Christopher Buckley Resigns From National Review - The Hate Continues
We are witnessing the implosion of the the modern day, Bush/McCain/Rove Republican Party. With William Kristol feuding with the McCain campaign, and Kathleen Parker receiving death threats for truthfully stating that Sarah Palin was in over her head, we now find William F. Buckley's son Christopher is the latest victim of GOP rage. Bloodied and brutalized for endorsing Barack Obama, Buckley has come to the realization that today's GOP has been rejected by America and that it barely resembles the party he has always known. From the New York Times:
Christopher Buckley, the author and son of the late conservative mainstay William F. Buckley, said in a telephone interview that he has resigned from the National Review, the political journal his father founded in 1955.
Mr. Buckley said he had “been effectively fatwahed by the conservative movement” after endorsing Barack Obama in a blog posting on TheDailyBeast.com; since then, he said he has been blanketed with hate mail at the blog and at the National Review, where he has written a column.
Mr. Buckley said he did not understand the sense of betrayal that some of his conservative colleagues felt, but said that the fury and ugly comments his endorsement generated is “part of the calcification of modern discourse. It’s so angry.” Quoting Ronald Reagan, he added, “I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.” Read on...
Pendejos!
Didn't know that Buckley Sr. had reproduced...
Well...at least he's voting Obama.
Or rats fleeing a sinking ship?
There's a buzz that Colin Powell will soon be endorsing Barack.
I love the smell of GOP disintegration in the morning!
I do feel for Buckley. Seems like a decent chap. Not as stringent and strident as his pontificating father.
His father has my respect. At least he was an intellectual. I did not agree with him, but he was head and shoulders above the drek that passes itself off for Conservative Commentators today.
Buckley NEVER publicly ostracized or questioned other American citizens loyalty puerly on the basis of philosophical disagreement.
... and I've heard anecdotally that Buckley Sr. favored the decriminalization of marijuana.
Old-time Republicans (Ike, where are you?) wouldn't recognize today's rotten, fetid GOP.
There is no more intellectual discussion. The right wing nut jobs already have their opinion set in stone and think they "won" if they yell louder or get the last word in.
I agree with your sentiments. I've always liked his father as well. William F. Buckley, Jr. was an intellectual, very articulate, well read, well spoken, intelligent (and not ashamed of it), and very sincere. Sure, he was a conservative, and very pompous at times, but you could still disagree and be civilized. He wouldn't be allowed in today's GOP. And neither is his son allowed, apparently.
Really a sad story. My goodness but to me it demonstrates Republicans for now have a hard time with original thought or someone thinking outside of the strict party line. It will probably take a few years to get this mean bunch out of there and have the party to be once again like most of us remember from growing up...the "I love Ike" days.
Right now I am very excited at the possibilities for this country healing with Barack Obama as our President.
The Republican Party.....They eat their young!
How about this question from Scheiffer tonight:
"Hey, Senator, what of all these prominent Republicans such as Parker and Buckley deserting the ship?" Why is the GOP seemingly in such disarray?
The great mistake is calling these people "the conservative movement." They aren't conservatives. They are neo-cons and theocrats with a good deal of wingnuts tossed in. There is nothing conservative about the Republican Party.
Exactly right - William F. Buckly was a conservative. I disagreed with a lot of his views, but his arguments never made me feel like he was trying to shove his worldview up my ass the way Hannity/Limbaugh/etc. do. The only thing conservative about the Republican party today is their sense of decency.
In a way I feel bad for the true conservatives - their ideals have been taken over by a bunch of political hacks and racist pukes.
you make an excelent point....I grew up with WFB I considered myself conservative....this is has not been what I signed up for...8 years of this so called compassionate conservativism (what an oxymoron) is not what WFB invisioned. Republicans=intellectually retarded, fear mongers, racists, a really big government, and spend, spend spend.
I've always wondered why true conservatives didn't protest more at these crazy idiots who took the Republican party in a direction that is unthinkable for a real conservative.
I disagree with many conservative beliefs, but I at least respected their thought process in what they said. Nowadays, it's just crap spewing out of people who have no idea about anything....
... or they consider you the enemy and therefore worthy of hate (or worse). There is no longer any respect for opposing viewpoints or interest in civil debate. Sad to think what our "civilization" has become.
Me too... I remember William F., and likewise, disagreed with many of his positions. But he presented cogent arguments and displayed a fine intellect when giving his views. He may have had mannerisms that made him seem pompous, but even so, you had to respect what he was saying, because he usually used intelligence instead of invective. Except maybe when Gore Vidal was in the room.
