Pat Buchanan took no prisoners. His aim was to defend America’s superiority. And if his political nemeses got their feelings hurt during his riddling, tough.
Sound familiar? Sure. Buchanan was Donald Trump before the president’s rocket ride to the White House. America First. Keep countries from screwing us on trade. Speak English. Build the wall. Stop the invading hordes from defacing our country’s mighty culture.
Those were Buchanan staples before he quit writing and commenting on TV a couple of years ago. Now if he’s up to it at age 86, he should be up for a titanic reward: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Trump should be honored to deliver the first such medal of his second term to one of the truest patriots of the past half century.
Buchanan would be receiving it in the White House, where he was a communications master for Presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
Pat tried to win the presidency in his own right three times, but he was too far ahead of his time, especially on the immigration front. Trump grabbed his baton two decades later, rebranded it MAGA and won. Now he can thank Buchanan by placing the top civilian medal around his neck.
I would pay to hear Buchanan’s acceptance speech. He’s that humorous and compelling.
It would bring back memories of his days at MSNBC, where his brilliance forced the lib channel to can him. He simply got a promotion to my namesake channel, Fox News, where we caught the deepest, cleverest commentator in the biz.
Here’s the truth among libs: They paid attention to him. Why? Because Pat Buchanan could flat-out write. His prose was entertaining like no one else in the newspaper, magazine, blog arena. Period. Paragraph.
Those last two words are stolen from Pat. Along with a rare grasp of geography, names, politics and history, Buchanan had old-school lines that made his columns and books sing. Such as: “headed for the tall grass.” Meaning chickened out.
Buchanan could’ve done stand-up.
He said he wouldn’t criticize Dan Quayle, the veep under Bush I, because “I don’t want to be accused of child abuse.”
When asked what he thought about gun control, he replied, “I think it’s important to have a steady aim.”
No wonder Nixon hired him. He found a thoroughbred in 1966 and rode Buchanan’s speech-writing and rockin’ ideas all the way to the presidency two years hence.
The stunning gallop was captured in Pat’s book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.”
Being the Nixon and Buchanan cheerer that I am, I bought the tome the minute it went on sale. And a ticket to see the man who in his 20s had the guts to join the former vice president when all anyone else saw was a loser of 1960 and ’62.
During what Nixon called his wilderness years in New York, Buchanan was just about the whole staff. And he talked all about it in a riveting speech and Q&A at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California, in 2014.
He had plenty to talk about. That book is right up there with fellow Nixon scribe Bill Safire’s “Before the Fall” as the coolest political productions you could ever read.
Favorite takes:
- “Years later, after I had dropped off a speech draft in the Oval Office, [Nixon] read it and muttered, ‘For God’s sake, Buchanan, get some lift into it!’ As I reached the door, he said loud enough to hear, ‘Why can’t I get speechwriters like Wilson’s?’ Not until I was outside the Oval Office did I retort, sotto voce, ‘Wilson wrote his own speeches.’”
- “[Martin Luther] King had moved so far out of the mainstream that black columnist Carl Rowan had penned an attack on him in Reader’s Digest. Bill Buckley wrote that King was becoming ‘the Harold Stassen of the civil rights movement.’ That there would be a national holiday for King was unimaginable in that spring of 1968, as would the claim by 21st-century conservatives that Dr. King was somehow one of us.”
Marvelous stuff from Buchanan. He followed with another classic volume, “Nixon’s White House Wars,” detailing the Vietnam War-ending, all-volunteer-Army-starting, Israel-rescuing, moon-landing Nixon presidency of 1969 to ’74.
Toward the end of that final Pat book was a reliving of the funeral for Spiro Agnew, who as vice president roared with Buchanan’s prose to become a hero of the right. Millions cheered Agnew. Now on this 1996 day he drew a scant crowd. But Buchanan didn’t desert him.
As The Baltimore Sun wrote, “The closest thing to a national celebrity [at graveside] was Patrick J. Buchanan, the populist former Republican presidential candidate who long ago co-wrote the speeches that made Agnew a sensation, alliterative anthems that may forever define his legacy.”
Buchanan is a loyalist to the hilt, as he also displayed throughout Trump’s political career. The president could return the favor and remind America of Pat’s big, beautiful legacy by locking in that Medal of Freedom.
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Why Bullion Beats Numismatics and Collectible for Your Safe or IRA
Precious metals continue to attract Americans seeking reliable ways to protect their wealth amid inflation, geopolitical risks, and stock market swings. Whether stored in a home safe or held inside a self-directed IRA, physical gold and silver deliver tangible value that paper or digital assets often lack. Yet investors must choose carefully between bullion—pure bars and coins valued mainly for their metal content—and numismatics or collectibles, where rarity, history, and collector demand heavily influence pricing.
