A Conservative Speaking the Truth to Republicans

Killer quote from the son of conservative icon William F. Buckley who just left the National Review after endorsing Barack Obama:

While I regret [leaving the conservative National Review], 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.

I stole this post idea from another blog, but I had to include it here as I believe it reflects the experience of millions of voters and, to a large extent, my own (I have also realized that on some substantive issues I am undeniably left of center).

I have tremendous respect for truly conservative political policies and agree with many of them. I remember being excited by the "compassionate conservative" philosophy that George W. Bush campaigned on in 2000 - and it led me to vote for him. But the governance of the last 8 years has been neither compassionate nor conservative.

I can understand why one may not be comfortable (much less excited) voting for a Democrat this year - but I absolutely cannot understand how one can justify voting for a member of the current Republican Party.