Links for the Day (February 28th, 2008)

Links for the Day (February 28th, 2008)

By Keith Uhlich on February 28, 2008 in Links for the Day Jump to Comments (0)

1. "William F. Buckley Jr., 82, Dies; Sesquipedalian Spark of Right": From The New York Times. Related: Buckley on The Sopranos' finale.

["William F. Buckley Jr., who marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse, died on Wednesday at his home in Stamford, Conn. He was 82."]

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2. "This film critic actually gets paid to flaunt his film illiteracy?": By House contributor Kevin B. Lee.

["I grew up in San Francisco reading the film reviews of Mick LaSalle. He's reviewed films for The Chronicle for the last 20 years, writes in a pleasing, conversational tone, and his taste in films is respectable if not adventurous. At least that was my opinion until recently, when my brother forwarded me this rather embarrassing article cum confessional in which LaSalle admitted to having not seen several canonical American films and then proceeded to review a few of them for the first time. In light of the project of this blog - as well as the fact that LaSalle was one of the film critics I looked up to in my youth - I felt it necessary to comment."]

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3. "McCain and Obama tangle over Iraq pullout": From Reuters.

["McCain, who has linked his candidacy to a successful outcome in Iraq, attacked Obama's stance on the war at a town hall meeting in Texas as he seeks to wrap up the Republican presidential nomination. Obama said during the debate with Clinton that once he withdrew U.S. troops from Iraq, if Al Qaeda were to form a base there, 'then we will have to act in a way that secures the American homeland and our interests abroad.' 'I have some news,' McCain said. 'Al Qaeda is in Iraq. It's called Al Qaeda in Iraq. My friends, if we left, they wouldn't be establishing a base, they'd be taking a country and I'm not going to allow that to happen.'"]

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4. "It's time for the media to back off Britney": From MSNBC.

["Journalists are taught to maintain a healthy skepticism when it comes to the subject matter they are examining, but often that can degenerate into a deep cynicism. When members of Britney's inner circle announce she is mentally ill, the news is usually greeted by reporters and photographers as more spin from people skilled at doing it well."]

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5. "The Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum": What would we do without you, Sars? Thanks for passing this our way.

["The mission of the Burt Reynolds and Friends Museum and Florida Film and Theater Institute is to preserve the history of the cultural contributions of Burt Reynolds, and to provide educational opportunities to young actors and filmmakers."]

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Quote(s) of the Day: William F. Buckley Jr.

"Even if one takes every reefer madness allegation of the prohibitionists at face value, marijuana prohibition has done far more harm to far more people than marijuana ever could."

"The Beatles are not merely awful. They are so unbelievably horrible, so appallingly unmusical, so dogmatically insensitive to the magic of the art, that they qualify as crowned heads of antimusic."

"I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said."

"Mr. Bush is in the hands of a fortune that will be unremitting on the point of Iraq. If he'd invented the Bill of Rights, it wouldn't get him out of his jam."

"A Conservative is a fellow who is standing athwart history yelling "Stop!""

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Image of the Day (click to enlarge): Sanctuary!

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Clip of the Day: Buckley debates Noam Chomsky in 1969 (two parts)

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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged.

TAGS: links for the day

Re Buckley v. Chomsky:

I don't have any familiarity w/ Buckley or his political ideas, but watching him debate Chomsky didn't reveal anything all that different from the conservative talking points that are used nowadays. He simply expresses it better. But even then I would say that his arguments are reflecting the lucidity of Chomsky's by simple proximity -- the fact that Buckley's ideas are being taken seriously at all by someone of Chomsky's intellectual caliber gives the former too much credit in this interview, IMO.
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-03-03 20:37:00 He looks like Hammer's Frankenstein in that photo...
Posted by Anonymous on 2008-02-29 07:19:00 Good Time appreciation of W.F. Buckley by Richard Corliss, who's on a roll lately.
Posted by Matt Zoller Seitz on 2008-02-29 04:03:00 Watching the Buckley-Chomsky debate and contrasting it to today's usual political fare makes me wonder if, in 30 years, political commenters will simply throw feces at each other to express a point.
Posted by aml on 2008-02-29 02:14:00 Bruce, I also like the discussion in the movie right before that quote:

Grandpa Fred: [interviewing Brain Gremlin] Creature what is it that you want?

Brain Gremlin: Fred, what we want is, I think, what everyone wants, and what you and your viewers have: civilization.

Grandpa Fred: Yes, but what sort of civilization are you speaking of?

Brain Gremlin: The niceties, Fred. The fine points: diplomacy, compassion, standards, manners, tradition... that's what we're reaching toward. Oh, we may stumble along the way, but civilization, yes! The Geneva Convention, chamber music, Susan Sontag. Everything your society has worked so hard to accomplish over the centuries, that's what we aspire to; we want to be civilized.

Sorry, this got way off topic. Proceed!
Posted by Craig on 2008-02-29 01:46:00 I can't speak for any House contributor but myself, but I have only read one Buckley novel, "Thank You For Smoking," and enjoyed it. I didn't think the movie had as much of an acidic charge, but that might be due less to the filmmaking and acting than the fact that the style of humor (black but light) was a bit more commonplace when the film came out than it had been when the novel was published.