Compare any old diatribe by the late elder Buckley to Billy Kristol, or Billy O, or Rush. He makes them all look so intellectually tiny.
What they're illustrating each day to middle america is that there's nothing conservative at all to these tactics; in fact, McCain and Palin have become the most radical fringe wingnuts of them all.
Here's something priceless from politico.com. McCain camp admits they lost the spin war. McPappy's gamble backfired in their faces. He chose the low road and now he's paying for it.
McPappy concession: Lost the spin war!
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/145...
Conservative no longer applies to the Republicans since it was a label given to those who wanted to tax less and spend less. Republicans spend a lot more of our money when they are in power than Democrats. Republicans used to be the party of big business, finance and less government. Now they have dwindled down to the dregs of society. Those poorly educated, suspicous of outsiders, theocrats, racists, violence prone. Glad to see the GOP swirling in the bowl just as it starts to go down the pipe.
I happened upon this interesting clip of one of the Republican debates last fall.
I think this clip sums up the situation here nicely:
http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/444.html
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
Forget Christopher, William F. Buckley Returns to Endorse Obama
http://satiricalpolitical.com/?p=4009
To say, "May you live in interesting times."
Right now the times are very interesting and i am feeling far from cursed.
At least they are now getting a taste of what we liberals have been dealing with for the past 8 years. They get their own turning on them and giving them what we've been getting. Guess we're no longer babies and wussies who can't stand the pressure. My only concern is what happens to those really angry out of control people that are being totally frenzied up by the McCain/Palin rallies? They won't just go away when they lose will they? That's my hope - they will retreat back into their caves and wait until we start our inevitable descent into madness and de-evolution once again.
Even Buckley has seen the light and the need for an Obama presidency in this country.
McCain has now been labeled a "dirty campaigner" and will be mired in his own filth once this campaign is over. I suspect that he'll be voted out of Congress when he's up for re-election, too.
Republicons eat their young.
Maybe this will mark the return of moderate Republicanism, and isolate the right wing fringies so they can take their rightful place in history along with the fascists, nazis, etc., and take their spokespeople with them (limbaugh, hannity, etc.)
the republican party is NOTHING like what his father was fond of. the republicans are NOT conservative:
nation building
huge defecit
HUGE entitlement medicare program with no competitive bid for drugs
nationalization of banks
bailout of financial institutions
foreign entanglements/war(s)
influx undocumented workers
secrecy
record # of signing statements
torture
perpetual politicization of (R) platform
stacked DOJ
devalued u.s. dollar
inflation
ignored legislative branch
deregulation financial institutions
vote obama/biden'08
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-storie...
Christopher Buckley: Dear Pup once said to me, “You know, I’ve spent my entire life time separating the Right from the kooks.”
There you have it.
And the other Christopher,
Christopher Hitchens: McCain lacks the character and temperament to be president. And Palin is simply a disgrace. http://www.slate.com/id/2202163/
The Democratic Party welcomes you. We are nowhere NEAR what your party is.
...and they scoffed when we called their rank and file Brown Shirts.
A Conservative Endorsement does not mean that the person is no longer conservative, it simply means that he/she no longer feels that the Republican candidate represents Conservatism.
I predict a new party, one that will break with the Republicans, one that refuses to align itself with the Radical Religious Right. Palin is the warning bell that true conservatives need to take their party back or risk theocracy.
You may be right, but i think it even more likely the Republican Party will finally purge itself of the extremists and plod on.
I'm hoping that there's a schism in the GOP that breaks them into 2 or more parties.
There will be a kegger at my house on that day.
On a side note...when Obama and Biden win in Nov. yup...you guessed it...a kegger!
I might even invite people over to help me celebrate.
I highly recommend it. :)
Sorry, I lost your address. Wanna give it to me again before the party starts?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
not something I am at all comfortable giving out in here.
Maybe with some help from the (ahem!)SM we can exchange contact info.
At least email addys, then we can go from there. Of course...I may be really broke by then...so we might be drinkin PBR at best, and bud light at worst...anyone in the area is welcome.
Their party has become an international embarrassment. You need look no further than head cheerleader, Bush and evil sidekick, Palin for grim reminders.
CMINCA:
Very true, of course.
Hmmm. I would predict instead that the Republicans will regroup.
