Paranoia pimp? So what would you call a government that routinely issues none specific threats of nuclear attacks, dirty bombs, small pox etc while leaving the doors and windows wide open to this country...
You think we are better off with what we got huh? What's the matter, Pat to much of a nationalist for you? Guess your more of a global guy huh?....
We're certainly better off with what we've got than with the likes of Pat Buchanan.
I'm a strong nationalist but I'm not an isolationist.
Had the isolationist America-Firsters had their way prior to WW II we would now be living in a nightmare world divided up between Nazis, Communists and Japanese militarists.
That's a cheery thought isn't it?
If Pat Buchanan is the answer the question is too stupid to bear thinking about.
But I do think that most Americans agree with the substance of his arguments, but are repulsed by the package. And his excellent book "A Republic not an Empire" proved the fatal blow to his future prospects. Quotes were taken out of context, arguments that were basically plausibility arguments were successfully portrayed as fascistic and anti-semitic ravings. He became radioactive at that point, and unfortunately a pariah.
I think Pat has a great intellect but a bomb throwing style, and it ultimately did him in.
One thing I think can't be denied though, is that the American electorate is philosphically conservative but operationally liberal. Practically all citizens have received taxpayer benificences (sp?). Most college students received government grants, most people have received unemployment checks at one time or another, and most voters want subsidies to help with their mortgages, subsidies for their farms, subsidies for their child rearing (whether that be for education or severe health problems), and subsidies for their aging parents.
The people responsible for placing the powers that be where they are desire pooling of taxpayer funds; see it as a measure of a civilized existence. And for that reason the size of the government of the United States will NEVER decrease. Hence the perpetual butting of heads between Conservatives who understand the danger of ever expanding powers, and Conservatives who while talking a good game take advantage of those ever expanding powers.
A society where the individual is held accountable for the progression of his life is dead, and only to be revived by catastrophic circumstances.