Pat Buchanan, white nationalism, and the American future
By David Neiwert Saturday Jul 18, 2009 10:00am
It's starting to look like it may actually have been a good thing that Pat Buchanan spouted off so nakedly about Sonia Sotmayor this week -- not so much that he did it, but that in doing so, he's finally provoked a serious response to the meaning of his ongoing presence in our national discourse.
People are finally starting to ask the question I asked back in 2006:
How much longer, one has to wonder, will our mainstream press continue to pretend that Pat Buchanan has not gone completely around the bend? That he is no longer the avuncular conservative from old episodes of Crossfire but a full-fledged extremist trying to resurrect the once-discredited ethos of white supremacism?
The evidence was more than abundantly clear back then, with the publication of his book State of Emergency, which was a vehicle for essentially a regurgitation of warmed-over eugenics theory from the 1920s. Buchanan was all over TV as well, spouting nonstop the fear that white people were losing their majority and with it their political power, swept away by a tide of brown people from Latin America.
Alexander Zaitchik's report for the SPLC hit the nail on the head:
To put it plainly, State of Emergency is a white nationalist tract. The thesis is that America must retain a white majority to survive as a nation. It is rooted in a blood-and-soil nationalism more blood than soil. The echoes of Nazi ideology are clear and chilling. As Buchanan helpfully explained to John King, who was interviewing him in one of his several CNN appearances: "We gotta get into race and ethnic questions."
Indeed, Buchanan has a not-inconsiderable role in the history of white nationalism in America in the past 20 years -- particularly the role he has had in mainstreaming supremacist beliefs, many of which are either fallacious or crudely racist. Leonard Zeskind devotes a sizable chunk of his marvelous history of the movement, Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream, to dealing with Buchanan and his sizable impact.
After all, he's been at this a long time. In a columm he wrote back in 1989 defending David Duke and chiding the GOP for overreacting to him, he counseled movement conservatives thus:
"Take a hard look at Duke's portfolio of winning issues and expropriate those not in conflict with GOP principles, [such as] reverse discrimination against white folks." (syndicated column, 2/25/89)
At the time, Duke had just finished running for president on the Populist Party ticket. His chief platform position in that campaign: stopping immigration before Latin Americans overwhelm the country. A couple of years later, Buchanan tried to claim that Duke was copying him, but it's clear from the chronology that it worked the other way around.
The good thing about the attention Buchanan has brought on himself is that it may finally shine a spotlight on the persistent and malignant influence of white nationalism on our national discourse and our body politic. Looking as we are at pan-racial, multicultural future, our success is going to hinge on our abilities to find ways to break down the old racial barriers that were erected by white supremacists -- whose worldview was dominant in the USA for decades -- a century ago and more. And as Pat Buchanan has been demonstrating, they will only go kicking and screaming.
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Does this posting really call for any comment? The article says it all.
as a 53 year old white man, I will celebrate the day that white men have to surrender power to those that reflect the wonderful diversity that is this nation.
While it's a great piece, it didn't even MENTION that horrible high-pitched whiney voice that makes me want to rap him alongside the head. It's worse than chalk on a blackboard and just gets screechier the more excited he gets.
I know, but it's what he's saying - we have all come to equate that voice with all the crap it has produced, and there's no helping that now. Make the voice stop!
He is the ONLY Presidential Candidate to EVER mention the trade defecit. EVER!!
.... Hitler made the trains run on time.
Stop holding Pat's hood while he's on the air.
anyone can be racist. Even people concerned about deficits.
Did somebody hit him with a pie in that picture? Or a dishpan of soapy water?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7356248/
Thanks! I missed that.
a GOP mascot emission?
.
Rachel Maddow must be pressured to stop giving him a forum to spew his stupid spunk
It is working in our favor. You guys hate the haters, but the more sunlight they get the better we look. Let those bastards say whatever they want!! We come off like heroes!!
One trick pony "anti-hate" journalism is getting old!
Agree but that would be a slim form of censorship.
