MUSTACHE OF THE DAY
On pain of red-carding, accept for one moment the eschewing of the politics, and just consider the life on the enthusiasms alone: he sailed as an expert, spoke prose despite having Spanish and French as his first languages, proposed the introduction of bike lanes in New York City to reduce traffic, worked for the CIA, wrote spy novels, served as a delegate to the United Nations, founded a successful magazine, hosted a popular television show, and once played the harpsichord on the Conan O’Brien show.
He’s dead, but the tank had to be empty. We bestow this week’s tribute to William F. Buckley, who really should have had this stache.
Ah, yes: RIP, Bill. HT to Holly
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1
ThreenOut says:
May the handlebar RIP as well
February 27th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
2
Nutter says:
Ahh … the ’stache that should have been …
February 27th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
3
rjsplow says:
With the possible exception of…well, I don’t believe anyone living in the past 300 years or so, the man had a firm command over the most impressive latinate vocabulary.of anyone I’ve ever heard or read. I received a copy of of his word-a-day calendar at an extremely young age and after dazing through an entire year’s worth of incomprehensibly obscure yet perfectly precise and elegant language he used as effortlessly as I find myself mumbling “umm” and “you know,” I decided that being a writer really wasn’t for me. I think it takes a special kind of brilliance to uninspire someone in such a profound way. Memento Mori, everybody.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:20 pm
4
DC Trojan says:
The handlebar mustache was the missing ingredient. As for Mr Buckley: not my cup of tea politically, but never ever dull; I should be so lucky.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
5
Orson Swindle says:
He was the only man who, even when perambulating, walked leaning back in a chair looking bemused.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
6
Biggus Rickus says:
I may have watched Firing Line as a kid if he’d been sporting that mustache.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
7
spartanmike says:
It should also be noted that, well over a decade ago, his magazine changed its editorial policy to reflect a position that would, to put it lightly, have had a wide-ranging effect on the Fulmer Cup: the legalization of drugs. Enlightened and impressive, I think
February 27th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
8
robert says:
smart guy. nil nisi bonum.
February 27th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
9
blon57 says:
I took Latin in HS because of William F. Buckley. His vocabulary was inspirational. A true conservative in every sense of the word. Watching the modern-day GOP probably brought on his demise.
Mr. Buckley, you will be sorely missed.
RIP.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
10
Rich says:
He wordulated real good. Rip.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
11
GamecockTony says:
Is that a young Brent Musberger?
February 27th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
12
hunglikehussain says:
So I guess Terrance Moore will soon be stepping into this vacuum.
The King is dead! Long live the King!
February 27th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
13
Holly says:
As for Mr Buckley: not my cup of tea politically, but never ever dull; I should be so lucky.
Precisely. Salut.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
14
sjs1959 says:
Indeed, I have always enjoyed him, even though I am as left as left can be (I’m a baseball fan, too), and his writing will be deeply missed.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
15
poguemahone says:
Man, I came over to EDSBS to forget about this.
I don’t know what hurts more, losing two straight title games or losing the greatest thinker of the past century. RIP, William.
February 27th, 2008 at 4:41 pm
16
OhioDawg says:
Well done, Swindle.
A man who had sailed outside of the territorial waters of the US to smoke pot.
R.I.P.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:00 pm
17
Chips O'Toole says:
Was that photo taken immediately after he invented the Guinness can?
February 27th, 2008 at 5:02 pm
18
2L over the line, sweet jesus says:
define “successful” magazine; i seem to remember the national review not breaking even.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:03 pm
19
wooooohoooooo says:
Is that Lindsay Graham?
February 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
20
oc phil says:
He used his tounge prettier than a 20 dollar whore.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
21
DC Trojan says:
@ 16, 17 – I’ve got a brilliant idea
What’s that then?
We shall set sail for an indeterminate point slightly beyond the reach of the American authorities. Territorial waters having been exceeded, we shall partake of the relaxing qualities of the ganja that is denied us by the pusillanimous puritanism of American law.
