The following editorial on the passing of William F. Buckley was published in today’s USA Today. It reminded us all as to how far we have come in the tone of political debate from the time in which William F. Buckley engaged us in the National Review and through the Firing Line television show.
As young boy, I remember listening to Mr. Buckley on television, with his enormous and challenging vocabulary and his incredible analytical capabilities, admiring the tone of the dialogue and his shear admiration for “ideas.”
As this editorial rightfully points out, in the A.D.D. world in which we live, where ideas must be truncated into sound bytes and rhetoric overtakes reasoning, it raises the question of where we go from here.
With the passing of Mr. Buckley, regardless of your political leanings, we are all reminded as to whether we have anyone left with the patience, respect and demeanor required to give serious attention to serious subjects.
Original writing date: February 28, 2008
Article date: February 28, 2008