Actually, I think McCain's openly vitriolic campaign will give the Republicans the chance to say, "That's why we lost. It has nothing to do with the Republican Party's being bad, and certainly nothing to do with the fact that the people wanted change or preferred the Democrats. It was only because McCain's campaign was run so poorly, and appealed to the worst elements of society."
Thereafter, they will tell the bigoted faithful that they need to be less conspicuous while the party revamps, and plans to take down President Obama. I would bet the plans are already underway for how they will attack President Obama as someone out of step with the American people, someone dangerous. They'll wait a bit, in order to point out that Obama hasn't actually solved all the terrible problems people wanted him to fix when they voted for him, and the accusations will be only slightly more subtle than what we're seeing now, and could even culminate in Obama's impeachment if they regain a majority of the House in two years.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
If they do regroup, they will most likely purge, or at least try to separate themselves, from the Radical Religious Right Theocrats.
McCain's campaign, although run poorly, errored mostly in its pandering to the RRRT's by the equally poor selection of Sarah Palin.
Buckley himself said that he had admired McCain and once thought that people like John McCain should be president, but McCain has changed.
McCain truly made a deal with the devil when he brought on Bush's 2004 team to run (ruin) his campaign.
No matter who you are or how much you've contributed to their party's success, they gladly stab you in the back when you reject their divisive bullshit. I feel zero sorrow for escaped Republican convicts like Parker or Buckley...these two knew how the Repukes operate. I'm loving this shit.
I think some republicans resent the way the right wing religious nuts have for all means and purposes taken over their party. I also bet that the choice of Palin was the last straw for many of them.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Here's some breaking news from the Scranton newspaper dated today:
It appears that we, in fact, do have a functioning secret service at these terror rallies. Investigating, they say? Ay-yup! How about slapping cuffs on the domestic terrorist shouting the illegal death threats and thereby endangering everyone around him? That would be a nice start, Secret Service, eh?
http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/10...
Secret Service reported that they were investigating the 1st threat almost immediately.
as though everyone sitting in this man's section didn't hear him utter the threat? As if everyone sitting around him couldn't have fingered him for the wingnut he is to purposely endanger the lives of everyone at that rally?
What the hell is going on in this country anyway? Yelling death threats in the public arena is totally criminal and illegal, folks. This is a token gesture to appears middle american who finds these actions reprehensible.
Not until we see the Secret Service and law enforcement actually do their jobs at these terror rallies will we ever believe that anyone in this country is actually safe from the fringe nuts surrounding us.
This does not bode well for national security and a sense of safety for most americans and it certainly eliminates John McCain from claiming ownership of "being tough on national security" at this point.
Hell, he can't stop the wingnuts at his own rallies - his own base - how the hell can he have any edge on national security at this point?
Keep it up, Terrorista Sarah & Co - every other category gives Obama a double digit lead. National security has been steadily moving onto the Obama side of the ledger with each of these daily terror rallies.
Why don't we see how americans feel about the level of safety and national security under a McCain presidency now????
He'll blame his own secret service but we all know the truth: they're both going to be found to be culpable under the law.
Do you really think McCain's base, redneck, bible-thumping, knuckle-dragging, ignorant, hate-spewing idiots, are going to understand that it is illegal to should death threats in a political venue?
They probably think they are exercising their right to "freedom of speech". That, and the right to bear arms, are the only rights these people care about, (as well as infringing upon a woman's right to choose".
Sarah Palin, Grand Wizardress of the KKK
What did he expect?
There is still hope for this country.
If Obama had chosen someone from the aisles of WalMart for his running mate, I would be questioning my party too.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Daaaaayum!
Maybe he can form his own third party and exhume Ronald Reagen.
And in the end may the word republican carry the same discordant sound as the Nazi word resounds in today's Germany, Let us pray
The "fringe element" of the Republican party is spreading like a cancer.
When a black president brings jobs back to America, targets Osama bin Laden and gets him, they still won't lose their racist feelings.
Deep thought (off-topic): You know it's bad when you find yourself thinking "at least the Dow is only down 550 pts" ten minutes before the close. Oops--600+ now. Still it's not as bad as last week...
Ten minutes until the bell rings...
Five minutes...
Three minutes...
That is 158 points in 10 minutes.
It takes about 30 minutes to figure out the final amount, but when it drops like this it will only get worse.
Not as bad, but still the second largest drop in history.
