Buchanan, Schlafly Pound NR Anti-Trump Tirade

Life Zette ^ | 22 January 2016 | Brendan Kirby

[GonzoII]

Conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan delivered a one-two punch Friday against the National Review, which has used its latest issue to launch a full-scale effort to take out GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

The magazine includes essays from conservative writers who argue that Trump would be a disastrous nominee for president and that he lacks authenticity as a true conservative. Appearing on "The Laura Ingraham Show" on Friday, Schlafly swatted away those complaints.

"National Review is not the authentic conservative," said Schlafly, founder of the Eagle Forum. "You know (magazine founder) Bill Buckley was for giving away the Panama Canal, which was an enormous issue with conservatives. And in 10 years, they never wrote a single article about the Equal Rights Amendment. So they were no help against that. So I don't recognize National Review as the authority on conservatism."

Buchanan, who worked in the Reagan White House and ran a pair anti-Establishment races for president in the Republican primaries that resembled Trump's current campaign, said during a separate appearance on the show that Schlafly's support for Trump serves as rebuke to the billionaire's critics.

"She's the first lady of American conservatism," he said. "Phyllis Schlafly is a legend to those of us who grew up in the conservative movement."

Schlafly said Texas Sen. Ted Cruz would be a good president and noted that many Eagle Forum members support him. But she said Trump is responsible for placing the country's most important issue -- immigration -- at the center of the national debate.

"We are just grateful for Trump for bringing out the immigration issue," she said. "I'm not going to tell you Donald Trump is perfect or right on everything. That's not my thing at all. I think that immigration is the top issue today. Just look at what's happened to Europe. And, we don't want what's happened in Europe to happen to us."

Schlafly said she is less concerned about ideological purity and consistency over decades. She said Reagan was imperfect but became the best president of the 20th century. Despite two lopsided off-year victories by the Republican Party in 2010 and 2014, conservatives have precious little to show for it, she said.

"We do respond when (Trump) says he wants to make America great again," she said. "Yes, we do. Obama didn't want to make us great again. He wanted to make us like everybody else. We don't want to be about everyone else. That's why people came to this country."

The National Review's broadside against Trump is like deja vu for Buchanan, who found himself on the cover of the conservative magazine in 2003 labeled an "unpatriotic conservative" for his opposition to the Iraq war. He said the magazine and other Establishment conservative writers are off-base in trying to run Trump out of the Republican presidential race.

"Who designates these people spokesmen for the conservative movement?" Buchanan asked. "I mean, where did that come from? Is there somebody who gave them holy orders or something to be speaking for the conservative movement or conservative cause?"

Craig Shirley, a noted Reagan biographer, said during his own appearance on the show that the magazine is mistaken to hold itself out as the arbiter of the conservative movement.

"National Review is but one voice, not the voice of conservatism," he said. "Reading people out of the movement is never a good idea -- even people who are recent converts or still on an ideological journey, you know, moving from the left to the right."

Shirley told Ingraham that National Review made a tactical mistake with its anti-Trump issue. Rather than packing all of its punch into a single issue, he said, it would have been more effective to roll out the articles one a time over weeks and months.

"Now, the debate is just about the efficacy of the magazine, should they have done it, and now they're pulled out of the debate," he said. "Then, you have the name calling instead of legitimate complaints, or issues, against Donald Trump."

[GonzoII]

NR just gave more media time for Trump and a platform for
more support from these two conservatives IMHO,
add Palin to the mix and you have a nice trio.

[Bidimus1]

Yea! Pat Buchanan the man that bested trup for the reform party nomination likes him.. what was that saying about birds and feathers ?

[Truthsearcher]

As a Cruz supporter, I completely agree with them, national review’s stunt was ridiculous and furthermore it did nothing to actually hurt Trump. It even made me like Trump more than before.

[gusopol3]

But a worrisome trio is McConnell, Roberts and Dole ( although I understand Dole actually endorsed Bush)who have either given Trump a boost or whom he’s courted.

[Bidimus1]

ooops hit enter..

and NR did not say it was the only voice just that it is a VOICE I guess free speech is only ok if you agree with Pat..

[Fai Mao]

I’m sure that what Buchanan had to say sounded better in the original German

[map]

Did someone say Phyllis Schlafly?

[SpaceBar]

Trump is truly a uniter. He got National Review Online and Jane Fonda to agree.

[map]

Yes, National Review Online outed themselves as being sympatico with Jane Fonda.

[BigEdLB]

There you go. LOL

[Pelham]

bttt

[GonzoII]

"But a worrisome trio is McConnell, Roberts and Dole "

I wont complain if they have to hold their nose and pull the lever, we've done it enough already.

HILLARY MUST GO!

[JoSixChip]

But a worrisome trio is McConnell, Roberts and Dole ( although I understand Dole actually endorsed Bush)who have either given Trump a boost or whom he's courted.

I'll see your unsolicited support from McConnell, Roberts and Dole. And raise you a campaign stop at Waterloo with Beck. I'm pretty confident with my hand.

[IwaCornDogs]

Immigration = Why Palin Chose Trump

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/11/24/sarah-palin-on-potential-16-endorsement-immigration-huge-on-my-list/

[ROCKLOBSTER]

what was that saying about birds and feathers ?

Birds + feathers = Birthers?

[lee martell]

I was disappointed Brent Bozell was one of ‘the 22’. I used to watch him on Hannity. I think Brent is a distant relative to the founder of NR Bill Buckley, and as such, thinks his opinion carries a certain amount of weight. Maybe it did at one time, but not so much now. The whole thing was an exercise in pomposity.

[jonrick46]

Reagan biographer, Craig Shirley: "Reading people out of the movement is never a good idea--even people who are recent converts or still on an ideological journey, you know, moving from the left to the right."

Shirley should know as Reagan's biographer. President Ronald Reagan's history shows us that it is possible for one to change. Ronald Reagan believed he was a Democrat through and through. Self-described as a "near hopeless hemophilic liberal" who "bled for causes," Reagan continued to support Democratic candidates. In 1948, he hit the campaign trail for Hubert Humphrey and Harry Truman because he "wasn't a tax-and-spend Democrat." Reagan reveals here that he was "on an ideological journey" towards Conservatism.

"As a liberal Democrat," Reagan wrote, "I was naturally opposted to Richard Nixon." In 1950 Nixon ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate from California against Reagan's Congresswoman, Helen Gahagen Douglas, who was married to a friend of Reagan's, Melvin Douglas. It was widely known that Reagan campaigned against Nixon, who won after portraying Douglas as a Communist sympathizer.

President Reagan's change to a Republican took almost 20 years after he joined the Democrats in 1932. He changed when he urged General Dwight Eisenhower to run for President on the Democrat ticket. When Eisenhower ran on the Republican ticket, Reagan then joined the Republican Party in 1952. Reagan campaigned and voted for him. Thanks to Ike, he never went back to the Democrats.

It is remarkable that Trump has gone through the process of becoming a conservative so quickly. It may speak of his brilliant mind that quickly understands the political choices. Going from a Leftist to a Conservative can be an impossible process because it means breaking away from the herd and making individual decisions. We should be proud of The Donald for making such courageous progress. He will go a long way as the years go on.

Ronald Reagan giving a speech at the Democrat National Convention for Harry Truman.

[Aria]

Trump gets huge support never before seen this early in a campaign and they come out and trash their own frontrunner. Brilliant. They must have an ulterior motive...hmmm

[knarf]

We’re not lookin’ for true authenticity as a Conservative ... we’re lookin’ for someone to bloody some noses

[FreeperCell]

Nice pic. Wow.