I generally only watch politics as a mildly interested and bemused bystander, but even with my limited exposure I can tell you guys know just enough about politics to fill a thimble.

As evidence, I offer up the column entitled “The Last Straw.” Now, I don’t support Pat Buchanan or George “dub-ya” Bush.

Neither do I find it shocking that “dub-ya” is hesitant to lambaste Buchanan and invite him to take a flying leap out of the party, nor should anyone else with a rudimentary understanding of the right wing of American politics.

No, there are not that many Nazi sympathizers out there, but there are a lot of Buchananites.

These are social and religious conservatives who would vote for Pat Buchanan if he were running on the Walt Disney ticket.

On those rare occasions that Pat isn’t a candidate for something, they vote Republican by default because that’s as far to the right as they can get.

Currently, all national polls show “dub-ya” beating either Democratic candidate by a comfortable margin, which is what he wants.

If Buchanan takes a big chunk of the far right to the reform party with him, “dub-ya” loses enough default support to make it a real race. That’s the last thing he wants.

So, in short, Bush’s lack of moral outrage has very little, if anything, to do with how he feels about Pat Buchanan. It is motivated self-interest.

It is politics, and we all know politics makes strange bed-fellows. “Dub-ya” wouldn’t be the first person in history to snuggle up to Satan so he could sleep in the White House.

Mark Endsley

Senior

Zoology and genetics