William Safire, Nixon Speechwriter and Times Columnist, Is Dead at 79

New York Times ^ | 9/28/2009 | ROBERT D. McFADDEN

[mkjessup]

But a White House aide said that Bill Clinton, “if he were not president, would have delivered a more forceful response on the bridge of Mr. Safire’s nose.”

Safire had nothing to worry about either before or after Emperor Billigula left the White House because Bubba was, is and always will be a pathetic pansy who bullies only women and the weak.

For all of the invective and insults I've hurled at the Clintons, I'd love for that SOB to take a swing at me, I'd kick his ass into next week.

[gargoyle]

...The same here, a great loss for conservatives and third party advocates, RIP, Mr. Safire...

[smokingfrog]

From his NYT bio:

On Language, which has appeared in The New York Times Magazine since 1979. This column on grammar, usage, and etymology has led to the publication of 10 books and made him the most widely read writer on the English language.

It's always a pleasure to read the opinions of a person who is a clear thinker and has a command of the English language, whether you agree or not.

R.I.P.

[omega4412]

A friend of the English language and of the Republic. RIP.

In matters of language, Safire was the successor to John Ciardi. Who will be Safire's successor?

[NautiNurse]

He always struck me as a RHINO.

William Safire was a language expert. For example, he might have explored what the "H" in RHINO represents, or why you used all caps to describe an odd-toed ungulate.

[Cacique]

RIP

[Theodore R.]

He had a great desire to be liked by liberals; so he denounced his old friend Pat Buchanan and endorsed Bill Clinton. I never read him after that.

[Theodore R.]

Bob Novak never denounced Pat Buchanan to win points with liberals.

[Huskrrrr]

Amen. You lose your conservative card, in my opinion, when you vote for Slick.

[SunkenCiv]

RIP.

[rbg81]

Thanks. Its always good to get verbally spanked on a Sunday afternoon.

[Alter Kaker]

Bob Novak never denounced Pat Buchanan to win points with liberals.

Safire didn't denounce Buchanan to win points with liberals, he denounced Buchanan because Buchanan is a Jew-hating wackjob.

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

A great loss. RIP, Mr. Safire.

[latina4dubya]

Truly, he had a love of the language, a rare and precious gift that will be sorely missed in these increasingly illiterate days.

i loved his books, "How Not to Write," and "William Safire On Language." he was much more than a wordsmith... more than a grammarian...

[Zeppo]

He (she?) probably intended to use the "invisible H", but hit the wrong key and got the visible one instead...

Don't you just hate when that happens?

[Killborn]

You said it. And now America is one less, just when she needs them most. Instead we have charlatans, propagandists, and idiots.

Requiescat in pace. Go with God.

[bustinchops]

So what?

Are you one of these knee-jerks who only appreciate someone who agrees with them 100% of the time? 90% just won’t do.

[Killborn]

You can say that again.

[Palin Republic]

He had a great desire to be liked by liberals; so he denounced his old friend Pat Buchanan and endorsed Bill Clinton. I never read him after that.

Ah, so. That explains why Safire joined in the secular liberal jihad against that movie, Passion of the Christ.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/opinion/01SAFI.html?hp

The villains at whom the audience's outrage is directed are the actors playing bloodthirsty rabbis and their rabid Jewish followers. This is the essence of the medieval "passion play," preserved in pre-Hitler Germany at Oberammergau, a source of the hatred of all Jews as "Christ killers."....

The richness of Scripture is in its openness to interpretation answering humanity's current spiritual needs. That's where Gibson's medieval version of the suffering of Jesus, reveling in savagery to provoke outrage and cast blame, fails Christian and Jew today.