Salon.com > Pat Buchanan

Ten conservatives who have praised slavery

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 14:42:00 +0000

For obvious reasons, the American conservative movement has long been dogged by accusations of racism and racial insensitivity. From their famed Southern strategy to their determined efforts to suppress minority voting via phony voter ID initiatives to their race-baiting Obama attacks, conservatives have made clear their opposition to a tolerant, multicultural America. In fact, much of their electoral strategy relies on scaring older, white voters about blacks and Hispanics taking over "their" country.

So it's not uncommon to hear a prominant conservative, even one who holds elected office, make patently offensive remarks. Yet some occasionally hit an unimaginable low. This week, it was revealed that Republican Rep. Jon Hubbard has published a book in which he wrote that “[T]he institution of slavery that the black race has long believed to be an abomination upon its people may actually have been a blessing in disguise." He defended his book on Wednesday, telling the Jonesboro Sun that he still believed slavery to be a blessing because it helped blacks come to America. Yes, he praised slavery. And when given the opportunity to backpedal, he doubled down.

Pat Buchanan: Obama’s a welfare “drug dealer”

Wed, 19 Sep 2012 14:02:00 +0000

Pat Buchanan, previously seen getting ousted from his gig at MSNBC after he wrote a book pining for the segregation era, jumped to Mitt Romney's defense last night.

On "On The Record" with Greta Van Susteren, Buchanan first defended Romney's "47 percent" comments, arguing that the number of people currently freeloading off of the government "is the great issue of our time." He added that President Obama is "a Fabian socialist [who] wants to move through gradualism and reform step by step until a majority of Americans are dependent upon government."

Buchanan continued by comparing government relief to a "narcotic," so "if it's a narcotic, Barack Obama is a drug dealer of welfare. He wants permanent dependency."

Via MediaMatters.

Pat Buchanan declares defeat

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 16:00:00 +0000

Pat Buchanan doesn't want my pity, and he probably doesn't deserve it. But I couldn't help feeling sad for him reading his apocalyptic, overwrought new book, "Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025?" By almost any standard, Buchanan has had a successful life and career – he's advised two presidents, run for president three times himself; he's a wealthy author, columnist and MSNBC pundit – but apparently, it's all been for naught. Ultimately his side can't win, he says, because demography is against him. As long as white America remains on track to lose its majority status this century – and we can debate when that will happen, but there's no way around it – the America Buchanan loves is gone.

Buchanan sometimes tries to argue that his lament in this book is about culture and values, but make no mistake: It's thoroughly about race. Even when Christianity and free-market conservatism might be said to have won, or to at least have a fighting chance of winning, he finds a way to lose. He puts together a strategy for Republicans to take back the White House in 2012 – it comes down to openly and unapologetically focusing on turning out more white people – but by his own account, a 2012 victory would only be temporary.

Listen to Buchanan’s greatest hits

Wed, 19 Oct 2011 13:43:00 +0000

We've sifted through Pat Buchanan's new book, "Suicide of a Superpower," so you don't have to. Here are some highlights:

"Our nation is disintegrating"

Buchanan sets the tone for the rest of his book early on, declaring that the state of the union is very poor, indeed.

Key passage: "Our nation is disintegrating, ethnically, culturally, morally, politically. Not only do we not love one another, as Christ’s teaching commands, we seem to detest each other in ways as deep as Southerners detested a mercantile North and Northerners detested an agrarian slaveholding South."