The National Review was always a disgrace, and Buckley Sr. a bigot of the worst sort. It's a good thing if that low caliber rag is torn apart.

He would have him what he called Chomsky.

As for the younger Buckley, bravo!
If they right wing offend thee, cut it off....

Would William F. Buckley, the great old man, debate someone about his racist/segregationist views in the past? No. Nobody ever said 'boo' to him. That's the beltway.

Steve, this is another false beltway standard of respect issue. Much like how John McCain was so respected and beloved by the chattering classes. Despite his history, despite his misogyny.

The National Review is a despicable publication of very low intellectual standard, and Buckley (the elder) was a full-fledged racist.

Chris Buckley at this point in his successful life doesn't need them. He should happily break away.

Steve, I appreciate your ideals on how there should be a divergence of opinion in any organization and you are absolutely right. However, your note implies that the extreme right operates in good faith. Have you been paying attention for the last 8 years? The last thing the extreme right is interested in is another point of view. It just doesn't play into the cards. Some of the right are deeply entrenched dogmatic ideolougues with no interest in listening or even thinking. Firing Buckley is entirely expected and is made to get rid of him and to keep the others in line. These guys will eat their own. In the last week alone, they've thrown Kristol and Buckley under the bus and I'm sure there are others. They can't handle debating the issues, because if there was any debate their pathetic positions would be exposed for the fraud they are.

I get the feeling that in about two years I will race to a movie theater on opening night and watch "Thank You for Firing Me" (or some other title) by Christopher Buckley. It will be a brilliant satire on the political correctness of the right at the end of the Reagan Revolution (or whatever period we're in).

I admire him for having the guts to stand up for what he beleived in....but isn't that sad that he had to resign over his choice...I thought we lived in a Democracy or is it only a Democracy if you are a Republican!!!!!
Such a shallow bunch of hypocrits the lot of them.

Thanks Steve for that story, looks like the Christophers are coming
out in force for Obama.

POOR William F Buckley , ROLLING around in his grave at the
embarrassment that the Review and his Conservative Legacy has
turned into.

I agree that it is NOT a plus for the Review. They are doing some
wicked editing these days. I saw the piece that K'lo did after Palin's
announcement and she FREAKED, saying as much as she detested
Obama/Biden she could NEVER vote for someone with so little
experience or foreign relations credentials. Try and find that story
among K'lo's (beat into line by the ghost of William F Buckley) now
support for Palin.

Exactly. Why fire the guy and not debate him in a series of columns. That is exactly what pop Buckley would have done ... except that pop could not have been enthused about McCain.

Any so-called "conservative" that is flacking so hard for McCain is really suspect in my eyes... Republican hacks is a more apt description than classical conservative.

another example of narrow mindedness from a right wing publication... who whudda thunk it????

Steve: blame it on my Oxford education: but Christopher Buckley was on Hardball and articulate. I disagreed with Bill, and saw him debate at the Union, but I never underestimated his sophistication.

The present lot at the National Review: Rich Lowry, KLo, and a whole slew of goofballs will never be able to raise the NR to its inestimable quality under Bill. Now it is a rag, and it is a ventometer for the likes of Steyn and other assorted a**holes.

I'm terribly sorry to hear that Chris Buckley has resigned over his principled stand on the upcoming election. My home town is Camden, S.C. so we're very familiar with the Buckley family and although I seldom agreed with their views they were always respected as well as respectful.

I graduated from high school in 1965 and Wm. F. was revered in my home town for his views although I often found him to be terribly obtuse and, much more often than not, I disagreed with him.

I look forward to some e-mails from my old high school classmates with their take on Christopher Buckley's resignation!

He said today he's supporting Obama because he has "read his books" and because he has a "first-class mind" and "might just do very smart things. And so I'M PUTTING IT ALL ON BLACK, as I guess they would say in the casinos." Nice.

He also said: "The only reason my political opinions are of any interest to anyone is because of my last name, a name which I inherited. I am a hack novelist."

This "tender of resignation" is the most thrilling, liberating thing of his life. Now he gets to pal around with Tina Brown & Co. and escape the shadow. This story is about Christopher Buckley.

I'll assume after this election that either the owners/stockholders of NR will revolt and find new editorial leadership or its ability to affect any national/media debate will decline to the point of irrelevance. Will the NR have the same fate as John Birch's newsletter?
I'm an Independent who became a Democrat in 2004 and remain one today but I've become a regular reader of the resurgent American Conservative. NR's loss will certainly be the American Conservative's gain.

Tahoe,
I find it hard to believe that the man would trade in his father's legacy magazine, his father's overall legacy and his potential comfort at holiday family gatherings simply because Tina Brown may now add him to more cocktail party invitee lists. Perhaps that allegation says more about you than about him.

Tahoe is right, Christopher Buckley is an egotistical maniac. This is from the Huffington Post:

"Before he died, William F. Buckley Jr. put his young grandson on the firing line.

