As if Republican presidential candidate Pat Buchanan hasn’t done enough to alienate his party, he might have finally hit the jackpot of crackpots.

First it was his now-infamous “cultural war” speech during the 1992 Republican Convention in Houston, Texas, in which he blamed immigration and America’s stance on immigration issues for much of the country’s hardships. He’s spent his numerous campaigns for president lambasting immigrants and women’s issues, all while proclaiming himself “Pitchfork Pat,” a populist for the ’90s.

Oh, there is the whole issue of his leaving the Republican Party for the Reform Party because the current Republican race is too well-moneyed and competitive for Buchanan to grab the nomination.

But this may be the straw that breaks the Republican elephant’s back — Buchanan has penned a book “A Republic, Not an Empire,” which was recently released.

In his book, Buchanan claims that the reign of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany wasn’t really that much of a threat to U.S. security, and although Hitler may have been a bad guy, he had some revolutionary ideas.

How much more disgusting can this get?

Well, it can get worse. Although many prominent Republicans, including Arizona Sen. John McCain, a military veteran, have voiced their disgust with Buchanan’s book and subsequent defense of his “maybe Nazi’s weren’t that bad” ideas, the man who has a good shot at being our next president has kept eerily quiet.

Actually, not quiet enough. Republican front-runner (by quite a bit) Texas Gov. George W. Bush hasn’t publicly denounced Buchanan or his comments, nor, as many other Republicans have, asked that he head to the Reform Party and not let the door hit him on the way out.

Bush’s retort: He wants Buchanan to stay with the Republican Party because “I need every vote I can get,” which was reported in the Oct. 4 issue of Newsweek and by The Associated Press.

If what Buchanan is saying is ridiculous, what Bush is doing — or not doing — is unbelievable.

Aside from vague remarks about education, Bush hasn’t said much about what he believes. He could have made a strong point by mentioning what many Republicans already know — that Buchanan has no place left in the Republican Party.

Is Bush worried about what possible voters would think if he denounced Buchanan? Are there that many Nazi-sympathizers out there?

Buchanan is just a nutcase; that’s been pretty well-established by now. And judging by his weird half-silences on the Buchanan issue and rumors of past drug use, Bush is doing an effective job of establishing himself as something worse than a nutcase.

A coward.

Iowa State Daily Editorial Board:

Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Michelle Murken, Kate Kompas, and Carrie Tett.