Sail a boat.. out to sea… and smoke dope? BRILLIANT.
Well, yes, if you must be so crude.
February 27th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
22
sandman227 says:
#18:
Well, it’s been around for 52 years….I guess it would depend on your personal definition of “successful”
February 27th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
23
TigerNacho says:
In the interest of fairness, Orson, next Mustache Wednesday should honor Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
February 27th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
24
Cruzer says:
I’m not sure I always agreed with him but that could only be because, in those instances, I was wrong. Who’s left that could even compare?
February 27th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
25
sonofsamford says:
Nothing got past that Billy Buck. I wish you had given him a Buckner ’stache instead of the Rollie.
February 27th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
26
kleph says:
the dude picked up playing the harpsichord at 50 just for the challenge of it.
February 27th, 2008 at 10:39 pm
27
ToddlyKSU says:
Ave Atque Vale Mr. Buckley
February 27th, 2008 at 11:50 pm
28
Boston Frog says:
I used to work for his niece
February 27th, 2008 at 11:59 pm
29
Signal to Noise says:
I am an unreformed and unrepentant, but to me, Mr. Buckley was, how would I put it….ah yes, a truly formidable opponent.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:58 am
30
Signal to Noise says:
That should say “unreformed and unrepentant lefty.”
February 28th, 2008 at 3:58 am
31
Southern Papa says:
Yep, besides his command of the American language, and his unyielding belief in the free market, he was one of America’s best novelists. My grandmother made me read his editorials as a youngster to improve my vocabulary – so sad that it never stuck. And it is too sad that Blackford Oakes is no more…
February 28th, 2008 at 9:41 am
32
ChemE93 says:
I don’t think we should heap such praise on his vocabulary until we have confirmation that he had used the phrase “fuck lion” correctly in context.
But I gotta say… dying suddenly at 82 while doing what you love… that’s how I want to go. But unlike him, I won’t be on top of a keyboard.
February 28th, 2008 at 9:53 am
33
Irwin Fletcher says:
Godspeed, WFB.
A titan of intellectual prowess, civility, humor, and (from what I understand) kindness and graciousness. A life well lived indeed.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:22 am
34
Will Collier says:
Well done. A life well-lived indeed.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:45 am
35
DenverGregg says:
I’m the exception here in that my opposition to his politics comes from the right, but he was a good man who will be missed.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:00 am
36
gerry dorsey says:
is that tommy bowden??
February 28th, 2008 at 11:41 am
37
MiseanAuFan says:
He looks like that ginger lady from “In Living Color.”
February 28th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
38
yoyofutbawl says:
I got hooked on the clipboard he always had on Firing Line, still use one to this day. He lived part of the year in Camden, SC for a long time & Firing Line was an SCETV production. KInd of an oxymoron there.
Back in 1968, when Gore Vidal called him a neo-nazi racist or something like that, he called Vidal a “goddam queer” to his face. On CBS – live, no less. He didn’t take any shit.
February 28th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
39
BKdawg says:
Guy was a swashbuckling renaissance kind of guy who chose $10 words when a $5 word would suffice, he did make conservativism respectable and less illiterate and KKK’ish — not like he didn’t have those kind of moments, as when he sided with Southern segregationist b/c he believed and always believed that poor blacks were too dumb to vote.
But he did create a lot of avenues where intellectual debate could occur:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYlMEVTa-PI
Chomsky bests him in this I believe. It’s a far cry from the screaming idiots that pass for debate today.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
40
Kecalf Bailey says:
some people will stop at nothing…
don’t confuse football with real life
February 29th, 2008 at 12:19 am
41
Dante says:
My favorite Buckley moment was his response to the heat he took for the Playboy interview. He said he wanted to do the Playboy interview so his son would actually read it. What a guy. Nobody else could pull off sprawling casually back in a chair while brutally beating someone at a debate like Buckley could. It’s just a shame that Buckley lived to see conservatism get completely abandoned by the party he brought it to.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:25 am