Let's take a brief momemt away from our usual obsessions  -- the Hamas Pally Rabbit, the various and sundry deficienceies of Senators Clinton, Obama and MCCain, Jewish "media control,"  the hateful electoral behavior of southern "crackers," and other bits of evidence suggesting  emotional imbalance --  and note the passing of William F. Buckley, Jr., earlier this week.

Buckley was much beloved by an obscenely reactionary, borderline pedophile priest I had  in high school -- a bastard so miserable he had me suspended with 17 minutes left in my next to last day as a Senior -- but in spite of Buckley's dubious fan, I did learn to enjoy him in small, controlled doses [Buckley, not the would-be pedophile priest].  

And what was the deal with his posture?  Ever see the guy on Firing Line, slouched and slumped in his chair in the oddest positions?  What was his chioropractic bills like?

And I also wonder.  Why is it that political conservatives IMHO seem to be such skillful, entettaining writers?  I would flee from the ideas espoused by folks like Buckley, or Charles Krauthammer, or George Will, or Mark Steyn, or Roger Kimball, or Hilton Jramer, or James Pinkerton, the way a defenseless Pally would flee from a MoSSad assassination team [see, I managed to sneak it in], while admiring their obvious gifts with the written word.  

Anyway, a few items below [disclaimer -- they're all culled from various questionable sources; but in spite of that...]:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-curry/bill-buckley_b_88847.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-fund/william-f-buckley-wor_b_88852.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-heilbrunn/bill-buckleys-conservati_b_88940.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28thu4.html?th&emc=th

http://www.nypost.com/seven/03022008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/cosmic_ray_99987.htm


-- Modified on 3/2/2008 10:27:00 AM

-- Modified on 3/2/2008 10:45:41 AM

The moment from our usual obsessions was very brief indeed: One paragraph.

One of his sundry deficiencies, as you coined it, was a physical abnormality.  But don't let that keep you from associating him with a pedophile priest.  Though I think if Buckley sat up straight, it would help support you case better.

I don't know how you have managed to stay so emotionally balanced, compared to the rest of us.  If I were suspended minutes prior to leaving high school, I'd still be mad.  But you were able to see through your captor and you came of of it with an appreciation for linking to urls, seasoned with just the right preface.  

Thank you for bestowing upon us your euology and making it through Catholic School.

it was 12 years of sheer hell, let me tell you.  But they did teach me how to compose a semi-coherent sentence from time-to-time, so it wasn't a total los.

Just to be clear -- I in no way tried to imply that Buckley would approve of pedophile tendencies within the priestly orders of his coreligionists.  It was just an irresistable  dig at the RCs [too bad Doc isn't here to appreciate and applaud that one] [and I managed to sneak in a dig at the MoSSad as well, so it's a win-win post for me]. Second BTW  - sundry deficiencies was a reference  to Clinton, Obama, and McCain, not to Buckley.  Everything I've ever read about WFB Jr. has been absolutely glowing in terms of his personal qualities. [And 3rd BTW, my wastrel dad voted for him  when Buckley ran for NYC mayor in 1965].

It wasn't hard to "see through" the priest in question -- his tireless penchant for hanging around the gym locker rooms and trying to fondle the genitalia of  young menhood was  an obvious tipoff. This guy was the chaplin for at least half a dozen athletic teams, so he had more than ample opportunity and pretext to hang in an area where disrobed youth was a common sight. [But the suspension was motivated by -- would you believe it -- a difference of political opinion?  Way back in 1974.  This guy will be grist for my comedic mill until I breathe my last.]

I an suprised that the  bona fide conservative voices in this forum failed to note Buckley's passing. It is od indeed that I was the one to note his passing.  I was saddened to learn that his last year was marked by ill-health.

I really liked the "sat up straight" comment.  A bravura moment for you, I sincerely mean it, nicely creative.  I've enjoyed the tone of your post immensely, as I do with many of your musings.

Maybe because they are smarter and better educated? Too easy.

I think it's really because you see reality and honesty in what you read and hear. Even if it’s just a flicker of light shining on your dark side, you are recognizing it. Some day your eyes and ears will open wide enough to take in the full measure of the message.

And that dark side I spoke of. . .
It showed itself in your very first sentence of attempted tribute, qualifying WFB as a possible pedophile in the minds of our readers here. That’s definitely a queue for the disagreeable to immediately dismiss everything that is to come next.


-- Modified on 3/2/2008 11:03:03 AM

Sorry RWU, you are totally barking up the wrong tree here.  Read the response to holeydiver, if you would be so good.  My point was op take a well-deserved shot at a miserable excuse for a human being masquerading under the protective guise of a holy man's garments.  Surely, as a conservative you are smart enough and well-educated enough to have seen that?

Can it be that conservatives are better and more entertaining writers becuase the "product" they flog to the rest of us is itself pretty simple, and not much qualified by a measure of human complexity?  Well, we can debate that later, after you're read the second post.

