Buckley and Muggeridge on DVD

Cubeland Mystic first introduced me to William F. Buckley's great Firing Line episodes featuring Malcolm Muggeridge back a few moons ago. Since then it has become a major destination for people who stumble across my humble blog.

Now I've just learned that these episodes are available on DVD from Amazon. It looks like they became available in August of 2008, shortly after I posted that link but before someone at National Review linked to my page. So.... interesting.

Mike Rosen explains the "Kennedy Syndrome"

A great article about why the demise of the Kennedy family is such good news for America.

Jack and Bobby Kennedy were charismatic, larger-than-life political figures. Following their deaths, Ted, the last of the brothers, inherited the legacy. Following generations of Kennedys have been lesser figures. Several are lawyers. Some have dabbled in politics with modest results. Others entered the media, charitable foundations and the non-profit sector. There's hardly a secretary, insurance salesman, corporate executive, retailer, stock broker or soldier among them.

Ironically, this is the progeny of Joseph P. Kennedy, the family patriarch. The son of a humble Boston saloonkeeper, Joe was an ambitious, enterprising, hardnosed scrapper who married well and amassed a fortune in banking and shipbuilding, to say nothing of bootlegging during Prohibition. Unlike most of us who are forced to deal with mundane necessities like earning a living, inheritors of wealth (like the Kennedys) are relieved of that concern. Of course, they haven't taken a personal poverty oath but their gratification comes not from producing income and wealth themselves but from redistributing the fruits of other people's production. I call this the Kennedy Syndrome.

I'm no opponent of wealth. I've tried to accumulate some of my own from what's left after the tax collector's cut. Perhaps, as one who started without any, I have a greater appreciation for those who earn it than the Kennedys. And that's the fatal flaw of those afflicted with the Kennedy Syndrome. As compassionate do-gooders, they sympathize with the needy. That's commendable. But they have a blind spot in their inability to empathize with hard-working, industrious, risk- taking, entrepreneurial Americans who are the driving force behind our market economy and the creators of new wealth.

I remember hearing a talk once at a retreat that went something like this: "Some people like to sit on their back porch drinking a Martini and feeling bad for the poor, starving, godless natives in Africa, but their won't go over an talk to their next door neighbor because he has to wear a colostomy bag. This gives him an unpleasant smell, so it's much more pleasant to keep thinking about the natives in Africa, maybe even giving some money to charity to help them out." This is what comes to mind when I think of this Kennedy Syndrome, except that Ted Kennedy wanted to give someone else's money to the abstract poor. Rosen aptly quotes Mark Twain: "To be good is noble. To tell other people to do good is even nobler and much less trouble."

And I'm glad Rosen points out how self-indulgent the whole redistribution project is and how people like the Kennedys use it wrongly in an attempt to "redeem" themselves and their opulent playboy lifestyles. Maybe Teddy Kennedy wouldn't have felt the need to play Robin Hood in the Senate if he weren't so busy playing Don Juan in the nearby environs. I loved the conclusion, especially the WFB quote on idealism.

The appetite of do-gooders to dispense public largesse with the property of others is insatiable. But piling one social program on another runs up government spending to unsustainable levels. There are limits to the taxes you can impose on productive citizens. After you've soaked the rich, the middle class will necessarily get soaked as well. Government borrowing to finance budget deficits inescapably crowds out private sector investment, undermining the source of societal wealth. In the words of William F. Buckley, Jr., "Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive."

Too good for a title

Medved on Buckley's Way vs Cheap Shots

From his Townhall.com Commentary email:

In 82 years of supremely active living, William F. Buckley transformed American conservatism profoundly and permanently. He established once and for all that the phrase "conservative intellectual" wasn't a contradiction in terms. In the '50's and '60's, when the word "conservative" conjured images of grumpy old men, the dashing Buckley showed that right wing activism could be fun, frisky, elegant and invigorating. He relished playing Bach on the harpsichord, sailing, writing spy novels, and hosting a long-running TV show on PBS--normally a bastion of establishment liberalism.

Like his friend Ronald Reagan, Buckley brought sunny, sparkling energy to the conservative moment, and shunned its bigoted, mean-spirited extremes. Ironically, his passing coincides with embarrassing controversy over an angry talk show host using Barack Obama's middle name as a form of insult and attack. That's the kind of cheap shot that happy warrior Bill Buckley would have characterized as beneath the dignity of his great cause.

