Ditto................ Ditto
Posted on 02/27/2008 3:25:28 PM PST by Syncro
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY: R.I.P., ENFANT TERRIBLE
February 27, 2008
William F. Buckley was the original enfant terrible.
As with Ronald Reagan, everyone prefers to remember great men when they weren't being great, but later, when they were being admired. Having changed the world, there came a point when Buckley no longer needed to shock it.
But to call Buckley an "enfant terrible" and then to recall only his days as a grandee is like calling a liberal actress "courageous." Back in the day, Buckley truly was courageous. I prefer to remember the Buckley who scandalized to the bien-pensant.
Other tributes will contain the obvious quotes about demanding a recount if he won the New York mayoral election and trusting the first 100 names in the Boston telephone book more than the Harvard faculty. I shall revel in the "terrible" aspects of the enfant terrible.
Buckley's first book, "God and Man at Yale," was met with the usual thoughtful critiques of anyone who challenges the liberal establishment. Frank Ashburn wrote in the Saturday Review: "The book is one which has the glow and appeal of a fiery cross on a hillside at night. There will undoubtedly be robed figures who gather to it, but the hoods will not be academic. They will cover the face."
The president of Yale sent alumni thousands of copies of McGeorge Bundy's review of the book from the Atlantic Monthly calling Buckley a "twisted and ignorant young man." Other reviews bordered on the hyperbolic. One critic simply burst into tears, then transcribed his entire crying jag word for word.
Buckley's next book, "McCarthy and His Enemies," written with L. Brent Bozell, proved that normal people didn't have to wait for the Venona Papers to be declassified to see that the Democratic Party was collaborating with fascists. The book -- and the left's reaction thereto -- demonstrated that liberals could tolerate a communist sympathizer, but never a Joe McCarthy sympathizer.
Relevant to Republicans' predicament today, National Review did not endorse a candidate for president in 1956, correctly concluding that Dwight Eisenhower was not a conservative, however great a military leader he had been. In his defense, Ike never demanded that camps housing enemy detainees be closed down.
Nor would National Review endorse liberal Republican Richard Nixon, waiting until 1964 to enthusiastically support a candidate for president who had no hope of winning. Barry Goldwater, though given the right things to say -- often by Buckley or Bozell, who wrote Goldwater's "Conscience of a Conservative" -- was not particularly bright.
But the Goldwater candidacy, Buckley believed, would provide "the well-planted seeds of hope," eventually fulfilled by Ronald Reagan. Goldwater was sort of the army ant on whose body Reagan walked to greatness. Thanks, Barry. When later challenged on Reagan's intellectual stature, Buckley said: "Of course, he will always tend to reach first for an anecdote. But then, so does the New Testament."
With liberal Republicans still bothering everyone even after Reagan, Buckley went all out against liberal Republican Sen. Lowell P. Weicker Jr. When Democrat Joe Lieberman challenged Weicker for the Senate in 1988, National Review ran an article subtly titled: "Does Lowell Weicker Make You Sick?"
Buckley started a political action committee to support Lieberman, explaining, "We want to pass the word that it's OK to vote for the other guy or stay at home." The good thing about Lieberman, Buckley said, was that he "doesn't have the tendency of appalling you every time he opens his mouth."
That same year, when the radical chic composer Leonard Bernstein complained about the smearing of the word "liberal," Buckley replied: "Lenny does not realize that one of the reasons the 'L' word is discredited is that it was handled by such as Leonard Bernstein." The composer was so unnerved by this remark that, just to cheer himself up, he invited several extra Black Panthers to his next cocktail party.
When Arthur Schlesinger Jr. objected to his words being used as a jacket-flap endorsement on one of Buckley's books in 1963, Buckley replied by telegram:
"MY OFFICE HAS COPY OF ORIGINAL TAPE. TELL ARTHUR THAT'LL TEACH HIM TO USE UNCTION IN POLITICAL DEBATE BUT NOT TO TAKE IT SO HARD: NO ONE BELIEVES ANYTHING HE SAYS ANYWAY."
In a famous exchange with Gore Vidal in 1968, Vidal said to Buckley: "As far as I am concerned, the only crypto Nazi I can think of is yourself."
Buckley replied: "Now listen, you queer. Stop calling me a crypto Nazi, or I'll sock you in your goddamn face and you'll stay plastered."
Years later, in 1985, Buckley said of the incident: "We both acted irresponsibly. I'm not a Nazi, but he is, I suppose, a fag."
Read more at AnnCoulter.com
The hard Left hasn't changed a bit - they are just able to get away with calling themselves "Democrats" these days, and hold many more responsible offices than they were allowed to back then.
Regards,
TS
Great column. Unusual for an obituary, but fitting.
I got a short note back from him about a piece I wrote on abortion (Supermarket Morality). He said I’d probably be pilloried rather than praised, but it still had to be said.
RED WING COMPANY, INC.
196 NEWTON STREET
FREDONIA NEW YORK 14063
Even as a young moderate to liberal (as was the fashion, alas), I never missed Firing Line. Mr. Buckley was provoking, thoughtful and articulate and he made you WORK to find a reason to disagree with him, or the facts to support it. I became a real conservative when I realized I could do neither.
That is a great line. This is one of Ann’s best pieces. William F Buckley will long be remembered. RIP, courageous warrior.
Yes exactly. That's what I meant when I said people haven't grown less civil, just hyper-sensitive. It's our perception that has changed, and not for the better.
I like this thread. It's shaping up to be the online WFB wake.
When asked if he had "referred to Jesse Jackson as an ignoramus," Buckley said, "If I didn't, I should have."
_____________________________________________________________________
I remember reading a hilarious letter from William F. Buckley years ago. He and Pat were vacationing in Switzerland. Guess who called his chateau and invited himself over?
Yes. I am not joking.
Anyway, Ted and his girlfriend show up, and Bill and Pat have to order out food to feed him after Ted proceeds to drink half the bar. Then, Teddy asks to borrow the car to drive his girlfriend home.
Buckley said was somewhat worried, but comforted myself with the fact that there were no bridges between my chateau and Ted Kennedy's hotel in that part of Switzerland."
“Then, Teddy asks to borrow the car to drive his girlfriend home.
Buckley said was somewhat worried, but comforted myself with the fact that there were no bridges between my chateau and Ted Kennedy’s hotel in that part of Switzerland.”
That is classic!!
btt
My favorite Buckley quote was back in the 60’s when Buckley was asked once why Robert F. Kennedy avoided going on his television show. Buckley replied, “Why does the meat avoid the grinder?”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1977305/posts?page=50#50
Mr Buckley will not be forgotten.
His words will ring in the hearts of real conservatives until the Lord Returns
Is that a picture of a human? It looks part armadillo.
Ann really has a knack for summing things up in a very few words.
ML/NJ
Yes, it will.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.