Talk:William F. Buckley Jr.

message: How come articles often single out Right Wing thinkers and attach a derogatory label to them, but almost never do the same for Left Wing thinkers?    Equal, neutral treatment would enhance the credibility of Wikipedia.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.49.27.38 (talk) 21:02, 14 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  "right-wing political commentary" 

message: In The New Yorker's Issue of 2006-07-31 article Know It All: Can Wikipedia conquer expertise? by Stacy Schiff, this artile is referred to with:
:What can be said for an encyclopedia that is sometimes right, sometimes wrong, and sometimes illiterate? When I showed the Harvard philosopher Hilary Putnam his entry, he was surprised to find it as good as the one in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. He was flabbergasted when he learned how Wikipedia worked. “Obviously, this was the work of experts,” he said. In the nineteen-sixties, William F. Buckley, Jr., said that he would sooner “live in a society governed by the first two thousand names in the Boston telephone directory than in a society governed by the two thousand faculty members of Harvard University.” On Wikipedia, he might finally have his wish. How was his page? Essentially on target, he said. All the same, Buckley added, he would prefer that those anonymous two thousand souls govern, and leave the encyclopedia writing to the experts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.121.114.82 (talk) 7:53, 4 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  New Yorker reference 

message: has edited the article to remove material stating that William F. Buckley Jr. supported white supremacy. I don't disagree with the edit because Buckley changed his views over time, but during the 1950s he made some troubling statements such as the following:
Four days before Thurmond began his record-setting filibuster [of
        what became the Civil Rights Act of 1957] and a week before the Senate
        approved Johnson's jury amendment, National Review published an
        editorial Buckley wrote, entitled "Why the South Must Prevail." The
        piece put the magazine on record in favor of both legal segregation
        where it existed (in accordance with the "states' rights" principle)
        and the right of southern whites to discriminate against southern
        blacks, on the basis of their race.  The editorial defended the right
        of whites to govern exclusively, even where they did not constitute a
        majority of the population in certain political jurisdictions. National
        Review justified its position on the grounds that whites were "the more
        advanced race," and as such were "entitled to rule." Buckley, the
        author of the editorial, made no mention of the role southern whites
        had played, through the social and legal systems they had put into
        place, in keeping southern blacks from rising to the point where he –
        or their white neighbors – would consider them "advanced" and therefore
        eligible to participate in the region's governance. He went so far as
        to condone violence whites committed in order to perpetuate prevailing
        practices. "Sometimes the minority cannot prevail except by violence,"
        Buckley wrote. Should a white community go this route, he urged that it
        first determine "whether the prevalence of its will is worth the
        terrible price." (A decade later, after southern whites, often incited
        by political leaders, increasingly resorted to violence to repress
        African American aspirations, Buckley began to moderate his opinions
        and eventually changed them.)
Strawberry4Ever (talk) 14:22, 10 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Buckley and white supremacy 

message: Does anyone know in which branch he served? He claimed he served in the infantry. The article only said that he served in the Army.  Creuzbourg (talk) 16:19, 8 June 2019 (UTC)
thread_title:  Army Branch? 

message: Should there be an "In Popular Culture" section?  Buckley's distinctive speaking style was widely parodied probably most notably by Robin Williams as the Genie in Disney's "Aladdin".  I think "Saturday Night Live" did several references to him as well.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 12.108.42.226 (talk) 04:11, 16 July 2020 (UTC)
replies: text: I dont see why not, best bet is to just be bold with your editing and make the section. I think it would add to the article quite nicely!Eruditess (talk) 09:08, 28 September 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  In Popular Culture? 

message: In the fourth paragraph the article says that "...Buckley displayed a willingness to respond to [Noam Chomsky's and Gore Vidal's] verbal jousting with physical violence." This is an unfair statement in its implication. It's being implied that Buckley was unable to respond somehow to whatever Chomsky and Vidal were saying and instead threatened the use of violence. While that may be true in the Vidal case (I haven't looked) it certainly isn't true in the Chomsky case. The full context of the clip is that Chomsky was saying he may or may not lose his temper in a certain argument or something like this, to which Buckley responded he'd better not because he'd punch him in the face. It was clearly a joke, delivered as such and received as such by Chomsky. He laughed and so did the people in the room. To say that Buckley was "willing to respond to their verbal jousting with physical violence" is weasel wording made to make Buckley look bad. Again, maybe it's true in the Vidal case, but it's certainly not in the Chomsky case. This line should be investigated further and possibly removed as it makes Buckley look violent when he isn't.
The joke starts at about 9:00 of the Chomsky debate. IkeFromPike (talk) 04:38, 25 March 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  Threats of violence 

message: In the childhood section, Buckley is credited with attending the Millbrook School (a preparatory school) until graduating in 1943. I believe this to be true"A Sad Farewell to Alumnus, William F. Buckley, Jr. ’43", Obituary on Millbrook's Website, https://www.millbrook.org/news-detail?pk=448383.
However, in the Education and Military Service section, he is said to have graduated from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in 1943 (the same year as his high school graduation). His LA Times obituaryCraft, S. (2008, February 28). William f. buckley jr., 82; author and founder of modern conservative movement. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 14, 2023, from https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-buckley28feb28-story.html. says he dropped out before joining OCS. Does anyone have a good source with more specifics on the timeframe between high school in 1943 and officer candidacy school in 1944? CyberAuditor (talk) 21:05, 14 July 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incongruous information in Education section