Medved doesn't bring up the host's name and I won't either. I remember the same host was gleeful with his part during the last ditch attempt in the Blackwell campaign to smear Strickland with the gay tag. Tell me, Mr. Cincinnati, how did that work out?

If we can't find anything negative with what Barack Obama has done or said or the associations he's had with subversive ideologies then we all might as well throw in the towel.

Buckley's Interview with Malcolm Muggeridge on Firing Line

Cubeland Mystic comments on how Buckley help change his life for the better.

"Over 20 years ago, I was channel surfing at a time in my life when I was kind of lost and in need of some guidance. As I recall it was late evening before cable, most certainly a Sunday, past the time of sports, probably in an off season.

Dying faith, no guiding philosophy, and no direction, the channel stopped on PBS, while these two older men discussed God. I was fixated. I don't recall if it was a 30 minute or 60 minute program, but I had never heard such richness of conversation in my life. Depth, conviction, intellect, and all directed toward understanding faith and God. Every sentence was clear and meaningful. It was Buckley interviewing Muggeridge.

I did not really know what a conservative was I had no faith, nor did I understand how savage politics could be, all I knew at that point is I wanted to be like them. I ordered up the transcript, and kept it till this day. That Firing Line changed my life. It would take another decade before I realized myself to be a conservative, and to finally revert back to Roman Catholicism. Thank you Mr. Buckley, you made a difference in my life. Rest In Peace, and please pray for us."

Via Dave Armstrong's site, I found an edited, online transcript of the broadcast as well as a Real Audio feed of the entire broadcast. The picture I posted here is courtesy of Cubeland Mystic.

Thanks for reading my blog. For current commentary and what-not, visit the Est Quod Est homepage

Newt Gingrich Statement on the Passing of William F. Buckley, Jr.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 27, 2008 — Before there was Goldwater or Reagan, there was Bill Buckley.

From writing books, to creating, leading and sustaining National Review Magazine, to his 33-year run as the host of Firing Line on television, Bill Buckley became the indispensable intellectual advocate from whose energy, intelligence, wit, and enthusiasm the best of modern conservatism drew its inspiration and encouragement.

It was not until William F. Buckley, Jr., founded National Review Magazine in 1955 that the tide began to slowly turn for conservatives. National Review was a lonely voice of conservatism in an overwhelmingly liberal establishment. Buckley began what led to Senator Barry Goldwater and his Conscience of a Conservative that led to the seizing of power by the conservatives from the moderate establishment within the Republican Party. From that emerged Ronald Reagan. Bill stood up to defend freedom as a positive value of greater moral worth than either the state and the elite, and over time his work had a transformational impact on the quality of American politics that continues even today.

He was a wonderful friend, a great patriot, and a lively human being. Callista and I are praying for him and those who loved him. He will be missed.

SOURCE Gingrich Communications

Rick Tyler
Press Secretary & Spokesperson for Speaker Newt Gingrich
+1-540-338-1250
ricktyler@newt.org

William F. Buckley dies at 82 years old

From CNSNews.com:

From the National Review Online's Kathryn Jean Lopez late this morning: "I'm devastated to report that our dear friend, mentor, leader, and founder William F. Buckley Jr., died overnight in his study in Stamford, Conn. After years of illness, he died while at work; if he had been given a choice on how to depart this world, I suspect that would have been exactly it. At home, still devoted to the war of ideas." Buckley founded National Review magazine in 1955, hosted the television show "Firing Line "from 1966 until 1999, and was a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and author. Though the cause of death is unknown, his assistant, Linda Bridges, said he suffered from emphysema. "America has lost a giant. William F. Buckley was, in large measure, the architect of the modern conservative movement. His intellect, wit, and dedication have inspired generations," said House Republican Leader John Boehner. "In the 1950s, as many in America were moving toward a socialist future of ever-expanding government and ever-decreasing freedom, it took an act of courage and vision to stand athwart history and yell, 'stop' as Buckley wrote in the first issue of National Review. As long as America honors the ideals of our Founding Fathers - free speech, freedom of religion, and limited, Constitutional government - his legacy will be cherished," Boehner added.