Buckley: Bush Not A True Conservative

CBS News ^ | July 22, 2006 | Thalia Assuras

[GOP Poet]

Bump for later

[goodnesswins]

If he can't see "Islamofacism" in the same light as "communism"......he's got problems.

[Texasforever]

OK hot shot. Ronald Reagan is considered the gold standard for Conservative presidents. Name one thing Reagan did that GW hasn't done other than raise taxes, cut and run under fire, a situation that we are now paying for again in Beirut, endorse the Brady Bill, nothing at all on abortion, the largest FICA tax increase in history, granted a complete blanket amnesty, no questions asked, no waiting period, Voted for FDR 4 times and considered him the model for presidents, not only didn't abolish the Department of education but doubled it, and as Governor signed the first ever handgun control bill in the state, intervened on the side of gays against a proposition denying the special rights and left California with the largest deficit in history. Bush has actually implemented the Reagan agenda FAR better that Reagan himself. I say that as a man that considers Reagan the greatest president of my lifetime but he was a talking conservative, Bush is a doing conservative.

[bruinbirdman]

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

Didn't Senator Barry Goldwater suffer similarly in his dotage?

yitbos

[StAnDeliver]

"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. "We talk all the time."

Stop talking to the dog, Billy, you know he's full of bad advice.

[sinkspur]

Didn't Senator Barry Goldwater suffer similarly in his dotage?

Did he ever! Gays in the military, pro-choice...he was completely off the reservation!

[RobbyS]

Well, Mr. Buckley, the same would have been said of Lincoln as of September 1, 1864. Wait till the game is over.

[coconutt2000]

I have to wonder how Mr. Buckley feels about how his interview was published.

While Buckley has his opinions about the President, and they aren't all wrong - some of the opinions expressed here appear to be lacking the context in which they were originally expressed.

[sinkspur]

W is not conservative.

W has done more conservative things than Ronald Reagan every thought of doing.

[gcruse]

I admire Buckley, but think he has it exactly backwards. Bush has been a successful conservative in foreign policy, but the compassionate fallout domestically has been horrendous. With the single exception of the tax cuts, the administration has been marked by bloat, wasteful spending, and an interpretation of the Commerce clause that dooms the federal republic.

[ClaireSolt]

Whenever I saw Buckley on TV doing his Demosthenes imitation as if he had marbles in his mouth, I always wondered if he really had anything to say in between those pretentious, pompous ah's and pauses. When I see this interview in print, I am sure he had nothing of substance to say. The reporter wasted a drive out to see an old man flattered by the attention.

[RobbyS]

Well, like Goldwater he has gotten old. Unlike Goldwater, he has never been more than a political dilettante.

[Truthsearcher]

"If he can't see "Islamofacism" in the same light as "communism"......he's got problems."

He fought the enemy of his time, and did so valiantly. Let's give him respect for that.

If he can't move beyond that, then so be it. Islamofascism is in our time, this is our fight, and not his.

[StAnDeliver]

Ouch. That's going to leave a mark.

[Defiant]

Mr. Buckley, you're a great man, you've done your part in the conservative revival. We appreciate your service. You've been wrong on many things for about 5 years now. Rush Limbaugh is the intellectual leader of the conservative movement at the moment, with lots of others helping out. He disagrees with you, and just 2 years ago, so did a majority of the American people.

Mr. Buckley, you should get away from Stamford.

[Texasforever]

That is straight out of Pat Buchanan land. What the hell is "Bush is liberal on race?"

[Truthsearcher]

"The reporter wasted a drive out to see an old man flattered by the attention."

The reporter got exactly what he wanted out of the trip. A blow to the president and the republicans by getting a "conservative" to criticize our current policies.

[quesera]

I admired President Reagan and I admire President Bush. To say that Bush is not a true conservative then in contrast Reagan was not a true conservative either.

[DB]

"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?'"

Sorry. That's just plain stupid in this day and age. You don't need a missile to take out a western city with a nuke. A chartered plane, commercial plane, cargo plane, freighter, oil tanker, you name it. Much more reliable. Much harder to determine the source after the fact.

A million+ dead innocent people will be the result of this kind of thinking.