Sorry to be so Americo-centric, but I am wondering
what people out there think about the politics of Patrick
Buchanan? Is he a fascist, a crypto-fascist, or what?
I note the following:
1) He now plays a populist card, claiming to be for "the
working stiff." Along these lines he strongly opposes NAFTA,
the WTO, and the flat tax. In that regard he is the only one
of the candidates among the two major parties, including Clinton,
who regularly talks about the working class. By many reports he
was shaken up in 1992 by talking to factory workers in New Hampshire
while campaigning. This goes against his former laissez faire
internationalism when he worked for Nixon and Reagan as a press
flack.
2) His father, whom he still greatly admires, was reportedly
enamored of Franco and Joe McCarthy.
3) He is a cultural ultra-conservative, homophobic, sexist,
and racist, the latter, dating back at least to his days working
for Nixon when he urged Nixon to take segregationist positions that
Nixon did not do, despite his erstwhile "Southern strategy."
4) He is an isolationist, opposing US intervention in Haiti and Bosnia,
membership in the UN, deals with Russia or China, trade agreements with
anybody.
5) He is virulently anti-immigration and his anti-foreigner theme
fits in with a virulent isolationist nationalism and cultural
conservatism.
So, is he a fascist?
Barkley Rosser
