Rolling Over in his Grave ... Twice | Commonweal Magazine

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Rolling Over in his Grave ... Twice

Here begins the review of Christopher Buckley's fond, irreverent memoir of his parents in today's Boston Globe:

Oh boy, William F. Buckley Jr. must be rolling in his Sharon, Conn., grave.

First, there's the annoyance that he's actually buried in a coffin, when his instructions were to have his ashes commingled with those of his wife, Patricia Taylor Buckley, in a sculptural bronze cross on his Stamford, Conn., lawn.

Second, his only son, Christopher, came out in a Daily Beast column this past fall with, "Sorry, Dad, I'm Voting for Obama" - a defection that led to his readily accepted resignation from the New Republic, the conservative magazine his father started in 1955 and for which dad wrote 5,600 columns.

Has anyone told Marty Peretz?

About the Author

Rev. Robert P. Imbelli, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, is Associate Professor of Theology Emeritus at Boston College.

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Fr. Imbelli: That is funny, this apparent misidentification of the reviewer. The New Republic has long allied to the Democratic Party, but every now and then its moderate stand has been taken to be "conservative" by certain sectors of liberals. The stormy editorship of Andrew Sullivan was one such time. Of course, Buckley le pere and National Review wasted no time in making fun of The New Republic & saying that it only pretended to be conservative. Which is true: New Republic is conservative in so far as it consistently defends US policies regarding Israel. Most of the rest is standard liberal fare. But its culture pages (reviews of books, film, theater, fine arts etc.) is more conservative- than liberal-leaning, IMO.

That is so funny. I know the Boston Globe is having trouble financially. Does this mean they've fired all their editors?

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