February 2^nd

Today is Groundhog Day and it also provides light on Patrick J. Buchanan’s latest political thoughts (sic).

Pat’s current effort is to claim “There’s a Syriza in our future.” For those unsophisticated in the arcane nature of Greek politics, Syriza is a political party of the far left which recently won the Greek election by joining with a party of the far right which also objected to the conditions other European nations imposed on Greece’s bailout.

Pat is very unhappy with the new Republican majority in Congress because they have passed a “fast track” trade treaty provision. This provision, Pat claims, deprives Congress of “all rights to amend trade treaties, and to commit itself to a simple up or down vote.” That’s true but it ignores the obvious fact that Congress can still say to the President, “As the treaty stands we’ll probably have to vote against it but if you just change these few items we’ll be happy to pass it.” It may be that such negotiation isn’t likely but its possibility is not eliminated by the fast track provision.

Pat has a subtext here that is obvious: if you don’t have the fast track provision then Congress can indulge itself in the endless debates, modifying amendments and inter-party squabbles for which it is famous. The result will be that it passes nothing and that is exactly the result that Pat hopes for. He will not get those delays with fast track, so of course Pat objects to fast track.

Pat spends the rest of the ink available to him telling us how the American worker suffers from all of the previous trade agreements. His newfound sympathy for the typical American worker does not extend to suggesting equal pay for equal work or minimum wage legislation or maternal leave or any other Syriza like suggestions. Pat is ever true to his isolationist principles. He ignores the fact that many workers make a comfortable living selling or servicing a host of foreign products, from Hyundai automobiles to Samsung TV sets, nor does he seem to understand what would happen to the market for our American made products in the inevitable trade war which his suggestions promote.

Incidentally, the word “Syriza” appears nowhere in Buchanan’s column except for the title and the very last sentence; talk about burying the lead!