— William F. Buckley
William F. Buckley was the face of East Coast establishment conservativism back in the day. Now Buckley, who founded the National Review in 1955, is suggesting that Pres. Bush should resign:
“If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we’ve experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign,” Buckley says.
Where did the president go wrong? According to Buckley, George Bush has not been conservative enough:
“I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology — with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress,” Buckley says. “And in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge.”
But what about the legacy of the man we call the Worst President Ever? Buckley whiff it, saying the view of future historians toward President Bush’s tenure in office is unclear:
“There will be no legacy for Mr. Bush. I don’t believe his successor would re-enunciate the words he used in his second inaugural address because they were too ambitious. So therefore I think his legacy is indecipherable.”
