William F. Buckley vs. the Neoconservatives
I’m inclined to write something long and thoughtful about Buckley, but for now, my email to the person who informed me of his death will have to suffice:
What a shame. I watched his interview with Charlie Rose where he said he was ready to die. I think that’s fitting. Buckley wouldn’t die without deciding the terms and the time. I wish my generation had a Buckley. It almost seems fitting that the “Father of the Modern Conservative Movement would die as McCain rises to power and Bush ransacks the principles of conservatism. In fact, I think he died 7 years too late.
Buckley with Charlie Rose:
In hindsight, that email was selfish. Buckley was much more than what he was famous for. He should have died when he bloody well did, not synchronized with my notion of his place in history.
On the other hand, one cannot help but compare Buckley to the confused-o-cons who have tarnished the message, if not the image of conservatism. Here’s a pretty famous one who goes by the name of Mike Huckabee:
”So all conservatives owe Bill Buckley a great debt. Today, while our thoughts and prayers are with the Buckley family, we conservatives continue to draw inspiration from his life and work. But there is more to be done. It is up to us to carry on, fulfilling his enormous legacy.”
Huckabee taking up Buckley’s legacy? Buckley opposed the Iraq War and the War on Drugs. The ‘conservatism’ that Buckley fathered was hardly distinguishable from ‘classical liberalism’ which is, itself indistinguishable from ‘libertarianism’. Buckley was a huge Goldwater supporter and Huckabee’s opponent is Goldwater-Conservatism’s veritable legacy: Ron Paul. In fact, Goldwater Jr. endorsed Ron Paul against Mike Huckabee.
Meanwhile, Huckabee said he would be amenable to a nationwide smoking ban. If you are a conservative and you don’t know why that is contradictory, you are not a conservative.
Buckley debating Noam Chomsky:
February 28th, 2008 at 7:09 am
[…] snortitsmokeitpimpit - BlogTalkRadio - Ron Paul African American Election 2008 Politics, Ron Paul Bl… wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt I’m inclined to write something long and thoughtful about Buckley, but for now, my email to the person who informed me of his death will have to suffice: What a shame. I watched his interview with Charlie Rose where he said he was ready to die. I think that’s fitting. Buckley wouldn’t die without deciding the terms and the time. I wish my generation had a Buckley. It almost seems fitting that the “Father of the Modern Conservative Movement would die as McCain rises to power and Bush ransacks […]
February 29th, 2008 at 5:36 am
[…] Libertarian Think Tank wrote an interesting post today on The Death of William F. BuckleyHere’s a quick excerptBuckley opposed the war on drugs and the Iraq War…. […]