Now if we stopped watching when he was on that would be us censoring him. The appropriate way of censorship ;)
Besides he likes her and she has some respect for him, then when he spouts off she has been able to make him look like the fool that he is. Instead of covering for him like the other shows do she lets his ugliness show, then she points to it for us.
I did write a note to her show the day after the rant. It said (among other things) the following:
"...I understand that you're trying to shine a light on his idiotic thinking. The problem with that logic is that anyone and everyone who is a regular viewer already gets it. The guy is a racist fuck and you don't need to lower yourself by featuring him...If this asshole needs a gig so bad, then tell him to pack up his Klan suit and send him over to Fox..."
.
Exactly!!! remember Jimmy the Greek and Rush talking shit and getting pwned!! AHHHHHH!!
It must be that Ms. Maddow thinks this is the best way to expose him but to get people who accept this ridiculous POV to change their minds.
He's still breathing.
that Pat's longevity lies in the fact that he sometimes talks about other things and that I have actually found myself agreeing with him (certainly not on this issue - I'm a Wyandotte tribal member). It's rare and it's fleeting. I've also found that sometimes he will actually hold discussions with people and it's intriguing. He's still a thug and a bully and always has been and is quite proud of that.
...is at the expense of the white man, no matter what the truth is.
I will never watch or listen to this incorrigible and nasty, completely un-American, taking his hate and anger to his grave, old man again.
It's starting to look like it may actually have been a good thing that* Pat Buchanan spouted off so nakedly about Sonia Sotmayor this week -- not so much that he did it, but that in doing so, he's finally provoked a serious response to the meaning of his ongoing presence in our national discourse.
Doesn't this statement fly in the face of the multiple "anti hate" posts of the past 3 months? Post after post of right wing haters making news and you guys are SOOOOO outraged and SOOOOO upset.
LET THEM RANT, the more public the better!!!!
I am surrounded by these people. Every waking moment of the day I am soaked in hate. I don't look like a "dago" but I am and I have customers crack "dago" and "n_____r" jokes while doing consultations.
LET THEM RANT!!! Here is a perfect example!
* read The Elements of Style
...Buchanan and his hatred for anyone who isn't a white male differently. I'm African American and a criminal lawyer. I've had racist white trash like Buchanan questioning my validity since high school(especially when I dared to perform better than the more privileged white kids). Average white men like Buchanan have no more right to question the qualifications of minorities than we do of theirs.
To me the problem is that racists like Buchanan have never had to earn respect from the people they so vehemently criticize.
Totally agree!! That reminds me of the Malcolm X autobiography. When asked what he really wished he could change about his life, he said he wished he could have gotten a real education. Considering his mind and talents, a full on education which his abilities DESERVED could not have happened.
Fuck racism and the racists, but make them as public as possible.
isn't it?
of the people he despises, would that make his criticisms valid? Racists like Buchanan think that as while males, they're already at the top of the heap, so they don't need to earn the respect of anyone. Lesser humans have to earn the respect of the racists before they're allowed to sit at the table with white males.
People are respected for many things foremost is achievement.
Like him or not Buchanan is a smart guy with real talent, it's just used for the wrong things. It took great minds and planning to make the "final solution" work-an evil outcome.
It took a consortium of psychopaths to conceive of the "final solution." No one was willing to believe that anyone could be that evil. Many learned the hard way that people can be that evil.
as evil as Bush-Cheney?
I considered once that Cheney could actually be the anti-Christ, except he has now proven himself to be just a common psychopath. An evil black-hearted paranoid greedy bastard.
And, apparently, an incompetent.
right?
too. I understand that letting Pat have at it does damage to the Rethugs, but I also don't think it's right to throw non-white progressives under the bus and expecting us all to tolerate Pat's bullshit "for the good of the party."
I agree wholeheartedly with you... these "over-privileged" men are concerned about losing that privilege. I don't think that can happen fast enough and I've been waiting patiently for some time to see this meltdown. I'm not advocating violence; I'm advocating compassion, tolerance, and empathy... from all and for all. It'll be a great day when we all finally realize that not one of us is better than any other one of us... we're all humans and we're all equal.