I don’t believe that you personaly consider WFB to be anything even close to a pedophile or pedophile ally. But it wasn’t beneath you to LEAD with that “cute” take upon sharing your memories. You’d rather be cute than honest.

I did, as did most of my friends, take note (large and somber) of his passing this week. I didn’t post anything here because his name didn’t deserve to be drug through the slime and muck that calls this place home. And your opportunistic methods noted above prove my assumptions correct.

BTW, “simple” messages are many times the most on target.

i perfer to think it's more clever than cute.  But, as the reader, you have the final say over how you choose to interpret my words.

i don't want to be argumentative, but i do find it hard to believe that you would priveledge Buckley's well-deserved good name over some others, however misguided are the ideas that they profess, who are regularly, routinely, and with much avidity dragged through the mud in this here  fine forum. Ya know: Obama, pelosi, the Clintions, etc...

i was under the impression that conservatives believed in one standard for all.  Perhaps I was mistaken.  WFB has provided many hours of enjoyable reading, and helped to enrich my vocabulary.  I an indeed grateful for the "value added" he provided on many instances.

As I said in my first line of my reply, responding to your first line in your post, in both context and implication, you have separated your self from the rest of us, and then promptly continued to outdo us in all those things you like to project upon us.  Is this what they taught you in Catholic School?  Shame on those pedophiles.  We gotta get better child molesters teaching in the schools.

You brought up the dead man's posture.  I guess we all end up with perfect posture in the end, on a slab.  So I would take some comfort in that.  Liberals and conservatives, laying side by side.  Maybe a nutty morgue attendant will make us hold hands?

... we haven't all been raised by pedophiles.  But my heart goes out to you and your lawsuit.  BTW, conservatives are terrible writers.  That's why we hire liberals.  They'll write anything.

So now you have something against pedophilic priests? What really bothers you about him? Did he once purchase an Israeli bond or something?

you're excused.  no lawsuit, as parental inepitude is not actionable in NY state, and even if it were, the statute of limitations has long expired.

but you will enjoy this : several days ago, the current principal of that very same HS which I attended was summarily dismissed by the RC Archdiocese of NY for possessing "inappropriate images" on his computer.  Damn, just gotta love that schadenfreude!

actually, i'm not liberal, despite a few non-conservative  minority opinions.  I've found that both liberals and conservatives will both write AND believe pretty much anything, as our fine forum here aptly demonstrates.  Keep your BS detector turned on and calibrated at all times.

-- Modified on 3/2/2008 12:45:33 PM

actually, one liberal writer I especially enjoyed reading was Donald Kaul, before our local rag dropped him. Lefty as all get out but never took himself too serious and was quite humorous I thought, by sometimes intentionally going over the top. Unlike Molly Ivans who was just a twit.

no, let's not hold hands, i'm experienceing a crisis of masculine self-confidence and that's just too, well...

holeydiver, let me apologize as I have obviously  given offense on two counts ; the emotional instability quip and the posture reference.  My most devoted readers [all 6 of them] would automatically understand  that as a  failed attempt at humor.  I'm as unstable as the rest of this forum, perhaps more so.  His posture was atrocious, for reasons you made clear, but there's one really good thing about being dead -- nothing matters anymore to the dead.

Let me make this clear -- i do not project the charge of pedophilia upon anyone in this forum. I'm not sure where you got that one from. You are really taking some of this too seriously.  What happened to the lighthearted guy I fondly remember who goofed upon the execution of Nobel Prize nominee Tookie Williams?  Now, that was a guy with a sense of humor! [You, not Tookie].

If there are any remaining misimpressions I've created here, do let me know.  TY.

... I think it is against the bylaws of liberalism to criticize another liberal who has, or has had, breast cancer.  They don't exempt the dead ones.  I checked.

That's anti-ribbon.

that's why I can't say anything about my mom.

I'm none too fond of pedophile rabbis or pedophile imans either, truth be known.

But at lrast the latter has the saving grace of being not at all likely to purchase Israel gov't bonds.

to hear your Mom's not a liberal.

I'm not sure how you would construe otherwise based on the criteria you gave for ribbon-removal

That does NOT mean that I don’t discriminate. I discriminate all the time in choosing with WHOM I deal. After the choice is made I try to be fair.

BTW, you never did address my suggestion (paraphrased) that some day you might "accept" his message rather than simply "appreciating" it. Your protestations to being called a liberal might serve as further indication that you need to “come out”.

-- Modified on 3/2/2008 3:45:07 PM

a 1000 apologies if I gave short shriftt to a line of your argument.

My appreciation for WFB did indeed, on rare occassions, extend to agreement with him, even if we did arrive at the same destination from different dirrections.  WFB, a proud RC, would no doubt apprciate those instances of Jesuitical "wrong resoning, correct conclusions."  But mostly my appreciation was for his writing style and his ability to build an argument.  He will indeed be missed, even if you and me miss him for mostly different reasons.

I only pointed out that i am not a liberal because, in truth, i am not, and it seemed as if part of your critique was simply to point out critically my suppossed liberalism.  An additional 1000 apologies if that was in error.

Thanks for your kind words.