United Liberty

So you think that its possible you oppose war more than McCain? That’s crazy. But then again, he realizes necessity. Doesn’t mean he likes it. He’s been on the bad end.

Vern,

Someone who only fights necessary wars doesn’t think it’s funny to sing “Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran” or react to an invasion of Georgia with reckless hawkish rhetoric. He’s not Dwight Eisenhower.

Before this campaign, I perceived McCain as a man who thought the Iraq war was necessary but that it had been bungled. Unfortunately, he appears far more hawkish than that now and his knee-jerk reaction to crisis seems to be to respond militarily. That’s not what we need more of.

If Christopher Buckley wants to reject the Bush policies then he shouldn’t be looking across the aisle at the Democrats. He needs to be looking at Liberty Delegates like Bob Barr, Ron Paul (yeah, he’s not on the ballot now) or even another third party candidate.

A vote for Obama is a vote for the status quo.

Absolutely right, Aaron. You don’t fix a problem by putting the guy in charge who says he’s going to make it worse in the pursuit of fairness. There are more than 2 choices here. The differance in outcomes between a McCain and an Obama presidency are not significant enough to distinguish between them.
I also don’t think Obama has any better grasp of the economy than McCain if he thinks fairness has anything to do with it.
This is just more tunnel vision and it is the reason we have such a mess in Washington. People don’t vote principle, they vote party, and there’s no incentive for the incumbents to do better for anyone outside their sphere.

You’re right, Aaron. Unfortunately the American people are swept up in this whole notion of Democrats and Republicans as the be all and end all of politics. The party labels are meaningless when you have a conservative Democrat running against a liberal Republican in South Carolina. We need REAL change.

Mr. Powell,

I caution you not to follow Mr. Buckley down his road of illogic. (It pains me to use “illogic” and Buckley in the same sentence.) It is clear to me that the adage of the apple not falling far from the tree does not apply to Christopher in re Messrs. Obama and McCain.

What has Obama said or intimated that demonstrates his approach is preferred to the stated ingnorance of McCain as regards matters economic? In my estimation, you will need to contort your reasoning further than you have to answer this question satisfactorily.

Allow me to observe a few points that have ostensibly not be considered thoroughly by Mr. Buckley & Company.

A man of self-described economic ingorance is more inclined to seek the assistance of those who are economic experts. Were this not the case, I submit McCain would not have admitted his ignorance and would hastily pronounce he has the “fix.” As for Obama, he is undeniably a man who has a narcissistic level of self confidence that leads one to conclude he is less inclined to receive advise. All of this, of course, is conjecture on my part, and I do not intend to rest my case on conjecture.

What causes concern in this matter is the utter disregard of salient facts: a)Obama has demonsrated poor judgment with respect to his personal associations. In support of this assertion, I simply refer you to his relationships—and the record—with respect to Ayers, Rezco, Wright, et al. (I could pursue the point of defaming these scoundrels, but I would digress); b)his tax policies—higher capital gains, corporate, and upper-income taxes—are wrong and destructive for the economy. In light of his statements and demeanor, the man is closer to Marx than Friedman; and, d) the man’s perspectives are diametrically opposed to conservative positions with respect to the War on Terror, abortion, energy policy,healthcare, Social Security reform, etc.

The point is, conservatives—supposed conservatives—who entertain the notion raised by Christopher Buckley are simply acting emotionally without regard to the specifics of the matter and are straying willingly from the tenets of modern conservatism. It is certain that John McCain bears little resemblance to the likes of Ronald Reagan. However, it is manifestly so that Barrack Obama falls far short of matching John Mcain’s few redeemable conservative credentials.

In responding, if you do, let me preemptively note that I am quite aware of William and James Buckley’s efforts to support Senator Leiberman during his 1988 campaign against Replican-in-name Lowell P. Weicker. However, let me suggest that an Obama presidency will be far worse than Weicker as senator from Conneticut. Conneticut did not have to rely on Weicker to set national economic policy, among other important policy matters.

Cordially,

John

John,

Thank you for the very articulate and thought out comment.

I heard a pretty decent argument for Obama and my personal history with racism made me warm to the idea of breaking the race barrier. Your arguments are all very sound, however. Obama is super-liberal and spent 20 years in close, intimate association with Jeremiah Wright, a loathsome man who actually perpetuates the same racist myths that eugenicists pushed. Even after reading a good deal of his book and hearing his biography time and time again, it remains a clouded mystery who Barack Obama really is.

There’s something personally about Bob Barr that rubs me the wrong way. He’s a hard man to get enthusiastic about. I know a Libertarian candidate won’t win, but I’d at least like to vote for a candidate who I think believes the words coming out of his mouth. He’s not Ron Paul. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate.

A conservative friend of mine said he plans to sit it out. I guess I could do that. There’s no compulsion and it’s an option to just leave the president part blank.

Thanks,
Michael

I think we’ve now seen, with over a year of the Obama administration behind us, that those who had serious misgivings about his values, his ideology, and his effectiveness were right. He’s being heavily criticized by both the right (for what he’s tried to do) and the left (for what he’s been unable or unwilling to do).

The only good thing about him seems to be that he hasn’t been able to lead the country down the road to ruin as quickly as he’s wanted to.