Believe it or not. I totally understand why he endorsed Obama.
I while back here, I wrote that I felt that Obama would not bring anymore expansion to the Government, because it was already very large. It seems that Chris Buckley gets that and believe it or not, I believe that is a good thing.
Quoting Buckley:
My point, simply, is that William F. Buckley held to rigorous standards, and if those were met by members of the other side rather than by his own camp, he said as much. My father was also unpredictable, which tends to keep things fresh and lively and on-their-feet. He came out for legalization of drugs once he decided that the war on drugs was largely counterproductive. Hardly a conservative position. Finally, and hardly least, he was fun. God, he was fun. He liked to mix it up.
So, I have been effectively fatwahed (is that how you spell it?) by the conservative movement, and the magazine that my father founded must now distance itself from me. But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.
While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of “conservative” government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.
So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.
Thanks, anyway, for the memories, and here’s to happier days and with any luck, a bit less fresh hell.
The reason why I say that it is a good thing is because of this; it is becoming more and more obvious to more and more Conservatives, inside and outside of the realm of the G.O.P. that the Grand Old Party has a horrid image problem to Liberals and Conservatives alike. The party basically elected someone based upon pedigree, rather than based upon actual merits.
That person went on to allow his administration to trample on the Constitution, and do all of the things that Chris listed above, plus quite a few that he did not, or was not willing to mention. I would list them all, but this Blog entry would be 50 pages long.
So, while I might not agree on his actual assessment of Obama, simply because he is an advocate of the expansion of that big Government that Conservatives and Libertarians, like me, simply do not agree with, nor believe in. I do believe that someone, like Chris, finally speaking up and saying, “This Party is not the party of my Father”, is a rather awesome step in the right direction. That very feeling is the same feeling that caused David Nolan on December 11, 1971 to form what is now called the Libertarian Party.
It is my hope and yes, possibly even a prayer; that more people within the party will wake up from the stupor that is known as Bush’ism or more accurately Neo-Conservatism. This will be about the only way that the Republican Party can mop up the mess and move on to another era in Conservatism. They must, as collective whole organization; say, without any hesitation or discord, “Never Again.”