After Iraq, attack Pat Buchanan

Buchanan holds immigrants in contempt. Not just illegal immigrants -- even some who immigrate legally are not fit to be Americans in Buchanan's eyes. In his book, "The Death of the West," Buchanan writes that Mexican immigrants are problematic because they are "not only from another culture, but of another race," and that "different races are far more difficult to assimilate than different cultures." This is plain un-American. The color of your skin or the racial background of your parents should never disqualify you from becoming a true American. This is the most diverse nation on Earth, even if Buchanan would prefer that it not be.

Buchanan's anti-Semitism is well known. He has referred to Capitol Hill as "Israeli-occupied territory," in his magazine repeatedly attacks the "Jewish lobby" and blames Israel for the current intifada.

But Buchanan's favorite targets are what he calls neoconservatives (read: mainstream conservatives), who are "bent on reckless wars, global free trade and open borders." In the latest issue of his magazine, Buchanan also weaves in his favorite anti-Semitic canard, that neocons are driven by concern for the Jews and want "to conscript American blood to make the world safe for Israel." "We believe the great conservative movement has been hijacked and put into services that would appall the Founding Fathers," Buchanan told the Washington Times in an interview about the magazine. "Neocons are the useful idiots of the liberal establishment," Buchanan reiterated in his Dec. 30, 2002, column.

Buchanan, not the neocons, is the useful idiot of the liberal establishment. He and others like him (notables include Theodoracopulos) are used as straw men by the left. They make it much easier to characterize conservatives as racist and isolationist old white men. If conservatives wish to reach out to new constituencies, they must jettison the Buchananites.

Buchanan's brand of "conservatism" is closer now to the far left than it is to the mainstream right, as shown by his selection of socialist and black nationalist Lenora Fulani for his Reform Party running mate in the 2000 presidential election. Buchanan's wisdom and patriotism must be questioned when his election to the presidency would have placed an enemy of the nation a heartbeat away from the leadership of America.

The conservative movement has progressed beyond the ideology of Pat Buchanan. But if the conservative movement continues to tolerate him, even as a fringe character, it endangers the gains it has made.

Oh, and by the way: Mr. Buchanan, take me off your mailing list.