Where the Right Went Wrong
- Book Review,
by Patrick J. Buchanan
Amazon.com
Although the George W. Bush administration is famous for being "on message," delivering a consistent and polished political perspective no matter what, such consistency apparently does not extend to every member of the conservative universe. In Where the Right Went Wrong, veteran pundit and occasional presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan offers up scathing criticisms of Bush's policies, the arrogance and boorishness of which, he warns, could ultimately dramatically destabilize the United States' superpower status. The problem, in Buchanan's eyes, is the rejection of traditional Reagan-era conservatism by an administration under the sway of the so-called "neoconservatives," who favor a pre-emptive military strategy and big government and don't mind running up dangerously huge budget deficits to support it. The war in Iraq, fought without direct demonstrable threat, alienates America in the eyes of the rest of the world, says Buchanan, squandering the global goodwill earned after the 9/11 attacks and creating exponentially larger numbers of terrorists who will threaten the U.S. for generations to come. The zeal over free trade among elected officials, a feeling notably not shared by Buchanan, Ross Perot, and Ralph Nader, is costing America jobs, Buchanan theorizes, and leading to a de-industrialized service-sector-only economy, an end to American self-sufficiency in favor of a reliance on global corporations, and a looming economic crisis. Refreshingly, and unlike pundits of his day, Buchanan crafts his arguments by examining world history, offering detailed analogies to the Roman Empire, the Civil War, and pre-Soviet Russia among others. Conservatives alienated by the Bush administration will find an eloquent champion in Buchanan and even liberals, who may not have known there was a conservative argument against war in Iraq, stand to learn something from a right side of the aisle perspective so different from that found in the Bush White House. --John Moe
From Publishers Weekly
In his indictment of the current Bush administration and its "neoconservative" policies, pundit and occasional presidential candidate Buchanan likens the American condition to that of Rome before the fall, citing "ominous analogies" such as "the decline of religion and morality, corruption of the commercial class, and a debased and decadent culture." According to Buchanan, the blame for this state of affairs rests squarely in the lap of "neoconservatives," who are mere liberals in sheep’s clothing. These neocons, the author contends, have wrestled control of the Republican party out of the hands of true conservatives such as himself, Barry Goldwater and, of course, Ronald Reagan—with disastrous results. Buchanan takes issue with Bush’s policies on, among other things, immigration, terrorism, imperialism, the Middle East, free trade and the deficit. What may come as a surprise to readers is Buchanan’s position on the war in Iraq, which he believes was an enormous error in judgment. "By attacking and occupying an Arab nation that had no role in 9/11, no plans to attack us, and no weapons of mass destruction, we played into bin Laden’s hand," Buchanan writes. But liberals won’t stay on board with the book’s message for long, especially when it comes to issues of culture and social policy. Buchanan is against affirmative action, abortion and gay rights, to name a few, and he believes immigration poses a serious threat to the American way of life. At times, Buchannan obscures his arguments with ill-chosen words that many will read as xenophobic, if not racist. In a discussion of illegal Mexican immigrants, for example, he calls California "Mexifornia" and adds, "Ten years after NAFTA, Mexico’s leading export to America is still—Mexicans. America is becoming Mexamerica." Whether or not one agrees with these conclusions, Buchanan’s book is provocative and will certainly ruffle feathers on both sides of the party line.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"...an honest writer who opens_his_mind and psyche in_a way few people can...He minces nothing except an occasional opponent."
Review
"Buchanan is an honest writer who opens his mind and psyche in a way few people can...He minces nothing except an occasional opponent."
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
Book Description
American Empire is at its apex. We are the sole superpower with no potential challenger for a generation. We can reach any point on the globe with our cruise missiles and smart bombs and our culture penetrates every nook and cranny of the global village. Yet we are now the most hated country on earth, buried beneath a mountain of debt and morally bankrupt.
Where the Right Went Wrong chronicles how the Bush administration and Beltway conservatives have abandoned their principles, and how a tiny cabal hijacked U. S. foreign policy, and may have ignited a "war of civilizations" with the Islamic world that will leave America's military mired down in Middle East wars for years to come.
At the same time, these Republicans have sacrificed the American worker on the altar of free trade and discarded the beliefs of Taft, Goldwater and Reagan to become a party of Big Government that sells its soul to the highest bidder.
A damning portrait of the present masters of the GOP, Where the Right Went Wrong calls to task the Bush administration for its abandonment of true conservatism including:
- The neo-conservative cabal-liberal wolves in conservative suits.
- Why the Iraq War has widened and imperiled the War on Terror.
- How current trade policy outsources American sovereignty, independence and industrial power.
About the Author
Patrick J. Buchanan, America's leading populist conservative, was a senior advisor to three American presidents, ran twice for the Republican nomination in 1992 and 1996, and was the Reform Party's presidential candidate in 2000. The author of six other books, including the bestsellers, Right from the Beginning, A Republic, Not An Empire and The Death of the West, he is a syndicated columnist and a founding member of three of America's foremost public affairs shows, NBC's The McLaughlin Group, and CNN's The Capitol Gang and Crossfire. He lives in McLean, Virginia.
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