by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 29, 1998

The drums are beating for another American war in the Persian Gulf.
Republicans assure Bill Clinton of total backing if he launches air strikes against Iraq. Three U.S. carriers rendezvous in the Gulf in February. Madeleine Albright flies off to tell Europe: America will act alone if necessary. The head of the U.N. weapons inspection team warns that Iraq has acquired sufficient biological weapons to “blow away Tel Aviv.” Message: We must strike now!

by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 22, 1998

The saddest of commentaries on the Clinton presidency is that on the first day of his greatest political and personal crisis, no one really believed him — not even his own loyalists.

The White House staff was stunned and demoralized the instant the charge surfaced of a Clinton liaison with a 21-year-old intern, whom the president allegedly seduced within days of her arrival at the White House. A few Clintonites bravely took to the airwaves to denounce the “right wing” for this “latest attack.” But their rage was hollow and formalistic, without the old fire.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 19, 1998

How does the party justify raising money from right-to-life folks and then using their dollars to elect candidates who support third-trimester abortions? How do Republicans now answer the press taunt: “You denounce Clinton for his stand on partial-birth abortions, but you yourselves fund governors and senators who hold the identical position…

In the history of the Republican Party, last weekend will stand as a defining moment.

On the eve of the 25th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, the GOP decried partial-birth abortion as “heinous” but voted down a resolution to cut off funding to candidates who endorse the procedure.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 12, 1998

When the Americans, like the British before them, grow weary of their imperial duties and sail away, Iran will dominate the Persian Gulf. It is ordained. No nation in the region can match Iran’s size, population or power. George Bush’s war that smashed Iraq and the U.S.-led embargo blockade that have brought it to ruin destroyed Iran’s rival. The only question is: What kind of Iran shall it be?

by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 6, 1998

The opening lines of the Boy Scout oath run thus:
“I promise to do my best / To do my duty to God and my country.”

In 1991, 9-year-old twins Michael and William Randall of Anaheim Hills, Calif., refused to take the oath, or to acknowledge any duty to God. They were atheists, the boys said. Fine, replied the mother of Cub Scout Den 4, which expelled them.

by Patrick J. Buchanan – January 2, 1998

While Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is winning applause for
shoveling $10 billion into South Korea to avert a default, it is
clear neither he nor the IMF saw this crisis coming. Their soothing
assurances have about them a ring of hollowness and trepidation…

As 1997 ends, even William Jefferson Clinton’s severest critics must concede the man leads a charmed life.