October 14, 2008
PJB: Liquidating the Empire
By Patrick j. Buchanan
“Liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate the farmers.”
So Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon advised Herbert Hoover in the Great Crash of ‘29.
Hoover did. And the nation liquidated him — and the Republicans.
In the Crash of 2008, 40 percent of stock value has vanished, almost $9 trillion. Some $5 trillion in real estate value has disappeared. A recession looms with sweeping layoffs, unemployment compensation surging, and social welfare benefits soaring.
America’s first trillion-dollar deficit is at hand.
In Fiscal Year 2008 the deficit was $438 billion.
With tax revenue sinking, we will add to this year’s deficit the $200 to $300 billion needed to wipe the rotten paper off the books of Fannie and Freddie, the $700 billion (plus the $100 billion in add-ons and pork) for the Wall Street bailout, the $85 billion to bail out AIG, and $37 billion more now needed, the $25 billion for GM, Chrysler and Ford, and the hundreds of billions Hank Paulson will need to buy corporate paper and bail out banks to stop the panic.
As Americans save nothing, where are the feds going to get the money? Is the Fed going to print it and destroy the dollar and credit rating of the United States? Because the nations whose vaults are full of dollars and U.S. debt — China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Arabs — are reluctant to lend us more. Sovereign wealth funds that plunged billions into U.S. banks have already been burned.
Uncle Sam’s VISA card is about to be stamped “Canceled.”
The budget is going to have to go under the knife. But what gets cut?
Social Security and Medicare are surely exempt. Seniors have already taken a huge hit in their 401(k)s. And as the Democrats are crafting another $150 billion stimulus package for the working poor and middle class, Medicaid and food stamps are untouchable. Interest on the debt cannot be cut. It is going up. Will a Democratic Congress slash unemployment benefits, welfare, education, student loans, veterans benefits — in a recession?
No way. Yet, that is almost the entire U.S. budget — except for defense, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and foreign aid. And this is where the axe will eventually fall.
It is the American Empire that is going to be liquidated.
Retrenchment has begun with Bush’s backing away from confrontations with Axis-of-Evil charter members Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs, and will likely continue with a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. Gen. Petraeus and Secretary Gates are already talking “reconciliation” with the Taliban.
We no longer live in Eisenhower or Reagan’s America. Even the post-Cold War world of George H. W. Bush, where America was a global hegemon, is history. In both relative and real terms, the U.S.A. is a diminished power.
Where Ike spent 9 percent of GDP on defense, Reagan 6 percent, we spend 4 percent. Yet we have two wars bleeding us and many more nations to defend, with commitments in the Baltic, Eastern Europe, and the Balkans we did not have in the Cold War. As U.S. weapons systems are many times more expensive today, we have fewer strategic aircraft and Navy ships than Ike or Reagan commanded. Our active-duty Army and Marine Corps consist of 700,000 troops, 15 percent women, and a far higher percentage of them support rather than combat troops.
With so few legions, we cannot police the world, and we cannot afford more. Yet, we have a host of newly hostile nations we did not have in 1989.
U.S. interests in Latin America are being challenged not only by Cuba, but Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Honduras. Brazil, Argentina and Chile go their own way. Russia is reasserting hegemony in the Caucasus, testing new ICBMs, running bomber probes up to U.S. air space. China, growing at 10 percent as we head into recession, is bristling over U.S. military sales to Taiwan. Iran remains defiant. Pakistan is rife with anti-Americanism and al-Qaida sentiment.
The American Empire has become a vast extravagance.
With U.S. markets crashing and wealth vanishing, what are we doing with 750 bases and troops in over 100 countries?
With a recession of unknown depth and duration looming, why keep borrowing billions from rich Arabs to defend rich Europeans, or billions from China and Japan to hand out in Millennium Challenge Grants to Tanzania and Burkina Faso?
America needs a bottom-up review of all strategic commitments dating to a Cold War now over for 20 years.
Is it essential to keep 30,000 troops in a South Korea with twice the population and 40 times the wealth of the North? Why are McCain and Obama offering NATO memberships, i.e., war guarantees against Russia, to a Georgia run by a hothead like Mikheil Saakashvili, and a Ukraine, millions of whose people prefer their kinship to Russia to an alliance with us?
We must put “country first,” says John McCain.
Right you are, Senator. Time to look out for America first.
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What an amazing age to see the greatest nation destroy itself so quickly.
Pat-
I’m not going to argue with you. We’re going to hell in a handbasket. Don’t forget though, that our military is vastly superior to any other nation’s. We may need to abandon South Korea and other non-essential missions, but at this point, I don’t see any other nation rolling over us.
Regarding our weakened financial system, it’s been said that if you owe the bank $100,000, the bank owns you; but if you owe the bank $100,000,000, you own the bank. Crank those numbers up a few digits, and that’s where the U.S. is situated in relation to the rest of the world. If we collapse, so the the rest of the world. They can’t let it happen without creating a vacuum that will suck the world into anarchy.
