# William F. Buckley is dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 27, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392 "2008-02-27T17:20:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/1 "2008-02-27T17:20:52Z")
His vital spark is extinguished in obeisance to the regulations of mortality. He is an ex William F. Buckley. Yet another Gore Vidal foe gone… coincidence? He died of emphysema and was found by his cook. [Story](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080227/ap_on_re_us/obit_buckley_6) ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/2 "2008-02-27T17:26:39Z")
Among his many talents, he was an excellent and gracious writer of obituary pieces in his magazine. I wonder who will write his? R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/3 "2008-02-27T17:27:27Z")
Heh, the Gore Vidal thing is kind of funny. With both of them at 82 years it was just a matter of time before one of them finally croaked. I enjoyed reading Buckley’s columns for many, many years. I didn’t always agree with him, and part of me was a bit turned off by his extremely large ego that seemed to pervade much of his writing. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/4 "2008-02-27T17:39:31Z")
I certainly didn’t always agree with him, but Buckley was intelligent and well spoken. Firing Line vs Fox News? There is no contest. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/5 "2008-02-27T17:42:35Z")
Let’s not tell Vidal. Then he can lie on his deathbed, whenever, and sigh, “Buckley yet lives!” Tris ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/6 "2008-02-27T17:43:05Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] Heh, the Gore Vidal thing is kind of funny. With both of them at 82 years it was just a matter of time before one of them finally croaked. I enjoyed reading Buckley’s columns for many, many years. I didn’t always agree with him, and part of me was a bit turned off by his extremely large ego that seemed to pervade much of his writing. [/QUOTE] I am not a conservative by any means, but I respect anyone who can make an intelligent argument in favor of a political view, even if I disagree with it. True conservatism has lost one of its strongest voices, leaving us, unfortunately, with more clowns like Limbaugh and O’Reilly who call themselves “conservative” but wouldn’t know the true meaning of conservatism if it bit them in the backside. A great writer and editorialist, and one of the last of the “true believers”. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/7 "2008-02-27T17:43:47Z")
He was also criticized like McCain for not always towing the party line. He believed in decriminalization of soft drugs, for instance, and had come out against Iraq. Of course he also still championed his former homies Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/8 "2008-02-27T17:44:55Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Let’s not tell Vidal. Then he can lie on his deathbed, whenever, and sigh, “Buckley yet lives!” Tris [/QUOTE] Like Vidal would mention _someone else_ on his deathbed. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/9 "2008-02-27T17:59:44Z")
[QUOTE=Crotalus] I wonder who will write his? [/QUOTE] Kristol or Will perhaps. Maybe Brooks. Looking forward to reflections by each, as well as what must be forthcoming now, _God and Man at Heaven_. Yes, R.I.P. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/10 "2008-02-27T18:36:03Z")
Can someone please tell me if this is a “memorial” thread? Because I have some snarky tattoo-related remarks and I need to know whether it’s OK to post them. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/11 "2008-02-27T18:44:01Z")
Are you sure we didn’t already read about them in the threads about the deaths of other conservatives you didn’t agree with ideologically, like Thurmon, Reagan, etc? ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/12 "2008-02-27T18:53:47Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] Can someone please tell me if this is a “memorial” thread? Because I have some snarky tattoo-related remarks and I need to know whether it’s OK to post them. [/QUOTE] It’s a “W. F. Buckley is dead” thread. No real intent one way or the other except as an announcement. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/13 "2008-02-27T19:02:00Z")
OK then. William F. Buckley will I hope be forever remembered as a jackass who in all seriousness suggested tattooing people with HIV on the arms and buttocks so that people sharing needles with them or fucking them in the ass would see it. I could not respect or take seriously anything the old fool said after that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/14 "2008-02-27T19:14:43Z")
Cite? In any case, if we stopped listening to people after they said something outlandish, I’d have to stop listening to most of you. And you’d likely not be listening to me. Each their own, I guess. But Buckley should be judged by his whole life and body of work, which were considerable indeed. And I hasted to add that emphysema is a particularly nasty way to go, and I wouldn’t wish it on someone I hated, much less Buckley, who I admired very much. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/15 "2008-02-27T19:15:41Z")
He’ll always be William FBuckley to me, after that _Laugh-In_ skit by Lily Tomlin’s Ernestine. He had a strong enough libertarian streak to make him ideologically difficult to categorize, but I also think he was overly influence by his Catholic religion. He had a great command of the English language (which was not his first language, btw), although he tended towards pompousness too much for my taste. He will be missed. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/16 "2008-02-27T19:23:33Z")
[QUOTE=John Mace] He had a great command of the English language (which was not his first language, btw), [/QUOTE] Actually, it was his third language - he spoke German and Spanish at home and didn’t start learning English until he was 7. > [@](#): > > although he tended towards pompousness too much for my taste. He will be missed. He wasn’t really pompous, just very self-assured. Remember the expression “It ain’t bragging if you can do it?” Buckley could do it. He had a pretty well-rounded set of interests ranging from sailing to skiing to the harpsichord. He wrote spy novels. And of course, he had a rather outsize effect on American politics through a magazine he started from scratch just before his thirtieth birthday. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/17 "2008-02-27T19:26:29Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Actually, it was his third language - he spoke German and Spanish at home and didn’t start learning English until he was 7. [/QUOTE] I believe Spanish, and then French. English later, but still as a child. I assume [this](http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/wfb200502191155.asp) is the article Otto was talking about. Seemed more like thought-provoking musing than an actual policy recommendation. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/18 "2008-02-27T19:36:52Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] Cite? [/QUOTE] Not going to speak for anyone but I assume [this](http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/wfb200502191155.asp) is it. He wonders if the idea, actually proposed by another 20 years before, should be given consideration in an attempt to prevent additional deaths at the hands of those unwilling to share that they were ill, feeling they were acting in a manner consistent with putting a bullet through the head of another. Hardly an admirable method and certainly not one of his finer moments but one reading the article may infer his rationale was humanitarian and not homophobic. ETA: On review, I see **John** ’s provided the same. No need to click twice. ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/19 "2008-02-27T19:41:16Z")
[QUOTE=lieu] Not going to speak for anyone but I assume [this](http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/wfb200502191155.asp) is it. He wonders if the idea, actually proposed by another 20 years before, should be given consideration in an attempt to prevent additional deaths at the hands of those unwilling to share that they were ill, feeling they were acting in a manner consistent with putting a bullet through the head of another. [/QUOTE] The “someone” he coyly refers to is himself, in a 1985 column suggesting tattooing as an alternative to castration. I can’t find the column itself, but here’s a [second-hand source.](http://books.google.com/books?id=CkcOAAAAQAAJ&pg=PR12&lpg=PR12&dq=william+buckley+tattoo+aids&source=web&ots=AuRlea5DON&sig=Cry5GZc6aNyuf_gL53LucSLqMzU#PPR12,M1). ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2008, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392/20 "2008-02-27T19:43:31Z")
[QUOTE=Crotalus] Among his many talents, he was an excellent and gracious writer of obituary pieces in his magazine. I wonder who will write his? R.I.P. [/QUOTE] I’m guessing he probably wrote his own. (It’s what I’d do.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/william-f-buckley-is-dead/439392.md?page=2)