The American Spectator

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Hold That Baton

2.29.08 @ 12:01AM

BUCKLEY'S LEGACY
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.'s William F. Buckley, RIP, Alfred S. Regnery's Conservatism's Heart and Soul, and Tributes and Reminiscences:

I enjoyed very much your reminiscence of Bill Buckley. That is, until the penultimate sentence. I recognize that the deceased do not often have the privilege of choosing to whom their torch is passed on to; however, I would find it difficult to believe that Mr. Buckley would choose to hand his off to Ms. Coulter. And this for some of the very characteristics that you so fondly remembered in Mr. Buckley. His was a conservatism of intellect and erudition, as you so rightly point out; he commanded by his very manor the respect of friend and foe alike, conservative and liberal. His graciousness was of the kind long passed from this scene, even to his most ardent opponents whose ideas and ideologies he held with contempt. Ms. Coulter does not have the benefit of any of these. I'll perhaps grant you intelligence, but this is so rarely in view given her penchant for sensationalism and beside-the-point demagoguery. As I sat in my office yesterday and watched a YouTube video of Buckley's debate with Chomsky on the Vietnam War, I resigned myself to the fact that there is simply no one at this point in the history of the conservative movement who can even approach what Buckley did and was for the movement these last 50 years; CERTAINLY NOT Ann Coulter. Perhaps Mr. Gingrich, but he is too stained by the taint of politics past. Thank God Buckley never followed through on his presidential pretensions.
-- Jeffrey A. Wilcox, Ph.D

I began to get interested in politics again a few years ago when my youngest son fresh out of college came to me telling me I just had to see Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. I was so shocked by the brainwashing he had received that I immediately began to have daily discussions with him on several topics. I subscribed to National Review among other conservative leaning publications so that I could pass along articles that might persuade him to look at America's history a little differently. His comment that I had fed him to the liberal wolves in college made me wake up to what is happening to our great country. I graduated from Indiana University in 1967 but came away nearly unscathed by the radical liberalism sweeping college campuses of that era.
-- Jan Wood

RET's beautiful remembrance of William F. Buckley ended on a strange note, "And so the baton is passed. On the conservative side it passes from Buckley to Ann Coulter." That is like replacing a finely tuned piano with a shrill whistle or sour sounding harp(y).

Like Buckley, Coulter has a rapier wit and a dazzling intellect, but she lacks his joi de vive; his warmth. Buckley was a peaceful warrior; even when debating he displayed a sense of camaraderie. Coulter makes almost every exchange a reenactment of Ragnorok. Buckley made his points politely, inviting his opponent to find common ground. Coulter shoots off sharp barbs that leave no room for compromise. Buckley was a gentleman; the word "faggot" would mean only one thing on his lips: cigarette. When having an intelligent debate, even when emotions come into play, it is difficult to get your true point across in a screed; no one listens to the sound and fury if it overpowers the true message.

In Chiam Potok's The Chosen, a brilliant boy, the son of the Rebbe, is an intellect without peer, but the Rebbe understand that knowledge without compassion is as dangerous as a saber without a sheath. Intellect must be tempered with humor and compassion or it can become a great danger to all who encounter it.

Ann Coulter's steadfast commitment, her brilliant reasoning and writing and wit are all great assets to the conservative cause, but her manner makes communication difficult, to say the least.

William F. Buckley cannot be replaced, and he will be missed sorely. Let the trumpets sound a harmonious tune at heaven's ramparts.
-- Ira M. Kessel
Rochester, New York

Though I came extremely late to the movement and the magazines, yours, his, and others -- and though I found I did not see eye to eye with every position or opinion of the late Mr. Buckley -- I already miss the absence of his voice -- in both senses.
-- Robert Nowall
Cape Coral, Florida

One would hope that Ann can take the baton and run like the wind with it and that more importantly those who call themselves "conservatives" and not just being conservative are up to the task WFB left for us to do. One thing WFB and his kind have always understood about the world is that the battles and the war over ideas are never ending. Given the leadership vacuum today Bill has left us with a very large "to do" list on our plate.
-- Thom Bateman
Newport News, Virginia

Since plagiarism is in the air, politically speaking that is, I'll steal a few words of my own I sent to NRO on this doleful occasion, and add a few more.

I was on my way home in my gas guzzling, CO2 polluting SUV, when the announcement of Bill's passing came over the radio. I had to pull off the road, the tears welled up, loss as well as joy. Without Bill, I might never have had the courage to own an SUV. I think he would've appreciated that with a laugh. Like so many of you reading this, I grew up with National Review magazine, "Firing Line," everything Bill Buckley. One bonus for me is, that I even met Bill once, a day I shall never forget. It was in Houston, 1984, after a dinner talk he had given, and not long after one of National Review's fund raisers.

The magazine was on hard times back then, probably because we now had Reagan, and thought we didn't need NR any more. After introductions and a short chat about his presentation, I told Bill I'd given National Review $100 toward its fund drive, a token amount in my estimation. He was so gracious, and grateful, it was as if I'd given $100,000. Never in my life have I felt so appreciated, when it was supposed to be the other way around. That was Bill Buckley.

In the moments after I had pulled off the road, when the grief took hold, I realized something about Bill Buckley and conservatism. It was not God and Man at Yale, National Review, "Firing Line," Young Americans for Freedom, the Conservative Party, Blackford Oakes, sailing, or any of the other things he accomplished in life that I will keep in my heart. Bill affirmed our souls, conservative, and liberal alike, even those who say they don't believe they have a soul. His life was a celebration of life, an in your face statement that ultimately, conservatism is life. In such a person resides a spirit which is given over to a cause much higher than most of us will ever taste. Oh, how we shall miss him.

We shall not see his like again/ Amidst life's endless trial/ But God be thanked for blessing us/ He gave us Buckley for a while.

Letter to the Editor

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