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founding

Now that's the Pat Buchanan who stood for the Catholic Right. Being 81, I remember that kind of belligerent, outer-borough proto-fascism with the horror of what we then called an "Establishment Republican." Buckley (one of Stanley Bosworth's favorites) often recommended violence against those he disagreed with, but unlike Buchanan, Buckley would never have beaten anyone up himself. If you have lots of money, you don't need to. I reviewed one of Buckley's memoirs for the NYTBR long ago, and was surprised when he responded by trying to recruit me to his causes, having, I think, failed to perceive that the review had used Catholic Christianity against him.

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Jan 26, 2023Liked by John Ganz

To the extent there is any consistent ideology of “Trumpism”, it is best embodied by Pat Buchanan. Trump’s embrace of right-wing extremists’ and even outright Nazis’ support and his echoing of their talking points, as well as his elevation to key policy roles of Stephen Miller and other former Jeff Sessions Senate staffers (in spite of Trump’s Russiagate-driven hatred of Sessions himself)---all of this was shocking because at the end of the day, these types of people weren’t *supposed* to be driving a Republican presidential nominee’s campaign, let alone be the backbone of a Republican presidential administration themselves.

But the Bush family/John McCain/Mitt Romney, etc. wing of the Republican Party were discredited by the very fact of Trump’s nomination and election, and Trump wasn’t about to forgive the NeverTrumpers unless they were willing to kiss the ring convert to loyal supplicants. So a lot of what had bern then the conservative Establishment had effected been shut out

after 2016, if they had not shut themselves out voluntarily.

By contrast, the far-right “fringe” like Sessions and Bannon, and indeed, Alex Jones, Michael Flynn, and others of that ilk were all too happy to find common cause with Trump, because they recognized a guy who shared their prejudices and resentments and Trump had the assets of unparalleled name recognition and decades of experience in successful media manipulation. And being vulgar and uncouth politically and culturally turned out to be a massive asset in the eyes of the Republican base.

It also helps that, to the extent Trump has any “genuine” beliefs, they include racism, misogyny, and yes, anti-Semitism. “The Jews betrayed me after I did so much for them”, hanging out with Ye and Nick Fuentes, obviously believing the most base tropes about Jews being good at counting money or making good lawyers, and saying that American Jews should support “their country (Israel) a lot more.” The man is a nasty bigot even if in a casual and shameless opportunistic way. No wonder Pat Buchanan-style politics appealed to him.

Another excellent post from you, John. Thanks.

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Jan 29, 2023Liked by John Ganz

To the list of liberals and leftists with a perverse fondness for Buchanan you can add Hunter Thompson, who mentions him several times in Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail.

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I went to high school with the son of a man who was a close colleague of Buchanan’s in the Nixon administration. Probably a name you know, but I’ll leave it anonymous since this is a public site. The story he told who son who told me was that once he and Buchanan got onto an elevator, followed by two African American men. When the elevator got to their floor, the father got off but Buchanan stayed on the elevator. The elevator went up and came back down. When the doors opened, the two men had been beaten senseless, and Buchanan got off. Buchanan was a huge guy, and apparently he didn’t like the fact that men of another race had the audacity to get onto the elevator he was getting on,

I believe this story to be true. And Pat Buchanan cannot die fast enough for me.

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One thing I noted, and appreciated, on the few occasions when I interviewed him, was honesty. Unlike others who shared his views he didn’t try to hide them.

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I recently had my heart broken by a woman I love and respect casually making the observation that "we're a republic, not a democracy". I'm praying for tidal waves.

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Two brief Buchanan memories. I remember years ago Rick Perlstein being on a tv panel with Buchanan, and the two sparred vigorously about some issue of Nixon administration history. At one point Perlstein completely disarmed Buchanan by telling him something like "Pat I have read an incredible number of Nixon documents, and one thing I can say for sure is that the Old Man really loved you." Buchanan practically glowed with pride. The other is that I can't help but have something a soft spot for Buchanan because a fond childhood memory is of watching Crossfire with my Dad. For reasons I don't really understand my Dad, an old school New Deal liberal and very lapsed Catholic, really liked Buchanan. Now that I know more about Buchanan than I did when I was kid, I wish my Dad were still around so I can ask him why.

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Very excited to read your book! Do you detail the Buchanan vs. Trump contest for the 2000 Reform Party presidential nomination?

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Funny that you should get to his neighbours just after his pleased description of a man he and his had worked-over, as I was thinking 'I can not imagine a Jew not in the Purple Gang or Murder, Inc. expressing that sort of pleasure—some certainly might feel it, humans being all-too-human, but….'. For that matter, I can not see how that attitude could be considered a good Catholic such.

Perhaps his, and others', anti-Semitism is given an extra kick when they see a society that increasingly views such his attitude then and now as unwholesome, and can not see it as a culture 'advancing'—that would require admitting that things were not all that great when they were young and their fathers, at least, not right about everything—but rather one being Judaïsed, by a 'Cathedral' consubstantial with 'The Synagogue of Satan'.

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>reading the early National Review was almost been a spiritual experience for the young Catholic.

I'd say it's 'must have been almost' or 'was almost' (or similar, in each case), but it shouldn't be both at once. I'll delete this comment if that's fixed (if you can not first).

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is the block quotation at the end Rothbard?

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