I agree with you that we have bit off quite a bit more than we can chew in many respects. The Iraq war is probably the greatest misadventure by a single American president (Vietnam was bad too, but it took more than one leader to make that mess). There was never any justification for it, but there’s an argument to be made that pulling out before Iraq can govern itself would put the U.S. at greater risk.

I’m not sure I understand in what way our current policies on immigration are “destroying us.” What is being destroyed? The housing market? The economy? The culture? A change needs to be made in immigration policy, but coolly defining the problem is the first step to solving anything.

Not being fooled by rhetoric would require taking Buchanan’s words with a grain of salt.

The “Gang of 14″ kept the GOP Senate from killing debate on justices. That McCain voted for Ginsberg is to his credit (yes, Democrats started politicizing the selection process with Bork, but heaven forbid McCain should vote on principle while the rest are bickering partisanly). And after all, Bush got both his nominees confirmed (though putting his personal lawyer up for the job first makes one wonder in what way McCain could possibly be worse than Bush).

And yes, McCain goes against conservatives on another hair-brained idea: a Berlin Wall on the Mexican border. Does the border need to be fixed? Yes. Will a wall fix it? Probably not. But it will be a sad day if I have to explain to my child one day what terrors lurk on the other side of that concrete fence that scared the country into building it.

Now, I suggested McCain (why not McCain?) as an alternative to Paul whose newsletter has made him unpalatable even to many of his single-digit supporters. McCain or Romney will win the Republican nomination. Romney is a sudden conservative, liable to become a sudden liberal on the other side of his election (aside from the fact that he just gives one the creeps). So, McCain is it. And, if conservatives get behind him, he can win.

Then again, if we, like Buchanan, are looking back fondly on the “glory days” of the 19th century and its protectionism, then the 21st century will simply pass us by. Pulling out of the free-trade empire that we’ve constructed (around ourselves) would be about as responsible as pulling out of Iraq prematurely: economies would collapse, chaos would ensue, and the international finger would point squarely in our direction. Curse McCain for wanting to be responsible with the historical situation we’ve inherited.