William F. Buckley died today. Much admired by me once, I came to admire him less when he became a proponent of raprochement with Castro's Cuba and an opponent of the embargo.
He mentions me in one of his books:
William F. Buckley and Me
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9 comments:
The rumors of my demise...
...have been greatly exaggerated.
Posted by George Moneo at 09:20 PM
HAhahahahahahHAHAHAH!
pitbull with a capital P
anonymous:
He licked the boot as bootlickers will do and was granted absolution by Val. A man who would degrade himself to Val Prieto is beneath contempt, and you can't get much more beneath contempt (or anything else) than George Moneo.
pero no se puede comentar- pitbull que ladra, no muerde ha-Ha
MAT,
I was not aware of W.F. Buckley's cheering for Castro or abrogating for an end to the embargo. I used to watch his program Firing Line on WNET PBS everytime it was on TV. His masterly of the English language was legendary. I hope I will not be accused by some of groveling or massaging your ego, when I say that he reminds me of you sometimes. His mordant, critical and straight to the point magazine and TV commentaries, were in the same vein as those on RCAB.
Agustín:
The comparison is highly flattering and I thank-you. Buckley's merits as a Cold Warrior should be recognized. Sadly, when it comes to Cuba, even the Coldest Warriors experience a thaw. Reagan, for example, sent Gen. Vernon Waters to Cuba to initiate detente with Castro, and if Castro had not rebuffed him, Reagan would have been the one to "open" Cuba (that is, to make Communism profitable in Cuba) while at the same time plotting its destruction everywhere else but in Cuba.
MaT, I received a hand written letter from WFB in 8th grade (and I wasn't even a "political animal"...I love saying that). I really want to ask you a serious question (or two). Have you ever been wrong about anything? Is there no cogent arguement that can sway you? (or at least not impugn that person's brains or heart) Is being pragmatic a bad thing? Your passion is obvious (and intelligence) but sometimes it feels like it's either your way or the highway! I'm sure I can learn from you but nobody likes to be bludgeoned (apparently except for Yoyi). Esteban Colvert
Anonymous:
As far as Cuba is concerned, I will make no compromise. My best friend could become my worst enemy tomorrow if he became an enemy of Cuban freedom. As far as Buckley is concerned, I do not take his reversal of position personally as I did not know him personally. It does seem inexplicable to me that a man who fought Communism all his life should towards the end of it have sought an accomodation with Castroism. Tolerance for me entails letting everybody have his say. It does not imply agreeing with everybody or even disagreeing amicably with anybody. Principles are either written in granite or in sand.
Thanks for clearing things up MaT. I know you're principled person!
MaT,
I did not know about Buckley siding with the end of the embargo either. The truth is, that "out of sight, out of mind" and since I had not heard of him for a while I had not read about his ideas on this. Your post was very interesting in that I suppose no one is totally right on every issue and I don't have to agree with all their ideas. The anti-semitism issue bothered me because I always felt that this factory worker was innocent. I don't know why, maybe just a gut feeling or a woman's intuition or the stories and docs I saw (60 Minutes, etc) did not convince me that he was the monster he was accused of being. I worried about the mob mentality that can start when someone is accused of something like this and if there is not enough proof how an innocent person's life can be destroyed. I don't understand why Buckley took the position he did and then, why he felt compelled to help his colleague from Yale but it is disheartening to me. Fortunately, there are people like you that took the bat for this fellow and I admire that.
I agree with Mr. Farinas in that there are a few people that I love to watch or read not only because I may agree with what they have to say but the excellent way they use the language. For me, Bill Buckley and Christopher Hitchens come to mind, and I now include you on this list. Now, I suppose others may say I can wipe my brown nose ~ but the truth's the truth. . .
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