Novelist Christopher Buckley is the back-page columnist for the conservative mag, National Review, which was founded by his father, William F. Buckley. Well, he was until very recently. Then he wrote a long, thoughtful, reasoned endorsement of Barack Obama in his blog, Daily Beast.
As it happens, Christopher's dad, who famously said he took pains to sort out the conservatives from the kooks, would have had little trouble with his son's decision. Nonetheless, so much angry mail and canceled subscriptions arrived in a deluge of reader backlash, that the political novelist decided that the best move was to resign and get out of the target zone.
As it happens, Christopher's dad, who famously said he took pains to sort out the conservatives from the kooks, would have had little trouble with his son's decision. Nonetheless, so much angry mail and canceled subscriptions arrived in a deluge of reader backlash, that the political novelist decided that the best move was to resign and get out of the target zone.
2 comments:
I am a great admirer of both William F and Chris Buckley. I often didn't agree with Bill, but the man was incredibly bright and had a high degree of integrity, two features his son Chris shares. It is a sad commentary indeed that the likes of Bill and Chris Buckley have been replaced by bobble-head dolls like Palin and her ilk.
Bill was also a sailor. He kept his boat in the same marina as mine. (His boat was bigger.) He wrote several books on sailing which I both enjoyed and found unintentionally funny. (His boats kept breaking down and Bill, despite all his other skills, was not terribly handy.) Chris Buckley's first book, Steaming to Bamboola, about sailing on a tramp steamer is also loads of fun.
I am sure that Chris will do just fine, even without his gig at the National Review.
Thanks for your really interesting commentary, Rick. Love the mental picture of William Buckley's boats breaking down.
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