Everyone who is anyone on
America’s political right is genuflecting in William F. Buckley, Jr’s direction today.
And I will be no exception.
The man was a titan of conservative thought and as erudite and sophisticated…in the true meaning of the words… as any man who ever walked the planet, and much more so than most.
His accomplishments were legendary and he is often credited with being the Father of Modern Conservative Thought.
I’ll probably be reading his obits for days, if not weeks.
Blog-Buddy Barry has a good round-up of the obituaries that struck his fancy, and he has links to some of the very best.
This particular obit (Radley
Balko, writing at Reason Magazine’s blog) struck me as particularly fitting:
Buckley leaves an enormous legacy, but to the detriment [of] everyone, the right left Buckley years ago. Where Buckley stood athwart the tide of history and beat it back with wit, sophistication, and argument, we today get best-selling Regnery screeds from lowest-common-denominator clowns like Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, and Glenn Beck. Where Buckley mistrusted government and aimed to slow the world down, he's been usurped on the right by the likes of William Kristol and David Brooks, men who want to use government to remake the world in their own image. Where Buckley flourished in cosmopolitan Manhattan and took delight in life's finer things, modern conservatism has grown disdainful of the marketplace of culture, commerce, and ideas abundant in urban areas (witness the last election, where many on the right weirdly smeared John Kerry as a "latte-sipper"—real Americans apparently drink Maxwell House). In fact, today's Bush/neocon-right is often contemptuous of commerce itself, sometimes calling the voluntary, unchecked exchange of goods, labor, and services—a pure free market—"ugly" and "crude."
Clowns, indeed, for the most part. There are a couple of examples Balko cites that I don’t agree with, but his point is very well taken. WFB’s wry humor, articulation, and simple goodness will be sorely missed. I’m afraid WFB was a man of another age… a time when one could disagree with a person on any given subject…but most especially politics… yet still respect the person you disagreed with and extend your hand in friendship, which Mr. Buckley did, and often.
RIP, Mr. Buckley. And thank you.
Buckley leaves an enormous legacy, but to the detriment [of] everyone, the right left Buckley years ago. Where Buckley stood athwart the tide of history and beat it back with wit, sophistication, and argument, we today get best-selling Regnery screeds from lowest-common-denominator clowns like Ann Coulter, Dinesh D'Souza, and Glenn Beck. Where Buckley mistrusted government and aimed to slow the world down, he's been usurped on the right by the likes of William Kristol and David Brooks, men who want to use government to remake the world in their own image. Where Buckley flourished in cosmopolitan 
Thanks for the shout-out, Buck. In re Mr. Buckley, we'll not see his like again soon, I'm afraid.
ReplyDeleteCivility in political discourse, of the variety he generally practiced, may not be completely dead, but it's on life-support.
I first became a subscriber to the National Review in 1968 while stationed at Dover AFB, Delaware....I've been a Conservative(growing farther right as the years pass), ever since....WFB was one in a million, a Conservative that could piss off the left, and they knew he had them, because he was smarter than them all.
ReplyDeleteAs you would guess, I don't respect a lot of people who call themselves "conservatives."
ReplyDeleteI respected William F. Buckley, Jr., and was saddened to hear of his passing on the radio yesterday.
Don't know what, if anything, that says about moderate ol' me, but there it is.
Thanks for the links, Buck.
Barry said: Civility in political discourse, of the variety he generally practiced, may not be completely dead, but it's on life-support.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Barry. McCain displayed some of that civility by disowning remarks made by some rabble-rousing talk-show host who was "warming up" the crowd at a McCain rally in Ohio this week. And what did he get for that VERY appropriate gesture of civility? Scorn from other pundits. Made me sorta ill.
Pat: Agreed.
Lori said: Don't know what, if anything, that says about moderate ol' me, but there it is.
Well, it tells ME you have good breeding and manners, Lori. Unlike some of your Lefty friends. Some "conservatives" need to be dissed, but I submit they assume the conservative label in lieu of "toad," "troll," or "idiot," all of might be more appropriate.