I believe you should get what you give. I do respect your opinion, and I would fight for your right to have it. I do agree with your final sentence, though. Except for one small addition: We are all created equal, but we don't all stay that way. I think it's free will that is responsible for that.
... you have constantly been complaining that we shouldn't even mention people like Buchanan, in a misguided 'ignore them and they'll go away' sense.
What C&L does is call attention to them, in the very manner you advocate 'sunlight' - because no one else is doing it. The media isn't policing itself. There's no regulatory agency taking on hate speech unless it's Don Imus or Howard Stern.
But you seem to think, DO NOTHING, and the problem will fix itself. I beg to differ. Rush Limbaugh was ignored, and he's now the voice of the GOP, influential enough to bring lawmakers to heel.
These purveyors of hate are a cancer, and we all know what happens when you ignore cancer - it metastsizes and gets into your bones, and you die a slow, painful death. Is that what you want for America?
What can you do to stop Rush? He has a $250,000,000 contract. He has a massive fan base. He is the voice of the Republican Party. Which means he is the kingpin of a prison cell block.
Only one thing can stop Rush. The law that required equal time to opposing political views. I am having a brain lock on the name of that law.
The Equal Time Provision is for CANDIDATES. (To wit, when actor George Takei ran for Los Angeles City Council, his opponent claimed 'Star Trek' reruns violated the equal time provision, because it cast Takei in a heroic light. So stations in the LA area wound up running episodes that didn't have Mr. Sulu in them ... which weren't many.)
the whole reason Rush was able to make it big is because something was repealed. Searching now.
Found it!
The Fairness Doctrine!
... the Fairness Doctrine does not say 'equal time.' It says present opposing views in an HONEST, equitable and balanced manner.
Ultimately, this is the same thing as the shenanigans that crashed the economy. Free market! Free market! Self-regulating!
Rush's 'marketplace of ideas' is a mosh pit, not civilized debate.
Ya, lord of the files stuff.
.... with this quit-before-you-fight mentality that sounds like Pelosi and Reid.
"We can't stop Rush, he's rich! He's got a microphone!"
In my world he would not be broadcasting because his drug bust would have stuck.
...he'd have been laughed off the airwaves because people indulged in this thing called critical thinking.
Well, really he is just a guy with a microphone named after a rock band, or the feeling he gets after he takes his narcotics, take your pick.
.
Buchana simply forgot that America is nothing but the great universal experiment. America is nothing else than the combining of totally diverse conceptions which is turning into a coherent extraordinary whole, the sum of all nations of the world. And therefore its componenents are entitled to the same rights Buchana reserve for the white man. That the white man came conquered, destroyed, and rebuild according to the Manisfest Destiny, well, I can only say that such notion is no longer. From now on, America is a consorted effort and it will not be owned by just a segment of the population.
That's a whole lotta bukkake!
Salad dressing compliments his horrible comb over.
Who cares what color we are? It's a bunch of effing melanocytes. Below that, we are indistinguishable by race. I've seen this first hand.
Pat and his sister look like they originate from all over the globe. Just like everyone else.
"Who are beneficiaries of the Court's protection? Members of various minorities including criminals, atheists, homosexuals, flag burners, illegal immigrants (including terrorists), convicts, and pornographers."[US Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, Address to the Heritage Foundation, January 29, 1996]
"Fascism will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible."
~ Sinclair Lewis 1935
He sure understood what was going on around him, huh?!
...your welcome √
Amended: It really seems to have been insightful considering what went down the next 25 years or so...
The U.S. Constitution...
Tue, 07/14/2009 - 23:26 — Truth_Critic
...[ http://thirdbranch.crooksandliars.com/big-ten... ]
...If Rep. Dan Lungren gets his way, Congress will spend nearly $100,000 to engrave the words "In God We Trust " and the Pledge of Allegiance in prominent spots at the Capitol Visitor Center.
→[ http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090718/pl... ]
My aforementioned link seems to be insightful as well?
It's simply self-evident and self-supportive..."Fascism will come wrapped in a flag and carrying a Bible."
