Buchanan: ‘The Country I Grew Up In’ Was ‘89 or 90 Percent White. I Like That Country’
Buchanan: ‘The Country I Grew Up In’ Was ‘89 or 90 Percent White. I Like That Country’
Pat Buchanan has been a constant presence on cable TV since the release of his book, State of Emergency. Last night on Hannity and Colmes, Buchanan explained that he’s motivated by his desire to keep the country overwhelmingly white.
Buchanan told Alan Colmes: “What I would like is — I’d like the country I grew up in. It was a good country. I lived in Washington, D.C., 400,000 black folks, 400,000 white folks, in a country 89 or 90 percent white. I like that country.” Watch it:
In his book, Buchanan supports the idea that whites are genetically superior to minorities.
Transcript:
COLMES: Would you prefer only white immigrants?
BUCHANAN: No. What I would like is — I’d like the country I grew up in. It was a good country. I lived in Washington, D.C., 400,000 black folks, 400,000 white folks, in a country 89 or 90 percent white. I like that country.
We didn’t vote to change it. In 1965, in the Immigration Act, Teddy Kennedy said we’re going to maintain immigration at about present levels and numbers, and we will not consciously alter the character…
(CROSSTALK)
COLMES: All right, but are you saying we should work to keep an 89 percent white country? Is that what you believe we should do?
BUCHANAN: No, no. What I believe is that people should not deliberately alter the character and composition of the country without consulting the American people. If you adopt two children, Alan, you’re going to go in and you’re going to decide who comes. Who should decide who comes and who doesn’t? First, illegals should not come. Secondarily, the American people should be consulted how many immigrants come, what are the criteria. And we haven’t been consulted.
COLMES: But it sounds like what you’re saying, though, that we should keep the status as it was back then, with the certain percentages of different ethnic groups, meaning 89 percent white, not changing that to any great extent. Is that pretty much what you’re saying?
BUCHANAN: That is what — 1964, John F. Kennedy’s book was reprinted. You know what he said? He said we should change — no higher immigration, and what we should do is — the quotas given to Germans, and Irish, and English, and others that are not used should be given to folks from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe. That’s what Kennedy said. I would go along with that. I supported that in a book.
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Buchanan is a #&^$%^@ racist, and a card-carrying member of the KKK.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:15 pmHerr Buchanan is proving that the more one talks the stupider one gets.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:16 pmUnadulterated, unashamed, pure racism.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:19 pmBuchanan sez:
Perhaps we should have paid the American Indians the same courtesy. As I recall, we didn’t.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:19 pmwhat hes doing is giving the right wing something to moan to each other about
August 31st, 2006 at 5:22 pm#1
yep he is,and has been real close with his buddy David Duke.
from http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/7874/
“Duke — a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan who has emerged as a big vote-getter in Louisiana — sent out a letter endorsing Buchanan. Weeks later, the press corps seemed to yawn when Sen. Phil Gramm complained that the Duke support was “a big factor” in Buchanan’s Louisiana win.
Links between Buchanan and Duke have involved the sincerest form of flattery. Several years ago, Buchanan said he felt tempted to “sue that dude for intellectual property theft.”
When the ex-Klansman was elected to the Louisiana legislature as a Republican in 1989, Buchanan argued that the national party had “overreacted” with excessive opposition to Duke’s candidacy.”
August 31st, 2006 at 5:25 pmThe reason Pat Buchanan had constant cable TV is because these so-called “Cable News†Channels are pro-racist. Pro-status quo, pro-money, and pro-white power. Further clarification?: grow more brain cells.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:26 pmRacist bastard!
Someone needs to take him out and teach him a few manners.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:27 pmIts getting boring.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:27 pmPat seems to be stuck in the 60s - the 1860s, that is. Unfortunately, so are a whole lot of other people, most of them the Bush/Cheney base..
August 31st, 2006 at 5:32 pmPat should have come to visit all of America he would have seen me and I’m an African American who is proud of my country so proud that my daughter is serving our military as did my son and father and husband. I guess those KKK supporters are being let out as King George spreads his racism. Don’t worry folks after Nov. this would be over and the rats will go back in the hole in wish they came from. Maybe Rummy and Pat could share a room at the nursing home.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:33 pmDoes anyone now doubt that Buchanan is a fascist - racist pig. i am ashamed that he and I are of the same tribe, Irish - Catholic.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:35 pmBuchanan belongs in this CCC ( modern day version of KKK ) picture perhaps right next to Sen George ‘Macaca’ Allen
http://www.dailykos.com/ storyonly/ 2006/ 8/ 31/ 133135/ 183
August 31st, 2006 at 5:39 pmKeep talking, Pat. In case anyone is left that didn’t know you are a KKK member, and racist of the worst kind, they will now. He’s a perfect specimen of the republican party.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:39 pmHeads Up! You want to talk to Mr. Buchanan himself and make him defend his odious actions? He is going to be on Coast to coast with George Nori tonight. you can look up where this is on your AM dial at the Coast to Coast website. Google it. You can find the numbers to call there as well.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:41 pm#6 Wayne; thanx for the link. Good article.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:43 pmHey, you’re all familiar with that operation Michael Jackson underwent to change his skin from black to white? Well, if there are procedures where pigmentation of human skin can be changed from black to white, then there must be one where skin can be converted from white to black using a similar procedure. So here’s the idea: lets kidnap Buchanan and give him a reverse-Michael Jackson operation….turn Buchanan into a black man! That way, every time he looks in the mirror he’ll see what he fears most: a minority. That’ll teach that racist bigot! We can so totally pull this off!
August 31st, 2006 at 5:47 pmjust another racist republican
August 31st, 2006 at 5:48 pmI was travelling through (hitch hiking) the southern states in the late sixties and I found the Blacks (I hate using that terminology because I don’t see colour or anything else but the person) much more friendlier and more understanding than anyone else. Being a Canadian I was readily accepted except by the whites because I associated with the Blacks.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:52 pmI don’t see colour, I don’t see religion, I don’t see nationality and I don’t see race.
All I see is the person and I will accept them or not by their attitude, personality or predjudism, nothing else.
I have a problem about putting people in nitches reguarding their race, religion, colour, age, height, amount of hair on their head, their education level, where they work, what they do, what they look like, what they weigh and everything else that discriminates anyone.
Pat would probably like to exterminate Blacks, Hispanics,Asians, Jews, Muslims, and Liberals. With those groups gone America would be a perfect place. Rush, Sean,Coulter, Beck and Malkin feel the same way. Only when Michelle is being led to the gallows will she realize that spewing her hate couldn’t save here from her white, christian, Consertvative “friends” .
August 31st, 2006 at 5:52 pmseems an odd tally for mr. B. let’s see, how old would he have to be to have lived in this country when the percentages are like what he said, or even reasonably close to the totals of whiteness?
around the civil war perhaps? he is well preserved.
remember, buchanan isn’t one of the crazies out there. he is at least rational. he is mean spirited at times, no doubt. but not crazy. he is a professional speech writer by trade. now that truth is no longer important, he still seemed unlikely to make statements this ridiculous.
