William F. Buckley, Jr., the intellectual force behind the strand of conservatism that peaked with Ronald Reagan, died yesterday. (See NY Times obit.) Here, we have some vintage Buckley. The video clip below features Buckley and Gore Vidal going at it, almost coming to blows, during the contested presidential campaign of 1968. It offers a good reminder that American political discourse hasn’t been agreeable for quite some time. Comparatively, things look downright civil today.
William F. Buckley v. Gore Vidal — 1968
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Thank god that piece of shit is dead
Join him, anonymous.
Buckley was a hero and Gore Vidal is an evil old salacious turd for attacking a man who is now deceased; thank God the old fart is in his 80’s.
Well, he wasn’t deceased when he attacked him was he you turd.
[…] Today, we rewind the videotape to December 1971, when Gore Vidal (already known for his televised spat with William F. Buckley) got into a verbal brawl with the always mercurial (and, on this occasion, sauced) novelist Norman […]
[…] William F. Buckley v. Gore Vidal (1968) […]
Check out the Hitchens/Buckley conversation on youtube. There you will here the latter do a complete 180. He says when asked point blank, “Was the war in Vietnam a mistake?” “Yes” was his immediate reply. Listening to him here is to realize how arrogant and misguided he was.