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Old 01-10-09, 05:43 AM   #1
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Posts: 5,615
R.I.P. William F. Buckley, Jr

IP:

Died February 28th of last year, at the age of 82. He didn't get a proper commendatory thread on RapVerse, the man was a true idealist, and even a bit of a radical. You'll find that he changed with the times, despite being an old-age advocate of certain things & rights.

Read a bit about his views on policies:

Quote:
Originally Posted by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Buckley,_Jr.
Buckley criticized certain aspects of policy within the modern conservative movement. Of George W. Bush's presidency, he said, "If you had a European prime minister who experienced what we’ve experienced it would be expected that he would retire or resign." He said, "Bush is "conservative", but he is not a "Conservative", and that the president was not elected "as a vessel of the conservative faith." (Buckley would distinguish between so-called "lowercase c" and "Capital C" conservatives, the latter being True conservatives: fiscally conservative and socially Libertarian or libertarian-leaning). Regarding the War in Iraq, Buckley stated, "The reality of the situation is that missions abroad to effect regime change in countries without a bill of rights or democratic tradition are terribly arduous." He added: "This isn't to say that the Iraq war is wrong, or that history will judge it to be wrong. But it is absolutely to say that conservatism implies a certain submission to reality; and this war has an unrealistic frank and is being conscripted by events." In a February 2006 column published at National Review Online and distributed by Universal Press Syndicate, Buckley stated unequivocally that, "One cannot doubt that the American objective in Iraq has failed." Buckley has also stated that "...it's important that we acknowledge in the inner councils of state that it (the war) has failed, so that we should look for opportunities to cope with that failure." According to Jeffrey Hart writing in the American Conservative, Buckley had a "tragic" view of the Iraq war: he "saw it as a disaster and thought that the conservative movement he had created had in effect committed intellectual suicide by failing to maintain critical distance from the Bush administration...At the end of his life, Buckley believed the movement he made had destroyed itself by supporting the war in Iraq."

Over the course of his career, Buckley's views changed on some issues, such as drug legalization, which he came to favor. In his December 3, 2007 column, Buckley advocated banning tobacco use in America.

About neoconservatives, he said in 2004: "I think those I know, which is most of them, are bright, informed and idealistic, but that they simply overrate the reach of U.S. power and influence."


Buckley also participated in many debates on television which weren't taken into deep consideration on a wide viewership outside of an underground base of intellectuals, but his debates can be seen on youtube even now, if you so wished. Some of his more memorable debates were against those of the calm & collective Noam Chomsky in 1969, and is still very applicable to today. In the provided debate, both Noam and William got to express their ideas in a very friendly manner. It's almost hard to keep up with their expansive knowledge of history, modern America, and America's foreign affairs.

Buckley's third language was English, which he learned at the age of seven, after already having learned Spanish in Mexico and French in Paris. His style of speaking became famous due to his awkward, almost profound collaboration of accent.

My chosen quotes by Buckley, as they can be found here:
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/William_F._Buckley,_Jr.

“I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and liberals at bay. And the nation free.” - 50 years ago.;1959

“I get satisfaction of three kinds. One is creating something, one is being paid for it and one is the feeling that I haven’t just been sitting on my ass all afternoon.”

“The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.” - 17 years ago.;1992

He died at his work desk. A truly memorable, articulate political critic who at the very least deserves to be known by people on Rapverse.

Enjoy that which is left of him.

- 2v




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