Bill Buckley R.I.P.

[Mr Earl]

“Next to Ronald Reagan, Bill Buckley was more responsible for the rise of conservatism in this country than anyone else — and that’s a very considered statement,” former Sen. Jim Talent (R., Mo.) told National Review Online on Wednesday. “He taught what conservatism was about. He did it with an élan, a humor, and a boldness that itself was an enormous example. He changed the psychological approach to politics that conservatives had.”

link

[chinthee]

I read that and wondered if anyone would start a thread. I was a religious watcher of his program "Firing Line" when I was in college, as well as Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street Week. Bill represented everything about intellectual conservative political thought and Louis everything about capitalist money-making in my opinion. Louis died in 2006.

I also enjoyed in that era "Washington Week in Review" if any of you remember that, which was much more liberal.

Obviously PBS was one of my favorite stations.

[obsidian]

i have laughed my guts from the guys work, been stirred to pause and think and called him a political freak more than once. but i have never been bored or failed to learn something. i grew up with firing line and learned to love a heated back and forth, from watching him.

great three page article in the nyt today describing him and his work. i would appreciate anyone taking the time to read it, if they would put link here. fuck you had a great mind bill buckley. a tip of the hat to you.

[Norton]

The passing of a true intellectual mind and perhaps one of the last conservative voices of reason. I too was an avid watcher of his TV appearances. Must admit given his incredible vocabulary I didn't understand half the things he said so had to have my dictionary at my side. Consequently I learned much about politics and the English language from him. I am at the age now where many of the people who most influenced my life are passing on. This is life! Hope he finds his rightful spot in a conservative utopia.

[chinthee]

^Duh. I used to watch his program with a huge hardbound Websters Dictionary, feverishly thumbing through the pages. And, I was a Masters then Doctoral student.

[obsidian]

conservative utopia

(idaho?!)

[Norton]

His debating style was incredible as well. Who can forget his unique mannerisms. He would sit and quietly listen to the most nonsensical argument from his opponent with what appeared to be the most interest in what the person had to say. As he listened, he held his pen between his hands in a prayer position while constantly gnawing on the tip of the pen. After listening with great respect he would, in a most gentlemanly fashion proceed to completely reduce his opponent to a quivering lump of mush.

[chinthee]

I was incredibly in awe of his talents as a debater, and very intimidated. I always wanted to meet him, but sadly never did. I can't remember anyone who got the upper hand. He would reduce assholes like Bill O'Reilly to ashes within seconds.

[Mr Earl]

My parents subscribed to the National Review which I've been reading since I was a teenager.
Buckley's witty, devastating eloquence made for good reading most of the time.

[Texpat]

RIP Bill, he was a great writer with a fantastic sense of humor.

[Jet Gorgon]

Thanks for the thread, Mr Earl.

Ach, I had a good laugh reading your comments, Y'all. Sure reminded me of the Bill. I didn't discover him til I was in college but you're all right with Firing Line (WTF did he say?) I'd try to remember words and look them up at commercial time, else I'd miss the flow. I read the NYT obit. News said he was writing a book on Reagan and he donated his papers (seven tons) to Yalie.


A few snips from NYT:

“He has the eyes of a child who has just displayed a horrid use for the microwave oven and the family cat.”

Southern whites had the right to impose their ideas on blacks who were as yet culturally and politically inferior to them. After some conservatives objected, Mr. Buckley suggested instead that both uneducated whites and blacks should be denied the vote.

To the New York City politician Mark Green, he purred: “You’ve been on the show (Firing Line) close to 100 times over the years. Tell me, Mark, have you learned anything yet?”

The merits of the argument aside, Mr. Buckley irrevocably proved that his brand of candor did not lend itself to public life when an Op-Ed article he wrote for The New York Times offered a partial cure for the AIDS epidemic: “Everyone detected with AIDS should be tattooed in the upper forearm to prevent common needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of homosexuals,” he wrote.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/27/bu...ewanted=1&_r=1

[obsidian]

thanks for the link, jet.

[Hootad Binky]

“Everyone detected with AIDS should be tattooed in the upper forearm to prevent common needle users, and on the buttocks, to prevent the victimization of homosexuals,” he wrote.

What a humanitarian

I saw him threaten Noam Chomsky once:

Noam Chomsky vs. William F. Buckley Debate : Part 1 of 2

His fake English accent sounded a bit pretentious, imho.

[obsidian]

i observed no threat. are you sure this is the correct clip?

[Hootad Binky]

It's in ^ two parts, both are long (haven't watched both of them quite yet, but I'll post the exact timing where it happens on either clip)...

Yup, he threatened to punch him out, right on stage! Saw it in Manufacturing Consent, the doc about Chomsky.

Anyway, a good debate between them.

[obsidian]

yes. a wonderful debate. chomsky is smart as shit and is debating the content of his own book. bill comes off looking defensive and odd. you can feel the tension and dislike between them. great stuff! would love to see an open on camera threat from buckley. please post ti when you get it. thanks.

[Hootad Binky]

Here it is:

Not that serious...

[obsidian]

no. not that serious at all. thanks though.

[chinthee]

Regarding that Bill vs. Chomsky (joke) debate, I absolutely loved this comment by chaoboyace on that youtube clip:

I agree...it was just a joke. Not a joke though: both these guys have their heads shoved up their own asses from kissing it so much. Upperclass snobby conservativism meets self-loathing America-hating liberalism. Listen to the entire interview...you'll want to kill yourself.

[Hootad Binky]

^ True! Another commented on how relevant their discussion of power and ethics and foreign policy is today.

[obsidian]

self-loathing America-hating liberalism

my preference.