by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 24, 1997

That God became flesh in the person of Jesus Christ — that he was crucified, died and rose again to redeem mankind — is the core belief of Roman Catholicism.

To testify to those truths and spread that faith, French Jesuits were among the first Europeans to come to an American wilderness to convert the Indians. The stories of heroes like Fr. Isaac Jogues, Rene Goupil, Jean de Brebeuf and the other North American martyrs canonized in 1930 were once taught in all parochial schools.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 20, 1997

With Russia’s Yevgeny Primakov, the ex-KGB chief, emerging as the “honest broker” between the United States and Iraq, it must be clear now, even at the White House, that U.S. Middle East policy is in a shambles. Saddam Hussein is breaking out of his isolation; the Russians are back in the Middle East to stay; and it is America that appears increasingly isolated in the region.

The great Gulf War coalition assembled by President Bush is no more. Our European allies, save Great Britain, have moved to the sidelines. Our Arab allies have defected. The great hegemonic power of 1991 finds itself virtually alone in its 1997 confrontation with Iraq.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 17, 1997

Scoff if you will at the claim, but I believe this fall may rank in historic significance in our time second only to the fall of 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down. Ridiculous, absurd, you say. Well, consider the three signal political events that marked this autumn.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 10, 1997

LONDON — President Clinton’s decision to pull his fast-track trade bill from the House floor early Monday morning rather than face a humiliating defeat marks a turning point in U.S. history. For the first time since World War II, the nation’s financial, political and intellectual elites have been repudiated on a great question of foreign policy.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 6, 1997

Backers of racial preferences are taking heart from a 54 percent-46 percent ballot victory in Houston that upholds a policy which sets aside 20 percent of the city’s business exclusively for minorities and women.

“Houston’s Support of Affirmative Action May Slow Opposition Efforts Elsewhere” headlined a Wall Street Journal story, suggesting the drive to replicate California’s Proposition 209, which outlawed racial and gender preferences, is out of gas. “The momentum to end affirmative action appears to have ended at the California border,” exults Wayne Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – November 3, 1997

Politics is often beyond parody. On Sunday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich declared on “Meet the Press” that unless Congress approves “fast track,” it will “send a signal to the world that is devastating.” “(T)he world,” said Newt, “is looking for us to take leadership.”

What does Newt mean by “leadership”? Well, since fast track means congressional surrender of all rights to amend trade treaties, Newt is saying the world cannot have confidence in America unless Republicans get out of the way and give Bill Clinton a blank check to negotiate NAFTA II. Only if Congress votes itself into irrelevancy, the speaker is saying, can America lead the world.