Clearly, the explanation for his declension lies elsewhere. The first is quite obvious, he is an atheist who is reacting viscerally to the religiosity of Sarah Palin. She does have this effect on puerile egotists like Mr. Buckley not because he is incompetent and a threat if she should become president but because she is a living reproach to all that Mr. Buckley holds dear. His reaction, as you demonstrate in your post, departs so far from logic that it must be purely emotional, and so it is.
The second, is admittedly a reach on my part. I think Mr. Buckley is making a new place for himself in the New World Order. I think he sees the end of conservatism and the dawning of the new world order imposed upon us by Obama. Buckley is at home in the salons of Manhattan, Boston and Georgetown and he knows that conservatism is to be exiled into the wilderness from which it may not emerge in his lifetime, if ever. Buckley, who professes to admire McCain's personal courage and his willingness to go it alone for principle against all odds, has himself hypocritically gone over to the dark side to protect his exalted status.
