That's a great analogy. But I gotta tell ya this election is about sponge worthiness. To: 3D-Joy; 50mm; AGreatPer; calcowgirl; cindyTrueSupporter; concretebob; Disco Dave; Doctor Raoul; ...
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Posted on 10/21/2008 12:45:01 AM PDT by L.N. Smithee
In his now-infamous I'm-running-away-from-home note to National Review posted on the cyberpages of leftist publisher Tina Brown, Christopher Buckley, conservative legend William F. Buckley Jr.'s writer/novelist son, clearly stated reasons why someone like him would -- under normal circumstances -- utterly refuse to vote for someone like Barack Obama (words in italics are Buckley's): “He [Obama] is … a lefty. I am not."
We'll take "Christo" (as his friends call him) at his word, for the moment. His essay is subtitled "The conservative case for Obama," but for reasons I illustrate below, I think it should be instead "A conservative's case for Obama." Again, Buckley: "I am a small-government conservative who clings tenaciously and old-fashionedly to the idea that one ought to have balanced budgets."
Obama is not, unless I missed him echoing Clinton the First on budget-balancing.
"On abortion, gay marriage, et al, I’m libertarian."Obama is anything but. Judging from his vocal objection to the Born Alive Infants Act equivalent in the Illinois State Senate, Obama is to the left of NARAL, denying postnatal survivors of abortion attempts life-saving medical care. Regarding gay marriage: he supports "civil unions," but is in full-throated support of the type of judicial activists that have used sleight of hand to grant same-sex couples marriage rights by saying ‘Civil union rights are essentially the same, so the titular difference is discriminatory and thus unconstitutional’.
"I believe … that a government big enough to give you everything you want is also big enough to take it all away."Obama not only promises to deliver such an ever-expanding monstrosity, his entire agenda is dependent on his ability to create it.
All the above having been said, it is Buckley’s flush-cheeked admiration for Obama’s coolness, brains, and writing skills that overcome his own objections: [H]aving a first-class temperament and a first-class intellect, President Obama will (I pray, secularly) surely understand that traditional left-politics aren’t going to get us out of this pit we’ve dug for ourselves. If he raises taxes and throws up tariff walls and opens the coffers of the DNC to bribe-money from the special interest groups against whom he has (somewhat disingenuously) railed during the campaign trail, then he will almost certainly reap a whirlwind that will make Katrina look like a balmy summer zephyr.
"Obama has in him—I think, despite his sometimes airy-fairy 'We are the people we have been waiting for' silly rhetoric—the potential to be a good, perhaps even great leader. He is, it seems clear enough, what the historical moment seems to be calling for."After shaking my head at the notion of a secular prayer (uh, to whom, Christo?) and how Buckley dismissed Obama's "silly rhetoric" before embracing it in the next sentence, I pondered how Obama’s aesthetic appeal has conquered both his and colleague Kathleen Parker’s heretofore principled fight to halt the freedom-eating virus called socialism.
It all reminded me of ... a famous episode of Seinfeld titled “The Couch.” Seriously. Stay with me.
A primer to the relevant part: Jerry Seinfeld and his former-lover-now-good-friend Elaine Benes are dining at an Italian restaurant. The subject of take-out pizza came up, and Elaine, who is pro-choice, says she would never order a pizza from the “Paccino’s” chain, which is owned by a man who donates millions to pro-life organizations (for real-life background, Google “Tom Monaghan”). Jerry asks Elaine what she would do if the owner of the restaurant in which they were awaiting dinner felt the same way. She replies that she would leave. Jerry – with mischievous delight — motions the owner over, and asks how he feels about abortion. The restaurateur’s face grimaces as he rants that no intelligent person could be in favor of it. This causes an ugly scene in the place, with some patrons shouting their pro-life support and others getting up and leaving in disgust, including Elaine.
