Bill, we need you now...more than ever.

That flirtation of him at 2:00 was so lovely and the girl liked it

One of a kind, a real Renaissance man, and so influential. Makes me miss those days when people of differing opinions could discuss things rationally and with courtesy

I’m a socialist with a deep affection for William F. Buckley. I think this is a great testament to his charm and wit.

The state of the universities today is because men like him are no longer around.

RIP Mr. Buckley- you were a very thoughtful and fascinating man in chaotic times. Appreciate your willingness to examine all kinds of opposing views.

William F. Buckley, Jr. was literally a walking talking thesaurus. An amazing and eloquent man.

I am on the side of working class and progressive minded people but am not immune to the charm and appeal of Mister William F. Buckley.

He has such a command of the English language

I remember watching this man in awe when I was 10. Seemed to me, he was one of the only men in the world who had wisdom. Course, what did I know? I was just a kid.

The man that made me conservative.

My father was in the audience at one of his "Firing Line" shows in the 1970's.

Starting at age 22, Mr. Buckley, Jr. has inspired me to be forward with my Conservatism and that was 38 years ago. I am a proud Conservative thanks to Mr. William F. Buckley, Jr. He still is a National Treasure. HEAR TO BILL BUCKLEY, Jr.

This new Firing Line program on PBS is a disgrace to Buckley's memory.

1:58 Oh the Humor !!! 😂 He was indeed spot on. Lovely Girl 😘

The way Buckley calls out McGovern for the classic 'flip-flop' fallacy is just incredible. How frequently do we hear politicians and our own peers support one side, only to revert to a completely defensive stances against it when the given scenario is framed in a different light. So glad that Buckley addressed that type of fallacy, as it will remind me to do the same, should I find myself in a similar circumstance.

I might be a liberal however, I enjoyed watching Firing Line with Bill Buckley because the debate was honest and respectful. I especially loved the Firing Line Debates and his interview with Michael Foote, Noam Chomsky, and Laugh In. Too bad Mr. Buckley never debated my philosophy hero Michel Foucault which I think would have been awesome to watch and so intellectually stimulating

He is not just missed. He is missing.

An elegant man of humor, intellect and eloquence.

The way he broke down arbitrary binary choices was masterful. Though he leaned Conservative and Right, he despised a false black or white narrative from either side.

William walked so Ben could run

This is weird, was searching through the family tree, turns out mr buckley is my dads uncle

the man is incredibly intelligent

WFB, A TRUE CLASSIC 😊

R.I.P. TO WILLIAM J. BUCKLEY JR. SADLY MISSED INDEED !!! I DISCOVERED W.J. B JR. ONLY FEW MONTHS AGO !!! I WAS TRULY IMPRESSED!!!! ELOQUENCE TO THE HILT & WITH THAT BLINK & A WINK I WAS SOLD !!! FROM U.K. (2022).

Does the Buckley/McGovern debate shown here exist in its complete form somewhere?

Dang you didn't get his "Stick that in your pipe and smoke it" clip

What is that background music in the segment toward the end, the one where Reagan is speaking?

1:08 Regan seems and sounds like he is reading. Anyone noticed that?

Hey you should’ve shown that James Baldwin debate where Buckley literally said he’d take Baldwin’s argument seriously only for the debate and that outside of that he wouldn’t because he’s black

Chickenhawk scoundrel. He should have been on the front line of at least one of the wars he supported.

I am sure Bill Buckley would have seen through Trump just as George Will and Steve Schmidt have, Buckley would certainly have been a Lincoln Republican today, eh?

Cobra Commander was based off of this guy? How?

Pretty young girl asks,"do you think mini-skirts are in good taste"?....."On you I think they are".....Bill...got rest your soul...but in today's "woke" climate ,you would have been crucified for that flippant yet funny remark.

There never was anyone" like Buckley" . Regrettably, he was one of a kind .

About 30 years ago I was asked who I'd most like to have dinner with - without hesitation I said William F. Buckley, Jr. - Not only because I admired his intellect and wit, but also his style, clothing and general mannerisms, which to me spoke of elegance and pure genius.

@xtrmsprts i have no problem expressing my distaste for those who have a way of dismissing evolution and racism. and im delighted to see that we've maybe found some common ground after all on Buckley, who is a very fascinating figure indeed. after having a back-and-forth such as this one, establishing any level of mutual common ground is always extremely refreshing! have a great day

Well, if that left a dry eye in the house I'd be very much surprised.

@xtrmsprts I didn't hear McGovern and neither did you. And Buckley founded National Review as a means of separating his ideology from an often anti-semitic conservative voice in the early 50's. You can talk about a young Buckley all you want, but if your mission is to defend the liberal cause at any opportunity, then we can get into Robert Byrd as well.

NORM SENT ME

I was not a fan of Margaret Thatcher until I met her. I was a fan of Michael Foot until I met him. I suspect I would have remained a fan of William F Buckley had I Met him.

@xtrmsprts And why is your channel filled with pictures and videos of Buckley? This is bizarre, at best it's a hidden appreciation for the man, at worst it's an obsession in the same vain of Buffalo Bill...very interesting!

