May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace and may light perpetual shine upon him. Amen.
Thank you for posting this tribute. He was a great man, very gracious and brilliant.
At the time I was figuring out what conservatives were all about, I was reading him voraciously, watching his debates with Gore Vidal and learning to sail.
Thank you Bill for setting me straight. And fair winds.
“You have shortened sail just a little, because you want more steadiness than you are going to get at this speed, the wind up to twenty-two, twenty-four knots, and it is late at night, and there are only two of you in the cockpit. You are moving at racing speed, parting the buttery sea as with a scalpel, and waters roar by, themselves exuberantly subdued by your powers to command your way through them. Triumphalism ... and the stars also seem to be singing together for joy.” _ from the sailing essay “Thoughts on a Final Passage.”
I first started listining to Bill Buckley back in the 1970’s. At that time it seemed like he was the only person in a sea of voices that was making any sense.
WFB BUMP
A taste of WFB/Firing Line on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CIOSkrfRC4
bump
BTTT
Whittaker Chambers
Witness by Whittaker Chambers is one of the top ten best books ever written.
God Bless William F Buckley, RIP friend.
WFB was the only guy I’ve ever seen call Jesse Jackson an extortionist (or words to that effect) to his face.
God Bless William F. Buckley.
Mr. Buckley thank you for all of the great work you've done. Thank you for sharing your brilliant mind, your wit, your reflections, your thoughts, your insights and your inimitable captivating writing with the world.
May the peace of God Almighty grant comfort to all of his family, friends, coworkers and multitude of fans. May he rest in God's Eternal Love, Comfort and Peace.
Hasta luego, Caimán.
He stood athwart history and yelled “Stop!” Needs to be done once in a while.
I would like to take you seriously but to do so would affront your intelligence.
William F. Buckley Jr
A great man has passed today.
Rest in Peace our Friend...
“I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and liberals at bay. And the nation free.”
William F. Buckley Jr., in Up From Liberalism
BTTT
WFB made the point that no one should argue for the dismantling of the capitalist system in the United States. Gary Hart spoke up, saying that no one on that panel ever said such a thing, at which point WFB said "You might want to have a discussion with Mr. (John Kenneth) Galbraith about that. I'm certain he doesn't like you taking words out of his mouth."
Galbraith reddened and said nothing the rest of the night.
Don’t mourn. Read his books.
BTTT for a true conservative.