R i g h t a r d i a: Why is Pat Buchanan Defending Hitler?

Friday, September 4, 2009

Why is Pat Buchanan Defending Hitler?

MSNBC conservative commentator and former Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan has a history of insensitivity to issues surrounding the Holocaust. On the 70th anniversary of World War II, Buchanan posted a column on his own website that blames Poland for World War II.

Of interest the Russian government recently released documents that suggest Poland wanted to attack Russia. The Polish leadership’s had plans for the partition and subsequent annihilation of the Soviet Union, informs RIA Novosti news agency. Hitler seemed to be more interested in expanding German territory to include German speaking Poles than developing a more logical alliance with Poland to attack Russia. Of course, Hitler viewed Slavs as an inferior race, so perhaps such an alliance was impossible.

In a piece titled "Just how crazy is Pat Buchanan," Ethan Porter writes that Buchanan's latest comments reflect "revisionism that comes perilously close to denial:"

Despite his current position, as a friendly sparring partner with Rachel Maddow and in-house winger on MSNBC, the guy has been a very-thinly veiled fascist sympathizer for decades. And in his column this week, he all but removes that veil.

Buchanan wrote a column entitled "Did Hitler Want War?" Buchanan believes the answer to be no. Many historians would argue otherwise. The Russians had infiltrated the Gestapo and knew the exact date when the Nazis were going to attack.

Buchanan pins the blame for World War II on Poland, and Britain's guarantee of protection to it. As evidence, Buchanan points to a string of inexplicably dumb decisions made by Hitler . . .

Buchanan has the sort of history that has earned him an entire page on the Anti-Defamation League's (ADL) website. The ADL goes so far as to describe Buchanan as one who "publicly espouses racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and anti-immigrant views."

The site features a sampling of more than 2,000 of Buchanan's own words, but maybe more telling are the thoughts of the late conservative intellectual William Buckley, who was included in a Newsweek's article "Is Pat Buchanan Anti-Semitic:"

Buchanan also wrote that if the United States went to war, the fighting would be done by "kids with names like McAllister, Murphy, Gonzales, and Leroy Brown." Buckley, in his usual opaque writing style, argues that this amounts to charging Jews with starting a war they wouldn't fight in a genuine slur against them.

These are rough words coming from Buckley, who took great pains to distinguish between anti-Semitism and simply voicing criticism of Israel.

However, what may be most surprising is why Buchanan still has a job.

UPDATE II: Within an hour of our press release, MSNBC has removed Buchanan's column, "Did Hitler Want War," from their website.

David A. Harris, NJDC's President: "MSNBC took the responsible action and removed Pat Buchanan's column defending Adolf Hitler from their website, but no worthy news organization should employ and promote a commentator who engages in such vile fiction."

Buchanan, however, is to the center of the other conservative commentator on MSNBC, Joe Scarborough, on many issues. Buchanan did , at least, admit there were no WMDs in Iraq. Many other conservative commentators still in denial that that the Iraq War was unnecessary.

Follow Aaron Keyak on Twitter: www.twitter.com/akeyak