Pat Lang: Palin, Buchanan and Israel?

[laststeamtrain]

Palin, Buchanan and Israel?



"Rep. Bob Wexler, D-Florida, took the AP report, and said "John McCain's decision to select a vice presidential running mate that endorsed Pat Buchanan for president in 2000 is a direct affront to all Jewish Americans. Pat Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer with a uniquely atrocious record on Israel, even going as far as to denounce bringing former Nazi soldiers to justice and praising Adolf Hitler for his 'great courage.' At a time when standing up for Israel's right to self-defense has never been more critical, John McCain has failed his first test of leadership and judgment by selecting a running mate who has aligned herself with a leading anti-Israel voice in American politics. It is frightening that John McCain would select someone one heartbeat away from the presidency who supported a man who embodies vitriolic anti-Israel sentiments."" ABC News

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Well, I don't think that Buchanan is a Nazi sympathizer, but it is clear that he thinks Israel has had too much influence on American foreign policy.

The Palin/McCain campaign is now doing its best to minimize the degree of Sarah Palin's past support for Pat Buchanan's Quixotic attempts to run for president. They point to her later (?) support for Forbes as an antidote to the notion that she was a serious Buchanan supporter. A "pitchfork" mom?

It will be hard to make that work for a lot of hard core Zionists. Palin's support for Buchanan was more than casual. He is quoted in this piece in such a way that he appears to think she was a serious supporter. You may not like Buchanan but he is not delusional. In fact, his lack of delusion on many subjects has caused him a lot of trouble.

The big question about Palin and "foreign" policy ought to be how she can have supported Buchanan's view that Israel is a small, foreign place, far away that costs the US more than it is worth. Now she is the running mate ("soul mate" as well?) of John (Ich bin ein Tel Aviver) McCain.

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McCain does not deal well with frustration. He does not deal well with opposition to his judgment calls. There is a real possibility that he can be provoked into a moment... "You want the truth, you can't handle the truth. They stole my strawberries. They stole my strawberries...." That would be "The End."

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