R.I.P. William F. Buckley Jr.
Posted by: Scott W. Graves | 02/27/2008 9:26 AM
FROM MYWAY NEWS: February 27, 2008By HILLEL ITALIE
NEW YORK (AP) - William F. Buckley Jr., the erudite Ivy Leaguer and conservative herald who showered huge and scornful words on liberalism as he observed, abetted and cheered on the right's post-World War II rise from the fringes to the White House, died Wednesday. He was 82.
His assistant Linda Bridges said Buckley was found dead by his cook at his home in Stamford, Conn. The cause of death was unknown, but he had been ill with emphysema, she said.
Editor, columnist, novelist, debater, TV talk show star of "Firing Line," harpsichordist, trans-oceanic sailor and even a good-natured loser in a New York mayor's race, Buckley worked at a daunting pace, taking as little as 20 minutes to write a column for his magazine, the National Review.
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William F. Buckley, Jr. was a true conservative. He knew deficit spending was a bad thing (something George W. Bush and today's Republicans too often ignore.) He was vehemently opposed to the so-called War on Drugs and other government intrusions into individual lives and freedoms. Equally important, he was a gentleman. Unlike the ideological zealots and haters of today (are you listening, Ann Coulter?), he could debate issues with his opponents honestly and fairly without branding them as traitors or worse. As the nation turns from ultra-partisanship toward reason and unity, he will be missed.