We all have watched our manufacturing superiority dismantled and outsourced to developing countries mainly over the last 20 years. We were told by the think tank gurus that this was the only path to future prosperity. Common sense told a few of us that it will lead to our eventual downfall. Now America is in a total financial free fall and we keep adding more dead weight.The ceo’s that aided in selling us out are now preparing to deploy their golden parachutes and float off globalist la la land. There isn’t a patch large enough to stop the hemoraging. We must start over by implementing that piece of paper again, I think they call it THE CONSTITUTION!!!
If a politician actually shows enough gumption to end our foreign commitments then please don’t go wailing on about them being soft or anti-military. We need to stick together on the issues we actually agree with to get them done.
Who does Europe need defending against? They can barely police their own immigration. Would North Korea actually invade the South anymore? That would almost certainly bring about their own ruin. They are better off playing their bluff.
President Bush was correct in telling Prime Minister Putin that the “Cold War is over”, but it’s past time for him to tell the same thing to America and all the people pillaging the government and sacrificing the lives of its own people for their own petty gains.
I am strongly in favor of liquidating the empire. In the Navy, I saw so many sailors and marines marry local bar girls. The marriages seldom lasted, but were enough for the girl and mama san to become permanent U.S. residents and qualify mama san for SSI.
Selecting the best prostitutes for our gene pool is not like selecting the best engineers and scientists.
We have got to break the back of the NEOCON cabal. Thats what gets us into most of these messes.
A lovely thought but I doubt our idiot Congress and their corporate sponsors would buy into it. Then, of course, all this money that would be saved would be used to advance the cause of socialism in this country.
The fiscal 2008 deficit was “only” $438 Billion because the government took $200 Billion from social security receipts and replaced the money with some “bonds”, so the real deficit is over $600 Billion for 2008. It’s the same little trick that Clinton pulled years ago in order to produce an artificial “surplus” in the budget.
As for the rest of it, prepare to see the value of your fiat currency shrink. Saving, based in such currency, is an activity in which only the most foolish would engage. Such saving will continue to be punished. The phrase in the U.S. Constitution - “full faith and credit” - is about to take on an entirely different meaning. During the next “administration”, there will be calls for wage and prices controls, which never work, as well as more restrictions on individual liberty.
Right now, the cheerleaders are waving their pom-poms because the DJIA has gone up…..but “gone up” in terms of what? A U.S. Dollar of shrinking value? Recall only a few years ago, when the Dollar index was over 160. Banks are being recapitalized. Why? So they can continue to feed the so-called “need” for consumers, and government, to continue down the road of debt-financed living? The risk of making loans is being erased by governments (by throwing the risk onto the backs of taxpayers) and there are people who actually think it’s a good thing. It is decidedly *not* a good thing. We’re told that Main Street businesses have to float loans to make their payrolls. If that were true, then those businesses have no business being in business and the employees need to start beating the bushes for employment with better run firms.
There is one beast that governments have never been able to defeat and that is: The Price System. No matter how hard they try, no matter what draconian measures they employ, the price system always wins in the end. Prices always find a way of achieving the level that the market determines for them and usually not in keeping with what some government employee or politician thinks they should be. Rather than let us recover from the disease, they now employ every conceivable crackpot measure in order to enlarge the effects and duration of the disease.
Social Security and Medicare will not be immune from cuts. The dollars will continue to be paid out, but their value will be dilluted by the inflationary practices taking place in the background and out of the notice of most of the population, who will continue to be told that the “real problem” is some greedy segment of the population. Periodic “raises” in such entitlement or wealth-transfer programs will continue, based upon bogus figures compiled and published by the same government, but the “raises” will never keep up with the increases in costs. Sadly, the tactic has worked for many years and will probably continue to work. Given the short term memory of the body politic, when the 2009-2010 period begins to bring forth more of the effects of these inflationary measures, the same excuse will, no doubt, be used again and will probably be largely accepted. I do not know what event or events will be required in order to cause a significant segment of the U.S. population to take back that which has been taken from them, and continues to be taken from them.
It sounds absurd to hear that the government has to pay compounding interest on money it has the legal authority to create. However, this does not absolve that government from reckless spending: much of it on programs and agencies it has no authority to operate. Removing these expenditures, along with expenditures associated with maintaing world hegemony and aggressive military actions, would go a long way to reducing the budget deficits and the national debt.
The extra expense of maintaining border security, along with policing corporations that hire illegals, would be greatly offset by the savings in welfare benefits, the increase in wages that would have to be paid to regular U.S. citizens, and savings resulting from lower crime rates (illegals tend to have less regard for the laws).
The global trade mindset must be replaced by a focus on building a strong sovereign domestic economy. Transnational corporations must have their charters reviewed to a “if you want to sell here, then you must site here” status; or they must be revoked. All of corporate law itself must be reviewed in a way that coporate power is greatly diminished and corporate liability is increased. It is obvious that many politicians/representatives are corrupted by the $carrots$ that Big Corpo and Big Banking dangle in front of them. Remove the carrots by removing the source.
In general, the cost of implementing a protectionist policy would be minimal compared to the profits it would reap.
How can Pat not mention the cost of Israel? My guess is that the true cost of Israel is far more than $4 billion yearly.
