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To: craig crawford who wrote (132333)	10/2/2001 11:01:46 AM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Craig, can you show me how I can get off the Patrick J. Buchanan thread? Btw Did you notice Palladium is down to $325? I got stopped out at $442. No profit or loss other than commissions.

To: craig crawford who wrote (132333)	10/2/2001 11:56:26 AM
From: Oeconomicus	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 164684

Ah, yes. The "globalism means ceding national sovereignty" argument. The modern equivalent of the "federalism tramples states' rights" case for the Confederate States secession from the USA. The same argument was made by politicians across the south in their efforts to perpetuate segregation. In Georgia, they pasted the Confederate battle flag onto the state flag in protest of Federal interference in their sovereign right to discriminate based on race. The reality is that the Federal government enforced the higher standards of our Constitution in spite of the protests of state pols who sought to maintain the status quo and, particularly, their own political and economic power over an oppressed minority. Being an integrated part of the global community does not mean ceding our sovereignty. It does not mean Americans must be any less American any more than the Union victory in the Civil War meant Cajuns had to be less Cajun. It does not mean conservative Muslims have to uncover their heads or devout Sihks must cut their hair. It does not mean Germans must relax their beer purity laws or that the English have to give up their Pound. It simply means that members of the global community must work together to ensure the rule of law, that barriers to economic freedom are erased, that international outlaws are brought to justice, and that oppressed people everywhere are protected and their basic human rights restored. We need not fear UN representatives and human rights advocates who want to inspect our prisons. If we practice what we preach, they will find nothing wrong. If they come with predrawn conclusions based on their own anti-American biases, their accusations won't hold water. If we are unjustly accused, we must stand up for our rights. If we are attacked, we have a right to defend ourselves and the global community has an obligation to help us as we do them. If our freedom is threatened, we must protect it and the global community has the same obligation. The Republic that Buchanan says he wants to protect from foreign interlopers was once, in the eyes of many of our ancestors, the interloper itself. I call Buchanan a demagogue because his influence, limited though it may be (thankfully), is built upon the reinforcement of popular prejudices (and the creation of new ones). Business leaders are part of a "national elite", conspiring from "both coasts" to ensnare America in a web of foreign control. He labels those who see things differently than he as anti-American. I point out his word selection because his carefully made choices carry implicit meaning as well as explicit ones. His example of Britain's eroding sovereignty, "requiring the British army to accept homosexuals", reminds his audience of the debate in the US over the same issue, even though our debate was an entirely American one. He demonizes globalists by associating them with homosexuals, a common prejudice among his followers. His use of phrases like "trade-uber-alles" harkens back to the anti-German rhetoric of WWI ("Deutchland Uber Alles" was the title of the Imperial German national anthem). "Uber alles" literally means "over all", two harmless words on the face of it, but conveying darker meaning - images of un-American loyalties and foreign enemies. This "innocent" use of language is the tool of the demagogue to instill fear and prejudice in order to gain or maintain power. Buchanan is a demagogue and you don't have to have a college degree to see it. PS: I should thank you for forcing me to think this through, to analyze the issues and the debaters, rather than stopping at the level of intuitive reaction. You have strengthened my beliefs as you have forced me to strengthen my knowledge. ... Nah. That might imply I respect you.