It’s funny: When you endorse…a presidential candidate, as I did Barack Obama in this space last October, he sort of becomes your responsibility. Back to that in a moment.
Meanwhile, I am delighted, overall, with our president’s first 100 days. I think he has struck a fine tone overseas…He has exhibited the “first-class temperament” that persuaded me he was the man for the job. He is, as I called him last October, “one cool cat.”
…On the minus side, I think his waffling over prosecuting Bush Justice Department officials for approving the enhanced interrogation methods (trans: “torture”) is detrimental and even dangerous…
Mr. Obama’s spending worries me greatly. If every president who comes into office doubles the national debt, then we are finished. We are burying future generations (trans: our children) under crushing debt…
So when our economy collapses after the deficit is doubled, it will be—my bad!
Otherwise, I am with you, Mr. President. Keep up the good work.
via Don’t Let Me Down, Obama! – The Daily Beast.
I’m a Democrat (Clinton-style, budget surplus Democrat) who is writing to tell Christopher Buckley to snap out of it! Chris, you think Obama’s mishandling of the ‘torture’ memos is potentially dangerous to national security, but you’re still talking about his cool temperament? Huh? You are APPLAUDING him for breaking his campaign promises instead of chastising him for lying to his supporters in the first place? Your response to his crippling deficits and spending is a glib “my bad”? Really?
I rarely agreed with your father, but at least I respected him as a serious person. You have a long way to go, guppie.
Buckley did not say leaking the memos posed a threat to national security. He said that prosecuting the torturers might pose a threat to national security. Whether he’s right is debatable, but don’t impute internal inconsistency to Buckley’s argument where it does not exist. By failing to note with ellipses that you have excluded sentences, you misrepresent what he said. Buckley was concerned about the consequences of prosecuting people who followed government orders to torture, not about the release of the memos per se.
By: American Edinburgh on May 1, 2009
at 8:12 pm
I didn’t say Buckley said leaking the memos posed a threat to national security. I said Buckley said Obama’s mishandling of the situation posed a threat to national security. And I also have elipses before and after this quote.
By misrepresenting my position, and by failing to read closely, you present an strawman to beat up where no real argument exists.
Buckley pretended to be concerned with Obama’s ineptitude. Then, inexplicably, he relegates this stunning admission to the backburner by suggesting Obama should keep up the good work…huh? It reveals him to be a wholly unserious person, as is anybody so dismissive of national security threats.
By: DefiantOne on May 6, 2009
at 12:46 pm
Seems like Bucky Jr. is engaging in some fine irony here. Not that I will forgive him for endorsing King Nothing back in October…
0bama vs. Barney the Dinosaur: I endorse Barney!
By: Former Belgian on May 1, 2009
at 12:34 am