William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82

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Dardedar
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William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82

Post by Dardedar »

DAR
A man from a bygone era. When conservatives had a few brains, balls, and decency. He must have been heartbroken to live to see what happened to his movement.

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William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82

NEW YORK - Author and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. has died at age 82.

His assistant Linda Bridges says Buckley died Wednesday morning at his home in Stamford, Conn. She says he had been ill with emphysema and was found dead by his cook.

Buckley became famous for his intellectual political writings in his magazine, the National Review, and his frequent television appearances, including on his own long-running "Firing Line."
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“Conservatism is the tacit acknowledgment that all that is finally important in human experience is behind us; that the crucial explorations have been undertaken, and that it is given to man to know what are the great truths that emerged from them. Whatever is to come cannot outweigh the importance to man of what has gone before.” --William F. Buckley, Up from Liberalism

[quote]“One can’t doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed….Our mission has failed because Iraqi animosities have proved uncontainable by an invading army of 130,000 Americans. The great human reserves that call for civil life haven’t proved strong enough. No doubt they are latently there, but they have not been able to contend against the ice men who move about in the shadows with bombs and grenades and pistols.” --W.F. Buckley, link

“In four years we marched from Pearl Harbor to the heart of what was left of Tokyo and Berlin. In three years we can’t yet take a cab from Baghdad to its airport without an armed guard.” --W.F. Buckley, ibid

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Re: William F. Buckley Jr. dies at 82

Post by Doug »

Darrel wrote:A man from a bygone era. When conservatives had a few brains, balls, and decency. He must have been heartbroken to live to see what happened to his movement.
DOUG
He was.

I used to be a Buckley fan of sorts, admiring his intellectual abilities while still disagreeing with his conclusions. He could make his kind of conservatism sound plausible.

At the end of his life he was disgusted with what conservatives had become: selfish, cruel, ignorant buffoons. Buckley said some rather disparaging things about Bush, which made the National Review celebration gala rather uncomfortable--since Bush was invited.

I read about last year's National Review sea cruise. Buckley, of course, had to attend, but he was looked down upon by many of the other attendees as too moderate, and probably as too lenient on the liberals. It was a pathetic and sad scene, with the children of his own movement rejecting him and whispering negative things about him as he wandered the ship. Only a couple of long-time friends were there to keep him company. His own magazine had been taken over by neocons, and he couldn't stomach them, nor could they stomach him.

I wonder if Buckley increased his intake of marijuana in his later years.
LaWood

Post by LaWood »

Buckley was the first to slap down "Mj is the gateway drug" bull.
The last interview I saw him do was with the Police Chief of NYC.
The chief was arguing against de-criminalizing mj and called it a
gateway drug. Buckley asked him why it was a gateway drug.
The chief responded that when blood testing criminals the most
prevalent residue found was mj. Buckley countered with the fact
that alcohol is the gateway drug and more crimes are committed
under the influence of alcohol than any other drug. Buckley went on
to explain that residues of alcohol disappear from the blood within
24 hours but residues of mj can linger for 2 months. The chief said
nothing more.
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