The scourge of liberalism, William F. Buckley, dead at 86

We can't let the passing of William F. Buckley, founder and longtime editor of the National Review, go by unremarked. Buckley, with his trademark darting eyes and orotund vocabulary, was immensely influential in the rise of the right in the U.S. Yet he did it in such an urbane, wry way that it was almost (though not quite) palatable to many of us. He was a true conservative in the dictionary sense and he proclaimed that the mission of his magazine was "to stand athwart history, yelling, 'Stop!".

His long-running TV show (33 years on air) perhaps gave him more fame than his little magazine, which always struggled; it had influence well beyond its small circulation (give or take 150,000) and a few of the copies even drifted north of the border. The late Western Standard and its predecessors Alberta and Western Report magazines, were flattering comparisons to his quite original creation. Many of his friends and his enemies credit his influence with driving Reaganism and the ascendancy and extended hold of the Republicans on the White House.

There is a longish obituary in today's Globe and Mail and a piece in the Washington Post, which is well worth reading. Charm and recollected wit doesn't necessarily overcome distaste for his views, but it will keep his memory alive. There are a number of tributes to him on the National Review website.