I'm not going to lament the passing of William Buckley because I see his work (yes, even at this dark hour) in writers like Jonah Goldberg and bloggers like Allahpundit and Ed Morrissey at Hot Air.

I know that Buckley's message will endure, even a day after a study revealed that 48% of teens couldn't identify the theme of 1984, because so many smart people refuse to drink the Victory Gin from 10,000 cafés.

Buckley saw liberalism for all its lies and hypocrisy...a hard truth that must be remembered as we respond to the pressing challenges of this era.

There's already been a tremendous outpouring over at NRO regarding his life by men and women much more learned than the steward of this blog. One of my favorite tributes was left by Iain Murray. He writes:

Though vastly outnumbered in high school by peers and teachers mouthing cliches of socialism, appeasement, and moral relativism, I confidently debated any and all comers, armed with facts and arguments from National Review, Firing Line, and a slew of books by WFB and other NR columnists, and emboldened by his courage, brilliance, and wit.

Very likely I would not have read Mises and Hayek in my teens, attended Claremont McKenna College (a school hospital to conservative students and faculty), studied there with Harry Jaffa (the great Lincoln and Aristotle scholar whom Buckley esteemed), or pursued graduate studies in political philosophy had WFB not opened my young eyes to the perils of statism and the excitement of the war of ideas.

Michelle Malkin writes her own tribute here.

Labels: the good guys