I wonder what happened to his mind?
August 31st, 2006 at 5:54 pmI fully support LEGAL immigration. I also fully support getting rid of every single illegal immigrant in this country regardless of the cost. We are not a nation if we can’t protect our borders.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:55 pmPaleocon pig.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:58 pmPatty is just reflecting the good old boy rhetoric. See the forties, fifties were idyllic times. No racial strife, no reported mass crimes, rules for everything. The Ozzie and Harriet, Leave It to Beaver lie. This “good old days” lie ignores second class citizenry of women, persecution of blacks, and as far as the “more order, less crime” lie - crimes went under-reported, it’s not that Americans today are more criminal. Patty wants “Father Knows Best” and unfortunately those days never really existed and Pat’s Alzhiemers has gotten the better of him.
August 31st, 2006 at 5:59 pmWell for anyone to say such a thing as “PC” exists anymore, here’s your proof it doesn’t!
Just goes to show how far right Bush/Cheney and the radical republicans have taken this country since 9/11.
It amazes me that Buchanan has the nerve to make such unpatriotic and un-American claims.
Well, if there’s one good thing about how radical washintgon has become it’s this: at least the racists are coming out of the caves they hide in so we can remember them when payback time comes!
It begins in November, and it ends with the utter destruction of the GOP house of cards.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:00 pmI fully support LEGAL immigration. I also fully support getting rid of every single illegal immigrant in this country regardless of the cost. We are not a nation if we can’t protect our borders.
Comment by Roger_Roger
Good, since I am native american, I think you should start with yourself Roger. And buy a ticket for Pat Buchanan to Ireland as well. You were all illegal imigrants to begin with. hehe
Man I hate racist idiots.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:03 pmI wish I was in Dixie, hooray, hooray!
Them good old days are a-comin’ back! Get out the rope and yer white sheets, boys!
(for the satire-impaired, this was an example of satire)
August 31st, 2006 at 6:04 pmWhat!
August 31st, 2006 at 6:09 pmThere is no effort any more to disguise one’s racism and bigotry - there is no shame in harboring those thoughts; they feel emboldened to say the truth and defy anyone to criticize them. They have all the power.
As I said earlier today - we have taken giant steps backward.
Buchanan - wonder where his white hood is stored.
That’s right, Pat, we’re going to set the Way-back Machine, and magically transform the country back to 1950. Yep, any second now.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:09 pm#9 Juan I couldnt agree more. What’s the point? I feel like our democratic party has a nail through it’s right foot and is running in circles stuck on the corruption from the right. It’s no better poo-slinging than 1999. So it cuts both ways. If someone actually started talking about SOLUTIONS I think I would pee in my pants. Please SOMEONE talk about SOLUTIONS. This garbage is immaterial. If I dont start seeing talk about solutions I am going to start believing Kos, TP, and DU are just a bunch of plants. Please dont have me even entertain that thought. SOLUTIONS!!!! What’s the word?…uh Progress???
August 31st, 2006 at 6:10 pmTo Oldtree (21)
What has happen to Buchanan’s mind? You are joshing me! Nothing happen—that’s the real Buchanan you hearing! I’d kept taps on this goon for over 30 years. What cave have you been lost in? And as for him being crazy? He’s not: he’s a professional. In other words, a paid racist and hate monger. The daring of the status quo. Please, try to keep this in mind.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:11 pmI fully support LEGAL immigration. I also fully support getting rid of every single illegal immigrant in this country regardless of the cost. We are not a nation if we can’t protect our borders.
Comment by Roger_Roger
Roger Roger - you can’t get rid of every illegal. There are between 10-20 million illegal aliens in the US. The cost of catching, imprisioning, ajudicating, and transporting 20 million people is in the hundreds of billions. The US doesn’t have the money.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:13 pmTo Bones (32)
Yes, bones, the U.S. does have that much money to waste: Have you heard Iraq? And soon Iran?
August 31st, 2006 at 6:18 pmAlzenheimers seems to have caught him young in life.
What a moron.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:20 pmThe America I grew up with, 89 - 90 % of people had manners. I miss that America…
August 31st, 2006 at 6:21 pmThe America I grew up with, 89 - 90 % of people had manners. I miss that America…Comment by unbelievable — August 31, 2006 @ 6:21 pm
When was that?
August 31st, 2006 at 6:24 pmLike pretty much everything Pat says, I’m sure it sounds better in the original German.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:24 pmYou all might be happy to know that the youngest generation in whitebread Georgia is significantly less racist than their parents. I don’t have black-white issues in my classes. Pat is a dying breed.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:24 pmWhen was that?
Comment by bones — August 31, 2006 @ 6:24 pm
Seventies. Must’ve been all the drugs and free loving :)
August 31st, 2006 at 6:25 pmHe wants it to be “just like it was when he was growing up.” Doesn’t everyone? But wait a minute… no one consulted the natives of the American continent about immigration from Europe!!!
August 31st, 2006 at 6:28 pmthe America I grew up in, 89-90% of people didn’t have to pay 50% of their income simply to have a roof over their heads.
89-90% lived above the poverty level.
89-90% had a better standard of living than their parents’ generation.
The list goes on and on.
Pat Buchanan is vile. Period.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:32 pmThis guy is simply blowing my mind. A couple of days ago I wrote that Buchanan is trying to sink the neoconservatives that he believes are wrecking our foriegn policy by putting an ugly racist face on the conservative movement in general.. this just seems to be more proof of that.
In other words, this level of racist garbage is so out of context in modern times, that I have to make up conspiracy theories in order to justify Buchanan’s words. I feel totally bat shit crazy writing about this little theory of mine, but it’s the only thing that makes any sense given that this kind of racism has been rejected by America for years.
But if I’m wrong, I guess we can chalk up another horrifying nu-institution for the right wing of this country. First ‘torture’, then ‘wiretapping and spying’, and now we have ‘racism’. Give this kind of bullshit another couple of years and conservatives won’t be able to imagine a coherant society without these nu-institutions.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:34 pmTimes change the world revoles. Maybe someday whites Will be the minority in America, so?
August 31st, 2006 at 6:34 pmThis is the fundamental problem with conservative thinking, “I don’t want things to change.”
They are afraid of change. The very thought of traveling down a street where the faces looking back at them aren’t the same color as theirs is terriffying. The thought that another person may have a different idea about god gives them chills. They live in fear and want everyone to be afraid. I refuse.
This is the fundamental problem with conservative thinking, “I don’t want things to change.â€
Comment by ckerst — August 31, 2006 @ 6:34 pm
You mean ‘evolve’? :)
August 31st, 2006 at 6:37 pmI fully support LEGAL immigration.
