Comments on: William F. Buckley dies

By: Scott Fife

Scott Fife — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:15:14 +0000

Kathleen, thanks for your post. I was beginning to think I was the only person on the planet to see the Frost-Buckley interview. We agree on the essentials– the condescending, antagonistic religious questions that Frost pursued, and the amazing final response of WFB: “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” It would be very interesting to find a transcript of that interview. After doing some research, it appears that particular David Frost Show with guest William F. Buckley, aired in October 1971.

By: Kathleen Bindley

Kathleen Bindley — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 23:33:56 +0000

My recollection of the David Frost interview is a little diferent from that of Scott Fife, though I do not dispute the antagonism over religion. The prelude to WFB’s finale on the subject, as I remember, was a question posed by Frost about WFB’s favorite Bible verse. The phrasing of the question included Frost’s condescending reference to the answer given frequently by believers… “Jesus loves me this I know, ’cause the Bible tells me so.” Frost added in quite a dismissive manner: “You know… that childrens’ song”….whereupon WFB with his signature broad smile and twinkling eyes said: “I know that my Redeemer liveth.” WFB responded with the kind of grace and confidence only the Redeemer can give. I would love to revisit that interview with a transcript. And where might David Frost be these days?

By: Mark D.

Mark D. — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:14:08 +0000

33: Itching as I am to jump to Mr. Buckley’s defense, I think this dispute is out of bounds per Adam’s instructions.

By: tjk

tjk — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:09:01 +0000

as i saw WFB he seemed to have manners and was a real”gentleman”. so many of the media people are rude and boorish— sad to see him go.

By: TonyP

TonyP — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:00:54 +0000

My favorite Buckley quote, which I can only paraphrase, was something he said at the funeral of a friend: “Every time I think I’ve found the perfect Christian, he turns out to be a lapsed Jew.” Much there for Mormons to chew on.

Much as I enjoyed Buckley — and he really was enjoyable — I have to wonder where we would be today as a nation if his political philosophy had been the dominant one of the last hundred years. Would he have fought for Civil Rights, fair housing laws, equal employment opportunity? He always struck me as a little too patrician, too comfortable…I can’t imagine him out marching against some kind of injustice.

By: Kevin Barney

Kevin Barney — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:50:27 +0000

The Chicago Tribune ran a picture of him working in his home study, which I found fascinating. The study was huge, with books and papers piled up all over the place. It was quite a glimpse into the inner sanctum.

By: aloysiusmiller

aloysiusmiller — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:44:52 +0000

A link to a tribute wo WFB

http://onecosmos.blogspot.com/2008/02/william-f-buckley-tribute-to-spiritual.html#links

By: MikeInWeHo

MikeInWeHo — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 15:30:47 +0000

Can’t deny it: I loved listening to him even though I often disagreed. Guess my taste is the opposite of Raymond’s. FWIW, I don’t think he was ostentatious at all. Can’t think of many people I would rather have dinner with.

Did anybody else here listen to the NPR segments about him yesterday? They were very respectful. I was surprised to learn he almost never spoke of politics in private conversation.

By: just me

just me — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 07:37:19 +0000

About to go to bed with no time to Mr. Greenwood’s essay but just want to say what a wonderful man Buckley seems to have been (and despite my own socialistic leanings, I greatly respect the intellectual vigor of his libertarian–conservative advocacies).

By: Raymond Takashi Swenson

Raymond Takashi Swenson — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 04:17:56 +0000

I remember Ed Firmage (when I was a law student) talking about Buckley speaking at BYU, and after ward answering questions to a smaller group. He was asked about the meaning of “natural law” and he offered as an example the proposition that it is self-evidently true that it is preferable to drink wine rather than dishwater. Firmage remarked that he had said this in the one university on earth where his proposition was not self-evident, and his audience at BYU had surprised him by chuckling.

I guess my taste is toward the plain-spoken rather than ostentatiously articulate.

As to National Review: while I am conservative on principle, I found that when the magazine had an article touching on my field of expertise (environmental regulation), it was often shallow in its analysis. There are plenty of solid reasons to criticize a lot of environmental laws as being ineffective (e.g. the Endangered Species Act) and costly out of proportion to the benefits derived (e.g. CERCLA “Superfund”), but NR’s critiques displayed a lack of knowledge of the laws and of the facts. In general, Republican politicians seem to be so reluctant to go near environmental regulation (which is pretty arcane and technical) that they are either totally outclassed in any debate or simply give up trying to understand it and let the bureaucrats and Democrats have their way.

[Ed.--Let us avoid too much of the critical note in this memorial thread]