The American Empire, much like the British Empire post WWII, cannot be sustained because we no longer have the money. We must pull troops back from South Korea, Germany, and other nations no longer threatened, or better able to care for themselves, than when the U.S. troops were first deployed.
This is in no way meant as a criticism of those troops themselves. They are fine men and women and we should not cut the size of our military, only where it is deployed.
Pat, you have been right all along, which is why I campaigned for you in 1992. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to vote Republican or Democrat anymore; both parties died with Reagan and JFK, respectively. So I am telling everyone I can to vote for Bob Barr if they have any desire to vote again spendthrift, neo-con policies.
What an amazing age to see the greatest nation destroy itself so quickly.(Quote)
Retreating from Empire is not destroying a nation, it is preserving it and returning it to its tru purpose. “Evil Empire” Is a redundant term. ALL empires are evil because they are based on the arrogant belief that one nation is so right that the world should bow to it or face the consequences.
Don’t forget though, that our military is vastly superior to any other nation’s. (Quote)
Most expensive military would be a more accurate description. Softies with wonder weapons does not a superior military make. It is true that we are not in any danger of being occupied by any enemy. But this is due to the fact that no nation has the ability to project enough power to occup just one of our states let alone all 50. Our current military is in a position of the worst of both worlds. It is too large for soly our own defense and too small for the world empire the neocons want. The fact that the Taliban are able to do to us what they did to the Soviets is proof that wonder weapons alone do not win a war. Nor should we win such wars. It is time to liquidate the empire and concentrate on being the Republic our founders intended this nation to be.
America will continue spending until all is gone. The spending has already transcended this generation’s ability to pay; our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren will continue to born into more and more debt.
If the times create the man then who can be the leader for noninterventionism when money rules the process? Pat, we may not see your likes again.
Trae, we are not talking about voting against spendthrift, neo-con policies. We need to be talking about prosecuting financial wizzards who have run up $516 trillion dollars in derivatives worldwide with the entire world GDP worth about 50 trillion dollars. Congress of the U.S. was the one hope of rule of law left to deal with these satanic bastards that have bought their way to fame and fortune. We the people, who are capable of producing real value, now need to starve our representatives out, and all their satanic overlords with them.
Imperialism and its attendant fallacies are the result of political messianism, aka “Wilsonianism.” In fact, one of the bitter ironies of American exceptionalism is that it leads some in high places to think that since we’re so “exceptional,” everyone must want to be exactly like us. And if they don’t, well then, we’re prepared to persuade them they do, at the point of a bayonet.
I can’t think of an example of an empire that hasn’t fallen. If we survive this crisis, perhaps it will serve to remind us, as Pat says, that America was founded as a republic, not an empire.
Mr. Buchanan states “why keep borrowing billions from rich Arabs to defend rich Europeans, or billions from China and Japan to hand out in Millennium Challenge Grants to Tanzania and Burkina Faso”. Mr. Buchanan omitted the biggest recipient of US Grant money for more than 40 years - Israel, which has received more than 3 billion dollars in direct handouts in a addition to billions of dollars in help in other ways. This is more money than was given to Europe in the Marshall Plan. All this for a country of six million people that tortures and murders Palestinian citizens, bulldozes their homes and steals their land and attacks its neighbors continuously and threatens the entire middle east with its nuclear arsenal.
Israel has received the most grant money every year since the mid 1960’s.
Americans should feel ashamed.
A clarification: thats more than 3 billion dollars every year since the mid 1960’s.
Pat, Why don’t you make note of the fact that Barack Obama has been taking money from terrorists, as the report below documents.
In March 2008, Barack Obama accepted campaign contributions from the terrorists who helped blow up the World Trade Center . In July 2008 he was photographed hugging a convicted and jailed terrorist felon.
In March 2008, hopeful presidential contender Barack Obama accepted campaign contributions from the leadership of a terrorist organization that helped blow up the World Trade Center. Even more shockingly, Obama accepted the money from the same terrorist leader, Mr. Ram Ranjan, who was removed from a fundraising role within the Clinton Presidential Campaign at the end of last year after his terror links were exposed, according to the Clinton presidential campaign’s senior foreign policy advisor, Andrew Shapiro.[1]
The terrorist leader at the center of the controversy, Mr. Ram Ranjan, was identified in the January 22, 2005 issue of the Seattle Times[2] as being the leader of the New Jersey branch of the banned Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (T.R.O.). In November 2007 the U.S. government banned his organization and designated it as a terrorist front for the Tamil Tiger suicide bomber organization. As a result of the ban, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to transact with the T.R.O. A U.S. Treasury press release dated November 15, 2007 asserted that the “T.R.O. passed off its operations as charitable, when in fact it was raising money for a designated terrorist group responsible for heinous acts of terrorism,[3]” according to Adam Szubin, Director of the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. Director Szubin went on to say that “T.R.O. has raised funds on behalf of the LTTE through a network of individual representatives[4]” including Mr. Ranjan, as an embarrassed Clinton presidential campaign learned the hard way last year.
