Buckley has always reminded me of George Will. They're also the kind of conservatives liberals like. They take their place as the token conservative in liberal controlled media, and wear bow ties or something else to show that they're acceptably eccentric, and have the same scholarly distance from the subject, injecting a mild disagreement here and there, but ultimately secure that what they're saying doesn't make any difference at all. You're understanding is dead on.
Buckley was Wills mentor at the National Review.
who ya gonna call when ya wanna bust a liberal?