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I seem to have picked an apt title for my Daily Beast column, or blog, or whatever it’s called: “What Fresh Hell.” My last posting (if that’s what it’s called) in which I endorsed Obama, has brought about a very heaping helping of fresh hell. In fact, I think it could accurately be called a tsunami.

The mail (as we used to call it in pre-cyber times) at the Beast has been running I’d say at about 7-to-1 in favor. This would seem to indicate that you (the Beast reader) are largely pro-Obama.

As for the mail flooding into National Review Online—that’s been running about, oh, 700-to-1 against. In fact, the only thing the Right can’t quite decide is whether I should be boiled in oil or just put up against the wall and shot. Lethal injection would be too painless.

I had gone out of my way in my Beast endorsement to say that I was not doing it in the pages of National Review, where I write the back-page column, because of the experience of my colleague, the lovely Kathleen Parker. Kathleen had written in NRO that she felt Sarah Palin was an embarrassment. (Hardly an alarmist view.) This brought 12,000 livid emails, among them a real charmer suggesting that Kathleen’s mother ought to have aborted her and tossed the fetus into a dumpster. I didn’t want to put NR in an awkward position.

Since my Obama endorsement, Kathleen and I have become BFFs and now trade incoming hate-mails. No one has yet suggested my dear old Mum should have aborted me, but it’s pretty darned angry out there in Right Wing Land. One editor at National Review—a friend of 30 years—emailed me that he thought my opinions “cretinous.” One thoughtful correspondent, who feels that I have “betrayed”—the b-word has been much used in all this—my father and the conservative movement generally, said he plans to devote the rest of his life to getting people to cancel their subscriptions to National Review. But there was one bright spot: To those who wrote me to demand, “Cancel my subscription,” I was able to quote the title of my father’s last book, a delicious compendium of his NR “Notes and Asides”: Cancel Your Own Goddam Subscription.

Within hours of my endorsement appearing in The Daily Beast it became clear that National Review had a serious problem on its hands. So the next morning, I thought the only decent thing to do would be to offer to resign my column there. This offer was accepted—rather briskly!—by Rich Lowry, NR’s editor, and its publisher, the superb and able and fine Jack Fowler. I retain the fondest feelings for the magazine that my father founded, but I will admit to a certain sadness that an act of publishing a reasoned argument for the opposition should result in acrimony and disavowal.

My father in his day endorsed a number of liberal Democrats for high office, including Allard K. Lowenstein and Joe Lieberman. One of his closest friends on earth was John Kenneth Galbraith. In 1969, Pup wrote a widely-remarked upon column saying that it was time America had a black president. (I hasten to aver here that I did not endorse Senator Obama because he is black. Surely voting for someone on that basis is as racist as not voting for him for the same reason.)

My point, simply, is that William F. Buckley held to rigorous standards, and if those were met by members of the other side rather than by his own camp, he said as much. My father was also unpredictable, which tends to keep things fresh and lively and on-their-feet. He came out for legalization of drugs once he decided that the war on drugs was largely counterproductive. Hardly a conservative position. Finally, and hardly least, he was fun. God, he was fun. He liked to mix it up.

So, I have been effectively fatwahed (is that how you spell it?) by the conservative movement, and the magazine that my father founded must now distance itself from me. But then, conservatives have always had a bit of trouble with the concept of diversity. The GOP likes to say it’s a big-tent. Looks more like a yurt to me.

While I regret this development, I am not in mourning, for I no longer have any clear idea what, exactly, the modern conservative movement stands for. Eight years of “conservative” government has brought us a doubled national debt, ruinous expansion of entitlement programs, bridges to nowhere, poster boy Jack Abramoff and an ill-premised, ill-waged war conducted by politicians of breathtaking arrogance. As a sideshow, it brought us a truly obscene attempt at federal intervention in the Terry Schiavo case.

So, to paraphrase a real conservative, Ronald Reagan: I haven’t left the Republican Party. It left me.

Thanks, anyway, for the memories, and here’s to happier days and with any luck, a bit less fresh hell.

- Christopher Buckley’s blog

What a disaster it would be if you discovered that I cared
A little too much for friends, but not enough to share.

Ah. . .  October. You’re one of my favorite months. The air gets a little cooler, the leaves turn orange, and horror marathons begin to pop up on the tube. Halloween is definitely one of my favorite holidays, probably just because it feels like the first real sign of fall. Anyways, let’s catch up on October.

