The Effects of William F Buckley Jr on a Buda Boy
I had written most of this and titled it before today; when I read about his passing, I thought I should wrap it up and post it now. (with apologies to Gary Soto) The first political thought I can recall having was in 1988, after a full decade of wholly apolitical existence. Tasked with choosing a presidential candidate to back, I studied the issues as best a fifth grader could. Letting individuals keep their earnings sounded right to me, as did the prospect of getting cool new weapons for the military. As an eldest brother and cousin, I had seen plenty of pregnancies, but despite the annoyance that babies could be, I couldn't conceive of a justification for abortion. Therefore, George H W Bush seemed the logical choice, especially given his edge of experience over that funny-sounding guy who looked like a total dork in a tank. I gave a speech backing his candidacy at a forum at Buda Elementary; during the same event Jeff Borcherding (among others) also backed GHWB, although his sp...