European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 10, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday March 10, 1992 the stars and stripes b Page 13 commentary James j. Kilpatric kit s time for Buchanan to Wake up to reality politics and whiskey have this much in common a Man can get dreadfully drunk on either one. An experienced Drinker can handle the booze. A Novice never knows when to Stop. So it is with Patrick Buchanan the most improbable candidate for president since Wendell Willkie ran against Franklin d. Roosevelt in 1940. The big difference is that Willkie won the Republican nomination. Buchanan wont win Beans. At the moment Buchanan is drunk on politics. Pickled. Tanked. Blotto. I have seen it happen Over and Over. In the nature of the game a candidate is surrounded by sycophants and True believers. By night and by Day Pat hears Little but applause and Good wishes. A a you re going to take him Pat a a great speech Pat a All this goes to a Many a head. Reality dissolves in a Boozy Haze. Tuesday night an exultant Buchanan was shouting to his followers that he was going a fall the he was going to win the nomination after that the White House there he was on stage a the next president of the United states a basking in adulation like a sirloin Steak in a wine marinade. To what end if a voice of reason can Cut through the sound Barrier some solid Republican should grab Buchanan by the lapels and ask him straight out what he thinks he is accomplishing. He has brilliantly accomplished what most of us thought was his real purpose to Shock George Bush into an awareness of conservative discontent. The Buchanan message has been delivered. Loud and Clear. Why does the messenger linger on no one in the pundit business so far As i am aware Ever dreamed that Buchanan was serious. When columnist William f. Buckley ran for mayor of new York some years ago everyone saw it As a Lark. Asked if he might be declared the Winner Buckley said he would demand a recount Buchanan is different. He is now asking to be taken seriously. This is impossible. Buchanan is or was one of our own. He is or was a columnist and to commentator. We have known him for some Vears in the press Box. What is he doing All suited up Down on the Field the Buchanan vote should be seen clearly for what it is a protest. Let me summon from political history an altogether forgotten Man or. Joseph i. France of Maryland. He was a state senator then a . Senator an excellent surgeon but a party nonentity. Nevertheless France took on president Hoover in the Republican primaries of 1932. Hoover was m deep trouble. The crash of 1929 had been followed by the depression of 1931. Unemployment was increasing. Personal incomes were falling. The ragtag a Bonus army of world War i veterans cast a pall Over Washington. Party primaries were not so important then. Only eight states held contests. France swamped the unpopular president. He Defeated Hoover in Illinois Pennsylvania new Jersey and Oregon. He polled 1.1 million votes to hoovers 781,000. Talk about protest. Evidently Frances bid ended in Ignominy. His name is scarcely mentioned in biographies of Hoover. Stefan Lorant in his history of the presidency recalls the Republican convention of 1932. France a was bodily carried off the platform when he proposed that the convention should choose former president Coolidge instead of so much for Buckingham. Off with his head having delivered the ringing protest of a frustrated and angry people Buchanan has done a constructive Job. To continue now in the face of certain defeat at the Houston convention is to perform no useful service at All. He is further dividing an already unhappy Republican party. Instead of Healing wounds he is rubbing Salt into them. Beyond the immediate political combat what lies ahead for Buchanan after november what is he a footnote a passing paragraph he has Burnt his Bridges As columnist commentator and lecturer. The longer he campaigns the More he becomes identified As a purely political figure a political Force within his party. But in the taxonomy of politics he is neither fish nor fowl. He holds no office and none is available to him by appointment or by election. Perhaps he could run in Virginia for John Warners seat in the Senate but he has no credentials within the old Dominion. Quo Vadis Patrick Buchanan where Are you going when the presidential booze runs dry Only a hangover remains. C a Versai press Syndicate Howard Kleinberg fuss Over nicknames much ado about nothing a Buck. Sometimes a contemptuous or patronizing term As applied to a Young Black or Indian male. So says websters new world dictionary. So i ask you what gives with All this clamor about the Atlanta braves and Cleveland indians but not a Peep about the Milwaukee Bucks some american indians have taken to calling for the elimination of racial stereotype nicknames of sports teams doing this when they were not otherwise engaged in holding protest rallies Over the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus voyage. I use the word a a some in de scribing them because just As with any group there is no unanimity in their cause. The More Radical groups have carried this sports team nickname Issue to notoriety arguing that there Are no sports teams called the jews or the catholics. That is True but there is a team called the fighting Irish and i done to hear of anyone in Dublin who is ripping mad about it. There also Are crusaders deacons cardinals padres Angels and any other manner of religiously oriented nicknames Over which people could find a Way to be upset a including devils Why a team named for satan we also could talk about jewfish which while not a sports nickname is a spurious appellation for an ugly fish. Of All the names being protested the Only one i believe to be pejorative is that of the super bowl Champion Washington redskins. The other names were intended to denote the spirit of the american Indian. Interestingly the Cherokee indians who live in the area of Northern Georgia South and North Carolina Are not among those protesting the name of the nearby Atlanta braves. In fact they Are the ones who manufactured Many of the wooden tomahawks sold to braves fans during last years Pennant fever which evoked such anguish from More Radical american indians. A person could go Down the list of sports nicknames and create sensitive issues Over most of them if one were so inclined. The Milwaukee Bucks is a Case in Point. I have no idea of the genesis of the National basketball association team nickname but if i wanted to be troublesome i could use that dictionary definition to raise the anger of Blacks and indians alike. Talk about your stereotypes when the Pequot tribe opened its gambling Casino in Ledyard conn., each cocktail waitress was dressed As a stereotypical Pocahontas Complete with a single Feather in the Back of her head and a skirt that was just Short of being too Short. Why weren to american Indian radicals picketing the place similar to the position of the Cherokee is that of Florida a Seminole indians. They have not made an Issue of the fact that sports teams at Florida state univer sity in Tallahassee Are called the seminoles. They believe it to be an Honor. The Miami area Mika Suki Branch of the seminoles was not among the Indian groups protesting the arrival of the replicas of the Ninfia Pinta and Santa Maria in Miami last week the protesters were out of towners. Not Only weren to the Mika Suki protesting they were among the welcoming committee. Buffalo Tiger former chairman of the Mika Suki tribe gave two peace pipes to the highest official aboard the ships and placed the Columbus Celebration in its proper context. He called the voyage of the replica ships a modern Symbol of different cultures coexisting. Meanwhile the Portland oregonian in a bid to pamper the screaming few has announced it no longer will publish the nicknames being protested by some american indians As being offensive. This will not be a new chapter to profiles in courage. The next time the oregonians policy Board meets it ought to take up the Issue of the name of the newspaper. According to the dictionary Oregon is an Indian name meaning Burch bark dish. My encyclopedia however says Oregon is from the French Oragan which Means and a Hurricane is most offensive. C Cox new service the opinions expressed in the columns and cartoons on this Page represent those of the authors and Are in no Way to be considered As representing the views of the stars and stripes or the United states government
