William F. Buckley Jr Dies at 82

[porcy62]

And not only did he support the legalization of marijuana, he openly admitted to using it, although on his own yacht, outside of US territorial limits in order to avoid breaking the law. Although one wonders how he got the stuff in the first place...

From what I read he got the wrong dealer, should have asked to David Crosby, he had a boat too.

edit. After the NYT article I think Buckley and Crosby met somewhere in extraterritorial sea, maybe too late.

Edited February 28, 2008 by porcy62

[jazzypaul]

And for whatever its worth Paul, Buckley subsequently declared that he was wrong for supporting segregation and wrong for opposing the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Acts and ultimately supported a national holiday for MLK. There is a far more rational and even-handed discussion of Buckley's life here at the New York Times not that you would have any reason whatsoever to read it.

why would I have no reason to read it?

[AllenLowe]

well, Dan, his series of fawning columns, written from Chile, praising the great man Pinochet (who murdered at least 20,000 Chileans) canceled any chance thaat I might feel any real sympathy at his death - but it was only 20,000 -

as for the assassination f JFK, where the hell you been for 30 years? Just because there are no verifiable LHO fingerprints on the weapon (the alleged prints were, during the House hearings, id'd as NOT being from Oswald), just because LHO worked for Military Intelligence (I have a friend who knew him when he was in the Marines and who knows this first-hand), just because EVERY witness at Parkland Hospital reported an entry wound in THE FRONT of JFKS's head, just because there is no credible witness to Oswald bringing the gun into the building (too big for the paper bag, which would not, anyway, have held all the parts to a disassembled rifle), just because at least 4 witness saw him in regular meetings with a right wing former FBI agent who was keeping tabs on Left wing pro-CUban groups (GUy Banister), just because his best friend in Dallas (George DeMohrenschildt) was a CIA asset, just because his wife's landlady was a CIA asset (Ruth Paine) - why would any of this indicate that Oswald wasn't simply a lone assassin?

[Randy Twizzle]

I used to watch Firing Line even before I sometimes really understood what was being discussed. What I always found different about the show was his inclusion of people like Mark Green and Jeff Greenfield as regular panelists. He wanted liberals to question him and his guests (who many times were also liberals). He wanted open and intelligent discussion without rancor, hatred and name calling (despite the Gore Vidal episode) He was also a regular speaker on college campuses during the 60s and 70s and was quite willing to face hostile audiences if they were willing to let him be heard.

But I understand this is 2008 and the Internet has made us quite skilled in name calling and defamation.

[Christiern]

While I disagreed with Buckley on just about everything political, I have to say that I had some enjoyable, pleasant conversations with him in the mid-Sixties. He was witty and always courteous to me despite the fact I ran a radio station that opposed everything he stood for. He would not appear on the station, but I found that to be a familiar m.o. among conservatives--they loved to talk about how left-wing we were, and condemn us for it, so they turned down opportunities that would belie that notion.

Sort of like Bill Dixon, who complained that I was not featuring avant garde jazz, or the "free" jazz he espoused, yet would not accept my offer of airtime. When I mentioned this fact on the air a few times, he felt pressured to accept my offer. I gave him 3 hours and told him he could do with it whatever he wanted. I expected him to play live or recorded music of his liking, but he spent the entire time foaming at the mouth and ranting about how I discriminated against his music--not playing a note. Listeners complained, and rightly so, I think. Frankly, I did not personally care for Bill Dixon's trumpet playing, but that could be said of much of what we aired. I also was enthusiastic about about much of the day's music--in fact, Roswell Rudd wrote and recorded a theme for my own show. Oh, well.

[Chuck Nessa]

He was a charming creep giving "cover" for greedy humans to hide between some "intellectual" theories. The result was Reagan and the Bushes.

[Neal Pomea]

Put aside the partisanship for a few posts.

Buckley's death - and Mailer's not long ago and soon, inevitably, Vidal's - marks the end of a brief age in which we actually had public intellectuals in the United States. They engaged and fought one another in running firefights in newspapers and magazines and on television. They argued about ideas, not just ideologies. They debated important issues as if they mattered. They didn't condescend to their audience by dumbing themselves down, or by tarting themselves up. They spoke as they wrote, and brought to bear every rhetorical weapon they possessed. They were witty and erudite, sharp as serpent's teeth, and understood what made for great incendiary theater, if not always great real world policy. They spoke in sentences, not soundbites.

Take a quick YouTube tour of Mailer, Vidal and Buckley and you'll see how degraded and small the debate in this country has become. Read them.

As much as I opposed the fundamental premise of Mr. Buckley's politics, I am saddened by his death, and will miss very much his voice in our national chorus.

The little i they put in front of so many things today seems appropriately little. Today you'd better be an iReporter iIMing, or iPhoning, far ahead on the iInternet.

