Comments on: Dery on Vidal vs. Buckley

By: IRMO

IRMO — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 16:58:00 +0000

After reading this, I have to wonder why either of them should be considered great minds:

http://hurryupharry.org/2012/08/11/gore-vidal-on-kipling-hero-timothy-mcveigh-with-overdeveloped-sense-of-justice/

Well educated trolls, the both of them.

By: Gerald Mander

Gerald Mander — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 07:56:00 +0000

Especially Buckley. Being, you know, dead and all.

By: Kenneth Maywald

Kenneth Maywald — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 04:03:00 +0000

richard at his prime could probably beat up most people, he WAS a fitness instructor after all

By: Jelperman

Jelperman — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 01:56:00 +0000

Being threatened by Buckley is about as menacing as a threat from Richard Simmons.

By: Jelperman

Jelperman — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 01:52:00 +0000

Buckley wasn’t going to punch anyone. Watch the video: Did Vidal look worried? His shit-eating grin says No.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:17:00 +0000

Seems a bit vigorous for Buckley.

By: chgoliz

chgoliz — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 00:08:00 +0000

I was thinking of Romney too….and how easy it was to imagine Buckley forcibly cutting off someone’s hair in prep school.

By: ChicagoD

ChicagoD — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 22:57:00 +0000

The megalomania of the aging despot got a laugh. Either we’ve all gotten much stupider, or that was a terrible laugh track. Actually, I kind of suspect both.

By: ChicagoD

ChicagoD — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 21:50:00 +0000

I thought he was this guy:

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090721001216/superfriends/images/f/ff/Scarecrow_4.png

By: Paul Renault

Paul Renault — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 21:27:00 +0000

I was twelve years old or so the first time I ever saw Buckley on TV. Even as a kid, I thought to myself “This is a respected intellectual? Really? He’s just a bully!”

By: theclam

theclam — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:20:00 +0000

Here is a great one with Woody Allen, they both seem to be on. There is also a great one out there of Buckley with Christopher Hitchens, where he is much older and his way of thinking had since been proved wrong. He seems slightly pathetic at that point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNErWi_lTig&feature=player_embedded

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 19:00:00 +0000

…I probably shouldn’t be so surprised that a debate between two heavyweight intellectuals is pretty much identical to that sketch with Louis CK and Greg Giraldo.

By: Thad Boyd

Thad Boyd — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:59:00 +0000

Rush is worse than stupid — he’s smart and PRETENDS to be stupid.

I pity people like Victoria Jackson. I do not pity people like Gretchen Carlson.

By: Diogenes

Diogenes — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:57:00 +0000

Can you imagine how hard it would be to get your ass kicked by Bill Buckley? You’d have to prop up his limp fist and run your face at it full speed. The guy was a milquetoast.

By: wysinwyg

wysinwyg — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Did you miss the part where Buckley implied the Vietnam War protesters were Nazis? That was the immediate reason for the ad hom (it was in response to Buckley’s ad hom).

By: millie fink

millie fink — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:52:00 +0000

Great essay, thanks for the link.

I always thought that Vidal demonstrated what Buckley failed to realize–a brilliant combination of eloquence and insight consists of more than mere five-dollar words.

By: Teller

Teller — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:47:00 +0000

While Buckley and Chomsky were far apart philosophically, together they illustrate how removed they are from the spirit and substance of political debate today.

By: Reg Robson

Reg Robson — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:41:00 +0000

Despite all the name calling in the above comments I miss the days when it could be said that Conservative pundits had brains (reptilian though they may be). Give be Buckley over Limbaugh any day. I’d rather spar with an intelligent fascist, than a bigoted ignoramus.

By: Pickleschlitz

Pickleschlitz — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:14:00 +0000

Just based on this clip, I haven’t seen the rest, it looks to me like Vidal chose to descend to ad hominem name calling and Buckley called him on it. Buckley’s point could have easily answered by simply saying, “They wouldn’t be shooting at Americans if Americans weren’t in their country carrying guns.” Instead, Vidal took the lowest of low roads.

This exchange wouldn’t have passed muster in my old high school debate club.

By: Gerald Mander

Gerald Mander — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:11:00 +0000

Buckley has been called “the finest mind of the 14th Century.” A terrific insight into him is his memoir Overdrive, which inadvertently details exactly how out of touch he was. The guy was a modern Louis XIV. He once had his limo lengthened by a foot to give people in back more legroom. He detailed the cost and engineering problems, and never gave a thought to the indulgence it displayed.

I flash on Overdrive whenever Romney shoves his gold foot into his mouth, though Romney is a lot less entertaining about his entitlement than Buckley was.

By: ChicagoD

ChicagoD — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:46:00 +0000

I am not sure that Buckley ever lost touch with his inner fascist. He seems to have had a very very firm handle on that. His dentist, on the other hand . . .

By: SedanChair

SedanChair — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:42:00 +0000

Rightists fight for the people on top to stay on top. They are either bullies, clueless to their own privilege or both. It’s easy to get popular with them, like Buckley did; just get in touch with your inner fascist.

By: GeorgeMokray

GeorgeMokray — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:37:00 +0000

The moment Buckley lost me was when he had Jack Kerouac on “Firing Line” and treated him with utter contempt. Kerouac was drunk but he wasn’t offensive. Buckley’s sneering and snickering treatment of him was. At that point, I realized what a piece of shit Buckley actually was.

By: creesto

creesto — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:34:00 +0000

I think Buckley must be the pomo father of Slimy Snark

By: ChicagoD

ChicagoD — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 17:27:00 +0000

Can you imagine how embarrassing it would be to get your ass kicked by Bill Buckley? Oh. My. God. I’d have to lie about who dealt out the beatdown.