The month started off with a concert featuring Angels and Airwaves. Not their best concert I’ve been to but that’s okay. Since then I’ve been mainly working on homework with the occasional video game. I managed to land one of the LittleBigPlanet beta invites for last week - that game is probably going to blow some minds. The creation tools are amazing, but even without them it’s a genuinely amazing game. Think about how much fun Super Mario Bros. was back in the day, then modernize it, make it cute and approachable for a general audience, and finally stick in both story-mode AND online multiplayer. And then imagine huge giant worlds far more complex than most professional video games today. LittleBigPlanet comes out October 21ST and should finally earn the PS3 some of the cred it deserves.

In other gaming news, I started playing World of Warcraft again late this summer. Huge mistake right? Oh well, it’s been a blast. My druid hit 70 a week or so ago. Mmm. Geeky. The pre-expansion patch hits late tonight.

Anyway - every day is another day closer to Halloween. Until then I’m upping my dosage of dedicated homework time, unfortunately. I’m trying not to watch politics as the MSNBC logo was beginning to burn into my TV… And it’s an old CRT peice so that can’t be good. I can’t resist embedding a political video these days, however. Be greatful though, I’m going to spare you the horribly sung tune of Hey Sarah Palin and send you off with some thoughts from John Cleese.

The Old 97’s hit People’s Court on October 14TH. I doubt I’ll make it over but it will, undeniably, be a good show. You kids over in the Des Moines/Ames/Cliver area, make it over. Tickets are $20 a pop and you won’t be disappointed if you’ve got a decent appreciation for music, especially of the alt. country/rock type.

This first semester of the 2008 school year has me spinning a bit, in a good way. I’ve always been a member of the “you can do anything you set your mind on” pool of society. On the other hand, I was also a member of the “path of least resistance” club, which at times in the past has led me to give up on important things in life. You know, like high school?

But now, after taking the scenic route to higher education, I know only two things for sure: I want to transfer to a University after my two years at Hawkeye Community are over and I’m interested in media. That leaves me with a few variables to consider while here at Hawkeye.

The first is what do I want to achieve here? I knew that I would have to take some classes here because of my previous academic history or lack there of, but do I just want to come out of here a liberal arts transfer? I initially had planned on working towards Information Systems Management but that’s not very appealing anymore. I can try to take as many media oriented classes here at Hawkeye as possible or I could try a business major. I really enjoy my management class.

The second is what kind of media do I want to end up in? I love movies and I’m fascinated by media production. I think it’s something I could be involved in and be good at. Do I want to move out of state to attend a film school of some sort eventually? Is that feasible? Or do I want to do something more familiar. More concrete.

Do I want to write? I enjoy writing and I feel relatively skilled at it. Iowa is the perfect home for a writer. The Pulizer prize-winning Des Moines Register is the heartland’s best paper. The University of Iowa has an internationally famous Writer’s Workshop.

I’m not sure. I should probably figure it out relatively soon though. Not this week, however. Weezer concert tomorrow night!

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Ah, where to start? Let’s start with the positive. Well, it’s a guilt trip - but one you should actually take to heart. Check out this clip featuring Jonah Hill, Forest Whitaker, Dustin Hoffman, Sarah Silverman taking her bra off and more.

Don’t Vote?

And of course I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to expose McCain. Sure, I think it’s important to get registered and vote regardless of your candidate preference, but it’s obvious I’m an Obama supporter so here’s a video of McCain lying like a stubborn ass.

McCain Interview with Des Moines Register

I’m stuck in a coma, stuck in a never-ending sleep
And some day I’ll wake up and realize I made up every thing

I’m not sure what’s more annoying. There appears to be a single cricket somewhere in the building that I’m in, chirping away the following fourty minutes until my next class. On the other hand, the only sound I have to drown it out is this stupid Senses Fail song that’s stuck in my head. I didn’t even like their latest album, but it’s just this stupid chorus being sung over and over in my conscious that’s driving my crazy. On that note, here’s three random thoughts.

1. I hope the debate happens tonight. As far as I’m aware, it’s still up in the air. I wish McCain would stop procrastinating and just get it over with. After some progress Wednesday and an agreement almost having been reached earlier in the day Thursday, everything ended up falling apart Thursday night when House Republicans walked out. Obama had suggested the candidates presence might cause that outcome and that’s likely what happened.
2. If tonight’s debate does not happen, I hope it won’t it end pushing back the vice-presidential debate on October 2ND. I’m really looking forward to watching Sarah Palin get her ass handed to her by Biden. What business does she have being a vice-presidential candidate? That interview with Katie Couric was pathetic and Palin was obviously very coached on her responses, except for maybe one - I doubt the McCain campaign would be dumb enough to coach her “foreign relations” experience with Russia. . .
3. I have tickets to see Weezer with Angels and Airwaves and Tokyo Police Club on October 3RD in Minnesota at the Excel Center. Probably the biggest venue show I’ll have ever been to. I’m hoping Weezer plays the old stuff too, I haven’t heard much off their new album.