Buchanan is a Conservative, or he was; I am a libertarian Conservative, so I don't see eye-to-eye with him on a lot of issues. But when it comes to his comments about fair trade, not free trade, I'm with him 100 percent. When he says that American corporations should, like Americans, put America first, this simply makes sense. As with his previous books, The Death of the West makes a compelling case. But he has been wrong about a number of things.
To name two, he argued persuasively against the war in Iraq, and that the Israeli policy toward the Palestinians is wrong.
Today, Sharon has the power to crush the Palestinians and reoccupy their cities. And a few in Israel and the United States are excitedly goading him on. But can any sane man believe that the Palestinians will accept this fate forever, or that Arab nations will regard this as permanent? This is a prescription for an endless war that the vastly outnumbered people of Israeli must ultimately lose. - A Christmas peace plan for the holy land, TownHall.com, December 27, 2001
As the Muslim dictatorships fall, however, it is becoming clear that the policy of appeasement toward the Palestinians that Buchanan recommended, while appealing to reasonable folk, falls flat when dealing with bullies. You don't back down to a bully. Once you do, it never stops.
Michael Medved
What does this have to do with Michael Medved, and why does he make me mad? Throughout the day, I listen to several conservative talk show hosts, and none of them have ever said anything to persuade me that Buchanan was wrong on anything. Not that I don't learn anything from their commentary, I do. Medved, however, with his encyclopedic knowledge of the issues and the clarity with which he explains them, has compelled me to conclude that, by embracing Buchanan's views less critically than I should, I have been wrong, too.
Don't get me wrong, Buchanan is not to blame for this. It's my fault. The information has always been there. That's why Medved makes me mad, and why I listen to him every day, now.
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