What do they expect? They have spent the last two of three weeks telling us the economy was tanking, credit was drying up and our retirement accounts are going south....then they wonder why consumers aren't spending?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Someone in the Obama campaign said their worst fear is that Osama will be found and captured in his cave and there will be a picture of Obama tacked up on the wall of the cave. At least they have a sense of humor but I hope it didn't give the bush administration any ideas.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
For Chris Buckley come out and legitimately side with Obama says more than it appears at face value. This man and his father have been the stalwarts of conservatism through the decades. What I believe Buckley has realized is that Republicans have totally lost their brand and anything positive about themselves at this point.
He's watching McCain manifest old, dirty politics left and right as well as the selection of an individual who has become dangerous to our national security.
Buckley, just like everyone else, knows that a McCain Palin presidency will destroy this country totally. We're half way there thanks to Bush and McCain will take us down the rest of the way.
He recognizes that McCain doesn't have the integrity any longer necessary to lead; he doesn't have the intelligence to handle the multiple challenges facing this country and his sidekick is no help whatsoever in any category - except bringing people to issuing death threats and violence.
Chris Buckley is a very intelligent man and this decision was not made hastily. He's had much to lose but now joins Susan Eisenhower and a host of other republicans who can no longer fictitiously support the anti-american antics of the Bush Administration and the McCain campaign.
I applaud Chris Buckley for this ballzy move.
party is doomed and it didn't come soon enough.They did it to themselves,and I for one have no sympathy AT ALL. I agree that the more sensible and classy 'conservatives' will form a new party. The pond scum will remain pondscum.
It took the American people to vote with thier pocketbook to wake up. The politics of fear and hate don't work anymore.
Buckley and others joining the Dem party. Many moderates may very well just do that and push dems further to the right. I'd much rather see a repug split and a "rediscovery" of our liberal roots.
There will be a split. There is no way conservatives become democrats.
Agreed
I have this deep wish that the freedom loving Constitutionalist pot smoking Libertarian types will join the Democratic Party along with the Greens and help us get rid of the Nancy Pelosi's of the party.
Pelosi has been a disgrace to the party and to the Constitution as have many other "Democrats".
Beyond McCain/Palin being trounced in an Obama/Biden landslide on Nov. 4th, Nancy Pelosi's concession speech is what I'm REALLY dreaming of. Go Cindy Sheehan!!!!
"The US has an army of 90,000 soldiers in Afghanistan and is spending $100bn a year, but has still been unable to defeat 20,000-25,000 Taliban who receive no pay at all." - Patrick Cockburn
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-storie...
John McCain has changed. He said, famously, apropos the Republican debacle post-1994, “We came to Washington to change it, and Washington changed us.” This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking?
Looks like it's now ours to screw up. And we've got a lot of work to do.
Does this make Buckley a maverick?
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Senator McCain, would you please tell the American people why the Repulican party is disintegrating before our eyes?
Virginia is now for Obama.
That gives him 277 electoral votes. He needs 270 to win.
There IS a Santa Claus.
Keep your fingers crossed. We still have three long weeks to go. I want to be positive and I am, but to me it isn't over until it really is over.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
The oath is givin,we all must Hope.
It is a terrible thing to discover that an effort, a party, an organization you were a party to was wrong about almost everything.
Many people have come to this realization over the past eight years. Those who remain committed to the authoritarian right are clutching their pitchforks and torches and forming into mobs. I remember their violence and hatred very well.
That's exactly what we're seeing - a desperate cornered beast. Don't be surprised to see McSame say some crazy shit tonight.
...always look like pretentious wankers.
And what's with the hat?
I have one like that, but only wear it on halloween.
Offset by a hat that says, "I can be outdoorsy too, you know."
Actually...mine is more fedora-ish...I do have one of those German hats that I wear with my fake liederhosen (SP?) to piss off my dad at xmas.
Good times...good times.
Remember, a cornered animal is the most dangerous. The RNC is the 900-pound gorilla in the room, and it's getting mighty pissed.
There are troops on the ground in American cities in violation of Posse Comitatus (which has been superseded, of course. And voting rolls are being purged illegally.
It's still October. I won't relax until Obama dismantles everything Cheney has done to build up the "unitary executive", and the Congress starts to clean up the judicial mess that the Repubs have made, which is going to be sometime in January 09 at the tip-top absolute earliest.
Martial law on Nov. 3rd, anyone?
That would make the insurgency in Iraq look like amateur hour.
Get your Guy Fawkes masks ready. Take your lawyer's phone number, but leave your weapons home, pls.
I am of the opinion lately...That this whole martial law thing...well, it may be a ploy to keep people from voting if they figure it won't matter anyway. But I could be wrong.
