For all of you neat freaks, this is how it's done
Posted on 02/02/2014 10:18:56 AM PST by Valpal1
I'm sure even now some New York Times type is tutting that Buckley's movement has fallen into the hands of vulgar bullies like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter who lack his dash and élan. As it happens, back in 2000 some fellow in the San Francisco Chronicle made exactly that point about a lout called Steyn disfiguring Buckley's National Review. But, in reality, Bill was, as he would say, the fons et origo of a conservatism that came out swinging — sometimes literally, as in a famous TV encounter of 1968.
Bill Buckley would have fought this present battle with "dash and élan" but also with a fierce fighting spirit. And so will I. And that's not going to close down National Review, but will do it a power of good.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Only one Steyn error:
“I am a considerably less elegant writer and listening to Bill reading my rough-and-tumble prose in his languid vowels was a bit like hearing Maria Callas sing “Yes, We Have No Bananas.”
Hardly, Mark.
It may be a sign of the times that the SOLE inheritor of the Buckley “elan” as well as of the Buckley point-of-view, ferocity, and unflagging sense of, and knack for exposing, the ridiculous is accused of NR’s downfall. Most ridiculous of all is the meme that Buckley’s NR was more secular than its modern (and flaccid) counterpart. Where, or how old, was Mr. Linker when Buckley parsed Vatican II, Mater et Magistra, Humanae Vitae? Hans Kung? Catholic University, Notre Dame, Fr. Hesbergh, etc., ad infinitum? Sure, he published articles by Ayn Rand and other atheists, but with reservations he never failed to highlight.
Poor Mark. But poor Bill, too. Bet he’s pulling every string in St. Peter’s realm to send a sign to the caretakers of his now-wayward brainchild.
I cannot helping but wonder if George Soros planted Jason Lee Stoerts as managing editor at National Review. If not, it must have been done directly by Satan.
Ahh, forgot about the JSL "slap-down" on NRO last year - that was sweet. I got the feeling Fowler had to tell him to knock it the hell off.
Was it Buckley who came out with “Mater, si, Magistra, no” when that encyclical was issued, or was it someone else at NR?
For all of you neat freaks, this is how it's done
Indeed. Though Brent Bozell (the elder) probably contributed. Their (almost immediate) subsequent break-up (Bozell leaving to edit Triumph) was the end of the real National Review. I don’t think WFB’s heart was still in it all. Such an incredible shame. Both men were right, but the difference was sore.
The phrase was coined by Garry Wills, first published in NR.
Great photo! Peggy Noonan thought writing was a messy job. It’s pristine compared to editing.
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