Comment by Roger_Roger — August 31, 2006 @ 5:55 pm
I think we all do. But Buchanan’s problem is not legal immigration, but the type of legal migrants he wants to screen for.
It is very interesting to me he doesn’t even mention educational background, only ethnicity -as if skin color made a person and not their accomplishments. Presumably Buchanan rather see poor, uneducated white Europeans migrating to the US rather than well educated, oh say, Philippinos.
I also fully support getting rid of every single illegal immigrant in this country regardless of the cost.
It would be nice if the people in charge actually started enforcing the law instead of ignoring it. The problem has grown so large and unmanageable because illegal immigration benefits employers who get the same work done for a lot less money, no benefits or insurance, and a compliant worforce. And we all know how money talks. Ask Duke Cunningham.
We are not a nation if we can’t protect our borders.
So maybe now you can begin to understand how Iraqis feel about gun-carrying foreigners in their country.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:38 pmRacism in this country was the work of Southern Plantation owners who feared the Irish Immigrants (indentured servants) would form a coalition with the African slaves and revolt against them. So, they instead treated the Irish better to generate a conflict between the two groups of people, and attributed it to skin color. Then, instead of noticing the fat greedy and immoral pigs for whom they were toiling, the Irish and the Africans got caught up in the wrong issue… skin color. And while they fought against one another, the Plantation owners mistreated them both.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:42 pmThis racism has nothing to do with being afraid. This is simply how conservative beliefs work: you need certain boundries, rules, and seperations in order for society to remain sane. These boundries are ‘institutions.’ Marriage is an institution, and conservatives firmy believe that if gays are allowed to marry, the institution of marriage will crumble as it loses its meaning, and so will society, since so much of our culture is based on that institution.
And as I’ve already stated, torture and spying are becoming conservative institutions. They feel that if muslim middle easterners aren’t being tortured for information, then the terrorists will be at our door. Same for warrentless wiretapping– if unlimited spying isn’t allowed, it will be the death of all of us at a strange unknown enemy. And now we have racism showing its face again— and if this idea is allowed to spead, white supremicist groups will begin to believe that American society cannot function unless whites are dominating it. Just read Buchanan’s words– this idea is spread thick throughout every word of his that ends up in public. It’s becoming another institutionalized belief about how American society works
August 31st, 2006 at 6:43 pmSo maybe now you can begin to understand how Iraqis feel about gun-carrying foreigners in their country.
Comment by Gregor Samsa — August 31, 2006 @ 6:38 pm
You kicked butt with that one.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:45 pmSo maybe now you can begin to understand how Iraqis feel about gun-carrying foreigners in their country.
Comment by Gregor Samsa — August 31, 2006 @ 6:38 pm
Bears repeating! Well said.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:45 pmBut his brand of lunacy shouldn’t let us miss Hannity’s own madness on his radio show. In case anyone missed it, go here. Essentially he called for suicide bombers to get rid of members of our government. Any Muslim cleric speaking those words in the street would be enjoying the weather in Cuba within hours.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:45 pmThe only time I can think of when when the country was 90% white was when African Americans and Natives weren’t considered people, but subhuman or property. . .
Buchanan seems to be trying to relive his golden memories of the dixiecrat strategy - very, very sad. . . .
August 31st, 2006 at 6:48 pmhe should move to australia, then. it’s more than 90% white here. and i’ll bet he’d LOVE the immigration policies of the current government.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:48 pmLooks like Canada doesn’t want American immigrants coming into their country:
Canada to arm border guards along U.S. border
TORONTO, Canada (AP) — Canada will arm its border guards starting in 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
Canada has unarmed guards along its 4,000-mile (6,435-kilometer) border with the United States, but Canada’s will now be armed, as their U.S. counterparts are.
The government plans to arm and train its 4,500 border agents over the next 10 years. Harper said some will be armed starting in September 2007 and about 150 will receive guns by the end of March 2008.
The Canadian side of the U.S.-Canada border is monitored by the Canada Border Services Agency. They have been demanding guns to help them deal with cross-border criminal activity.
http://www.cnn.com/ 2006/ WORLD/ americas/ 08/ 31/ canada.border.ap/ index.html
August 31st, 2006 at 6:49 pmAmerica has never been 89-90% white – just the portion that was allowed to vote. If I recall back when Pat was a kid Greeks and Italians weren’t considered white.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:51 pmThe South is appropriately named the Bible Belt. Point to Judaism in that equation…
Read Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States.” It gives you the side of our history that not only makes sense, but explains a lot in the process…
August 31st, 2006 at 6:52 pmTwo beautiful conservative cliches in one go!
1. The old days were better
2. Our country used to be full of white people, and there were almost no people of any other race/culture
August 31st, 2006 at 6:52 pmand i’ll bet he’d LOVE the immigration policies of the current government.
Comment by progressaurus rex — August 31, 2006 @ 6:48 pm
How are those, aussie buddy? Hows the relation with the natives in the land down under?
August 31st, 2006 at 6:53 pmPat, meet your friend, Bill the Butcher.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:54 pmRacism is still alive and well in America unfortunately.
August 31st, 2006 at 6:55 pmI’m guessing the immigration policies aren’t that hot there in Australia?
Am I right? ;)
Oh well, there goes the escape route to Australia. Oh, and Canada, too. (thanks for the grim news, Unbelievable!)
How about New Zealand???
August 31st, 2006 at 6:56 pmHow about New Zealand???
Comment by trueblue — August 31, 2006 @ 6:56 pm
I’d guess that you should go before the global population gets much bigger and as a result, more rich white people like Buchanan flee to those places and make them unaffordable (and unenjoyable) for anyone else…
August 31st, 2006 at 6:59 pmOk, as a Brit I’d like to ask the following question:
We have our own ‘immigration debate’. It is dominated almost exclusively by tabloid claims about ‘immigrants stealing our jobs’ and so on. Either way, immigrants are not the most popular people in Britain at the moment.
But what puzzles me is that while our tabloids seem to frame this debate in terms of national groupings, the American press frames it in broader terms, in terms of colours, almost. I’m not saying one is better than the other- they are equally loathsome. The question is: why? We have armies of invading Poles, or alternatively we will be swamped by Romanians, whereas you have blacks and hispanics.
Of course, I’m not suggesting that the British press never use broad racial terms, or that the American press never use national categories. But why is there this division? Is it anything to do with America’s history of multiculturalism [provided you’re not Indian]?
August 31st, 2006 at 7:00 pmHey, at least he’s being honest, right? I mean, he’s a real dick… but an honest one!
August 31st, 2006 at 7:01 pmI hope Pat needs a heart transplant soon and the donor is black.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:02 pmWhat I would like is — I’d like the country I grew up in. It was a good country. I lived in Washington, D.C., 400,000 black folks, 400,000 white folks
Wait a minute. He liked where he lived and it was a 50-50 split…
Just like the neocons to contradict themselves in the same freaking sentance… And why not, the Bible does it in the first two pages of Genesis…
August 31st, 2006 at 7:03 pmHi Unbelievable!