Later I got to know Buckley slightly, during the less-than-a-year that I spent writing a rather snarky video column for Forbes FYI, a Forbes supplement that Buckley edited. I only did a couple of pieces and was not asked back after the third, a list of films in which movie stars direct themselves as Christ figures. I suspect that was a bit too odd for business class travelers, though, so I can't say I blame them.

I'll see if I can find that W.F. Buckley feature. I haven't read it it since I wrote it, so I have no idea if it was good or not, or how informative it was. Mostly what I remember about interviewing him was how much of an old man he seemed in repose, and how the years melted away once he got up in front of an audience full of people one-fourth his age and provoked and parried them for a couple of hours.
Posted by Matt Zoller Seitz on 2008-02-29 00:20:00 Making another movie connection, what's the House Next Door perspective on Chris Buckley? I wasn't a fan of the film of "Thank You for Smoking," although I know others were. I do wonder about his books, however. The only one I've ever read, in serialized form in "The Atlantic," is "Florence of Arabia," which is hysterical. My couple of other attempts at Buckley's books have proven to be misfires. I'm not sure if the fault lies with me or the author.
Posted by Discman on 2008-02-28 23:50:00 The most enchanting aspect of Buckley used to get played up a lot in contemporary profiles, though it seems to have gotten only glancing attention in the obits I've, admittedly, skimmed: He was, quite obviously from his ever word and deed, a profoundly happy man. Possibly the most so in American politics; certainly more than anyone else who ever filled up time on PBS with two chairs and a plain background. (Much of Firing Line's unique fizz came from how much it stood out from those other programs with their dutiful, responsible commentary--no somber strings to lead in, but Bach at his most ebullient.)

Happiness shouldn't, of course, be the sole standard by which you measure a man; some real monsters no doubt greet each day with a blissfully expectant smile. But it's a regrettable rarity. Growing up watching (and later reading) Buckley I always relished what the Times refers to as his switchblade grin. Smug, sure, and a bit sadistic as a measure of point-scoring; but unmistakably the indulgence of a man who enjoyed what he had to say, what he was doing (his act, to echo Mailer and Matt), and the home to which he'd return when he was done. It's regrettable to me that this quality was rare enough to note.

I hope you have time to find and post the Star-Ledger piece, Matt; I'd like to read it.

Craig: "My favorite Buckley "performance": the Brain Gremlin (voiced by Tony Randall) in Gremlins 2."

"Now, was that civilized? No, clearly not! Fun, but in no sense civilized."

#5: From the History section: "Actor, Director, Emcee of the Oscars, Talk Show host and Super Star...."

Having stricken about five attempts at a snarky comment, I've finally admitted that summary is just too resplendent for anything further to make a dent.
Posted by Bruce Reid on 2008-02-28 22:17:00 Watching Buckley's old Firing Line episodes underscores how barren today's cable political/news landscape is.

Buckley found people with diverse opinions and LET them talk.

Whereas Keith Olbermann uses his guests to set up lame one-liners and Bill O'Reilly just won't shut up.

It's ironic that the Buckley obits on the cable news shows were juxtaposed to interviews with the shrill wannabe Bill Cunningham ("Barack Hussein Obama") from Ohio.

I've read one or two of the Blackford Oakes novels. See You Later Alligator features a mission to Cuba in the early '60s and actually portrays Che Guevara favorably.

The Goldwater book sounds interesting.
Posted by GCCR on 2008-02-28 15:54:00 My favorite Buckley "performance": the Brain Gremlin (voiced by Tony Randall) in Gremlins 2.
Posted by Craig on 2008-02-28 14:40:00 And Huckley looks like Dennis Hopper in the lead picture.
Posted by Ali Arikan on 2008-02-28 14:36:00 Re: Pic of the Day â€“ Why did you post a photo of Sloth from The Goonies?

Here is my favourite William F Buckley quote which formed the basis of a thesis I wrote in the second year at uni: â€œNorman Mailer decocts matters of the first philosophical magnitude from an examination of his own ordure, and I am not talking about his books.â€

And, if I may be so bold, here is the infamous Vidal vs Buckley debate:

Part I

Part II
Posted by Ali Arikan on 2008-02-28 14:34:00 Buckley was a complicated, fascinating, charismatic man, and a walking definition of the phrase "public intellectual." He was also, as Norman Mailer rightly noted in the late '60s, a showman who had a certain shtick and refined it over the years to the point where everybody knew who he was even if they couldn't name one of his books or recall one of his observations. (Just narrow the eyes, jut out the chin and let the five-dollar words cascade.) I didn't agree with him often, but I usually respected him. (I didn't know about his early '50s quasi-defense of segregation, though, which is mentioned in the Times obit -- how embarassing for him.) I've never read one of his Blackford Oakes novels, but now I might.

I wrote a feature about him for the Star-Ledger about ten years ago when he visited a local college and spoke to the students. Later today, if I have time, I'll see if I can dig it up and post it.
Posted by Matt Zoller Seitz on 2008-02-28 13:55:00