A bit over the top, dontcha think? I think Pat's wrong about a lot of things but blanket anti-semitism is the same sort of exaggeration on your part that you fault him for. I do believe that some anti-Israel liberals are truly anti-semitic (Israel is racist etc.) but really, Buchanan's quarrel with Israel has to do with Israel's policies and the US policy toward Israel, not with Jews per se. Yes, of course, he believes that leading Jews in the United States have had undue influence and that's why we have a bad Israel policy--but again, is that truly anti-semitic?
As to Coughlin's anti-semitism, I have no opinion. The word is thrown around so loosely that I'm inherently suspicious of but it's certainly possible that Coughlin was flat-out an anti-semite. But it's simply not possible for Buchanan to be "identical" to someone who was operating in a different context and different times. So, just as a friendly amendment, would you be willing to put the kabosh on "identical"?
I know that to ask you to drop the "anti-semite" label in favor of "anti-Israel" for Buchanan would be more than a request for friendly amendment, so I won't ask that of you--not that I imagine it makes any difference to you anyway. I do think we ought to be careful with the label because it can function as a cheap way to evade grappling with the real issues--in this case, is our Israel policy good for the US. I think it is and Pat's wrong, but I don't try to refute his policy disagreements by calling him names. That really never helps.
I'll modify it to "substantively similar." :-)
I know that to ask you to drop the "anti-semite" label in favor of "anti-Israel"...
Before Gulf War II, I'd have agreed...even though Buchanan repeatedly referred to the "Jewish Amen corner" in Congress. However, his attacks on "neo-cons" lately have this unpleasant coincidence of being targeted at Jewish pundits and politicians. If I start seeing Buchanan use the term neo-con to describe others, I'll reconsider.
After 1936, however, Coughlin increasingly expressed sympathy for the fascist policies of Hitler and Mussolini as an antidote to Bolshevism, though this was before World War II began. His radio broadcasts also became overtly anti-Semitic. He also began publication of a newspaper, Social Justice, during this period, in which he printed anti-Semitic accusations such as The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. On Nov. 20, 1938, two weeks after Kristallnacht, when Jews across Germany were attacked and killed, and Jewish businesses and homes burned, Coughlin blamed the Jewish victims, saying that "Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were persecuted." After this speech, and as his programs became more anti-semitic, some radio stations, including those in New York and Chicago, began refusing to air his speeches without pre-approved scripts. This made Coughlin a hero in Nazi Germany, where papers ran headlines like "America is Not Allowed to Hear the Truth." On December 18, 1938 two thousand of Coughlin's followers marched in New York protesting potential asylum law changes that would allow more Jews to enter the country, chanting, "Send Jews back where they came from in leaky boats!" and "Wait until Hitler comes over here!" these protests continued for several months. Donald Warren, using information from the FBI and German government archives, has also argued that Coughlin received indirect funding from Nazi Germany during this period.
Additionally, after 1936, Father Coughlin began supporting an organization called the Christian Front, which claimed him as an inspiration. In January, 1940, the Christian Front was shut down when the FBI discovered Christian Front was arming itself and preparing to attack Jewish targets and the Federal Reserve and eventually establish, in Herbert Hoover's words, "a dictatorship, similar to the Hitler dictatorship in Germany." Coughlin publicly stated after the plot was discovered that he still did not "disassociate himself from the movement," and though he was never linked directly to the plot, his reputation suffered. (New York Times, Jan 22, 1940)