Later in the episode, Elaine has a first date with a hunky moving man that goes extremely well. The next day, she shows up at Jerry’s apartment with the status report:
ELAINE: I’m in lo-o-o-ve!This, however, is not a perfect parallel to the situation with young Mr. Buckley. In that same Seinfeld show, Elaine (played by the magnificent – and very liberal – Julia Louis-Dreyfus) does end up summoning the courage to possibly ruin her illusion by testing her new man. On their next date, she feigns being distressed about a non-existent female friend who “got impregnated by her troglodytic half-brother, and decided to have an abortion.”JERRY: Whoa!
ELAINE: This is it, Jerry! This is IT! He is such an incredible person! He’s real, he’s honest, he’s unpretentious…oh, I’m really lucky! […] And, the best part is, he doesn’t play games. You know? There are no games!
JERRY: No games? What is the point of dating without games? How do you know if you’re winning or losing?
ELAINE (putting on lipstick): Well, all I know is, he doesn’t like games and he doesn’t play games, you know? He has too much character and integrity.
JERRY: Ah ha. And what is his stand on ... abortion?
ELAINE (Startled, she turns to look at Jerry and accidently smears lipstick across her face): What?
JERRY: What is his stand … on abortion?
ELAINE: Well (stopping to think) … I’m sure he’s pro-choice.
JERRY: How do you know?
ELAINE: Because he, well … he’s just so good-looking.
Not suspecting she might think differently than he does, the boyfriend’s sympathetic response was: “You know, someday ... we’re going to get enough people in the Supreme Court to change that law.” A shattered Elaine frowns and sobs, knowing that even though her moving man really moved her, he was not, alas, "The One" for her.
In real life, however, unlike the fictional Ms. Benes, Mr. Buckley, Ms. Parker (and now, Ms. Noonan) resist letting their better judgment dissuade them from hastily diving into a whirlwind relationship they may regret in leisure — at least four years, maybe even eight. In their lavishing praise on Mr. Obama’s smarts, they seem not to have considered the possibility that the Senator’s genius towers over theirs so completely, he may have (in The One’s own words) “hoodwinked” them into buying into a philosophy that is the antithesis of all they held dear – that is, of course, until he became all they held dear.
If you believe, dear reader, that last sentence is an unfair postulate, well, that's just tough. What else is there to think when all of a sudden, people who have made their living making sense so symptoms of having succumbed to an epidemic of blind faith in an individual representing the polar opposite of their worldview? Could it be possible that all along, they trumpeted the virtues and values of Goldwater, Reagan, and Thatcher simply because they failed to find sufficient eloquence flowing from the likes of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, and Ken Livingstone? One would like to think not, but in light of recent events, who could know for sure?
Again, I turn to the ultimate show about nothing to express my feelings about these endorsements about nothing of the campaign about nothing. It is as if Christopher Buckley simply wrote, "I was born into conservatism, I've always been a fan of John McCain, I wrote a speech for him, yada yada yada, I'm voting for Obama."
Elitism the sit-com. Very good, L.N.
Hahaha! Good analogy! These are the useful idiots Lenin spoke of, I believe.
In my view, one of the problems with Conservatism is we have people who are not Conservatives populating our ranks.
This election has shown us who is wheat, and who is chaff.
Christopher Buckley=Chaff
Could it be that this epiphany was inchoate all along, and waiting only for his father's passing to manifest itself?
Then what do we say about Colin Powell, Peggy Noonan, and (any minute now) David Brooks?
Even Charlie Krauthammer has virtually endorsed Obama.
Looks like we've got the last ditch all to ourselves, y'all.
I am just too cynical. I see "yada yada yada" and translate it to "Soros's payment arrived in my Cayman account."
Disagree about Krauthammer, Chris Buckley’s back sliding could be due to a number of things, Elite Culture, the Dawning of a Liberal Democrat Capital Hill or perhaps book sales.
“Looks like we’ve got the last ditch all to ourselves, y’all.”
