How does Buchanan defend this? Is the article an inaccurate hit-piece or does Buchanan really have these views? If so, are we witnessing mental deterioration?
This is a tough one. The author I believe is correct in his overall impression of Buchanan, however he goes off into looney cazoony land through much of the article. My impression of Buchanan is that he does get pulled in by authoritarians who use religion as part of their schtick, Franco, Putin, etc. But the author hurts his case by bringing in all the nutcase stuff, thus the author comes off as a lunatic.