Why Do I Find Myself Agreeing With This Man?

Look at the Indians. They had a liberal immigration policy and look what happened to them.

- Pat Buchanan, to Jon Stewart (Daily Show, Sept. 25, 2006 - Part 1, Part 2)

My politics are well to the left of center, even if I'm not a "card-carrying member of the ACLU." So why, over the last year or so, have I found myself agreeing more and more with Pat Buchanan, the Nixon speechwriter, Reagan staffer, and current ubiquitous conservative commentator?

1. Foreign Policy. I'm not about to create "Fortress America" any time soon, but I'm all for ending the crazy cowboy routines. Buchanan is basically an isolationist who would deride the notion of the Army Corps of Engineers building a moat around Baghdad, but welcomes a similar measure on the US borders. I can put up with some of the crazier rhetoric as long as the primary direction is still to avoid undue entanglements in foreign affairs. What could you have done with $300 billion over the last 3+ years?

2. Personal Responsibility. I wouldn't go so far as to abolish welfare or other government social programs -- in fact, I support reasonable expansions of public health care and other social programs. On the other hand, we really do need to drive the waste, fraud, and abuse out of the current systems. I can work with Buchanan for a while on this front until "reform" becomes "repeal."

3. Common Sense. Unlike his McLaughlin Group colleague Tony Blankley, Buchanan has not tied himself, unthinking and unblinking, to the current president or the Republican party. He's willing to call things as he sees them, criticizing and praising as appropriate. That's a far cry from the majority of right-wing talk spewed across the airwaves.

Finally, I appreciate the man's sense of humor. Buchanan has enough money and confidence to poke fun at himself and at the blowhards who can't bring themselves to acknowledge the logical and moral failings of the current administration. He can spit fire and brimstone with the worst of the pundits, but he also knows when to take the act back down a few notches.

Trust me, I'm not backing another "Buchanan for President" campaign or anything of that nature.  His efforts to impose a personal morality on others are completely reprehensible and threaten to undermine any positives I just called out. But who would you rather see as a part of the national media debate -- O'Reilly? Limbaugh? Hannity? Scarborough? Blech.