Furthermore, on January 10, 2008, the U.S. F.B.I. homepage ran a cover story titled “Taming the Tamil Tigers[5].” The F.B.I. article described the Tamil Tigers and their network of front organizations in America as being “among the most dangerous and deadly extremists in the world … we’re determined to stop them, using the full range of our investigative and intelligence capabilities[6].”Another FBI report[7], dated March 27, 2007, detailed the Tamil Tigers involvment in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, according to the Asia Times[8]. In addition, a thorough investigative report documenting the Tamil Tigers’ many connections to al-Qaeda and many other Islamic terror groups Tigers was published by the world renowned Israeli-based International Institute for Counter Terrorism in April 2008. [9]
Just as puzzling is Barack Obama’s connections with convicted felon Vaiko Gopalswamy, an Indian politician. Vaiko is the most vocal supporter of the Tamil Tigers in India. Vaiko has been repeatedly arrested and served jail time for his violations of India’s Prevention of Terrorism Act. In July 2008, Obama was photographed hugging Vaiko at a donor’s meeting according to an article in the leading pro-Tamil Tiger terrorist website. [10] Soon after this meeting, veteran Sri Lankan observers noted that Obama had begun to use Tamil Tiger slogans in his public discourse and stance on the conflict. For example, Tiger propaganda constantly makes use of the slogan “responsibility to protect,”[11] a reference to a hoped for foreign military intervention which will lead to the creation of an independent Tamil state. Obama has publicly used the phrasing “responsibility to act,” a shockingly similar phrasing. Many observers are now wondering what Obama plans to do in relation to the conflict, especially since he has publicly embraced jailed terrorist leaders in addition to accepting documented, and possibly undocumented, funds from the Tamil Tiger leadership and their fundraisers.
It appears that Obama is being used by the Tamil Tigers for what Canadian government intelligence agencies described last year as an “intensive propaganda campaign”[12] being waged in the Tigers’ efforts to “lobby western politicians”[13] in order to cripple (via ill-premised sanctions) the democratically elected Sri Lankan government’s counter terror campaign. This is not the first time that the Tamil Tiger terrorist organization has tried to influence American politicians with money. U.S. Congressman Rush Holt is known in Sri Lanka as a “patron saint” of the Tamil Tigers, having publicly accepted tens of thousands of dollars from the Tamil Tiger leadership.[14] Also in 2007 Holt helped engineer the cessation of all U.S. military and counter terrorism assistance to Sri Lanka on the basis of one-sided premises fed by his terrorist financial patrons.[15]
It is quite puzzling as to why Barack Obama would partner with suicide bombers who are allies of al-Qaeda and who also have a history of assassinating heads-of-state who partner with them. History abounds with examples, and here is a particularly disturbing one: in the 1980’s Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi succumbed to Tamil Tiger political pressure and gave signals that he would lighten up on them. After Prime Minister Gandhi came to his senses and withdrew his subtle support for them, he ordered over fifty thousand Indian soldiers to hunt and destroy the Tamil Tigers. After Prime Minister Gandhi changed his mind and went after the terrorists, the Tamil Tigers sent a suicide bomber after him and, in 1991, they blew him to pieces.
The families of the thousands of victims of the suicide bombers that Obama took money from cry for justice and relief. Obama should promise that he will never allow America’s foreign policy to be influenced by the criminal money and the racist propaganda of the Tamil Tiger terrorists. If Obama refuses this decency, then at least one ray of hope remains: the indictment of U.S. Congressman Mark Siljander on January 16, 2008 by the U.S. Department of Justice for essentially peddling influence and taking money from al-Qaeda[16], serves as a warning and as a first step in restoring the faith of non-terrorist supporting citizens in their elected officials. It is hoped that, barring Obama’s severing of his ties to the Tamil Tigers and their Islamic partners, all relevant authorities will crackdown on his acceptance of support from this banned terrorist organization that the F.B.I. has pledged to dismantle.
——————————————————————————–
[1] Fernando, Philip. “Clinton Office Rejected and Returned Campaign Funds from LTTE Supporters in America.” Asian Tribune. February 10, 2008. http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/9566
[2] Ismail, Raviya. “Tsunami Disaster Hasn’t Mended Sri Lankan Divide.” Seattle Times. January 22, 2005. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20050122&slug=srifactions22
[3] U.S. Department of Treasury. “Treasury Targets Charity Covertly Supporting Violence in Sri Lanka.” U.S. Treasury Press Release. November 15, 2007. http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp683.htm
[4] Ibid.
[5] U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations. “Taming the Tamil Tigers.” F.B.I. Press release. January 10, 2008. http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/tamil_tigers011008.html
[6] Ibid.
[7] Singh, Ajit Kumar. “Global Hunt for the Tigers Assets.” April 25, 2008. Asia Times. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JD25Df04.html
[8] Ibid.
