Buckley the Sap

This is what passes for informed commentary these days:

I’m no strategist or political thinker, and I voted Democrat in the last presidential election—but since everyone else is weighing in, what the hell.

One of the oldest rules in politics is: If your opponent is committing suicide, don’t interfere. So were I in charge of the Republican Party, I would send out a coded text message saying: REMAIN CALM. SHUT UP. THIS IS GOING TO BLOW UP IN THEIR FACES.

Much as I admire President Obama, I believe with something approaching certainty that his spending will bring this country to its knees.

Let me get this straight. This Buckley character (who often manages to inform you that he had a famous dad, as if we didn't get it already) says he's a conservative, voted for Obama, is almost certain Obama's going to ruin the country, admires Obama, says the Republican party is dead, advises the Republican party to shut up because Obama will flunk and the Republican party will be just fine.

It takes a particular brand of sap to use the same sentence declaring admiration for a man that he's almost certain will tank his country.

I wonder if this Buckley clown reads his own stuff after he types it. Earlier in the column he quotes Keats: "Negative capability,” the term coined by Keats, was interpreted by F. Scott Fitzgerald: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.”

"Negative capability." I like that. It sounds so much better than "doublethink," which is exactly what Buckley practices when he tries to come off as Mr. Centrist.

One last thing: what's the deal with Buckley's hat, anyway? I think it's called a fedora, but I'm not sure because no one's worn one in fifty years.