What Is Bush Saying? When someone can confuse Bill Buckley, that's saying something.
"I am confused why anyone cares what William F Buckley Jr. thinks and writes."
William F Buckley Jr. has displayed heroic intellectual courage and insight over the years as one of the few prominent early conservative voices. He took on exposing the dangerous pretensions of the radical left as well as doing the yeoman work necessary to help clarify what the conservative right might best represent.
Without Buckley's influence in establishing the modern conservative movement, it is highly unlikely you would have had a conservative Ronald Reagan for President (Reagan was a Democrat in the 50's). Reagan in turn had the backbone to both defeat the Communist Soviet Union while reversing our cultural decline from a near fatal loss of confidence underwritten by an elite leftist media and academic intelligentsia.
Conservative principles such as faith, liberty, individual responsiblity, limited government and a strong defense have had him as their invaluable champion. Most people know him from his long running TV program, "Firing Line," which was on PBS (and was an intellectual delight to watch) as well as the magazine he founded, "National Review." He taught a whole generation what it meant to think for oneself.
His style has been relatively inaccessible at times and can require much thought and attention. Without the "Firing Line" program, it is difficult to know where one can best get a sense of the man as well as his thought. I admit to becoming frustrated with his work at times too, but find if I stick with it, I usually have been more than amply rewarded. It would be a real loss if those interested enough in contributing to FreeRepublic.com, which in many ways builds on the modern conservative movement's legacy, through unfamiliarity lost sight of Buckley's contributions. Hope this helps in that regard.
bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Buckley%2C_Jr.