[9] Jayasekera, Shanaka. “Tamil Tiger Links with Islamist Terrorist Groups.” June 2008. International Institute for Counter Terrorism (Israel). http://www.ict.org.il/apage/25445.php
[10] Tamilnet. “Yes, we can” Vaiko tells Obama.” July 13, 2008. Tamilnet.com. http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=26345
[11] Gamage, Daya. “Defining Barack Obama: Part Five – Combating Terrorism, Human Rights & Foreign Policy”. October 10, 2008. Asian Tribune. http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/13639/print
[12] Bell, Stewart. “Tamil Tigers trying to influence politicians: CSIS report – Group waging a ‘propaganda campaign’.” November 6, 2007. National Post. http://www.nationalpost.com/story-printer.html?id=8193e1a1-b592-4...
[13] ibid.
[14]Leelarathna, Hassina. “US Lawmakers with ties to LTTE money.” February 11, 2008. The Island. http://www.island.lk/2008/02/11/features1.html
[15] Leelarathna, Hassina. “US Lawmakers with ties to LTTE money.” February 11, 2008. The Island. http://www.island.lk/2008/02/11/features1.html
[16] Shenon, Philip. “Former Congressman is indicted over ties to Islamic charity.” January 17, 2008. New York Times.
I wrote a while back that we needed to take back the Republican party from the neo-cons, the religious right and corporate America. As I have studied the Republican party for the past few weeks, I’ve reluctantly concluded that the only way to re-assert truly Republican values — fiscal responsibility, personal freedom and responsibility, and a strong resistance to entangling ourselves in foreign affairs that do not directly threaten us — is to support a third party. The Republicans are not just a disappointment, they are a nightmare. When in charge, they actually outspent the Democrats. The neo-cons conned the nation into an absurd war against a country that posed no threat to us. And none of the Republicans have the jewels to tell the American people that they too are responsible for this financial debacle by behaving like petulant children — “I want it now!” Let South Korea, Israel, Europe, and the rest of the world fend for themselves.
This era of federal government as national nanny has freed us as citizens of having to take personal responsibility for our families, our neighbors and those who cannot seem to fend for themselves. Taking government handouts should be the last resort, not a right. Instead of a son being responsible for the care of his elderly mother, the government issues her a social security check and other half-baked benefits that keep her alive, if not well fed. The son is off the hook. Today, people scream for the federal government to rescue them — from the Katrina victims to the Wall Street crowd. Personal responsibility and shame are dead.
Neither Obama or McCain will give us any straight talk. Obama tells us we can have increasing benefits and reduced taxes — all b.s. For the last month, McCain hasn’t said a damn thing that makes any sense. McCain and Obama have shown absolutely no leadership qualities whatsoever. Who will lead us out of this debacle?
I am almost relieved that we are frittering away our superpower status. How, exactly, did we use that power that secured our borders, enhanced our wealth, or furthered our dreams? By irresponsibly flexing our muscle, we have bombed Iraqi cities, killing thousands of civilians, sacrificed and overburdened our soldiers, and bankrupted our treasury. Now that we have been so diminished, we will be forced to focus on the essentials and only the essentials. That in the end, may prove a blessing.
Pat has become a hero to me, albeit in an unusual sense. I am a lifelong libertarian, and a career punk rock singer by trade. That being said, the media portrayed Pat’s social crusading as his primary issue, but looking back, I wish I had not only voted for him when I had the chance, but wish that I had campaigned for him.
While I respectfully disagree with Pat’s views regarding homosexuality, drugs, etc, as being necessarily a part of the decline of a civilization, and his economic view that protectionism can improve America’s fiscal health, nearly every other view he promotes I agree with 100%.
This one included. We have been subsidizing the defense of nations who don’t even want it for so long now, that it is risking the lives of our grandchildren, and the economic day-to-day for the rest of us. It’s time to return to the advice of the founders and put this whole Empire to bed. It’s time to change our idea of regulation, to where it means putting criminals who violate property rights of others through theft and fraud in jail, rather than tampering with the economic conditions of industries and individuals towards some “greater good”.
The empire will end due to financial means, and I won’t be the one bit sad to let it go. To be honest, if it requires a year or two of serious financial hardship, maybe even a decade, for myself to suffer, in order to stop our wicked, foolish imperialistic foreign policy, then so be it. I will be suffering economic hardship in such a way that many innocent lives are no longer lost for some progressive vision of a future utopia that cannot be realized.
Utopias are not made on the battlefield, or in the courts, they are made by inventors who create a new way to use what we have now to create more resource for everyone to share. America used to be the ultimate creator of those ACTUAL utopias, whereas now we are not.
My band recently released a song entitled “Bring Down the Federal Reserve”, which we hope will help turn some of these punk rock, jaded teenagers away from collectivism and towards the freedoms which our founders wanted for us.
I’m sure it’s not your style, Pat, you’d probably hate it, but it’s dedicated to people like you who speak the truth no matter what social consequences you face as a result.
The song is posted at
http://www.myspace.com/lookwhatidid
I loved the way Nancy Pelosi (The Dingbat) contradicted herself saying about Wall Street “The Parties Over” while they were cutting them a monster check!
Rewarding bad behavior begets more bad behavior. What a bunch of utter nonsense and criminals cohorting.
