William F. Buckley, Jr. died today. I grew up listening to Buckley and even during my liberal phase earlier in life I loved to hear him. The man was brilliant, urbane, eloquent... three traits that seem to be missing in today's Conservative landscape. Buckley met liberal "intellectuals" head on, out in the open in public debate, showing that to be conservative does not mean you are uneducated, unthinking, and backward but that we did have a strong offering in the great marketplace of ideas. Compare how Buckley responded in this debate with Gore Vidal and ask yourself who is more erudite, the more heartfelt, the more realistic of the two:
Ah, Bill... I'm sorry that you're gone, but even more sorry that there seems to be no one at present able to begin to fill your shoes.
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