Jen, in light of Buckley’s newfound concerns, it’s worth recalling what he wrote when endorsing Barack Obama:
But having 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.
“First-class” all the way. In a sense, Buckley was right. Obama’s proposed budget does not represent “traditional left-politics”; it represents radical left-politics. Obama’s budget blueprint makes traditional tax hikes and tariffs look like the stuff of Ron Paul.
As for that whirlwind, I’m not so sure. While a few retro “tea parties” break out in American cities, Obama’s approval ratings remain impressive, and he and Gordon Brown are about to get to work on a “global New Deal.”
I wonder if Buckley is still praying “secularly.”