[Dan Gould]

well, Dan, his series of fawning columns, written from Chile, praising the great man Pinochet (who murdered at least 20,000 Chileans) canceled any chance thaat I might feel any real sympathy at his death - but it was only 20,000 -

as for the assassination f JFK, where the hell you been for 30 years? Just because there are no verifiable LHO fingerprints on the weapon (the alleged prints were, during the House hearings, id'd as NOT being from Oswald), just because LHO worked for Military Intelligence (I have a friend who knew him when he was in the Marines and who knows this first-hand), just because EVERY witness at Parkland Hospital reported an entry wound in THE FRONT of JFKS's head, just because there is no credible witness to Oswald bringing the gun into the building (too big for the paper bag, which would not, anyway, have held all the parts to a disassembled rifle), just because at least 4 witness saw him in regular meetings with a right wing former FBI agent who was keeping tabs on Left wing pro-CUban groups (GUy Banister), just because his best friend in Dallas (George DeMohrenschildt) was a CIA asset, just because his wife's landlady was a CIA asset (Ruth Paine) - why would any of this indicate that Oswald wasn't simply a lone assassin?

You read through this site:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm

and then see if you really don't understand the reality of Oswald as the lone assassin. Read through it all. EVERY SINGLE FACT that exists about the assassination makes Oswald the sole man responsible. Are you aware that the latest "conspiracy" theory has it that the Zapruder film was faked? That's what the conspiracy nuts are down to. First it was "the Zapruder film is the proof of the shooter on the grassy knoll" to "the Zapruder film was faked by the government to protect the killers!"

And as for that "faked" evidence and your claim of an entry would in the front (which requires that the massive head wound be located in the back of Kennedy's skull, let's take a look at the video:

Where's the wound, Allen? How does the back of the President's head look to you? COMPLETELY INTACT. There's no better proof that he head shot came from the rear.

And I am very serious in advising you to read through that website. It covers every element - the reality of the supposed "magic bullet" through Jim Garrisson's willfully fraudulent case, the "evidence" for a shooter in the front; the reality of why a shot from the rear results in the movement seen on film (basically the explosion out of the front of his head is like a rocket exhaust, forcing the head away from the defect in the skull) the supposed "murder" of witnesses, the extraordinary lengths Oliver Stone went to falsify history. There's even an extensive discussion of why the idea that Kennedy was a "liberal martyr" is completely ludicrous (you would be very well advised to read about Kennedy's support for Joe McCarthy here and his feelings about Nixon here.

I'll say it again: No intelligent person can believe, from all of the available evidence, 40+ years after the fact, that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the lone assassin.

[johnlitweiler]

He was a charming creep giving "cover" for greedy humans to hide between some "intellectual" theories. The result was Reagan and the Bushes.

Amen. And the "intellectual" theories were basically dishonest.

[Chuck Nessa]

Boy am I surprised.

[Randy Twizzle]

Enought about the "charming creep". I just want to know what Bill Dixon thought about the Kennedy assassination.

[Christiern]

He probably thought it a mite too traditional.

[Chuck Nessa]

Gotta be time to move this to "Politics".

[7/4]

Gotta be time to move this to "Politics".

I can't believe you would cave in to Dan on that Chuck.

[PHILLYQ]

I remember reading his columns when I was about 10-12 years old and he kept me reaching for the dictionary-he had a HUGE vocabulary!

That said, while his columns were well written, his politics were quite odious.

[7/4]

uh huh...

[Tim McG]

well, Dan, his series of fawning columns, written from Chile, praising the great man Pinochet (who murdered at least 20,000 Chileans) canceled any chance thaat I might feel any real sympathy at his death - but it was only 20,000 -

as for the assassination f JFK, where the hell you been for 30 years? Just because there are no verifiable LHO fingerprints on the weapon (the alleged prints were, during the House hearings, id'd as NOT being from Oswald), just because LHO worked for Military Intelligence (I have a friend who knew him when he was in the Marines and who knows this first-hand), just because EVERY witness at Parkland Hospital reported an entry wound in THE FRONT of JFKS's head, just because there is no credible witness to Oswald bringing the gun into the building (too big for the paper bag, which would not, anyway, have held all the parts to a disassembled rifle), just because at least 4 witness saw him in regular meetings with a right wing former FBI agent who was keeping tabs on Left wing pro-CUban groups (GUy Banister), just because his best friend in Dallas (George DeMohrenschildt) was a CIA asset, just because his wife's landlady was a CIA asset (Ruth Paine) - why would any of this indicate that Oswald wasn't simply a lone assassin?

You read through this site:

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/home.htm

and then see if you really don't understand the reality of Oswald as the lone assassin. Read through it all. EVERY SINGLE FACT that exists about the assassination makes Oswald the sole man responsible. Are you aware that the latest "conspiracy" theory has it that the Zapruder film was faked? That's what the conspiracy nuts are down to. First it was "the Zapruder film is the proof of the shooter on the grassy knoll" to "the Zapruder film was faked by the government to protect the killers!"

