William F. Buckley Jr. is dead.
The man arguably founded neoconservatism. He should especially be remembered for that.
Founder of the National Review and binder of economic liberalism with classical conservatism. Buckley created the hypocritical paradox, bizarrely called neoconservatism, that now governs the continent It is a paradox that violently struggled, under his guidance, to govern most of the world and at any cost. In the process America set up neo-fascist regimes throughout Latin America, in Indonesia, and as many other places as Buckley’s (new) media templates could muster support for.
This Skull and Bones Yale grad helped destroy the possibilities of the 20th century with his staunch anti-communism and promotion of militaristic state-terror, but did so with a smile that remains much remembered. In later life, he broke from the neocons as its more extremist PNAC-wing began to take over and push its corporatism in new directions.
In writing about his life, Lou Cabron begins his fantastic memoriam of the “Collected Controversies of William F. Buckley” with a quoted blog comment: “Part of me thinks he actually died a long time ago, like maybe the day Rush Limbaugh was awarded the inaugural ‘William F. Buckley, Jr. Award for Media Excellence,’ by the Media Research Center.”
A favourite story that Cabron discusses is Buckley’s on-going fued with Gore Vidal during the 1968 Democratic Party convention. A violent police-riot at the convention led to a disagreement between the two about the meaning of free speech in America. During the discussion, Buckley attempted to interrupt Vidal, who said, “Shut up a minute.”
“No I wont,” Buckley replied — and then the debate got complicated. Addressing the question of how to handle dissenters, Buckley said “Some people were pro-Nazi, and the answer is they were well-treated by people who ostracized them. And I’m for ostracizing people who egg on other people to shoot American marines and American soldiers. I know you don’t care.”
Gore Vidal: As far as I’m concerned, the only sort of pro-crypto-Nazi I can think of is yourself.
William F. Buckley: Now listen, you queer, stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I’ll sock you in your god damn face and you’ll stay plastered.
Neo-conservative discourse never loses its class.
May you rest in peace, sir.
The Collected Controversies of William F. Buckley [10 Zen Monkeys]