0:28 You know this is a reference to Buckley totally losing his cool with Gore Vidal right? It's a moment he regretted his whole life.

"Judeo Christian" in the description lol

@xtrmsprts K well I wasn't talking about Nixon here, and I wasn't calling out libs or conservatives either, so your anger is misplaced. I was talking about a common fallacy that McGovern showed. Could you be willing to concede that McCovern had trapped himself within his own disingenuous, circular logic? I won't hold my breath. If you want to use my comment as an excuse for ad hominem diatribe (you know the old schtick: call 'em Nazis - that'll show 'em!), by all means tell us what irks you.

Ahh Buckley! Is it fair to say that he looks like Barnabas Collins..I want you Angelique 🧟‍♂️ oh! nostalgic moment! 😏

Our world is desperate for eloquent thinkers

How could Buckley sit with Chomsky and not lose his lunch....

My vote for the sexiest man alive or dead that voice that vocabulary that sense of understated humor hubba hubba

My Mom loved Bill, God rest her soul. Tucker Carlson reminds me in some ways as a new generation Bill Buckley. Gawd our world misses great thinkers like Bill in todays times.

A bastard. But a classy one for sure.

The man, the myth, the triangle.

Comedians are the wise fools true to the ideals and visions we hold dear. Dick Gregory is one of the wisest. He once declared, to the effect, that the Klansman is not a real racist but a simple bigoted fool, useful to the real racist who is concerned with keeping labor costs low. The real racist is the banker who red lines a neighborhood, who adds interest to loans or one who sells inferior products at higher cost to minorities. He is the employer who pays less and limits promotion to otherwise qualified minorities. Most of all, I would say, the political operatives who trade on the baser fears to promote racist policy, who limit the political voices at the ballot box, who get elected with appeals to race. Some of my best friends...does not “get it done” in my book. Having Sammy Davis Junior as a buddy over for dinner does not negate the racist strategy used by the avuncular Ronald Reagan:The fictional welfare queen and the speech to the former Democratic politicians from Dixie where he said” you did not leave the Democratic Party, the party left you” made clear two things: one, how cynical ambition works and two: how racism is central to our politics.

William f Buckley

" It is too late for the ' conservatives ' . There is nothing left to 'conserve' . It was too late for them in the election of 1932. " -Ayn Rand-

A couple of quid pro quos.

Are you sure he was an intelectual? He seemed more like an educated (a Yale man, my God how capital) sit down comedy entertainer with a theatrical stance, a patronizing cynical smile and an absolute posh accent to emphasize a more dramatic persona, an elaborate character that many people usually love but nontheless fake in every way.

He also wanted the south to to separated. Was an obvious racist.

What’s with the fake British accent?

The MOST BORING interviewer I've ever heard and seen. His interview with Margaret Thatcher Britain's Prime Minister in New York city was so Cringeworthy. I thought Mr Buckley was going to fall asleep. His speech was slurred, someone needed to shake him to liven him up. Poor Margaret Thatcher having to endure his boring voice for almost an hour.

I especially liked when Buckley got picked apart by Vidal and Chomsky

the thing about buckley is, its all fake. he wasn't so smart, he wasn't so deep,. he was, however, a great, eloquent performer with an unbelievably affected accent and a retorical flourish. however, chompsky made him cry like the bitch that he was.

Buckley's so-called Movement was not really a movement at all. A "movement" that is regressive and reactionary, that looks resolutely backwards at an idealized, imaginary image of the past is a tantrum and a delusion, not a movement. Let's face it - Buckley was out to preserve the prerogatives, privileges and prejudices of his class. This was his primary objective. It's why he sided so blatantly with the McCarthyites who shamelessly destroyed the lives of so many progressive Americans, and with the vicious Southern segregationists for the first 5 years or so of the Civil Rights movement (until he belatedly realized he didn't have a moral leg to stand on, and changed his mind). Buckley's "movement" led directly to Nixon's Southern Strategy, to the takeover of the Republican Party by the bigoted fundamentalist Right, to the deepening income and wealth gap created by Reaganite fiscal policies, to the obstructionist, cynical legislative methods of Newt Gingrich and Mitch McConnell, to the corrupt, hateful rule of Donald Trump. It's all on the same continuum. Buckley helped kick the whole thing off. He packaged it and gave the rightward, reactionary, paranoid drift of US politics a gloss of intellectual rigour and historic validity. Behind the whole Reagan Revolution/Conservative Movement was a colossal amount of right-wing money lobbying for tax cuts for the richest Americans, paid by neofascist Billionaires and corporations - - the Koch brothers most prominently, along with a long list of other donors, and their lobbyists and non-profits. Buckley lost his energy, focus and conviction in his last years, though he continued to be lionized on the right. But he knew before he died, during the 2nd Bush/Cheney term, that the GOP was headed in a very bad direction, and that American conservatism was in crisis. When asked what the legacy of the Bush years would be, he said, simply, that there was no legacy. The misguided war on Iraq, the years of insane deficits, the mass surveillance of domestic American communications, the loss of American optimism, the return of the conspiratorial thinking that he had seen in the Birchers, etc, all troubled him. He had no idea how bad things would get under the next Republican president. Trump would have deeply disgusted him

Such pompous body language 🙄