~ Sinclair Lewis 1935
Amended:Dan_Lungren
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Lungren ]
"Lungren has stated that his desire to serve in Congress again was rekindled by the September 11, 2001 attacks." A True Patriot :-/
AS LONG AS the "journalists" he is on with call him out when he says stupid shit like he did on Maddow.
The problem happens when they all stay silent as if he has a valid point to make.
This is how it should happen every time:
Pat: White men built this country...
Journalist: That's an ignorant thing to say.
after they stole it from Native Americans, and then on the backs of African and Chinese laborers."
... were the precursors of Joe the Plumber and Lou Dobbs, railing about how the 'heathen Chinee' were going to take over the country, steal jobs from hardworking Americans, rape our daughters, take away religion, etc., etc., etc.
The USA wouldn't have won the independence without the help of France, Dutch, and Spain(!!!). So the list keeps growing and growing and growing...
Yes. This is it. This is what we expect.
In an orgy of pent up release southern republicans "spout off" all over Pat. A five minute smoke break was requested by all.
plastic wood paneled living rooms, tripping over their vibrating recliners, spilling their beer on their NASCAR pajama bottoms, fists pumping in the smoke-filled air, yelling "Go Pat you mofo," while scaring their 6 little blonde- haired brown-eyed rug rats with their enthusiasm.
OT but - Interesting that "Animal Farm" (read it if you haven't) was removed from certain book listings...
I found Pat's little screed on RM bizarre and alarming. I suggest he go back and take a few history lessons. Even back during the Colonial Era (and before), a significant portion of the population were African American slaves. Apparently he doesn't believe their labor contributed anything to building this country. And never mind the entire southern economy was built off the labor of African Americans. Pat is a nut case, and should really not be given such a prominent platform to spew his insanity.
If you want this bigot off our airwaves, do two things:
1. Sign petition to fire Buchanan from MSNBC: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ask-msnbc-to...
2. Use Twitter hashtag #FirePatBuchanan
pat loves to be hated. i'm sick of it. when he discusses judge sonia sotmayor he does NOT properly quote her. he's trying to be clever and read between the lines. he's of little significance. pat's just being a cheerleader for the hate bunch/culture club.
a scarecrow. You can see the straw coming out of his stuffed shirt.
What gave our earliest settlers the notion, that it was acceptable to own slaves? Correctly answer that question and you'll be looking at the answer to the worlds most challenging dilemma... the rest is free will...
They were animals, and God gave man dominion over animals. If that were true, then how did they account for their treatment of women? White women?
√
Amended: Religious Moderates
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82YIluFmdbs ](5:16)
I have not seen yet, one single person putting a conservative on the spotlight using Alito's confirmation hearing as a comparisson. Sure, it was mentioned, but never challenged with a requirement for an answer where this guys would have to aknowledge that they have a double standart. You have to admit that democrats lack guts, they are a bunch of cowards when it comes to doing their jobs and I'm starting to think that our only alternative will have to be a third party. And let's be honest, we nag a lot but even the blogs have not been persistent enough demanding answers.
I think that Eddie Schultz is the one guy out there doing what republicans do so well: Give me an answer or expect hell.
Interesting that nobody is concerned that 6 of the 9 justices will now be catholic - I have a big problem with that - where's sotamajor's concern about that?
six of the nine supreme justices are superstitious? OMG!!!?!??!
inga binga bunga you're guilty
superstitious??? NAWWW - they're fucking self-rightous religious zealots, the most fearful lot in society. Hey how about this ape, maybe she can help the catholic hierarchy hide some more child molestors
Congressional Religion
The 111th Congress does not reflect the changing secular demographics of the United States. It is 30% Catholic (compared to 23.9% in the general population). 55% Protestant, 8.4% Jewish, 2.6% Mormon and only 0.9% unspecified / I don't know." Only five members, less than 1%, claim no religious affiliation! (Source: Pew Forum’s Faith on the Hill survey)
July/August 2009 Featured
By Sandhya Bathija
[ http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/arch... ]
... if Sotamayor's RACE isn't a factor, her faith shouldn't be, either. She's said her ethnicity and life experience will inform, not override her interpretation of the law.
