7 Responses to “William F. Buckley, Jr.”

1. Dave says:

   January 18, 2009 at 2:12 pm

   I want President Obama to ask that everyone sacrifice in order to get this country moving again, starting with the U.S. government, which will sacrifice the trillions in unnecessary spending in order to finally pay off our debts and live within our means.

   Wait– he only wants *us* to sacrifice for *him*? Oh, never mind.
2. Xavier says:

   January 18, 2009 at 2:23 pm

   Even without his recommended plane crash metaphor, it’s difficult to take seriously anyone who refers to “public servants” without irony, a usage as grating as Sen. Clinton’s reference the other day to her “nearly forty years in public service.”
3. On the Right says:

   January 18, 2009 at 2:49 pm

   I have no idea what BHO will talk about on Tuesday, but as far as the actual day-to-day elements of his Administration go, the whole “giving/sacrifice/hard choices” theme is a complete non-starter. Americans, like people everywhere, are not particularly willing or eager to sacrifice anything of their own self-interest, nor to confront “hard choices.” And “liberals”/Democrats — the sort of people that Obama is politically beholden to — are even less willing than most.
4. Alexander A. K. Hoggsbuckle IV says:

   January 18, 2009 at 2:54 pm

   I want every advertisement on every media channel to promote President Abraham Barack Obama Lincoln. Non-stop, every minute, every day. Wait! It is already happening.
5. Alan M. Schwartz says:

   January 18, 2009 at 2:54 pm

   I generally agree with Jennifer but I must take issue with her view on the suggestion about the Hudson River plane incident. It’s not that we should focus on a plane crash or other disaster; the Captain’s professionalism and calmness under fire is indeed an appropriate theme for a President seeking to inspire a nation in tough times. (I’m glad to see someone who’s well suited to his job, in contrast to some miserable examples in the political, corporate, financial, media, academic, and entertainment worlds). I recall clearly how Ronald Reagan, in a State of the Union address, spoke in praise of Lenny Skutnick, who jumped in to help rescue passengers from a plane that crash landed in the freezing Potomac River, as an example of qualities of courage and responsibility that help make America great. Sometimes a big idea needs a big, uncomplicated illustration to make people get it. I understand Jennifer’s point, but when it comes to Captain Sullenburger, give me more focus, not less.
6. Alex says:

   January 18, 2009 at 3:11 pm

   Love the sore loser sour grapes on here. Here’s an idea: Maybe y’all should go have beers with Dubya and praise his genius?
7. J.E. Dyer says:

   January 18, 2009 at 3:25 pm

   What I dislike about the plane-crash-in-the-Hudson theme is the implication that the American people are passengers who need to be protected and handled by professionals.

   Of course this sentiment came from a Harvard professor. Bill Buckley was right: take the first 400 names in the Boston phone book every time.
8. Stuart Rose says:

   January 18, 2009 at 3:49 pm

   I know Jennifer gets paid to pay close attention to whatever is hot item in the news cylce(yes, I know a new president and the inauguration of our first Black president is more that simply a news cycle top item), but let’s give into to the fever of this event. Let’s note that North Korea has just issued another threat to strike South Korea, let’s note that Hamas is hobbled but still breathing, still spewing, soon to be resupplied by Iran, that Iran edges closer to a nuclear weapon, and that Syria can’t wait to play Obama/Hilary for their pompous and callow naifs they are(does Hilary realize how ill-conceived her husband’s peace-making was)?
   And that’s just the Middle East and the Koreas.
   Look, with all the talk about Obama ditching the dogma of the Nation, Moveon.com, and probably John Kerry, for that matter, we still don’t know if he will do, beyond Afghanistan and Iraq-two big and admirable committments, I agree- to take on our enemies.
9. Stuart Rose says:

   January 18, 2009 at 3:51 pm

   Out of my own vanity, let me just apologize for the wretched grammar in my post- before someone else does. If you type at 100mph and don’t proofread, you can reach ESL status very quickly.
10. On the Right says:

    January 18, 2009 at 4:47 pm

    Skimming over the TIME magazine website, I see the new (dated Jan. 18th) article “The Two Faces of Rick Warren” by Amy Sullivan is getting some prominent display. This apparently marks the end of the affair, at least as far as the MSM is concerned. Rick Warren, and all the other “non-confrontational,” “laid-back” evangelicals, had best take notice.
11. John Hartland says:

    January 18, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    And if he reminds us that government power is an imperfect instrument which should be used wisely (with the law of unintended consequences firmly in mind), offers some praise for President Bush and the progress we’ve made in winning an historic battle against Islamic terror, acknowledges that bipartisanship means more than lip service to one’s opponents, and gives some suggestion that he is pivoting away from the unseriousness of a campaign to the serious business of making hard choices – well then it might be a very memorable speech indeed.

    Who knows, maybe he’ll really make Commentary happy and endorse torture and genocide, too!
12. turfmann says:

    January 18, 2009 at 7:20 pm

    One thing we can all be certain of though. Come Tuesday at midday, the conduct of the on-air talent at MSNBC will rival that of, say, Girls Gone Wild. (Except that the girls know what they’re doing)
13. Broadsword says:

    January 19, 2009 at 10:21 am

    Mr. Hartland, the Obamessiah already endorses genocide and torture. Paraphrasing him, ” And my first act in office will be to pass the Freedom of Choice Act”. Some 50 million Americans have been murdered since 1973, in what should have been for them the safest place in the world, their mother’s womb. FACE THIS FACT!! To believe in “choice”, (terror quotes intentional, one must believe that a child in the womb has no right not to be killed. Imagine that, 50,000,000, and not a single mother has yet “chosen” wrongly, and delivered to term an undifferentiated tissue mass.