Remember Bush in his 2 terms more than doubled the size of government. What do you call that? Read my lips……”LIBERAL”.
It’s your turn folks…
About three years ago, I wrote to John McCain. I predicted that he would be the Republican front runner in the 2008 election. I warned him that that election would not be about the Iraq war – it would usurped by the economy as the main issue. I said that the erosion of our manufacturing base will undermine the strength of our nation.
I urged him to think ahead and plan to shore-up American entrepreneurs with the same thrust our government has put into Homeland Security. I warned that in spite of our best efforts and most intrusive security measures, America’s security would fade as our technological edge dulled.
Who was I to write such a letter? What gave me the unmitigated audacity to presume to advise any of our dutifully serving public leaders? I never ran a corporation. Other than my 401K, I never played the stock market. I am just an ordinary citizen with no more insight than your average opinionated taxi cab driver.
Yet, I called the pocket and the eight-ball dropped right in.
I know that I am not alone. There are many “ordinary” Americans that saw this coming. My own wife asked ten years ago, when we went through the mortgage process and saw how easy it was to secure one, “How can these banks continue to pass out these risky loans and give out baseless credit?”
Apparently, her Associates Degree in Accounting and managing our home budget was enough to give her the clarity of mind and a long-range foresight that was lacking among our captains of industry and moguls of finance.
I contend that any of you on this message board have as much sense in the operation of this nation as any of our duly elected officials.
Our founders knew this and that’s why they crafted a constitutional government that draws upon the initiative, resourcefulness and resilience of the ordinary American citizen. For they knew that ordinary men and women become extraordinary in times of national need. The Constitution facilitates the move from citizen to leader, by design.
It was the long range foresight of these gentleman farmers, inventors and rebellious independent minded men that resulted in a government that would weather the most trying times and tumultuous tempests in all of history. Two hundred years later, we still hold this nation fast and in spite of everything we hear, we are still the best chance for freedom and opportunity.
And what became of the remarkable breed that founded this country? We multiplied – there are over 300 million of us.
It’s time for all of you ordinary people to step forward and do what you do best: invent, create, inspire and consider running for public office.
We haven’t run out of leaders, we’ve simply run down the ones we have. It’s not time for bailing and battening hatches, it is simply time for new captains.
Have some confidence in your Yankee Ingenuity and step forward and we will all be just fine.
It’s your turn now to take the helm – let’’s get this ship off the rocks.
“In both relative and real terms, the U.S.A. is a diminished power.”
However true this may be, I’m inconsolable. Please, no ‘intelligent’ arguments, I’m not interested. ‘Superpower status’ is part of my identity. This strikes at my sense of self. My grief will never end–if this happens.
But I still believe we’re at a crossroads. Will it be up or down?
Welcome to the American age of socialism and propaganda. A majority of American are now its fools.
I am a democrat who disagrees with most of pats views except foreign policy. On foreign policy and putting america first i am a 100 % pat buchanan man
As a long time fan of Pat Buchanan, I’d like to make a comment: How about we make the Federal Reserve dig up the gold they confiscated from the American public and have in vaults under NYC? It belongs to us. Go back to the gold and silver standards and stop this collapse of our country and the rush to Socialism our leaders are pushing us into. I was born into the Great Depression and will die in the Second Great Depression (I am almost 75). I have picked my epitaph: born in the USA 1933. Died in the USSA 20xx. Depressing.
Cheers! Pat did it! Best ever essay. This is the way it should and will go.
The collapse of capitalism will mean the liquidation of American Empire? I guess every cloud does indeed have a silver lining!
Awesome article Pat. Thank you.
Excellent analysis.
Good work.
Late Roman Empire could be stronger than her enemies in every certain area. Yet she was helpless to deal with them generally. The problem was more in social structure, economic and culture decline rather than armed forces.
Mr. Buchanan is quite right when he speaks about a wide range of US problems - from demographic till military bases abroad (too numerous).
However… mr. Buchanan names US as Empire. He is right.
The Universal Law of Imperial Life is to attack before Empire is under attack, else Empire loses its power.
30 000 troops in Korea are useless in a real conflict and too numerous for peace conditions.
But withdrawing of them is like… like ancient post-Roman Britain. Britain had only 2-3 permanently based legions before their withdrawal. Romans hadn’t influenced British culture too much at the moment of their departure. But immediately their did it British Isles were attacked by German tide. The same tide wich attacked Imperial borders all over the Europe.
Leave Korea and leave Iraq and leave Kosovo.
And Russian bombers will begin their training over the Mexican air.
And we - Russians - will be very glad to do it.
We are too tired of being “de-empired”.
America First could work in the times of Wilson or even Roosevelt. But now America has too much “things” which she had done in other countries. America First is America Dead. You cannot become embrion after mother had given a birth.
In its history Russia had to deal with endless barbarian attacks and with strong and fierce occupations. Some of them lasted for centuries. But we survived despite of any economic and political crashes.
United States of America have a lot of historical experience. But the US had never have a deal with complete devastation. Imperial Devastation in our case.
Time to taste it.
