Buckley Links
Sam Tanenhaus – the best historian of modern conservatism not named Rick Perlstein – has a good 8 minute interview giving us some more background on a fascinating man.
Rick Perlstein on Buckley. Must-read
Ezra Klein says positive things
Dylan Matthews and Brad DeLong provide necessary counterpoints to the liberal Buckley love.
Peter Wehner remembers Buckley’s faith, which was incredibly central to this life.
And, finally, Ramesh Ponnuru captures something that struck me when Buckley’s old, weary, “decomposing” visage was on the cover of the New York Times Magazine. His eyes. His eyes always showed a certain youthful vitality and playfulness about him. While this could be endlessly frustrating as he opposed programs and policies or support the Vietnam War in a way that we liberals would describe as callous, it reminded us how much he loved writing, language, debate and his desire to elevate discourse into something more than just commentary. And it’s this spirit and energy that was able to shine through despite his advanced age that I will certainly miss.