Still...doesn't hurt to be prepared...
MSNBC reported earlier that RNC is pulling out of Wisconsin. McCain to stay another week. RNC wanting to divert more money to Senate races. Sounds like McCain is on his own.
"Foolish Jedi. Only now do you see the power of the dark side."
I hope McCain is feeling frisky tonight and just pops up with some weird plan that he quickly pulled from his lower orifice. Something that makes Obama and Schieffer look at one another with that WTF? look on their face.
Say what you mean. Mean what you say. But don't say it mean.
Although I am an urepentant liberal, I NEVER had a problem with someone who was truly conservative. The old school Republicans like William F Buckley could have a civil, respectful conversation with you , even if they disagreed with your ideology. AND, they understood the meaning of discourse and compromise. Something that the neo-cons can never grasp, is that winning at all costs is antithetical to a functioning democracy.
What Would this man think of what's happened to HIS party?
http://images.forbes.com/media/lists/fictiona...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
He and Lovie could lose their long distance on the coconut phone!
I like Christopher Buckley. His books (Little Green Men, Thank You for Smoking) are funny. He's a conservative- a lot of his beliefs are different from mine. But he's someone you could have a respectful conversation with. We need more conservative intellectuals like him.
Wow...I'm outta the loop I guess...didn't know he wrote Thank You For Smoking...
Gotta get out more..damn!
Conservatism New
Wed, 10/15/2008 - 13:41 — binaryfinary (not verified)
My main problem with William F Buckley was he was presented by others, as well as himself, as this great mind, when most of his theises were very traditional arguments sans class consciousness, although you seemed to detect some unspoken. Buckley's arguments weren't particularly sound, just heavy on the verbiage, which is what any college student would do, when they realize their essay is weak. It's called the logical fallacy of abstraction. Buckley also tended to use Ignoratio Elenchi.
)O(
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Republicans are going to have to (are starting to?) realize that a coalition of neo-fascist imperialists, theocrats, fiscal conservatives and libertarians is fundamentally untenable. They've managed to stay atop American politics for just over a decade by appealing to a mob of manipulable morons, but the monster they've created/enabled is now turning on them.
And if we all really wanted to rescue American politics, we'd work to reform the electoral system into one that allowed us to vote for candidates who truly represented all of us.
Everyone is equally entitled to the pursuit of happiness. Wasn't that once self evident?
I'm starting to think that belonging to the GOP is like belonging to some crazy cult. the second a person wants to think on their own there is hell to pay.
Soon it's just going to be the Democratic party and the fake, church going liars and haters in the Right Wing-Nut party.
What is now called 'conservatives' used to be called 'fascists'.
When the ReThugs stick together, everything is peachy-keen with them. But if someone tries to leave the gang, the fangs and pitchforks come out.
I hope 2009 is a much better year. For everybody.
Peace.
NOBODY 2012
In 1972, the Democratic party was briefly hijacked by the left-wing fringe. The result was the disastrous run of George McGovern and decades of political backlash. But, there were quite a few moderates and conservatives left in the party to eventually steer the party back towards the center.
Likewise, the right wing fringe has hijacked the Republican party. But, unlike the Democratic party, this takeover seems to be pretty much permanent. The 2008 GOP platform is quite radical. It forbids ALL stem cell research and bans all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest.
In fact, there seem to be less distance between the fringe and the mainstream of the GOP then there is between the left-wing fringe and the mainstream of the Democratic party. In the Democratic Convention, radical left protesters were kept out of site of the convention center. And the speaker list didn’t include Michael Moore, Bill Ayers or Jerimiah Wright. But, their right wing counterparts were welcomed to the GOP convention with open arms. Take Palin for instance. McCain originally wanted to choose a well qualified moderate like Tom Ridge on his ticket. But, the far right wanted someone like Palin and McCain caved.
The contrast is clear. The GOP is a party outside the American mainstream and the Democratic party has bent over backwards to embrace moderation. And yet, many Conservative have the gual to call Obama a “radical”. Right....
There is one marked contrast between the far left and the far right in this country. The far right has achieved more political power and is better organized than the far left. They also have the support of many conservative churches. The left has little to compare with this. The implication is the far right and the religious right are more of threat to the nation than the far left ever was.
Arndtinnovations.com
profiles.yahoo.com/curiousgemini25
It is getting hard to tell whether the Republicans are circling the wagons or the drain. I guess we'll know shortly.
Hasa Diga Eebowai
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