As far as bombing cities, Pat didn’t start the debate. Dresden, Tokyo, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki ring a bell? We shouldn’t second guess the people of that era, but that doesn’t mean we should forget what was done. Even now, military strategists debate the necessity of the Dresden bombing and whether such acts are ever justified. That’s a healthy debate IMHO.
Pat also makes some good points about the Soviets. We formed an alliance with Stalin, an evil dictator on par with Hitler. In the process, we sacrificed the freedom of hundreds of millions of people in Eastern Europe. What we did may have been necessary to defeat Hitler, but it resulted in something less than a great victory for western civilization.
Pat is engaged in an intellectual exercise of discussing what ifs. What’s so wrong about that? Could we have stopped Hitler earlier without resorting to a world war? Probably. Hindsight is 20/20.
This is not a logical, new analysis. It is lies based on lies.
John / Billybob
Depends on whether he still cares about current politics and wants to have credibility as a commentator.
Getting a reputation for publishing things like this week after week means his opinions about other things aren't going to be given credence by most people.
Most columnists have a way of raising interesting issues without appearing obsessed by them, but right now Pat isn't showing that talent.
Pat did a lot to bring the problems of mass immigration into the political conversation, when "mainstream" or "movement" conservatives and neocons weren't interested.
But if he keeps this up he's going to be seen as the man who helped drive that debate back underground.
Listen to Rush Limbaugh... :) ...You'll see the danger of the whole "what if" thing, and making big decisions on "wacky" "what ifs"
It is called the enemy of enemy is my friend. Granted not a good friend but they where our allies during the war. Sometimes you have deal with the devil to gets things done.
The problem is that every now and then, one starts to get the idea that maybe ol' Pat really is capable of making a valid point or two... but next thing you know, the old bastard has segued into defending Hitler on one pretext or another, giving everyone to the left of Regan fodder for jokes about how "Pat's material sounds a lot more impressive in the original German."
He's like a caricature of a caricature, namely, the guy from Dr. Strangelove who would lapse into heel-clicking mode at the most importune moments.
That's Pat for ya -- just when you think he's finally on The Road to Rehabilitation of his reputation, someone says something that sets him off (maybe it's just the imaginary voices in his head half the time), and he flips into "Jawohl, Mein Fuhrer!" character.
The guy is an embarrassment that won't go away. If someone wanted to plant an ugly wart on the face of the conservative movement, they'd do it in the form of something exactly like Pat Buchanan.
The saddest part of all is the gutless countryclub "leadership" that refuses to look the bastard square in the eye and tell him to GTF out of town, NOW.