Republican Christopher Buckley: 'What Have They Done to My Party?'

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 6:24pm

The always clever and sometimes maddening author of Thank You for Smoking explains why he has left the Republican Party.

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The Republican Party I grew up into—Dwight D. Eisenhower, William F. Buckley Jr., Barry Goldwater, Richard Nixon (sigh), Ronald Reagan—stood for certain things. It did not always live up to its ideals....There were foreign misadventures, terrible ones: Vietnam (the ’69-’75 chapters), Beirut, Iran-Contra, the Saddam Hussein tilt. But there were compensating triumphs: Eisenhower’s refusal to bail out France in Indochina in 1954, Nixon’s China opening, the Cold War victory.

Despite the failures, one had the sense that the party at least knew in its heart of hearts that these were failures, either of principle or execution. Today one has no sense, aside from a slight lowering of the swagger-mometer, that the president or the Republican Congress is in the least bit chastened by their debacles.

George Tenet’s WMD “slam-dunk,” Vice President Cheney’s “we will be greeted as liberators,” Don Rumsfeld’s avidity to promulgate a minimalist military doctrine, together with the tidy theories of a group who call themselves “neo-conservative” (not one of whom, to my knowledge, has ever worn a military uniform), have thus far: de-stabilized the Middle East; alienated the world community from the United States; empowered North Korea, Iran, and Syria; unleashed sectarian carnage in Iraq among tribes who have been cutting each others’ throats for over a thousand years; cost the lives of 2,600 Americans, and the limbs, eyes, organs, spinal cords of another 15,000—with no end in sight. But not to worry: Democracy is on the march in the Middle East. Just ask Hamas. And the neocons—bright people, all—are now clamoring, “On to Tehran!”

What have they done to my party? Where does one go to get it back?
One place comes to mind: the back benches. It’s time for a time-out. Time to hand over this sorry enchilada to Hillary and Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden and Charlie Rangel and Harry Reid, who has the gift of being able to induce sleep in 30 seconds. Or, with any luck, to Mark Warner or, what the heck, Al Gore. I’m not much into polar bears, but this heat wave has me thinking the man might be on to something.

My fellow Republicans, it is time, as Madison said in Federalist 76, to “Hand over the tiller of governance, that others may F*CK things up for a change.”

(Or was it Federalist 78?)
Let’s quit while we’re behind

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 6:26pm

More precisely--why the Republican Party has left HIM.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 6:31pm

Thanks for posting that. I have a few old school Republican friends and relatives (who detest the neo-cons) I'll be passing this on to.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 6:36pm

My pleasure, Margo! Chris Buckley has always been one of those smart, clever Republicans I wished were on OUR side.

It's sad that it took a wrongheaded war, so much unnecessary death and the trampling of the Constitution for him to come to his senses. But here's hoping he will influence other thinking Republicans to change their minds too.

[Chloe]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 6:39pm

Good for him. It has suddenly occurred to me that, rather than religion or "family values," their lack of a sense of humor and appreciation for absurdity might be the most important factor binding the neo-cons together.

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 6:56pm

I've never understood why the Republicans weren't angrier than the rest of us. Sure, we've never liked them, but they didn't hijack our party for their own agenda.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 9/13/06 at 10:38pm

Another interesting take on this subject, this time from the left, is Cenk Uygur of Sirius's Young Turks, from today's Huffington Post:

snippet:

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The Remaining Republicans

Cenk Uygur

...As you can tell, I am a little more than disgruntled with how the Republican Party has reacted to their bad apples. They made them kings. So, as I was wondering why any voter would still back this group of losers and yes-men, I came across two quotes that summed it all up for me. They are both from Republican voters. They both do a great job of explaining the mindset of the remaining Republicans.

First, here is a woman from Colorado who explained to the New York Times why we should never question our leadership:

"I agree with what he is doing," said Ms. Goodman, a Republican, who said the public could not always know the reasoning behind the administration's actions. "We have to trust our leadership, and we have to trust our military, and we have to trust that they want to protect us."

Facts be damned. All we need is faith. Unquestioning loyalty and complete trust. Every con man's ultimate dream. And democracy's kryptonite.

But at least it explains it. She still supports the president because she doesn't bother to check with the facts. She just turns over her judgment to blind trust of the Republican Party. For whatever else that rationale lacks, it does not lack clarity.

But just in case you missed it, a Republican voter in Georgia wants to make it even clearer. Here's what she had to say to the Associated Press:


"There are some people, and I'm one of them, that believe George Bush was placed where he is by the Lord," Tomanio said. "I don't care how he governs, I will support him. I'm a Republican through and through."

That just might be favorite quote of all time. "I don't care how he governs." There it is.

"I'm a Republican through and through." You said it!

The Remaining Republicans