It's only the evangelical crowd caught up in the myth of 'White Christian America' that wants to legislate everything from teaching Creation as scientific fact to requring school prayer. I'm more afraid of the sex club over on C-Street than Sotamayor.
Is that must have been a mighty big Seagull.
I believe that photo is from when Pat spoke at my Alma Mater (Western Michigan University). A townie threw salad dressing at his face.
It was pretty classless, but I laughed my ass off nonetheless.
Too bad 200 years ago American Indians didn't practice what Pat preached. If they did the real inhabitants of this country would still control it. White nationalism and anti-immigration freaks always make me laugh for two reasons. One, this country was taken from Indians by the white man. Two, since we did it, shouldn't this country be fair game for any race to take over. Buchanan...Buchanan? Sounds German to me not American. Most of us whites are descendents of Europeans. You know, the ones that immigrated to this country after the British by force took it away from the real inhabitants. Some of which in the case of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona were Latinos.
By contrast, the passing of Mr. Cronkite only further illustrates the venomous realitites of the Murdocks and Fox so called journalists that exist today; to include the not so quasi Nazi pundits of the far right, of which Pat Buuchanan is but one. It is a sad but true commentary that there is a sizeable and significantly effective white American voting block that sympathizes with extreme nazi sentiments. It is not new, it is not actually unknown; however, it has always been somewhat tolerable due to the discretion (recently no so much practiced) exercised by its followers. Buchaan's American Nazi connections are no secret to anyone, in or out of the beltway, in or out of journalism; neither are the O'Rielly's, Hannity's or the plethora of GOP pundits. This nation is heading towards official recognition and vilification of a soon to be breakaway faction of the GOP, which will be a faction of unabashed and blunt white Americans with the aim of political supremacy. The consolidation of common white racist interests are inherent in the political consequence of our national discourse. White racist political power over the years has waned; especially since the 1950's; and the transition to a truely assimilated society is a difficult pill to swallow for those used to being in charge. The sharing of power to assimilated ethnic Americans is a new experience for all; but it is an intolerable and unacceptable consequence for this extremist faction. Fortunately, there number are inconsequential. Short of a drastic move on their part such as a coup or outright manipulated chaos; they will not have any other choice but to grow along with the rest of Americans and participate the challenging future we have before us. Buchanan rethoric in short is but the sound and fury of a shreching demon grapling his claws on to the walls as his soul is sucked into hell.
...but for the hell notation. Though it may just be semantics'? ;)
"white supremacy??" really?? are you guys going retarded left?? turning into the nut bags that Fox accuses every liberal of being? you have got to be kidding me!? it's bullshit like this that gives the Hannity's and O'reilly's the ammo that they use... you know, when you intentionally misinterpret Dobbs and say he "hates mexicans" when he clearly and everytime time says "illegal aliens" or now calling Buchanan a "white supremacist," you sound as nutty as Limbaugh says we are. Thinking you have the inside track on what they "really mean" by their rhetoric, or that you have "cracked their secret language code" is a dangerous way to filter your information.
I got into a few rounds on the Maddow Buchanan thread from a day or so ago, and it's really disheartening to see the way people process information. Many were putting words into Buchanan's mouth that he clearly didn't say or even express, as well as coming at others with pius statements such as "well we apparently didn't watch the same video!" and the best thing I can say to that is I guess we didn't because what Pat was being accused of was no where on the video.
You know, the Buchanan's and the Dobbs' of the world are gonna stick their feet in their mouths more often than not, we don't need people blogging around making stuff up about how they had eaten their feet when they hadn't. It hurts our credibility.
I can't stand the right, and if this nonsense keeps up here, I'm lost because what seems to be going on here is exactly what goes on over at fox or the drudge report. You needn't twist facts or statements to enrage the base, we're already of the same mindset.
I know Pat and Lou have disgutedly slanted views, we all know that, but when the hyperbole starts about how slanted their views are that's when we become the same and I'd like to think I'm better than that and I hope you guys do too. For the sake of keeping credibility, knock this shit off, and blog responsibly
Late,
QSE32
...what is your prognosis in retrospect?
just don't get drunk on our political success... let these guys bury themselves without hyperbole from us... that's all I'm sayin'.
