National Review: “they lived long enough for us to see them become the villain.”

Redstate ^ | 12/14/2011 | Erick Erickson

[TBBT]

One of our co-founders, Ben Domenech, produces one of the best daily reads in my inbox. It’s the Transom. If you do not subscribe, you should. And if you do subscribe, today you got Ben’s thoughts on the two big conservative endorsements for Mitt Romney.

I think he hits the nail on the head and it is very much worth sharing.

Today the Washington Examiner and National Review endorse Mitt Romney. The Examiner does so honestly and forthrightly – you can read their rationale here. http://vlt.tc/1k1 I disagree with them, but as I’ve said before, I limit my assessment of candidates to what they actually do, not what they say – others are of course free to take a different path.

But the Examiner’s approach stands in stark contrast to NR. http://vlt.tc/1kb Most observers presumed the magazine would endorse Romney again – they did so in Photoshopped glory in 2008 – but instead of just doing so straight up, they wrote an editorial which is 80% reasonable if severe criticism of Newt Gingrich’s candidacy and 20% insulting rant at the conservative base. The NR editors eliminate every other candidate with flippant dismissals, in the end deeming only Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum as possibilities other than Romney – two incredibly long shots with, at the moment, no realistic paths to victory. @baseballcrank: “Why NR thinks that Perry should be counted out of the field but not Santorum… indefensible.”

[Theodore R.]

Tell me about Christopher “Obama” Buckley’s child out of wedlock; I haven’t heard of this.

[SargeK]

I’ll be happy to.

Christopher Buckley reportedly had an affair with a book publicist, Irina Woelfle. The child’s name is Jonathan.

According to the New York Post, before WFB died, he explicitly cut the child out of his will, saying, “I intentionally make no provision herein for said Jonathan, who for all purposes . . . shall be deemed to have predeceased me.” IOW - ‘that child is dead to me.’

What class! What a humanitarian! What a model of responsibility!

This, and the execrable Rich Lowry are why I have given up on NR as any sort of standard or arbiter of things conservative.

[MortMan]

The grassroots has for FIVE YEARS said “NO MITT ROMNEY, just give us ANYONE but Mitt Romney (within reason) and we'll support them!”

Well said, and proclaiming my own thoughts with gratifying precision.