat Buchanan is the Establishment, plain and simple--opposition to the Iraq War was and is a no-brainer.

One thing you'd know better than me: Do they make you guys wear those red vests, or is that optional?

[coughlin]

He has a marvelous vocabulary and he knew what to kiss and when.

but couldn't one say the same of flipper?

[FrankD]

If by "one of us" Buchanan means "people like Pat Buchanan", probably not.

Buchanan has been a DC insider, paid by Nixon as speechwriter, suckled by think tanks and subsidized by their offshoots for 40 years.

That would make him a, you guessed it, elitist.

Obama's mother fed her son with AFDC money.

Don't ever be fooled by what these puling blowhards tell you. Pat Buchanan is an expert on "family values" despite having no children of his own, an expert on the military without ever having served and an expert on "free enterprise" while being on the government on non-profit think tank payrolls his entire adult life. He's never run a business, never raised a kid, never shouldered a rifle and is yet an authority on all of these.

He's the "kind of guy you could have a beer with", if that beer was at a private function somewhere at a minimum of a grand a plate.

In other words, part of a ruling class that is desperate to remain in power or relevant.

Best to ignore.

Well said. You are back on the rising young personae of the noiseboard list.

[mhaverty]

If by "one of us" Buchanan means "people like Pat Buchanan", probably not.

Buchanan has been a DC insider, paid by Nixon as speechwriter, suckled by think tanks and subsidized by their offshoots for 40 years.

That would make him a, you guessed it, elitist.

Obama's mother fed her son with AFDC money.

Don't ever be fooled by what these puling blowhards tell you. Pat Buchanan is an expert on "family values" despite having no children of his own, an expert on the military without ever having served and an expert on "free enterprise" while being on the government on non-profit think tank payrolls his entire adult life. He's never run a business, never raised a kid, never shouldered a rifle and is yet an authority on all of these.

He's the "kind of guy you could have a beer with", if that beer was at a private function somewhere at a minimum of a grand a plate.

In other words, part of a ruling class that is desperate to remain in power or relevant.

Best to ignore.

Oh Donald.... you are so smart. You know EXACTLY who Pat is. Congratulations. If you were pitching in a keen sense for the obvious game you would be almost unhittable today.

I can't wait for Obama to get crushed in the Fall so I can listen to guys like you bitch about how the dirty Republicans tricked us again. When it will be your own damn faut.


This post has been edited by mhaverty: Apr 28 2008, 05:41 AM

[guest of a friend]

You know who hasn't closed the deal?

The front runner, hillary clinton.

She has lost all but a few contests and has, no matter what tricks she's tried, never suceeded in being the "candidate".

Instead she has driven up her negatives, lost all her money and has no chance of being the nominee.

And Buchanan's taste is not the taste of mainstream America.

I would NOT worry about his attitudes toward Obama. I WOULD worry that Obama is being destroyed as a candidates, not by who he is otr his views, but by the Clinton political machine.

[guest of a friend]

Oh Donald.... you are so smart. You know EXACTLY who Pat is. Congratulations. If you were pitching in a keen sense for the obvious game you would be almost unhittable today.

I can't wait for Obama to get crushed in the Fall so I can listen to guys like you bitch about how the dirty Republicans tricked us again. When it will be your own damn faut.

If the goal is to be as scummy as the Republicans, Democrats will never win.

I'm no Dem, but my god, you have as usual lowered the bar for Republicans to such a degree that no one but pedophiles and anti-American bigots would fail to slither underneath it.

And, or course, it hasn't even stopped some pedophiles.

[benhamean]

Buchanan's observations are pretty good, with the exception of his ultimate conclusion:

The issue is not whether or not Obama is 'one of us', it is whether or not the American public can be made to view all the other massive substantive issues (that Buchanan lists) with more importance than someone's 'one-of-us-ness'.

Do they want essentially a continuation of the current situation, but with a man with unwavering flag lapel pin wearing, or a new approach from some 'racist', 'elitist'...?


This post has been edited by benhamean: Apr 28 2008, 08:43 AM

[Johnny Angel]

Oh Donald.... you are so smart. You know EXACTLY who Pat is. Congratulations. If you were pitching in a keen sense for the obvious game you would be almost unhittable today.

I can't wait for Obama to get crushed in the Fall so I can listen to guys like you bitch about how the dirty Republicans tricked us again. When it will be your own damn faut.

If MCCain wins, how does it help you?

This post has been edited by Johnny Angel: Apr 28 2008, 09:01 AM

[terrydactyl]

Oh Donald.... you are so smart. You know EXACTLY who Pat is. Congratulations. If you were pitching in a keen sense for the obvious game you would be almost unhittable today.

I can't wait for Obama to get crushed in the Fall so I can listen to guys like you bitch about how the dirty Republicans tricked us again. When it will be your own damn faut.

yeah, he has a shot
i cant remember the last time a party that screwed its people got elected again, consecutively anyway