It's a Tuesday afternoon and I'm seated at a corner table at Denny's waiting for the man who uttered those words. It's just after 2:30 p.m. and he's late. After nearly an hour, Pete Fundy swaggers in looking like he just shouted down Hillary Clinton at Saddleback Church. He's only mildly apologetic. "I'm fairly certain that you said 3:30," he says, taking a seat across the small table from me.

I am initially surprised by Fundy's appearance. He's rarely seen in public - especially signature wife obscuring his face. I had heard he was striking in person, but not this striking. He resembles an older, more attractive Scott Baugh [Republican Party of Orange County chairman] - only without the poor taste in clothing. Bucking the trends of the day, he's wearing braces and a string tie. An unmistakable air of Aqua Velva follows him.

If you haven't heard of Pete Fundy, don't be ashamed. His isn't a household name. Yet. His column, "The Red White and Blue," is a lighthouse in OC's foggy world of conservatism. It appears on OCLegend.com, a peculiar news and opinion site considered by many to be the most enlightening Internet site ever read by the people of Stanton. Fundy is "Orange County's leading conservative commentator" (at least according to Fundy) and yet, he seems destined for so much more.

The passing of influential political commentator William F. Buckley in late February at the age of 82 left an intellectual void in the upper echelon of American conservatism. Sure, we've still got the likes of Ann Coulter and that other kid... with the bow tie. But neither of these milquetoasts possesses Buckley's dazzling panache or mastery of really big words. Could it be that his intellectual heir is right under our noses in this, the bastion of conservatism that is Orange County? The short answer is... yes. And his name is Pete Fundy.

But in order to understand where Pete Fundy is going, we must understand where he came from.