The intellectual conservative icon - renowned for his erudition and use of uncommon words - excluded his son's illegitimate child from his massive estate, insisting the kid was dead in his eyes.

"I intentionally make no provision herein for said Jonathan, who for all purposes . . . shall be deemed to have predeceased me," Buckley's will says, according to the Hartford Courant.

The National Review founder and notable New Yorker instead left his entire estate - estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars - to his only child, Christopher Buckley, and Christopher's two older kids, Caitlin and William.

Jonathan, now 8, is the product of an Christopher's affair with book publicist Irina Woelfle.

Caitlin, 20, and William, 17, are the author and former presidential speechwriter's children with his now-estranged wife, Lucy.

Woelfle currently works as a publicist in Florida, where she filed suit against Christopher, seeking more child-support money."

"Perhaps that allegation says more about you than about him"

Gads. If nothing else, the last few months of Tahoe droppings have given us plenty of spore to track what Tahoe is made of. The occassional intrusion of a Tahoe dingleberry is hardly necessary for one to draw a conclusion.

Amen, POA.

Can recall Jeff Buckley's passing, that was sad.
As for William F.Buckley, his departure preceded his passing. The conservative movement long ago abandoned any claim to being reality based when it stabbed conservation in the back with a sharp edged deficit.

For conservatives, this the last goodbye.

Their best and brightest are leaving the ranks to be replaced with ideologues armed with catch phrases and polling points.

Karl Rove don't know nothing about birthing no babies. This bastard generation of cretins who have the sensibilities of cavemen(not even the Geico guy would claim them) is all Rove's doing.

Re: Tahoe Editor Oct 14, 7:45PM.

I always knew you were nasty. Now I know how much.

oh...and WigWag? What a shrewish, googling gossip you can be! You read like a writer for Midnite.

Christopher's impulsive Tina Brown headline: "Sorry, Dad, I Was Fired"

Christopher's crow-eating (and current) Tina Brown headline: "Buckley Bows Out of National Review"

"Bows out" indeed. Drama queen.

STEVE: Please revise your own headline to: "Christopher Buckley Shows His Ass To The Door at National Review"

--

Peter Wehner: A Question of Character
http://www.commentarymagazine.com/blogs/index.php/wehner/37572

John Stossel: The Reregulation Mantra?
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/10/the_reregulation_mantra.html

It is a sad day for the democratic republic called America when the son of one of the greatest political thinkers in our history is no longer allowed to present his opinions to the public. The action of the National Review in accepting the resignation of Christopher Buckley because of his views makes a mockery of the freedom of speach and the function of the press in a free society. I was once told that the job of clergy is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. Since that is no longer allowed and freedom of the press is no longer allowed, without drastic and ridiculous ramifications,I wonder what the founding fathers and mothers of this nation really risked their lives for. You are only allowed to express your opinion if you are a member of the REPUBLICAN PARTY. I am certain that Abraham Lincoln would never recognize or admit membership in the current dictatorship called the Republican Party. SHAME ON THOSE WHO HAVE WROUGHT THIS DAMAGE TO A NATION

Please. No one is censoring Christopher Buckley. Christopher Buckley drew a few spotlights on himself while he pushed all his chips across the table. This is his own personal drama. He deserves it. Bravo. The first sellout is the best sellout.

Yes, Barack Obama is Abraham Lincoln. Read all about it here:

http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/racetothefinish/archive/2008/10/06/obama-and-the-echoes-of-lincoln.aspx

Hey Christopher,

Don't let the doorknob hit you on the way out.

NR did the right thing. You don't dispute with Buckley's colossal ignorance or you risk legitimizing it. You tell him to go to hell.

Excuse me -- doesn't the National Review pride itself on FREEDOM OF THOUGHT?

What a bunch of stupid hypocrits!

It seems like the Repubicans are being taken over by the rednecks and alienating the free thinkers and intellectuals.

Sorry, I meant to add that the editors at National Review should have told the letter writers complaining to threaten their subscriptions,

"CANCEL YOUR OWN DAMN SUBSCRIPTION!" (As Wm F Buckley Jr. was FAMOUS for)

What a bunch of wimps at National Review!

Their readership must be seriously declining for a few whiners to have such am impact........

There goes freedom of thought at the National Review!

In order to subscribe to National Sheeple Review one has to:

1. Listen to Rush Limbaugh every day and then recite every point he made 10 times until you have it memorized.

2. Listen to Sean Hannity every day and then recite every point he made 10 times until you have it memorized.

chris buckley, is a spoiled, ungrateful, and obviously rebellious son. that is the result of being much too harsh or much too nice. however, the son is an ass,,,,,,,and not so smart. his endorsement of Obama will come back to bite him on the ass,,,,,soon and more importantly,,,,later,,,,,I wish him well in his future failure. lame dumbass.

Good riddance to the lesser Buckley. His old man would be so ashamed.