Christopher Buckley and the sad goodbye

Christopher Buckley, William F. Buckley's son has resigned from National Review after a ruckus he caused by endorsing Obama.

I wish I could say I was surprised, but I am not.

William F. Buckley Jr. probably did more to bring me into the conservative movement than any other writer out there. I started reading National Review when I was 21, over 25 years ago. Buckley made me think. He made look at personal responsibility and the role of government as my politically active Democratic family never had. William F. Buckley literally changed my life. He made me want more education. He made me want to be personally responsible for everything in my life and he convinced me, without a doubt, that government was the problem, not the answer. His own personal Catholic faith was an inspiration to me.

I suppose in a very real way, everything good that has happened to me in my life evolved from those beliefs. My husband and his big wonderful Catholic family. My desire to have more children and the wondrous blessings they have given me. Pure happiness is what they have given me. My best friends for 15 years that I met in the pro-life movement. My writing and my faith. All of it can be traced back to the opening of my mind and heart as I read Buckley and other inspirational books.

I am sure Christopher Buckley is a wonderful person. Anyone raised by William F. Buckley Jr. would have to be, but like Ron Reagan, Ronald Reagan's son, I think he needed to separate himself from that kind of greatness.

But the reason I am not surprised is two fold. First, Pat Buckley, Christopher's mother, was a big time socialite in New York. So Christopher grew up around that as well. Very liberal as you can imagine. Second of all, I knew when Christopher Buckley's wonderful book "Thank You for Smoking" was turned into a movie that he would be exposed to all those wonderful witty Hollywood types as well. Believe me, they can be seductive. So they must be right politically, right? Riiight.

Such was the downfall of Christopher Buckley.

It makes me sad of course, he is a wonderful writer, but you can't be a part of the "Big Tent" party if you are partying in the other tent so to speak.