Just cause some people want a wall between the U.S. and Mexico (although i haven't heard pat make that argument in 20 years-however was still just as bad of an idea then as it is now)doesn't mean they hate Mexicans or want whites only. There is no doubt in my mind that pat would want a wall between Canada and the U.S. if he thought Canada was driving down the American wage... it just seems like what the poster after you mentioned, people on the left are so quick to yell racism that when it's actually called for it has lost it's power! I think some of the C&L bloggers are a bit to eager to demonize their opponents when it's not called for.
Late,
QSE32
Though I support your awareness and valid points... and don't like to be mistaken myself. I feel the only way to be factually true... is by trial and error.
The Truth is supported by facts, (Just the fact(s), ma'am) ;)
PS. Don't discount one's [M.O.]?
Are you claiming his interest is purely financial?
"if he thought Canada was driving down the American wage... "
"Our culture is superior. Our culture is superior because our religion is Christianity and that is the truth that makes men free."
[US Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, speech to the Christian Coalition, Sept. 1993, as reported in ADL Report, 1994]
He said "our culture." "our culture" to me sounds like American culture and America is made of of many colors. To assume he means white culture is about as reckless as me trying to convince someone that he means men only and is anti woman because he says "makes men free."
As far as his religious spoutings he's obviously pandering to his audience...remember the spanish were catholic/christian so his pandering doesn't really jive with the white supremacy theory. He's saying christians are great and there obviously more than just white people that are christians... so where do you go from there? P.S. yes i think his motives are strictly financial... most wealthy people's motives are.
Late,
QSE32
"--"our culture" to me sounds like American culture and America is made of of many colors."
Yes...it is "made of of many colors."
I believe it best... we drop this.
"Who are beneficiaries of the Court's protection? Members of various minorities including criminals, atheists, homosexuals, flag burners, illegal immigrants (including terrorists), convicts, and pornographers."[US Presidential candidate Pat Buchanan, Address to the Heritage Foundation, January 29, 1996]
Thanks 4 your time √
Stop making me defend Pat Buchanan! "various minorities" doesn't mean "ethnic people" as shown by his examples "criminals, atheists, homosexuals, flag burners, illegal immigrants (including terrorists), convicts, and pornographers." he forgot crackheads, prostitutes, farmers, lawyers, mail carriers, etc etc.
because, in point of fact all of those mentioned are minorities. all of the people mentioned in his example can be of any color.
granted you wanna make the case that he's an elitist asshole because he's lumping gays, flag burners, atheists, and pornographers in with criminals, then I've got your back but I've yet to see the "white supremacy" in him, within the examples you have specifically provided.
you wanna end our discussion that's fine, at least one person heard me.
good day sir/madam
Late,
QSE32
People on the left often become as wacko as Limbaugh when it comes to issues of race and immigration. Express any concern over open borders or H1B visas or the like, and someone will immediately label you a klansman or neo-nazi, which is why precisely why the only people willing to voice their opinion on these issues are RWers like Buchanan and Dobbs. They obviously don't care what the left thinks of them since they are conservative on other issues and will be attacked anyway. Most progressives won't speak out since they are scared of being labeled a racist.
"Feds accuse SC poultry plant of knowing managers hired scores of illegal immigrants" [South Carolina]
By: MEG KINNARD
Associated Press
07/16/09 2:30 PM EDT
[ http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/ap/... ]
Pat Buchanan has never surprised me with his racist agenda. But in recent times, he has really been taking it too far. Someone needs to get the courage to meet him face-to-face and tell him "Pat, please SHUT THE FUCK UP!!"
And the Republicans wonder why a growing number of intelligent and independent-minded people dislike them so passionately. Also, is it any wonder why so many bigots and crazies support them? After all, why not? The bigots and the crazies need people just like them to champion their causes. where else can they turn?
Nutcases like these make you wonder if the civil rights movement, and the push for integration were all in vain. Republicans should hang their heads in shame for this.
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