How’s the new job?
As if I could afford NZ!
I can’t afford much of anything right now, as a matter of fact!
I’m one of Bush’s “unwashed”
August 31st, 2006 at 7:04 pmHe’s right about one thing. We The People have “no representation”. If people wake up, or if there is a great awakening of “The People” to protect “their rights as citizens”, it’s possible we could survive as a nation.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:06 pmBut why is there this division? Is it anything to do with America’s history of multiculturalism [provided you’re not Indian]?
Comment by Prince Myshkin — August 31, 2006 @ 7:00 pm
Have you ever seen “Bowling for Columbine’ by Micheal Moore? He addresses this issue. Here we fear black people because they’ve been stereotyped as the boogeymen who will steal your car, break into your house, kidnap your child and rape your wife. It’s been going on since the Plantation Owners in the South created the conflict based on skin color, and has been an effective stereotype on the weak-minded and ignorant ever since.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:06 pm74,
Is there any relationship between the right wing conservative obsession with irrational random violence, deranged patriarchs and god, and the old testament obsession with exactly the same?
Without wishing to generalise too much, perhaps there are certain underlying character traits that emerge under certain material circumstances?
August 31st, 2006 at 7:08 pmHI trueblue,
Mostly going well. How about you? How’s school?
August 31st, 2006 at 7:08 pmAs a moderate conservative, I categorically reject Pat Buchanan’s views and philosphy. He is a disgrace to the conservative cause and a disgrace to his fellow American citizens.
The conservative Brethren I talk to pretty much everyday from a good cross section of everyday folks, find Buchanan, Coulter and that ilk repulsive and wish they would fade from the scene.
I’m not naive enough to think other conservatives don’t buy into their invective tone..but I and the people with whom I associate repudiate that tone.
richb
August 31st, 2006 at 7:09 pm#81 – That’s really quite progressive and some might say liberal of you :-)
August 31st, 2006 at 7:11 pmWithout wishing to generalise too much, perhaps there are certain underlying character traits that emerge under certain material circumstances?
Comment by Prince Myshkin — August 31, 2006 @ 7:08 pm
I read this amazing book titled “Natural Atheism” by Dr. David Eller, a Cultural Anthropologist. He basically explained that because our brains have evolved to such large capacity, we are born prior to its final development. As a result, we have 5-6 year period after our birth where our brain is developing in conjunction with our cultural indocrination. Basically this means that the culture you are exposed to early in life sets your view of the world until and unless YOU decide to question it and change it - which he says is extremely difficult.
I am having my students view different styles of architecture from different parts of the world. Very frequently one or two will say “That’s crazy!” They are generally wearing a “jesus loves me” t-shirt…
August 31st, 2006 at 7:13 pmHey, let him spout his self-indulgent nonsense–it’ll help solidify a Democratic majority. Let’s send him down to campaign for George Allen in Virginia. Bring it on, Pat!
August 31st, 2006 at 7:15 pmWhat if Buchanan had said this:
“Because Europeans share a common history on key determinants of our national culture, such as Judeo-Christian religious thought and values, the Enlightenment, democracy, limited, secular governent and the primacy of individual freedom, and because history has demonstrated the unfortunate tendency of people from different ethnic backgrounds to band together and create a type of Balkan, tribalist conflict such as we see played out most overtly by black, Hispanic and Asian (as well as white) gangs on our streets and in our schools and prisons, but which simmers below the surface in all areas of our society and in European societies with large numbers of immigrants, if we are going to continue to have large-scale immigration, I think the American national interest in maintaining a cohesive society is best served by giving priority to immigrants from European countries, who, to put it bluntly, will generally tend to look and think like the majority of the people who are already here, which will in turn minimize the risk of significant social conflict in the future. This isn’t racism, just common sense.”
I am politically a far-left progressive, but I also have children who deal daily with Hispanic gangs in their junior high school, and would have a hard time disagreeing with the above statement. I would be interested in specific refutations of it, rather than name-calling, or conclusions in place of reasons.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:15 pm78,
I haven’t seen Bowling for Columbine- I read Stupid White Men, but thought the standard of journalism fairly poor. But I agree with your fundamental point: that conservative Americans tend to view the world according to colours rather than nationalities. I mean, African Americans are all African Americans, right? At least according to that rather simplistic view! But is there much distinction between either Europeans or Hispanics of different ethnic origins in the American press? Sure, there is St Patrick’s day and so on, but does that translate to any sort of deeper difference?
August 31st, 2006 at 7:15 pmIt isn’t that difficult to access the Bureau of the Census data. Looking up the 16th Federal Census (1940) which accounts for information provided in 1939-1940 (Pat was born in Washington DC in 1938), one finds that DC, Maryland, and Virginia had extraordinarily high numbers of negro citizens (they counted negros and mulattos as negros, and all other races were lumped together); Maryland shows 17% and Virginia at 24%, whilst DC came in at a whopping 54%. Maybe he really did mean that he liked growing up in a 50/50 society, since that is essentially what he did.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:18 pm81,
Thank you, richb. I don’t think anyone has (too much) of a problem with conservatives in general. It’s when they tend towards hyperbole rather than serious debate, and when they try and defend the likes of ‘mad dog’ Coulter. Can’t every person of every political stripe (excluding a few neo-Nazis) acknowledge that Ann Coulter is a useless cretin and agree to ignore her?
August 31st, 2006 at 7:18 pmdesk jockey,
that percentage is very wrong. most jews at that time were merchants, not plantation owners (who were old, established anglo families, for the most part). in other countries like suriname, jews were known to be plantation owners to a larger degree, but still did not comprise the majority of them.
perhaps the largest group of slave-trading jews in america were to be found in rhode island, which in the 18th century was known as the “capital of North American slave trade” — but even there, jews comprised less than 5% of the slave traders, according to what records are available.
anti-semitism, which has been evidenced since at least the 2nd century bce, plays no small role in this. america was a safer place to be for jews than europe (many jewish immigrants were fleeing oppression in germany, starting in the 1820s), but it didn’t mean they were always accepted.
also, given the volatile nature of the subject, i would suspect it would be hard to find any good statistics. but given the entire population of jews in america was about 150,000 at that time (less than .5% of the population of the country), i’d have to say that figure is wildly off the mark.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:22 pmBut is there much distinction between either Europeans or Hispanics of different ethnic origins in the American press? Sure, there is St Patrick’s day and so on, but does that translate to any sort of deeper difference?
Comment by Prince Myshkin — August 31, 2006 @ 7:15 pm
Agreed that Michael Moore will never be nominated as anyone’s Poet Laureate, and we know this about him. What’s so great about Michael is his ability to point to the truth with facts. He’s brilliant when it comes to staing the obvious (as we know, commen sense ain’t so common).
