William F. Buckley Jr: "Dramatic pauses at historical moments happen"

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001095299

NEW YORK The Bush administration has received a torrent of bi-partisan criticism for its initial response to Hurricane Katrina. But most conservative columnists have continued to go fairly easy on George W. Bush during the past week, according to an E&P survey.

One of the few conservative commentators to aim some strong remarks at the president was Kathleen Parker of the Orlando Sentinel and Tribune Media Services (TMS). "Bush did fail to act swiftly and unequivocally," she wrote in her column Wednesday. "When he did act, at least initially, it was without authority, without competence and -- never more important -- without apparent empathy. ... caused even supporters to cringe with every ill-chosen word. ... He let slip the rarest of opportunities -- that of saving human life and the nation's pride. By his performance in this time of extreme stress, Bush may have revealed a truer self than we were meant to see." Parker did note that local and state officials deserved some blame, too.

Pat Buchanan, who has criticized Bush at times in the past, wrote last Friday about what the president would soon face. The Creators Syndicate columnist predicted the "attacks" on Bush would "run along these lines: First, he was out of touch in Crawford, not alert to what was coming -- and, indeed, photographed fooling with a guitar the day the storm hit. Second, despite the investment of scores of billions, the Gulf Coast, on his watch, was unprepared for a Category 4 hurricane. Third, when the need arose for the Louisiana and Mississippi National Guard to save the poor of those states, and defend lives and property after the storm, 7,000 Guardsmen were not on the Gulf of Mexico, but in the Persian Gulf. ... And there are print and TV allegations that funds allocated to strengthen the levees were diverted or cut by the Bush administration."

"No doubt Mr. Bush could have thought of means more quickly to take center stage as dispenser of life and hope. Yet dramatic pauses at historical moments happen," William F. Buckley Jr. of Universal Press Syndicate wrote in a Tuesday column. He devoted the rest of his piece to topics such as criticizing New York Times/New York Times News Service columnist Nicholas Kristof for criticizing Bush, discussing why some New Orleans residents didn't leave the city, and listing the various ways the federal government eventually helped New Orleans after the hurricane.

[Wickerman]

1. That's it? That is Billy Buckley's defense of the boy king?

the Shit Happens Defense?

William is getting old and tired - he is really phoning it in these days.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

2. I wanted to put "shit happens" in my subject line...

...but I figured it would be apparent to folks reading his words.

:evilgrin:

[Missy M]

3. William F. Buckley is a big blowhard....

he always has been and always will be. I just can't stand the man.

[BlueEyedSon]

4. Buckley is another POS who will be up against the wall when the

revolution comes.

[mitchum]

12. He deserves two rounds...

one for his lifetime of shilling, and the other for his awful spy novels

[nickinSTL]

5. dramatic pause?

:eyes:
:mad:

[leesa]

6. Must be the most pregnant pause in history!

[robbedvoter]

7. Wonder, what will it give birth to?

[T Town Jake]

8. Well, I'm sure Alex P. Keaton still likes him...

(n/t)

[bunny planet]

9. Let's just hope we don't have to endure any more of the Dauphin's

'dramatic pauses' if we still want to the earth to remain a viable place to live Mr. Buckley.

[Jacobin]

10. What a nice euphemism for

fucking up.

You can always count on the old line fascists to shore up the Fuehrer of the Day.

[mitchum]

11. Buckley is a conservative ass who willingly stepped off the VISIBLE...

public stage when the republicans undertook to re-tool their IMAGE as the party of "regular ol' hard-working common folks"
Can't have an effete, monied patrician as the dominant mouthpiece for the party, can we? How would that look?
This tactic was obvious to all of us who grew up with Buckley as a presence.

[yellowcanine]

13. "Let me eat cake! And Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

"And I played the guitar too! Kool! You can't make up this shit.

[Mr Rabble]

14. playing guitar the day it hit? THAT WAS 2 DAYS LATER!!!

He was in San Diego fiddling on Tuesday, a full two days after Katrina hit, and a day after he was eating cake with McCain in Arizona.