Advisor Bullion serves as a dependable source for straightforward, high-quality bullion. The company specializes in physical gold, silver, platinum, and palladium, emphasizing transparent pricing and products that deliver maximum metal content for every dollar spent. This approach makes it ideal for both personal holdings and retirement accounts.
Bullion consists of refined precious metals in standard forms like one-ounce coins (American Gold Eagles, Silver Eagles, Canadian Maple Leafs) or bars. Their value tracks closely to the current spot price of the metal. A typical gold bullion coin trades near the live gold spot price plus a small premium. This structure keeps costs clear and predictable.
Numismatic coins and collectibles add substantial value from factors such as age, rarity, minting errors, or historical significance. A pre-1933 U.S. gold coin or graded proof piece can carry premiums of 30%, 50%, or even 200% above melt value. While this appeals to hobbyists, it creates complexity. Pricing depends on subjective grading, collector trends, and auction results instead of daily spot prices.
For investors focused on wealth preservation and retirement security rather than building a collection, bullion often delivers better results.
Lower Costs and Better Liquidity for Home Storage
When keeping metals in a home safe or private vault, liquidity and efficiency count. Bullion offers clear benefits:
- You acquire more actual gold or silver per dollar invested. Numismatics divert a large share of your money into rarity premiums and massive sales commission, reducing your metal exposure.
- Selling bullion involves tight bid-ask spreads, so you recover nearly full spot value with minimal fees. Collectibles require finding the right buyer and may sell at a discount if demand for that specific item weakens.
- Bullion prices remain transparent and update with global spot markets. You can track gold near current levels or silver accordingly and know exactly where your holdings stand. Numismatic values are priced by the Gold IRA companies with hefty margins applied.
- Standardized coins and bars store efficiently and divide easily for partial sales. Rare coins often need protective slabs and controlled conditions, adding hassle and expense.
- Bullion enjoys worldwide acceptance. A 1-oz Gold Maple Leaf or Silver Eagle sells quickly to dealers anywhere. Niche numismatic pieces may appeal only to limited buyers, slowing liquidation when speed matters.
In times when quick access to value becomes important, bullion’s simplicity stands out.
Stronger Fit for Precious Metals IRAs
Precious metals IRAs continue gaining traction as investors diversify retirement portfolios beyond stocks and bonds. IRS rules permit certain bullion products in self-directed IRAs if they meet purity standards (.995 fine for gold, .999 for silver) and are held by an approved custodian. Eligible items include American Gold and Silver Eagles plus many generic bars and rounds from recognized mints.
Numismatic and most collectible coins generally face heavy scrutiny from custodians due to valuation disputes and elevated markups. These higher premiums mean less actual metal ends up working inside the account.
Bullion avoids these issues. Its value links directly to verifiable spot prices, which simplifies reporting and lowers the risk of regulatory challenges. More of your IRA contribution purchases real metal instead of dealer profits or speculative upside. Over time, owning additional ounces that appreciate with the metal itself can create meaningful outperformance compared with high-premium alternatives that deliver fewer ounces.
Regulatory guidance from the CFTC and state securities offices repeatedly cautions against aggressive sales of expensive numismatics or “semi-numismatic” coins for IRAs. For retirement planning, transparent bullion from established providers reduces risk and aligns better with long-term goals.
How to Get Started with Bullion
Begin by clarifying your goals. Are you protecting savings in a safe, or moving part of a retirement account into a precious metals IRA? Focus on the number of ounces you can acquire at current prices rather than chasing marked-up collectibles.
Diversify sensibly: use gold for core preservation and silver for its blend of industrial and monetary qualities. Mix coins for easier divisibility with bars for lower per-ounce costs on larger buys. Arrange secure storage—whether at home with proper insurance or through professional facilities.
As economic uncertainties linger and faith in conventional assets erodes, bullion continues proving its worth as a dependable store of value. Its direct approach avoids the hype that sometimes surrounds collectible markets and keeps the focus on the metal itself.
For investors prepared to strengthen their portfolios, Advisor Bullion supplies the expertise and selection needed to acquire high-quality bullion efficiently. Whether building personal holdings or integrating metals into an IRA, their emphasis on transparent, investment-grade products helps secure more ounces today that support greater financial security tomorrow. In a complicated financial landscape, bullion’s clarity and reliability make it the smarter foundation for protecting what matters most.