It really is a skin color issue here. Blacks with the darkest skin are most feared by the white Supremicists (much like Hitler with his Aryan - blue-eyed blonde mentality), and it descends down until you are a fair-skinned, blue-eyed, blonde. I would say it partly has to do with religion - that dark skinned people from pagan origin are the hallmark of the stereotype. But for themost part, it’s just become standard operating procedure to judge by skin color.
As far as distinctions among Europeans - well, again, skin color is a factor. Therefore good would be Scandinavia, British, Irish, German, and Swiss. As you move south in Europe and the skin gets darker, you get less favorable feelings about French, Spanish, Italian and Greeks. It’s a minor scale in comparision to their hated for blacks and Mexicans though.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:25 pmProvocatour it’s french! Learn how to spell it!
Comment by unbelieveble — August 31, 2006 @ 7:24 pm
I did not write this!
Santo,
The last person who impersonated me got banned for this. I know you are already banned, but don’t be a bigger jerk than you already are.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:28 pmSo immigrants are OK as long as they are white? Absolutely racist!
August 31st, 2006 at 7:28 pm84,
Perhaps the ‘Jesus loves me’ t-shirt is not a coincidence…
I think we can say that, generally speaking, each person views the world through the prism of their cultural background. I don’t think that is a revolutionary idea- it has been around a few thousand years at least. Saying that, though, I do come from a secular/humanist environment! I was christened, but I suspect that was for the sake of social respectibility. Religion was always such a small part of my life I never considered getting confirmed, and it surprised me when a few of my friends did.
And besides, didn’t someone say ‘it is not our consciousness that determines our material conditions, but our material conditions that determine our consciousness’? Seems to me to be the exact truth. Although what Marx means in that statement by consciousness I’m not entirely sure…
I don’t know where in America you live, but the cultural indoctrination must be pretty intense. I read somewhere or other that 75% of Harvard students think it unnecessary to learn a foreign language. The thinking, it seems is ‘if everyone speaks English, why would I need anything else’, which perhaps illustrates the closedmindedness more than anything else.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:29 pm94. It might be a good idea when correcting someone’s spelling if you spell it correctly yourself, or else you look a little foolish. The word is “provocateur”
August 31st, 2006 at 7:33 pmAh, these “moderate conservatives, 81,? Your either “with us ‘citizens’, or with them ‘asshole publicans’ “. No other choice, read the ballot.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:35 pmI would be interested in specific refutations of it, rather than name-calling, or conclusions in place of reasons.
Comment by Tom S. — August 31, 2006 @ 7:15 pm
I don’t want to be long-winded, so let me start by saying that conflating race with culture is ridiculous.
Hispanic gangs, or any other gangs for that matter, have a socio-economic component. As new comers, many find themselves at the bottom of the earning scale. Do I need to remind you how some European immigrants also formed gangs? Have you ever heard of the cossa nostra, or the Russian mafia? So your point that Hispanics are undesirable because they form gangs is bunk.
Also, Hispanics live in countries that are culturally European -as former Spanish colonies. They are primarily Catholic, and their countries are secular. Many Hispanics are also of European ancestry, and most are of mixed ancestry. Unless, that is, you don’t consider Spain an European country. So your second point about only allowing people who are “heirs” of the European cultural heritage is also bunk.
As for people of Asian descent, whose ancestors came from countries that are not Christian, Caucasian, or culturally European -as I said before, culture and race are two very different things. You do not inherit your culture from your parents, you learn it. Eventually, second, third generation American-born Asians do assimilate. Insisting otherwise is nonsense. And bunk.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:36 pmummm,
immigration in australia…
well thankfully, members of the pm’s party crossed the aisle recently to oppose the newest immigration “reforms” — which would have turned back or detained asylum seekers and political dissidents. we already have our own internment camps here, where entire families of asylum seekers are held without charges for no other crime than seeking a better life — for years. this includes children of all ages.
it pisses me off to think about it.
new zealand is a bit easier, and the gov’t there is absolutely more progressive than australia’s is (right now). nz really isn’t that expensive, either (have been there twice this year as i travel there for work sometimes).
basically, though, if you had enough money, or were in a profession that is needed here or in nz (nurses, mining, specialized doctors), you could get in. also, being a permanent resident of either country allows you to live and work in the other.
there’s always the marriage route also…
heh. sorry, ladies, i’m already taken.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:37 pmIf Fatass moved to Alaska, not only would he prefer the ethnic makeup, as long as he could handle seeing the occasional Inuit, but with his Polar Bear-like blubber he would be comfortable year-round. No?
August 31st, 2006 at 7:38 pmyes, sandy, but unbelievABLE didn’t write that comment.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:41 pmshe’s got a childish stalker troll, who should be banned immediately.
Perhaps the ‘Jesus loves me’ t-shirt is not a coincidence…
Definitely agreed.
I think we can say that, generally speaking, each person views the world through the prism of their cultural background. I don’t think that is a revolutionary idea- it has been around a few thousand years at least.
Maybe not in your part of the world, but here, it is quite revolutionary to know that there are many ways to think or feel and none of them are any more valid than any other. Here, many people think we are right and everyone else just is waiting to be converted. Because ‘god’ is on our side. Pretty arrogant, huh?
Saying that, though, I do come from a secular/humanist environment!
I wish. I had the devout Christian parents who went to Catholic school. I suspect my father was an Agnostic, but was too afraid to say so.
our material conditions, but our material conditions that determine our consciousness’? Seems to me to be the exact truth. Although what Marx means in that statement by consciousness I’m not entirely sure…
Maybe he meant that we view our world through the extrenal and not so much in terms of the internal. We value the tangible and not the intangible. It’s easy to measure how many cars or factories or people you own. Not so easy to measure the character of a man…
I don’t know where in America you live, but the cultural indoctrination must be pretty intense. I read somewhere or other that 75% of Harvard students think it unnecessary to learn a foreign language. The thinking, it seems is ‘if everyone speaks English, why would I need anything else’, which perhaps illustrates the closedmindedness more than anything else.
Comment by Prince Myshkin — August 31, 2006 @ 7:29 pm
I was born in new Jersey, but moved to Georgia at 6.
It is definitely the culture here to think that the American Way is THE Way. Not all of us subscribe to that nonsense, but we are the minority, and why we hang out here with one another lamenting the impending fate of our nation as a result of bad foreign policies, and ignorant arrogance (or arrogant ignorance perhaps).
Harvard has its own culture. My ex graduated from there. There’s a level of thinking they have to learn a forgeign language to be able to conquer the world… It’s not as liberal there as they claim. It’s another form of a ‘good ol’ boy’ network that opens door for those who are elite enoug to gain admittance. Just look at George Bush. It’s his alma mater. And from what I’ve heard, and seen, Harvard is greatly over-rated (again - see Bush).
