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Buckley: Bush Not A True Conservative
CBS News ^ | July 22, 2006 | Thalia Assuras

Posted on 07/22/2006 8:45:38 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative

President Bush ran for office as a "compassionate conservative." And he continues to nurture his conservative base — even issuing his first veto this week against embryonic stem cell research.

But lately his foreign policy has come under fire from some conservatives — including the father of modern conservatism. CBS Evening News Saturday anchor Thalia Assuras sat down for an exclusive interview with William F. Buckley about his disagreements with President Bush.

William F. Buckley's Stamford, Conn., home is a tranquil place that allows Buckley to think and write, and spend time with his canine companion, Sebastian.

"He's practically always with me," Buckley says.

Buckley finds himself parting ways with President Bush, whom he praises as a decisive leader but admonishes for having strayed from true conservative principles in his foreign policy.

In particular, Buckley views the three-and-a-half-year Iraq War as a failure.

"If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign," Buckley says.

Asked if the Bush administration has been distracted by Iraq, Buckley says "I think it has been engulfed by Iraq, by which I mean no other subject interests anybody other than Iraq. ... The continued tumult in Iraq has overwhelmed what perspectives one might otherwise have entertained with respect to, well, other parts of the Middle East with respect to Iran in particular."

Despite evidence that Iran is supplying weapons and expertise to Hezbollah in the conflict with Israel, Buckley rejects neo-conservatives who favor a more interventionist foreign policy than he does, including a pre-emptive air strike against Iran — and its nuclear facilities.

"If we find there is a warhead there that is poised, the range of it is tested, then we have no alternative. But pending that, we have to ask ourselves, 'What would the Iranian population do?'"

Buckley does support the administration's approach to the North Korea's nuclear weapons threat, believing that working with Russia, China, Japan and South Korea is the best way to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. But that's about where the agreement ends.

"Has Mr. Bush found himself in any different circumstances than any of the other presidents you've known in terms of these crises?" Assuras asks.

"I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology — with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress, and in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge," Buckley says.

Asked what President Bush's foreign policy legacy will be to his successor, Buckley says "There will be no legacy for Mr. Bush. I don't believe his successor would re-enunciate the words he used in his second inaugural address because they were too ambitious. … So therefore I think his legacy is indecipherable"

At 81, Mr. Buckley still continues to contribute a regular column to the National Review, the magazine he started 51 years ago.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Government; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: andyourdogcansing; buckley; bush; bushbash; captainoblivious; captainobvious; columbo; conservatism; duh; iraq; nationalreview; nokidding; sherlockhomes; wfb
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1 posted on 07/22/2006 8:45:38 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative
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To: West Coast Conservative
"If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we've experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign,"

Great.

Wouldn't America be such a great place if we did things just like Europe?

2 posted on 07/22/2006 8:48:49 PM PDT by pcottraux (It's pronounced "P. Coe-troe.")
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To: West Coast Conservative

he's opposed to Capital Punishment.


3 posted on 07/22/2006 8:48:50 PM PDT by Perdogg
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To: West Coast Conservative

If Mr. Buckley believes that the war in Iraq is the sum total of the Bush foreign policy, perhaps he should read Robert Kaplan's Imperial Grunts.


4 posted on 07/22/2006 8:49:29 PM PDT by Jeff Chandler (Peace begins in the womb.)
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To: West Coast Conservative
Bush isn't a conservative? My dear William Buckley, normally I would agree with you in the respect that he's not for limited government, he's terribly deficient, but the Left still hates him. Now why if as you say Bush is no conservative, he is the object of such venomous hatred from the other side of the political aisle? It doesn't compute.

(Go Israel, Go! Slap 'Em, Down Hezbullies.)

5 posted on 07/22/2006 8:50:02 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: West Coast Conservative

Buckley is getting fuzzy in his old age. But, that's to be expected.


6 posted on 07/22/2006 8:50:41 PM PDT by sinkspur (Today, we settled all family business.)
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To: West Coast Conservative
Buckley: Bush Not A True Conservative

Me: Where have you been the last two years?

7 posted on 07/22/2006 8:51:14 PM PDT by Tim Long (I spit in the face of people who don't want to be cool.)
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To: West Coast Conservative

Actually..I have always liked Buckley..found him witty and funny..but looking back on his track record..when he was the "top conservative"..he didn't get a lot accomplished..I don't think he got Nixon or Reagan elected and re-elected..during his prime the dems controlled both chambers for the most part..actually..it was a radio host with little formal education that was credited with ending four decades of dem control of the congress..my two cents..


8 posted on 07/22/2006 8:54:29 PM PDT by BerniesFriend
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To: West Coast Conservative
While enjoying his continuing work and many books of his that I've read in the past to help define my political views, we seem to be of two different minds on some subjects.

But I will not lower myself to insult the man as I have seen some other Freepers do.

9 posted on 07/22/2006 8:55:23 PM PDT by perfect stranger (I need new glasses)
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To: West Coast Conservative

I believe Pres. Bush has always referred to himself as a "compassionate conservative" and has never claimed to be a "true conservative".


10 posted on 07/22/2006 8:55:38 PM PDT by skr (We cannot play innocents abroad in a world that is not innocent.-- Ronald Reagan)
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To: sinkspur
I find that people who scream "true conservative" are usually so far off into the fringe they don't even register politically.
11 posted on 07/22/2006 8:56:44 PM PDT by COEXERJ145 (Free Republic is Currently Suffering a Pandemic of “Bush Derangement Syndrome.”)
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To: sinkspur

Well stated. Why beat up on the old guy?


12 posted on 07/22/2006 8:57:54 PM PDT by PGalt
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To: Jeff Chandler

I'm sure Bush gives a rat's *ss what Buckley thinks.


13 posted on 07/22/2006 8:58:11 PM PDT by Russ
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To: West Coast Conservative

A "Compassionate Conservative" is one who incessantly apologizes for proclaimed American ideals and rarely practices them.

Bush largely qualifies in this regard.


14 posted on 07/22/2006 8:58:11 PM PDT by SteveMcKing
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To: COEXERJ145

Buckley is traveling the Goldwater route: opposes capital punishment, opposes a war on terrorist enablers. When he drops his opposition to abortion, you'll know he's arrived!


15 posted on 07/22/2006 8:58:32 PM PDT by sinkspur (Today, we settled all family business.)
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To: Perdogg
he's opposed to Capital Punishment.

...and he likes to smoke dope on his boat in international waters. 

16 posted on 07/22/2006 8:58:49 PM PDT by peyton randolph (Time for an electoral revolution where the ballot box is the guillotine)
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To: West Coast Conservative

I've often wondered if Buckley is a true conservative.


17 posted on 07/22/2006 8:58:50 PM PDT by demlosers
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Comment #18 Removed by Moderator

To: BerniesFriend
during his prime the dems controlled both chambers for the most part

You can hardly blame him for that.

It was a radio host with little formal education that was credited with ending four decades of dem control of the congress..my two cents..

Little formal eductaion? What do you define as "formal".

19 posted on 07/22/2006 8:59:57 PM PDT by perfect stranger (I need new glasses)
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To: sinkspur

No, Buckley is true to his principles. And as we all know on the world stage in crisis it's easier said than done in these unconventional times of warfare.

Of course on spending and the Republican Congress penchant for spending along with Bush's signature, ole William is absolutely right. And of that there really isn't any excuse.

Certainly, we've made many mistakes and continue to err in Iraq, but the historians can debate the action. In that regard, I believe Bush will prove right.
Someone should have been fired for the strategy though. I'm not going to point fingers.


20 posted on 07/22/2006 9:00:15 PM PDT by romanesq
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