And as for that "faked" evidence and your claim of an entry would in the front (which requires that the massive head wound be located in the back of Kennedy's skull, let's take a look at the video:

Where's the wound, Allen? How does the back of the President's head look to you? COMPLETELY INTACT. There's no better proof that he head shot came from the rear.

And I am very serious in advising you to read through that website. It covers every element - the reality of the supposed "magic bullet" through Jim Garrisson's willfully fraudulent case, the "evidence" for a shooter in the front; the reality of why a shot from the rear results in the movement seen on film (basically the explosion out of the front of his head is like a rocket exhaust, forcing the head away from the defect in the skull) the supposed "murder" of witnesses, the extraordinary lengths Oliver Stone went to falsify history. There's even an extensive discussion of why the idea that Kennedy was a "liberal martyr" is completely ludicrous (you would be very well advised to read about Kennedy's support for Joe McCarthy here and his feelings about Nixon here.

I'll say it again: No intelligent person can believe, from all of the available evidence, 40+ years after the fact, that Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the lone assassin.

Forget it Allen.

Dan probably got his information from some biased blog or Body Language expert.

Consider the source.

[Dan Gould]

Forget it Allen.

Dan probably got his information from some biased blog or Body Language expert.

Consider the source.

Yeah, I can only imagine what a mental midget like you teaches his students about JFK.

[Alexander]

So what's your problem with that. It seems to be the kind of debate you might enjoy, especially the crypto-nazi quote.

No problem at all with Mr. Vidal's remark. "Crypto-Nazi" is, if anything, a nice word for Buckley. It's Buckley's network airing of his homophobia and threats of violence that make this so disgusting.

[Randy Twizzle]

So what's your problem with that. It seems to be the kind of debate you might enjoy, especially the crypto-nazi quote.

No problem at all with Mr. Vidal's remark. "Crypto-Nazi" is, if anything, a nice word for Buckley. It's Buckley's network airing of his homophobia and threats of violence that make this so disgusting.

Stop it you're killing me....

[Teasing the Korean]

I remember reading his columns when I was about 10-12 years old and he kept me reaching for the dictionary-he had a HUGE vocabulary!

That said, while his columns were well written, his politics were quite odious.

That's sums him up better than anything I've read.

[AllenLowe]

I know that site Dan, you might try reading the researchers who have successfuly debunked every piece of info there - I know McAdams, who is a dedicated right-winger; as for that head shot, as you can clearly see in your picture, the missing parts are from an entry wound from the front and there is a deficit in the top and BACK of the head; a flap from the back has opened, and that is what you see on top and in back - a classic exit wound seen by EVERY doctor at the Dallas hospital - the secret service agent behind Kennedy (Roy Kellerman) heard TWO shots in rapid succession (which alone proves there were two shooters) and said he saw the bullet hit JFK in the front -you weren't there so I guess you know better

as for JFK's politics, much more complicated than you can understand - and by the way it was Bobby who worked for Joe

McCarthy, not JFK, so get it straight - JFK was pulling out of Vietnam (see Schlessinger, Galbraith, Sorenson, Newman et all); he was the first president to attempt to put real civilian controls on the military; and according tot he Church Committee, ordered the CIA to STOP the Castro assassination plots (he was negotiating with Castro at the moment of his death; had a rep in Paris meeting with a Cuban rep) -

I have been corresponding with John Kenneth Galbraith's son, who has informed me that LBJ TOLD Galbraith that he was convinced JFK had been been murdered by Military Intelligence along with CIA ops -

but hey, LBJ didn'tknow anything and neither did Galbraith -

the difference between us is that I have read ALL of the Warren report plus the site you bookmarked - PLUS all of the assassination researchers - the whole case is much more complicated than you'll ever know unless you take the time to read opnions that differ from yours - too much work, I know -

Edited February 28, 2008 by AllenLowe

[AllenLowe]

also, and I have heard this tape:

"On November 9, 1963, a Miami police informant named William Somersett met with Joseph A. Milteer, a wealthy right-wing extremist who promptly began to outline the assassination of President Kennedy.

Milteer was a leader of the arch-conservative National States Rights Party as well as a member of other groups such as the Congress of Freedom and the White Citizen's Council of Atlanta. Somersett had infiltrated the States Rights Party and secretly recorded Milteer's conversation.

The tape, later turned over to Miami police, recorded Milteer as saying, "[During Kennedy's impending visit to Miami] You can bet your bottom dollar he is going to have a lot to say about the Cubans, there are so many of them here . . . The more bodyguards he has, the easier it is to get him . . . From an office building with a high-powered rifle . . . He's knows he's a marked man."

the FBI also reported this but failed to inform the Secret Service -

[Achtung Dr. Freud Calling]

He was a charming creep giving "cover" for greedy humans to hide between some "intellectual" theories. The result was Reagan and the Bushes.

[Achtung Dr. Freud Calling]

I have been corresponding with John Kenneth Galbraith's son, who has informed me that LBJ TOLD Galbraith that he was convinced JFK had been been murdered by Military Intelligence along with CIA ops -