August 31st, 2006 at 7:41 pmSadly, I think Buchanan reveals in that one statement the unspoken but grand unifying principal of the Republican Party: a bucolic (but false) image from their childhood, a grossly naive but potent memory that impels them to recreate the conditions of their supposedly idyllic youth — if racism was a condition of that “memory mirage” where no or few black faces existed, by God, they’ll bring it back and try to rationalize it as something else.
Many times when I’ve spoken to social conservatives they eventually reveal some desire to get back to a false memory of the past — an unreal memory formed from an innocent child’s mind — it’s the comfort of that innocence they actually seek but they confuse the feelings associated with that innocence with the conditions of the time. They fail to acknowledge the disconnect between their idealized memories and the reality. Like some twisted Twilight Zone episode (remember “Kick the Can” or “Next Stop Willoughby”?) they think they can recapture that feeling by recreating the socio-political conditions of their youth. It’s the pretzel logic that says: I was happy as a child. Segregation was a component of my happy childhood. Therefore, segregation will make me happy again.
It’s also the same phenomena that makes Disneyland’s sanitized recreations of the past so appealing to conservatives.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:42 pm#50 -
August 31st, 2006 at 7:47 pmWell said. I’ve been wondering why Buchannites are so hostile to illegal immigration. You’d think they’d like all those “brownies” from south of the border doing all the menial jobs so decent white folks don’t have to (like blacks in the segregation days of the 30’s and 40’s). But I think you’re right, they can’t have them trying to annex the southwest U.S. back to Mexico, they can’t have us all speaking spanglish, it would be the end of America civilization. Like Steve Martin said, “man those French people have a different word for everything!” Although he’s vile, perhaps he can be a useful idiot for our side. There are still large numbers of moderate republicans who are economically pretty conservative, but socially more liberal, and they’re finding it increasingly more difficult to stay in the party. I say more coverage of Pat! Put that ugly racist face on the Republican party with less than 70 days to elections. Same for Bush, the more he tries to keep Iraq and the war on terror tied together, the more ridiculous he looks. Scare the living daylights out of any moderate or independent who’s even considering voting Republican.
sorry for the australia tie-in again, arctic (and all here) — but this is EXACTLY what’s behind what is happening in australia as well. the prime minister, john howard, is a grand sympathizer of the “good old days”, as a child of the 50s himself.
one simple phrase for you dinosaurs (and no the irony is not lost, given my screen name):
ADAPT OR DIE.
we didn’t survive this whole time as a species by yearning for the past. conservatism shouldn’t mean anti-progressionalism.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:47 pmWhat is this Pat’s last rant? Put a fork in it, its done.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:49 pmno, desk jockey,
August 31st, 2006 at 7:49 pmbut unbelievable has one particular troll that occasionally posts as her (and others), which violates the terms of use of this site.
Santo,
We know it’s you. It doesn’t matter how many names you post under, we recognize you. We always recognize you. And you even admit it with your exaggerated denials. Now, stop immitating other people, including me. No one likes that.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:50 pmSanto/Dr Joyce/Sandy/Lisa Bouvier/digos/Little Nikita/desk jockey,
Knock it off. It’s not funny and you are clogging the thread with your gibberish. And it wouldn’t be the first time.
I don’t care for your obsession. I am going to go out on a limb and say nobody else does, either.
Stop trolling.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:51 pmthe same troll also posted here as “dr joyce brother” and “lisa bouvier”
i suspect i might get the treatment as well, given this troll is obviously an infantile button-pusher.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:52 pmWell, given that scientist have well-established the fact that we all came from Africa in the first place, we’re each just a variation on a theme. To despise somebody because they look different (or act differently because of subcultural conditioning) is to despise one’s brother, sister, mother or father. And that’s not hippy-dippy talk: that’s science and reason.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:52 pmADAPT OR DIE.
Comment by progressaurus rex — August 31, 2006 @ 7:47 pm
And, of course, they reject Evolution :)
The other person immitating me was banned. Judd sent me an email. This time it is Santo posting as me. Probably because I am ignoring him. Just like the kids in my classes who act out - they aren’t getting enough attention at home… my guess is neither is he :)
August 31st, 2006 at 7:53 pmGreat point brian mac! We are, after all, primates that share 96.4% ofour DNA with chimpanzees…
August 31st, 2006 at 7:55 pmliving in another country, i do occasionally have people ask me, “is it true that half of americans don’t believe evolution?”
my usual reply: “don’t let it happen here. root out your fundamentalists — of whatever variety — and make pariahs of them”.
August 31st, 2006 at 7:56 pmmy usual reply: “don’t let it happen here. root out your fundamentalists — of whatever variety — and make pariahs of themâ€.
Comment by progressaurus rex — August 31, 2006 @ 7:56 pm
Sage advice! I hope they take it!
August 31st, 2006 at 7:57 pmThat country?
I think he’s talkin about Alabama.
:P
August 31st, 2006 at 8:01 pmThe only thing I’d like to see applied to Ann Coulter is a restraining order.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:03 pmyes, well there’s a party that’s gaining popularity here called the “family first” party.
you can guess what that’s about. it’s pretty much run straight out of a church here (the hillsong church — the advent of the australian megachurch).
they vote in a coalition with the ruling “liberal” party, which is nothing of the sort. they may as well be called the lie-beral party. the progressives here are labor and the greens — and you’ll notice if you read news reports about australian politics, the “liberals” are almost always referred to as the “conservative ruling party” or “conservative majority party”.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:03 pm110,
I once read the amusing comment that conservativism ‘was trying to resurrect the mystical time when ones grandfather was young’. I think that covers a lot of the more ideological and irrational areas of conservatism- father figures and so on. Also mixed up in there I think is fear of the Other, and an inability to cope with the potential uncertainties of the future. Although that is best expressed in fascist propoganda- an outright myth about ‘the way things were’ combined witha ‘the present wouldn’t be so bad, if it wasn’t for those damn [insert irrational hate figure here]’.
109,
My mother is an agnostic- a Christian for the sake of form. Which translates to: never goes to church, never prays, never sings hymns, but, you know, just in case… At the risk of seeming overly cynical I’d say she illustrates the social nature of mass religion perfectly. There is nothing subjective about her belief.
Regarding the Marx comment- I find it quite difficult. My (rather preliminary) reading is that the terms in which we understand ourselves are determined- which is not to say that our selves are determined, but rather the categories through which our selves play out… or something like that!
I would love to know what Harvard is really like. The only person I know who went there went to study statistical analysis in the summer holidays. So he couldn’t really ‘gauge the political compass’ of the university itself. I know that the Uk equivalent, Oxford and Cambridge, deliberately tried to get rid of the ‘old school tie’ influences. Although it doesn’t seem to have been too successful…
but any university that not only lets bush, but also lets him graduate, can’t be that great!
By the way, what is it you teach your pupils?
