Patrick Buchanan scores a point

I just read Patrick  J. Buchanan 's disturbing column " No labor

    of love in Mexico " in the New York Post ( June 27 ). He points out

    that the legendary General Motors Co. - " What's good for General Motors

    is good for America  "  - is now indirectly the largest private employer

    in  Mexico, where the minimum wage is a healthy $1 to $2 an hour. American

    workers ,it seems, are just not patriotic enough to work for those humble

    wages.

        Buchanan ends his column - who dare call it " demagogic- ? - with this

    provocative question: " When did we vote to ship the Arsenal of Democracy

    abroad and to replace our domestic labor force with a foreign one. ? "

           Here is an issue - really quite complex and discouraging - that

    nevertheless can decide the next presidential election. The " all- American "

    blue collar worker has, I am sure , felt like the forgotten man for a generation

    now.

       I invariably vote for liberal Democrats but I got a big chuckle out of

    Pat Buchanan 's surprise showing in that last New Hampshire primary. I

    called a friend  later that night who lives in North Conway:

      "  You know who Pat is ? "  I asked . " He is the Eddy Mc Guire of the

    Republican Party. We both laughed  hysterically. Eddy was a departed dear

    friend of Irish American background. He was a bully and often quite obnoxious

    but you could laugh with him about many things.  He despised phonies and

    could be blistering blunt in talking to them. He  was afraid of nobody  :

        " I'll crush you like a fly !  "  he warned a local bum.

      Some people , like Ed and Pat, are not  very nice guys   But they can

    be fun - if they are on your side.

         I'll probably vote for Al Gore in the next election. If I  don't

    move to  Mexico .