P.S. For me, Russian post-graduate, mr. Buchanan is very interesting as a person who being American is able to think about such matters as American Empire, demography etc.
But mr. Buchanan lives in a country which was never devastated.
“We no longer live in Eisenhower or Reagan’s America. Even the post-Cold War world of George H. W. Bush, where America was a global hegemon, is history. In both relative and real terms, the U.S.A. is a diminished power.”
It’s not the main problem. The main problem is What To Do After?
to Kanaan:
‘Superpower status’ is part of my identity. This strikes at my sense of self. My grief will never end–if this happens.
But I still believe we’re at a crossroads. Will it be up or down?
You may be surprised but this is definetly what we - Russians - feel after Gorbachev’s betrayal.
1. Grief. When in my trip I came to the Ukraine I saw the same Russian faces, the same Russian girls with blue eyes and light hair, the same churches and the same trees. But somehow it’s not my country and strange Russian people in uniform have all the rights to prohibit my entrance. It’s awful.
When I visited Kazakhstan I was among very few number of Russians in that city… Moreover when I asked about a right road some of them answered while others were very glad to tell me about “fellows who would cut my head off in that left street”.
It’s grief…
2. Crossroads. Repulse of Georgian attack and Russian fleet maneuvres near Venezuela are part of our own “still at a crossroads”.
Pat:
I watched your convention speech from 1992 last night. I cannot believe anyone making a speech like that today. The world has changed so much since then, thanks to the 8 yr Clinton regime. If we’re heading for 8 years of Obama now, I shudder to think what society will look like then.
The Truth About of the GOP Vs True Christianity
1) The GOP chairman and another dignitary were being interviewed by a prominent host on a major TV network. The question was asked, “What strategy did the GOP use to win back the presidency and the White House”? The answer was that they noticed that evangelicals made up a very large number of the electorate. The theory was that if they could win the votes of the Evangelicals alone, they could win the White house. They also admitted that the pastors of these organizations were very much in command and had significant influence on the minds of their congregants. They also know that most Americans do not research facts for themselves, but rely heavily on people they admire. The strategy was to use religious rhetoric in political campaigns to attract the Evangelicals. They used the abortion issue, homosexuality and lack of religious influence in schools as trump cards. The spin was, “if you are a Christian you will not vote for a party that believes in abortion and homosexuality – vote your conscience”. From that assessment, the campaign rhetoric over morality, family values, pro-choice and gay rights grew, followed by high taxes and big government. The theme was “vote your conscience”. This meant that if you are a Christian, you would not vote for a party that supports bad values. I remember voting in 2002 with a lot of guilt for the democratic ticket trying to focus on the real issues, yet waiting on heaven to fall on me. Unfortunately, this strategy took the focus of the American people off the real issues of equal opportunity, and creating programs to stimulate economics independence for all. They deceitfully redistributed the funding of programs designed to elevate the poor and middleclass and covetously use it for their personal benefits. Big companies received low-interest loans, grants, tax cuts, and unsecured stocks and bonds they never have to pay back. The truth is, they are using our tax-payers money supposedly for trickle-down economy but instead hire illegal employees and also outsource jobs overseas. Small government means more power to local sheriffs and big companies. The GOP is saying, “Do not let the government control you, the CEO’s will”. The economic stability of the justice department strives on the weaknesses and mistakes of frustrated and uneducated people.
2) They are accusing the Democrats of taxing the rich who is supposed to feed the poor and middle-class, when the rich Democrats are offering (very commendable) to pay more taxes (shift the tax burden to help the poor) because thy can afford it. The fact is that the rich is getting richer and the poor, poorer. The tax burden is on the middle-class so, to spend money on the poor and middle-class like giving back the tax-payers their own money. Whereas, tax cuts and bailouts for the rich is all about taking the tax-payer’s money and give it to the rich who in turn invest it overseas for their own profit. The bible always stood on the side of the oppressed and needy people. (Matthew 17:27; 22:17; Romans 13:6)
3) After 20 years of the GOP, nothing has been done to overturn Roe Vs Wade, and nothing will be done because they all swore on the bible to uphold the laws of the land. They had control of the House, Senate, Supreme Court, and White House. They will continue to use it as a campaign wedge to win Christian votes.
The truth about abortion is that in the 70’s the W.H.O discovered that about 100 million babies had been aborted world wide, and a significant number of them were backstreet abortions. Many of the women died of infections and complications from use of coat hangers, strange drugs and chemicals, jumping off heights, and other unthinkable methods. Roe Vs Wade (the world solving their own problems) was designed to protect the female’s life and reduce backyard abortions by providing qualified services. In the past 10 years, backyard abortions have been on the rise again. Unfortunately, a significant number of “Christian” women have had abortions in the backyards and in the clinics. http://www.inourmidst.com/abortion_and_the_church.htm , http://feministing.com/archives/003148.html
4) The Catholic organization is a strong voice for pro-life but weak on homosexual issues. Let’s not be too hypocritical. They are both serious sins. If I really want to be religious, I could rightly say that the sin of abortion was caused mainly by the sin of fornication or adultery. Hey, let’s nip it in the bud and solve this problem. Secondly, if abortion is murder (yes it is), then let us look at the bigger picture. 1 John 3:15 states “Whosoever hates his brother (born-again Christian) is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him”. 1 John 2:11 states that the Christian who hates his brother walks in darkness and cannot see where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 1 John 1:7 states “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin”. In this case if evangelicals obey the word of God, black or white churches, and black or white cemeteries would not exist.
