If true, a vote for Rudy is a vote for endless war.And, as James Madison said, wars are the death of republics.
This was in my personal opinion one of Buchanan's better recent columns, and I think it deserves some explicit tie into the immigration issue. Rudy Giuliani is advocating a significant expansion of US military commitments—while also positioning himself as a "tax cutter".
Now, in an era of deficits, how does one fund a military buildup? Well, there are two basic ways:
Both of these approaches have the advantage of being tax increases that aren't widely perceived and understood as taxes. Honest budgeting would place $300,000 in the military budget for every green card that is issued in exchange for military service. Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen any time soon. I also sincerely doubt that the children of Giuliani's supporters are going to be diverted by a draft from their budding careers as investment bankers and hedge fund managers.
What this means is that the US army will become increasingly an army of the poor who have fewer other job prospects after the type of economic programs and social service cuts Giuliani will put in place-and foreigners that are recruited by the lure of green cards and citizenship.
This type of military is much more likely to get used for non-constitutional purposes than the type of military the US has traditionally had. If you have a military that is a cross-section of the American public, there are things that are just plain difficult for even a sitting president to get them to do. US soldiers ultimately take an oath not to any particular president, but to uphold the Constitution. Young people who grow up in the US still largely get some education about what the Constitution is about and what it means. Green card mercenaries don't get such education—and aren't identified with communities for whom the US Constitution is especially important.
When we look at the whole picture of Giuliani's policies and record, I think we have a formula for fascism. What is different from traditional fascism is the lack of intense nationalism. However, despite Rudy's record of failed marriages (or possibly because of them), he appears to be catering to conservative religious interests that are rather hysterical in their opposition to Islam.
As mayor of New York, Rudy was limited in action largely to pushing people he perceived as "problems" into other cities. That becomes rather different if he becomes president—and frankly both he and Mitt Romney scare me that that sense. I'm not in love with Hillary Clinton either. I fully expect more divisive actions like Waco if she becomes president. The realistic good options are slim. The best realistic scenario I think is likely here is that we'll see peace candidates like Paul and Kucinich do well enough in the primaries to provide a real voice of sanity to the American public.
The specter of Giuliani creating a massively larger army largely composed of foreigners with no real loyalty or obligations to anyone in the US except himself deserves to be treated quite seriously. I dare call it fascism.