August 31st, 2006 at 8:04 pmHey, maybe Rush could eat Ann Coulter. Granted , it probably wouldn’t satisfy his hunger to eat that stick-like abomination. But it would satisfy the Hell out of me.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:04 pmWe need to start a movement to get Pat Buchanan fired from MSNBC, he doesn’t deserve to be a commentator for a network.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:12 pmHey, maybe Rush could eat Ann Coulter. Granted , it probably wouldn’t satisfy his hunger to eat that stick-like abomination. But it would satisfy the Hell out of me.
Comment by Al — August 31, 2006 @ 8:04 pm
Why Al, do you like to watch?
August 31st, 2006 at 8:12 pmYes, pure racism! Is tis the reicht? Seem so.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:12 pmPat Buchanan comes across in a relatively harmless way. The people who can espouse clearly biased ideas and can do so in a non-threatening manner are especially to be feared. It is obvious that some people are foaming-at-the-mouth racists; Buchanan is much more subtle.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:14 pmI bet Ann C-hole-ter would taste like shit with bones.
-GSD
August 31st, 2006 at 8:17 pmBy the way, what is it you teach your pupils?
Comment by Prince Myshkin — August 31, 2006 @ 8:04 pm
I think your analysis of conservatism is ’spot on’. They don’t seem to have adequate coping skills so they invent fairytales to pacify their fears. And, of course it doesn’t do for everyone to be equal, because you simply cannot assuage your personal insecurities unless someone else is ‘evil’, therefore making you ‘blessed’ (I detest that word!). And well, skin color is easy to point out. I mean an Atheist or gay could lie to save themselves. But darkies can’t hide that fact…
I know several people now who pretend to be Christian but who are Agnostic. I can’t imagine how you could keep a marriage together after telling your devout spouse that the whole notion of god is a bit too absurd to swallow.
Europe has most definitely been moving away from religious zealotry in favor of scientific evidence. It’s why I would bet, in nearly every instance, on a European teenager being able to beat any of our elected officials in a debate. The majority of the least ignorant people on this site are Europeans. It’s embarrassing when you guys know more about American history and politics than most conservatives….
As for Marx, I think there’s something to be said for what gets lost in translation. I don’t always know what he’s driving toward. And I’m not the least bit superstitious about Communism.
I’d like to think I teach them (high school juniors and seniors) how to think like rational folks - but the official titles of my classes are Architecture I and Architecture II. My second year teaching, first at teaching the subject (I used to be an architect). We’re endling week 5 and I have begun to notice some of the kids getting the idea of cause and effect, supporting your opinion with facts, and that there isn’t necessarily a ‘right’ answer. I’m subversive, and oddly enough, it’s what the kids seem to like most about me :).
August 31st, 2006 at 8:18 pm123,
Why are the nutcases to be feared? They are the ones that are most easily exposed as liars and idiots. Who takes any notice of David Duke? The ones I fear are the likes of Buchanan; he sounds like a ‘concerned citizen’ and on that basis could influence the more moderate sections of the population, the ones who say ‘I’m not a racist, but…’
August 31st, 2006 at 8:19 pmthe irony is that buchanan is a HUGE detractor of the iraq war, and for all the right reasons.
jeez, i was almost starting to be able to tolerate pat buchanan.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:21 pmbay buchanan, however, is a completely different story — total bog harpy.
Gotta run for now…. As always, nice to have rational conversations without the hate-spewing trolls like MA around.
Have a nice evening all! Even you Santo…
August 31st, 2006 at 8:22 pmI am appalled that people express such opinions - and on NATIONAL television! Not with their drunken buddies in a bar, not in the privacy of their own homes, but on national television, for all to hear!
What the hell has happened to decency in the country? Shame on you, Pat Buchanan! For shame!
August 31st, 2006 at 8:27 pmI remember growing up in a country in which 89-90% of the country was sane. I like that country, too.
You know, I wasn’t planning on writing or posting anything today. I was going to take the night off but then David “Bobo” Brooks had to go and open his cock hole and go off on the Plame outing case. D r i f t g l a s s is MIA so…
…into the breach I had to go, my friends. Welcome to the second installment of the Cloven Hoof and Mouth Series.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:37 pmGregor,
You make good points. Let me respond.
While Mexicans do descend in part from Spanish colonists, they are very different culturally from modern Spanish citizens. They are the product of centuries of living under a repressive, tyrannical, violent and corrupt government, and this legacy was not undone by the Mexican Revolution. Gangs are a natural response for self-protection in such an environment, but that doesn’t mean that the U.S. has to accept them. There are many other non-economic cultural differences between Americans of European ancestry and Mexican immigrants that result from their different societal histories. If you can’t agree on at least this, there is no point having this discussion.
Secondly, Italy and Russia are somewhat outside the classical ‘European democracy’ model I envision. Both are corrupt quasi-democracies with a long history of repressive, authoritarian government. Hence the somewhat lower socio-economic level and the presence of entrenched international criminal gangs that you do not find in Germany, England, France, Holland, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, Portugal, etc. With the possible exception of Poland, I would place ex-Communist states such as Albania, Serbia & Montenegro, etc. in the same category as Italy and Russia, though I think an immigrant from any of these countries would tend to assimilate (i.e., the immigrant and his or her descendants would tend to reach the same educational and economic level and participate in civil society to the same degree as ‘European’ Americans) much more quickly and smoothly than an immigrant from, say, Central America.
But beyond this somewhat arid historical debate, let me ask you a simple but provocative question — would you rather learn that a family from Sweden or a family from Haiti or El Salvador is moving next door? If you say you wouldn’t care, I assert (assuming you are from European ancestry) that you’re lying, maybe even to yourself. And it doesn’t matter if your criteria are ethnic or economic. the fact is that you would not only prefer to live next to the Swedes, but you would also be more likely to connect with them personally. It’s not PC, but life often isn’t. We all hate stereotyping, but we don’t like to acknowledge that stereotypes exist for a reason. Buchanan just has the balls to admit publicly what a lot of white Americans, both liberal and conservative, think but are afraid to say.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:44 pm42 Years and he finally gives up ONE POINT to JFK.
amazing. I lived to see it.
waste of skin.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:47 pmEver notice how you never seem to see Pat Buchanan and Bay Buchanan in the same place at the same time????
August 31st, 2006 at 8:51 pmwell, tom s., as a european-descended american, all i get out of your comment is that you appear to have limited experience with people from other cultures. your veiled attempts to paint with a wide brush are pretty weak.
having been neighbors with hispanics, europeans, asians, africans and white anglos, i can honestly say it still comes down to the individuals. generally i’ve found when you’re nice to your neighbors, they’re nice back to you.
and some of the biggest assholes of the lot have been the white anglos.
August 31st, 2006 at 8:55 pmI think Pat Buchanan rocks! He is refreshingly, politically incorrect. In other words, he is honest
August 31st, 2006 at 8:55 pmbillie,
August 31st, 2006 at 9:00 pmclaiming america was ever 89-90% white (in pat buchanan’s lifetime) is not honest, unless of course you’d still like to apply the 3/5ths rule.