It is sad to witness an election that is based on whether a person has a pro-life or pro-choice view which will not be changed, and ignore many other important changeable issues. Christians including pastors are taking advice from Hannity and Rush and have stopped listening to Christ. It means that these guys have been exalted above the throne of God, and are worshipped now by Christians. That is quite a scary position to be in. If Hannity and Rush are really great patriotic Americans, they would use their great influence, sacrifice their million-dollar-making shows for four years, and run for public office because they have “all the answers”, knowledge, and they “really” love this country.
5) The complexity behind our democracy is that it encompasses all the people that are citizens of America. These include, Whites, Blacks, Asians, Indians, Natives, Hispanics, Arabs, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Gays, Atheists, Buddhists, Republicans, Democrats, Independents, Conservatives, Liberals, KKK, Nazi, Skin Heads, etc. They all pay taxes, have a right to vote, they all have rights as Americans, and they all a voice. This country not a Theocracy (Guaranteed by separation of church and state) like the Muslim, Buddhist or Hindu countries, and we should not just cater to the Christian community. The Pilgrims fled England because of Catholic dominance and persecution. We must strive for common ground. Christians must realize that non-Christians will not think or reason like them. Christians should not hold non-Christians to equal standards when we ourselves find it difficult sometimes to measure up to those standards even though we say we have Christ within us and they do not.
6) Christianity spoken by Christ Himself is that men will recognize that we are Christians by the love we have for each other. This also means we love our neighbor as we love ourselves. What ever I desire for myself, I desire for my neighbor. My neighbor includes those who do not look like me, have what I have, speak like me or think like me. I must love the sinner in order to win him. I do not need the religious right to condemn (Isaiah 1:18; John 3:16-17) him from across the fence to show the world that I am better that he is. He does well what sinners do. He cannot help himself, I was sent to set him free. (Matthew 10:8; Luke 4:18)
7) Christianity has no place in politics. “As a good soldier do not be entangled with the affairs of this world”. (2Timothy 2:4) We are not of this world, we are citizens of Heaven. I think that unless pastors and religious leaders come together and courageously and clearly define what Christianity is all about, these problems will not go away. The state of our fractured society is a reflection of the state of our religious leaders who either do not understand true Christianity themselves or presumptuously use it for their own personal gains. Racial divide stemmed from a religious teaching many years ago and has made serious inroads in this society for centuries. It would be good for people to research the origin of this false religious teaching so that we all could correct this matter. Many people do not know why they hate others but do so because it was passed down to them as a tradition through stereotyping and propaganda because the original false religious cause of the problem has been forgotten. It would take honest and dedicated religious leaders to research and address this problem because they are the effective leaders of society. It puzzles me that the secular world is trying its best to navigate racial harmony but the church (God is Love) is still very much divided. Christians seem to forget that the word “Christian” was derived from Christ - follower of Christ, like Christ, teachings of Christ-Christ taught us all to love and forgive one another, and to treat our neighbor (anyone that does not look like us) as we would ourselves. At the foundation of Christianity is love, forgiveness, faith in God only, and hope in God. We are supposed to love and if possible, try to convert our enemies; not eradicate them. We should not judge people of their past action especially after they have shown that they have corrected the situation. We are about changing lives. Makes me wonder; “Is this country really a Christian nation?”
Democrats have a chance to expose the deceitfulness of the GOP by using the argument and biblical scripture of what a true Christian is. If you believe in selecting the lesser of two evils, study the teachings of Christ (Matthew 17:1-5) and determine which party comes closer, it will surprise you.
9) Cindy McCain sits poised over an industry whose products (alcohol) have caused worldwide havoc, even more than any war, genocide or terrorist activity. Results being; derailed lives, deaths, broken homes, crimes, career loss, sickness, to name a few. They brag about her contributions to children overseas but are silent about her love and concern for the needy children here in America.
True Christians depend on God for protection, not government. (Psalms 146:3)
Pastor DJay
Pat continues to say that the stimulus package will have to be financed by borrowing from abroad, probably from China. That’s not likely to be the process. We are mostly likely to use the “silent printing press.” The Treasury will ask for a loan from the Federal Reserve (essentially printing a bond), and the Fed will say, “Fine, you (the Treasury) have x amount of dollars on which you can write checks (essentially printing money).” This is not inflationary during periods when the interest rate is 0 and deflation is threatening. As the economy emerges from recession and these bonds come due, the Treasury will either have to ask for tax increases to pay off the bonds or sell bonds on the open market (thereby reducing the money supply in order to qwell inflationary pressures), or if inflation is not a threat, simply refinance the bonds through the Fed. This is a very conventional way of financing government expenditures and managing the economy for full employment and a stable price level.