William F. Buckley, Jr., A Mile Marker on the Way
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About ten years ago, I attended my first, and only, CPAC Conference in Connecticut. The reason: William F. Buckley. As a young conservative, I believed every idea in my little brain was a revelation. Then I caught this guy on PBS. Buckley, with his strange accent and ten dollar words, had built the foundation for conservatism. His ideas didn't just hit the political landscape like sprinklings from a salt shaker, but rather an avalanche. It was appropriate for the avid skier to outrace the wave of ideas which crashed upon our political shores in the last half the 20th Century.
Let’s get back to Connecticut. Buckley was the keynote speaker for the Friday night festivities. There were two cocktail hours. One served red meat, to the young bucks, like me. The other, reserved for old bulls, and a simpler pallet. I broke away from my peers. Down the hall just a bit, standing in the doorway of an adjacent ballroom, was the great man, himself.
I walked over and shook his hand. He was pleasant and appreciative. I told him that I was looking forward to his speech, to which he replied: "Yes, but of course." The brief encounter came to an abrupt end, when one of the pushy, blonde debutants coordinating the event stepped in between us. She apologized profusely to Buckley. He remained gracious assuring her that we were just chatting.
Later that night, he spoke on a variety of topics. He focused mainly on China, and its continued growing influence. He reminded his audience, that in China, communism still breathed through a dragon's nostrils. He remained vigilant, nearly a decade after the Cold War, to point out the real threat of communism. He stood for the individual against the state. He stood for Americanism.
His biography captured a life which would put anyone's to shame. His title was Miles Gone By. As for the rest of us, we've only traveled yards.
God bless William F. Buckley.
-Heroes don’t dies, they live within us
Nero
©EMH, 2008
Bill Buckley
You fall among the ranks of the founding fathers in terms of the impact you left on the conservative movement...I may be too young to really understand the humble beginnings of the conservative movement in its infancy, but know you influenced so many on the right...you gave us intellectual firepower to beat back liberalism...I used to be an apathetic citizen...maybe even a liberal in the folly of my youth...I have seen the light and people like Fred Thompson and other stalwart conservatives inspire me to care about politics, conservatism, and policy...rest in peace knowing you started a movement grounded in common sense and wisdom.