Well, it sounds like all is not sweetness and light and unity in the Republican Party. Apparently, a power struggle is brewing between traditional conservatives (who think that neocons are lunatics destroying the GOP and endangering the world) and Cheney's merry band of criminals. And it's a battle for Sarah Palin's soul.
Buchanan's clarion call to conservatives seems to confirm the gist of an article this weekend in the Daily Telegraph, that Palin is being prepped for her new job: Cheney's sock puppet.
Pat Buchanan asks:
Will the neocons who tutored President Bush in the ideology he pursued to the ruin of his presidency do the same for GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin?
Should they succeed, they will destroy her. Yet, they are moving even now to capture this princess of the right and hope of the party.
Buchanan points out that Sarah's tutor, Randy Scheunemann, is "a hired agent of the Tbilisi regime" and that he actually got Palin on the phone with Saakashvili.
Reportedly, a phone conversation was held between Saakashvili and Palin, in which Palin committed herself to the territorial integrity of Georgia, though South Ossetia and Abkhazia have declared independence and been recognized by Moscow, which now has troops in both.
Jeebus! They've got Sarah Palin on the phone making commitments to foreign leaders. God help us.
And the Telegraph makes clear who's pulling Sarah's strings:
Now many believe that the "neocons", whose standard bearer in government, Vice President Dick Cheney, lost out in Washington power struggles to the more moderate defence secretary Robert Gates and secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, last year are seeking to mould Mrs Palin to renew their influence.
I've had a difficult time imagining that Dick Cheney would relinquish the reigns of power. And it doesn't sound like he's planning to.
Buchanan still has hope though, assuming that Palin has an ideological foundation strong enough to resist the empire builders:
But the battle for Palin's soul is not over.
For, again, the lady is no neocon. Nor is the husband Todd, first dude of Alaska and former member of the Alaska First Independence Party.