Monday, March 24, 2008

Passing quietly into the night...

A week or so ago, there was a
passing of a great man. A man
that some might disagree, that
he was a great man. But a man
that achieved a lot in his 80 some
odd years.

One might say he started as a play
boy of sorts. Coming from a family of
money. I do not remember all of the
things he achieve and besides, he
really isn't remember for those of
60 or more years ago. He is better known
for what he was or did in the past 50
years or so.

I came across him on a talk show.
He was kind of pompous I thought.
But he also had a heck of a sense
of humor...or would you call it wit.
They are kind of the same, except to
me, wit is humor with intelligence.

And politics was his game. I don't know
why he never ran for office. But he sure
had opinions about politics. And even if
you didn't agree with him, you listened
to him and admired him. At least most
did.

I saw him on his television show called
Firing Line. He had many on there of
different ideals. Most of them of political
theater. But also sometimes the common
man. And he treated them with the same
honor and respect, as he did the very intelligent.

He was the bell of the ball in many ways,
socially as well as the political arena.
Presidents listen, even if they didn't agree
with him. He was friends with many of them
in all of his years. As he was with Kissinger,
and several others. He was the Conservatives,
Conservative. He wrote National Review. I never
read it. It just wasn't my thing at the time. And
a lot of his words were over my head, quite
honestly.

But I loved watching him on television especially
on talk shows, where he would make fun of the
very fiber that he was made of. Yale, and others
as well. But there was a lot of interesting subjects
too.


So good night William Buckley, go gently into the
good night. Always the gentleman..

1 comment:

The New Arch Druid's take on the news said...

I really never had the occasion of watching William Buckley. But, if he were indeed all that many admirers said that he was, then he was no doubt a good man. And the world is poorer for his passing. Conservative, but not radical. Unfortunately, radical tries to drape itself in conservative clothing in order to superficially appear as legitimate.