I find Pat Buchanan a funny guy. I support wholeheartedly about 75 percent of what he says, and I think he’s totally off his nut on the other 25 percent. Regardless, he’s unimpeachably honest and forthright, qualities that are in such short supply these days that they’ve only heightened his appeal to me (though much more a commentator than a would-be politician).
His take on the second Republican debate (But Who Was Right — Rudy or Ron?) almost exactly mirrors my own thoughts. A quote:
Of the 10 candidates on stage in South Carolina, Dr. Paul alone opposed the war. He alone voted against the war. Have not the last five years vindicated him, when two-thirds of the nation now agrees with him that the war was a mistake, and journalists and politicians left and right are babbling in confession, “If I had only known then what I know now …”
Also worth noting: None of this touches on the larger issues of habeus corpus (essentially the government holding people without trial or legal recourse) or torture, both of which are absolute deal-breakers for me. Plainly stated candidates who think that current Bush administration practices are acceptable (or, God forbid, should be expanded) will never get my vote.
After that the last Republican debate that leaves Ron Paul and John McCain as the only two possible candidates I could vote. The others, and I’ve tried to choose my words carefully here, can go to hell, and frankly, probably will.