Sadly, it was one year ago today that the man who played such an instrumental role - if not the ultimate role - in the building of the conservative movement passed away at the age of 82.
That man is, of course, William F. Buckley, Jr.
It might have been George Will who said it best of Buckley's vital importance as the impetus of the modern conservative movement:
"All great biblical stories begin with Genesis,” George Will wrote in National Review in 1980. “And before there was Ronald Reagan, there was Barry Goldwater, and before there was Barry Goldwater there was National Review, and before there was National Review there was Bill Buckley with a spark in his mind, and the spark in 1980 has become a conflagration.”
Here now, for your entertainment, are just a couple of priceless Buckley moments:
Buckley on a 1988 Ted Koppel special on drugs in the America. Watch, not only for the brilliant point on the importance of freeing ourselves from the idea that what is legal is also thus moral, but for the delightful shot he takes at Jesse Jackson.
Buckley from a series of debates on ABC with Gore Vidal during the tumultuous 1964 Democrat National Convention in Chicago, during which Buckley (quite justifiably) threatens to "sock" Vidal in the face for his fallacious and putrid comparisons of Buckley to a "crypto-Nazi".
Buckley delightfully deconstructing the feux-intellectual that is Noam Chomsky
An excellent, hour-long retrospective on Charlie Rose, composed of a collection of interviews with Buckley over the years, finishing with a touching tribute to Buckley by Rose.
And finally, because PutFile's video embedding is inconsistent, is a link to a three-part series of Buckley on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Hilarity ensues.
Enjoy! And remember the importance of William F. Buckley, Jr. to the vitality of American conservatism.
Cross-posted at EricKohn.com