Disagree, at least two members of the writers spice guild have been spot on this election season when things look sunless, Mark Steyn and Jonah Goldberg, neither have wavered nor turned astray.
Especially Jonah Goldberg.
BTW, the miscreants over at the Atlantic deserve to be additions to the litany of chaff...
Thank you, very good article.
That's a great analogy. But I gotta tell ya this election is about sponge worthiness. If you want off my ping list get over it!
:-)
I’ve read Buckley’s two columns on this — & I’m convinced it’s Oedipal for him, the metaphoric killing of the father. He doesn’t need a philosophy rejuvenation, he needs a psychiatrist. (He’s also apparently written a book, to be out next year, apparently from what I glean not very nice about growing up Buckley).
Parker is just ambitious, the old fashioned way: faux conservatives who attack conservatives get ongoing columns anywhere. (There’s a not-nice word for this).
Noonan has had issues with Bush since the beginning of the second term, when his “messaniac democracy” speeches scared her; she’s been looking for the hit back to conservatives.
George Will famously attacked George HW Bush as a lapdog. He is the Georgetown conservative McCain attacked in praising Palin.
Charles K — fairer than the rest, I’d say — has acknlowledged Palin’s strengths, but worries about her weakness on experience. He’s wrong, but he’s not going after her “style” compared to Obama’s.
Maybe worth remembering, in all this, that Mccain has never been a favorite among conservatives — too much apostasy, not enough orthodoxy, more attitude than ideas. Palin is what made many of us (at least, those like me) comfortable with him. The shock is
1) the attack on our own people, in an election season, i.e., in the middle of a political war when the stakes are so very high. Why do it? Who are you doing it for? To show yourself so fastidious means it’s about you, not anything else, and suggests a smallness of mind and character, in that the writers don’t understand the stakes.
2) To go further, though, and drift from not supporting the Republican ticket to endorsing the other side, is calculated lunacy. It is certainly contra to William Buckley’s wonderful diktat about supporting “the rightward most viable candidate.” It reminds me of those kids in college in the late 60’s, working so hard to offend the parents. That is to say, it’s like something that is drug-fueled, and certainly narcissistic.
8 and a half??? How did you do that?!
I've been seeing this schtuff about Krauthammer wavering, and it's nonsense. He wasn't a fan of the Palin choice, but he's not ready to throw Adam Smith overboard because of it.
Before going nuts, read this, and refer anyone who says C.K. has lost his mind to it as well.
Thanks for your kind words and thanks for the image of the lovely Ms. L-D. If only I really woke up to someone so beautiful.
Politics aside, she's an immense talent, made all the more amazing since she is in reality an old-money heiress (grandpa was the Louis-Dreyfus of the multi-national Dreyfus financial empire), but she paved her own way as if she was a pauper (why else would she have been in the monstrosity called Troll, playing fourth or fifth fiddle to June Lockhart and Sonny Bono?). I've been a fan of hers since she stole the show as the wacky "pop-in" neighbor in the short-lived sitcom Day by Day, which also introduced another hyphenated hot babe to the world: Courtney Thorne-Smith.
There’s a conservative case for Obama just like there’s a Muslim case for eating porkchops.
"In their lavishing praise on Mr. Obama’s smarts, they seem not to have considered the possibility that the Senator’s genius towers over theirs so completely, he may have (in The One’s own words) “hoodwinked” them into buying into a philosophy that is the antithesis of all they held dear – that is, of course, until he became all they held dear. "
Gee, would the magic One be so devious?
Or did Tina slip an LSD or psilocybin mickey in his drink?
Actually, Psilocybin Mickey is registered to vote in Florida twenty times. :)
It must be hell to live that unsure of oneself.
L.N., thank you so much for your kind words! |
18½ posted on 10/21/2008 10:25:12 AM EDT by Courtney Thorne-Smith (It wasn't WildCatClan. No it wasn't!)
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Smithee, you luck dog!
They pass out the stamps and mickeys with the ACORN registration forms?
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