Apparently, Pat Buchanan questions the validity of defeating Nazi Germany in World War II:
On the radio and Internet, Buchanan framed his positions as amplification of remarks made over the weekend by President George W. Bush that the pact ending the war brought on a Stalinist domination that was "one of the greatest wrongs of history."
Yes, Stalinism WAS one of the greatest wrongs of history. Right up there with the equally heinous wrong that was the Holocaust. The fact that it took us until the 80's to defeat one doesn't mean we shouldn't have fought the other.
But Buchanan's comments on the Don Imus radio show and in an essay posted on the Web site of his organization, The American Cause, went much further. He suggested that because Germans voted Hitler in, they did not need to be liberated, and that Britain and France drew Germany into the wider conflict.
Um... Earth to Pat. Sprechen zie "Lebensraum"? Remember the Sudetenland? Poland? The camps?
He did not mention Jews or the Holocaust - the most outrageous omission for Yaffa Eliach, a Holocaust expert and survivor.
Not just for Yaffa, actually. Trivializing 6 million deaths tends to get under the skin of ANYONE with even a modicum of decency.
Former Mayor Ed Koch offered this blunt rebuttal: "I believe that no decent human being should ever sit down at the same table with Pat Buchanan and I am shocked that otherwise responsible, respectable citizens share platforms with him on Sunday shows."
Absolutely right, for once, Ed. I am amazed and ashamed that Buchanan was once considered a contender for the presidential candidacy of my party. What a maroon.
Update: I'm as hesitant as anyone to play the Race card, but in the case of Buchanan, I think that Ace is right.
Update II: Thanks for the Memory to The Maximum Leader. He links to an excellent essay by the esteemed Victor David Hansen which, while not directed specifically at Buchanan, provides ample ammunition for rebuttal of his view.
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