Alan Colmes is such a wus. Any other journalist would have nailed him for that.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:03 pmHow and why does this overt racist continue to have access to mass media outlets? He is bonkers and is in the same category as Pat Robertson!
August 31st, 2006 at 9:05 pmthat’s true, colmes is a wus.
glenn greenwald was on his radio show debating a wingnut about the fisa act (the guy claimed the fisa act didn’t cover foreign intelligence gathering — the full name of the act is the foreign intelligence surveillance act).
the wingnut kept talking over glenn, making some pretty ridiculous points — and colmes basically just let it happen.
the wingnut also tried to claim that a 1972 supreme court ruling gave bush the power to eavesdrop. all well and good, except the fisa law was passed in 1978…
August 31st, 2006 at 9:07 pm[Modern Mexicans] are very different culturally from modern Spanish citizens.
Comment by Tom S. — August 31, 2006 @ 8:44 pm
About as different from the Spanish as Americans are from the British.
They are the product of centuries of living under a repressive, tyrannical, violent and corrupt government,
For a few of those centuries both countries were ruled by the same people: The Spanish crown. Spain also had its on tyrannical, corrupt, oppresive, tyrannical regime headed by Francisco Franco. I’d say both countries have a lot in common.
And I didn’t say that the US must accept the proliferation of gangs. I said it is a natural consequence of a group feeling marginalized, both economically and socially. In that respect, Hispanic immigrants are no diferent from other groups.
Secondly, Italy and Russia are somewhat outside the classical ‘European democracy’ model I envision.
By this you concede my point that the immigration issue is not a racial, but a social and/or economic one. Most Hispanic immigrants are from the lower rungs in their countries of origin. As were the Italians, the Irish, and the Polish before them.
Your list of “unacceptable vs acceptable” countries is exactly my point. From that perspective, we could place Hispanic immigrants in the same category as -say- Russians. But Buchanan didn’t say “Russians do not assimilate” because, for the prejudiced fearmonger, skin color is all that counts. Social and educational standing are a lot harder to assess from the distance. Facial features, and skin color are unescapable.
Would you rather learn that a family from Sweden or a family from Haiti or El Salvador is moving next door?
It depends… if I were single and the Swedes were a bunch of 20-something year old women rooming together… well…
Now seriously. I wouldn’t want to live next to a gang-banger no matter their skin color. I live in a somewhat diverse neighborhood, and the issue of having this or that nationality living next door to me didn’t even cross my mind. I have neighbors of Japanese, Chinese, and East Indian ancestry. It doesn’t bother me. I don’t see why it should.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:14 pmWhat the hell? Why is that racist cracker on any television program? I remember when being a racist was frowned upon, and people tended to distance themselves from the racist, not help him sell his book.
I already found Ann Coulter’s book in my parents’ home, I will have a hissy fit if I find Buchanan’s book there.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:15 pmno, zooey, it’s all part of the media trying to be “fair” and tell “both sides of the story” now.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:20 pmsooo - who decides who is white? you pat? a new federal agency the Department of Pigmentation?
August 31st, 2006 at 9:23 pmcan we build a machine to scan in skin color? what’s halliburton’s number - they’ve got the kung fu I’m sure.
anyone who has been to Brazil and seen the fabulous result of the mixture of races knows just how foul Pat Buchanan is. I think Brazilians are the most attractive people I have seen…
Pat should revert to the original German for his material - its much easier to goosestep to.
RE: #86 You fear gangs of hispanics, asians etc. No mention of white gangs, which numerically are a far bigger threat to your lifestyle. And why do you reduce the presence of ethnic minorities and non-european immigrants to this problem, ignoring the vastly more significant positive contributions by 95% or more of them? It shows your underlying racism, I would suggest. The racism that you are not even aware of. Perhaps you would open your arms to european gangmembers who look more like your children? Poland, Romania, the Ukraine and Russia would love to export their troubled children to your white neighborhood where they would not stand out as much as those asiatics and hispanics. ANd finally, let me ask you why it is you fail to realize that most latinos have a very large dose of european blood and culture…perhaps they are not white enough for you to appreciate their culture?
WEll, you can continue to live in fear and spout your disguised hatred of those not of your “kind”. YOu can build fences. But you will not stop it.
Personally, I am more afraid of the neocon, authoritarian gangsters who are holding the reins of power in Washington, D.C. The white republican ganster you probably still support despite the probably irreperable damage they are doing to the nation. Those gangstas you fear are not as big a threat, I assure you.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:25 pmProg Rex,
I know I’m not telling you anything new, but that’s not their job.
I want the news people to tell what is going on in the world, truthfully, and then I will decide for myself. What a concept, eh?
August 31st, 2006 at 9:25 pmReturning to my conjecture in #102 above, what makes people like Buchanan (i.e. most of the Republican Party) infuriating is they don’t even recognize the vile racism they are espousing. That’s because the prime motivation isn’t exactly hatred of dark-skinned people — it’s that they’re trying to recreate a set of conditions and associations they see as idyllic. So Buchanan is forced to rationalize some crazy explanation about why he needs 89%-90% white people to realize his childhood fantasy world. I really believe there’s a primal id impulse driving these people based solely on some primitive memory and a set of irrational psychological associations. I can actually believe that Buchanan would be respectful to the 10% black people that make up his fantasy America because his motive is to recreate a set of conditions he associates with happiness not necessarily outright racism — that’s why they’re genuinely baffled when they’re accused of racism.
This is no excuse. The consequence is EXACTLY racism born of shallow self-examination of the motives behind their desires and the unjust immoral consequences that would come of their policies.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:25 pm#127 P.Rex; Anyone who worked for Richard Nixon (his speechwriter) is automatically suspect. Guilty by association, and just plain guilty. It doesn’t end there either. He is also a cowardly chickenhawk- “bad” knee kept him out of Vietnam, but not from jogging.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:27 pmMan, but this guy is a pig.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:27 pmAmerica’s Least Wanted
oh, don’t worry, i’m no fan of buchanan’s. he’s always been harping the same racist points. at least he’s consistent.
nevertheless, he’s been against the iraq war since before it started.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:29 pm#131, Tom see that’s why discussions are enlightening. It let’s everyone know Tom is a racist and proud of it. He besmirches everyone who ever came to this country except the “pure waspie whites” and then tells you if none wasps moved in next to him, he’d be disappointed. Yep, this is why discussion is so enlightening. OK everybody except Bristish or Swedes out of Tom’s country.
August 31st, 2006 at 9:31 pmSorry, but why is the statement racist?
Buchanan says he grew up in a city that was 50-50 white-black. What relevance does the rest of his statement have? There are many many other Buchanan statements to revile.
But maybe that’s the point?
August 31st, 2006 at 9