When the Obama/Wright fuss erupted across our media, a few conservative partisans compared Rev. Wright to the proud KKK leader David Duke. I instantly rejected this comparison on the basis that Wright has never belonged to an organization that advocated and organized terrorism, both legal and extralegal (Duke's "reform" of the KKK isn't sufficient to eliminate this consideration).

Anyway, this comparison got me to thinking of what person on the right would be a good match for Wright. I suspected that Pat Buchanan would fit, vaguely remembering him advocating a white American ethnic identity, that needed to be protected from influence from outside ethnic groups.

Speak of the devil. A few days later, I found that Buchanan has written up his thoughts on Rev. Wright (tip to Kos).

I've often held a grudging respect for Buchanan, recognizing him as a leader among the principled opposition. I can always count on him to clearly articulate his views in a straight-forward manner. Unfortunately, his views sometimes cross that line between "disagreeable" and "reprehensible". Buchanan's latest writing on race relations is full of the latter (critiqued at Too Sense), but one assertion struck me as being particularly egregious:

 

...America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation...

In other words, "they should be thankful that we beat their ignorance out of them." I suspect that many black atheists and Muslims will disagree with Buchanan's logic, and non-Christians in general should be frightened by the implication's of Buchanan's argument. Even a number of liberal Christians (possibly in Obama's and Wright's UCC) will recognize that there is a strong component of subjectivity to their faith, and that it isn't necessarily better than the faith of non-Christians.

 

Buchanan has crossed the line between advocating a different value system and advocating tyranny (or excusing it, at least). Unfortunately, he's probably crossed this line before, even if I was not aware of it at the time and was unwilling to dig up old dirt.

After this, I have to wonder if Buchanan would be grateful if someone kidnapped him and beat these silly ideas out of his head.