Few people in the world do sanctimonious as well as representatives of the bible-bashing moralisers of America. Personally, I find their noxious brand of moral superiority appalling and indefensible, but it goes down very well in small-town USA.

Some of the things these people say are truly eyebrow-raising; that’s why they always generate good headlines. This publicity keeps the cash rolling into their various ministries, political organisations and, indeed, their own personal bank accounts.

A couple of weeks ago, Senator Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, launched an official investigation into a number of these characters after he received tip offs about preachers who ride in Rolls Royces and who had purportedly paid $30,000 for a conference table. About time too…

Let’s take a look at a few of the characters that have been major players in the Great US Morality Money-Generator over the last few years…(don’t worry, there is a point to this.)

I take it you remember the delightful Jerry Falwell?

Immediately after the 9/11 attacks in New York he made an astonishing broadcast. He said:

“The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way, all of them who have tried to secularize America. I point the finger in their face and say 'you helped this happen'.”

How on Earth the American Civil Liberties Union caused Islamic terrorists to fly into the World Trade Center is beyond the limitations of my mind... it simply cannot do the intellectual gymnastics required to connect these two things. Of this, I think I should be thankful.

Patently, the comments were just a publicity stunt to get headlines for his ministry. (As was his declaration that the Teletubbie Tinkywinky was a screaming homosexual set to ravish an unsuspecting generation.) Fortunately, making these comments in the shadow of such a tragedy was too much for even the American public to bear. It backfired and Falwell was vilified by people from all over the political spectrum. In this case he probably lost donation money, so he misjudged his marketing strategy.

Then there’s Ann Coulter… A snarling middle-aged woman that sex-starved Republicans are said to find attractive. Her political views are slightly to the right of Ghengis Khan, but it is her social commentary that I always find worth a read. Take this gem:

"Anorexics never have boyfriends. ... That's one way to know you don't have anorexia, if you have a boyfriend."

So there you go… Doctors take note…

Finally, we come to Pat Buchanan… The man I really want to write about today…

The delightful Pat has referred to Spanish dictator General Franco as a "Catholic saviour." He also called Franco and Chile's General Pinochet, "soldier-patriots." Personally, I prefer to think of both these men as murdering despots, but we’ll put that disagreement to the side for now. Maybe I am not religious enough to see the light in these two cases.

As we all know, outrageous statements generate newspaper headlines which, in turn, generates publicity. And, after all, no publicity is bad publicity. Publicity can be turned into money. Money buys nice suits, many-bedroomed houses and Rolls Royces…

However, today I don’t want to point out how ridiculous some of the statements Buchanan made in the past were. You can do that for yourself. What I want to do is point out something that is really outrageous… That some things Mr Pat Robertson said are actually quite brilliant… I have found common ground between me and Mr Buchanan; and we certainly make strange bedfellows.

Pat finally talks sense

Buchannan is about to publish a book… It goes on sale on 8 January next year, but I managed to read a summary of the book over the weekend. There was a lot in there that I find hard to disagree with, which took me by surprise.

It’s all about the collapse of America. Shockingly, he does not blame gay people, liberals, the anti-gun lobby or Muslims… he blames the neo-cons and their foolish imperialism.

The book is called Day of Reckoning: How Hubris, Ideology and Greed are Tearing America Apart and it is predicting the downfall of the US…

According to the summary, Pat will argue that Pax Americana, the era of US global dominance, is over. He will say the struggle for global hegemony has begun among the US, China, a resurgent Russia and radical Islam.

He will say that free trade is shipping jobs, factories and technology to China and plunging America into permanent dependency and unpayable debt.

He will also argue that funds controlled by foreign regimes and stuffed with trillions of dollars from US trade deficits were buying up strategic corporate assets vital to America’s security. We have seen this recently with infrastructure projects. The US is not just a bargain for Christmas shoppers at the moment, but any organisation wanting to snap up US assets.

As far as the imperial nature of the current regime goes, he wants to close foreign bases and bring home the troops. He wants a purge of neoconservative ideology and, to avert a second Cold War, he thinks the US should “get out of Russia’s space and get out of Russia’s face.”

Pat even tackles corporate greed. He comments on the fact that US wages are stagnant, but corporate CEOs are raking in rising pay and benefits 400 to 500 times that of their workers.

He concludes that the US will become a Third World nation before 2050.

I am sceptical about the last point, but agree with him that this is the beginning of the end for US hegemony. The dollar is a dead parrot – foreign governments will abandon it in droves… the neo-con imperialistic plans have bankrupted the country (financially and morally)… inflation is about to make the average American significantly poorer…

I find it amazing that I can praise things said by such an odious, bigoted man – but this is just the sort of thing that small-town America needs to hear and he is a person that they listen to. Obviously, I have not read the book in its entirely, as it has not yet been published and I am sure I will find plenty to disagree with within its pages. However, the basics of what he is saying in the points above look sound; and I never thought I would say that.

I might even buy his book. This ultra-religious man can then spend any profits from my purchase doing some good for the world. He can build some orphanages in Africa maybe… or set up a cancer centre to offer palliative care for the dying… he could help disabled people get rewarding and valuable work placements… or then again, he could put it towards buying a new Rolls Royce… P.S. If you enjoyed this article then we encourage you to sign up for the free Fleet Street Daily eletter. Learn what you can expect from today's markets -- and how to prosper in the face of uncertainty. You won't find more thought provoking writing anywhere on the Internet.

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