MANORATHA

Bill Buckley Jr. passed away on Feb 28th last month and I would be remiss if I did not note here of his passing.  Can’t say I agreed with Buckley very often and know him to have been an imperfect man, but I admired him for his articulate, passionate and erudite defense of his ideas and for his unfailing courtesy to his guests and civil discourse on "Firing Line" on PBS.  In the wasteland of talk radio and the partisan rhetoric of the Reagan years (when I first saw him), Buckley stood out as a beacon who dealt in ideas rather than partisan purpose.  In doing so, he set a standard for political discourse that continues to be exemplary.

On today’s Charlie Rose broadcast, Richard Brookhiser (of the National Review), related an anecdote that says everything about why so many people I know admired and envied him:

Commenting on why Buckley befriended and admired so many liberals who stood with ideas so contrary to him, Brookhiser speculates that it had to do with writing and command of language and then quoted Bill Rusher (publisher) talking about Buckley’s weakness for language: "Its a good thing the communist manifesto was not better written…"

There in a line is why I enjoyed Bill Buckley’s company (on television and in print).  The world is poorer for losing him.