Posted by
Andrews on Friday, June 20, 2008 12:57:40 PM
Recently we have seen many Democrats and other liberals writing on DailyKos, Puffington Host, Democratic Underground and other sites arguing that Bush went to war at the insistence of Israel, that the war is pointless, that it is causing more terrorism, and that we would have no middle eastern problems but for our subservience to Israel. They argue that Moselms are not ready for democracy and that we are losing lives pointlessly.
So, why is it when Pat Buchanan says the same things he is a a "paleo-conservative"? Because he says "Christian" every so often?
It is time we stopped allowing anyone to call themselves conservative while sharing essentially every view with liberals. From the Huckabee big government conservatism, to Bush's free spending "compassionate conservatism", to Buchanan's anti-Israel, anti-NAFTA "paleo-conservatism", to all the populists in disguise who claim conservative credentials, it is time we said that just saying "Jesus" or opposing same sex marriages or agreeing to "sensible gun ownership" is not enough to turn a liberal agenda into some variant of conservatism.
I am sure many will hate me for saying this, and will claim economic conservatism is not really conservatism at all. But I cannot see how someone can adopt the Buchanan beliefs and still claim to be conservative.
Honestly, read the archives of Buchanan's articles and, except for opposition to political correctness and a fondness for Hitler*, what concrete positions has Buchanan adopted that are inconsistent with Obama's campaign**?
Unless you are going to call Obama a conservative, then how can you call Pat Buchanan one?
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* By the way, the left already pushes the lie that National Socialism was a conservative movement. Do we really need to associate ourselves with a defender of Hitler? I just managed to convince people that the Nazi party was not conservative and now Pat comes along to undo all my good work.
** Well, now Obama may be supporting NAFTA, making him actually a bit MORE conservative than Pat.