Happy Days Were Here Again; Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist PDF
Preview Happy Days Were Here Again; Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist
WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY JR. Happy Days Were Here Again Reflections of a Libertarian Journalist E P B DITED BY ATRICIA OZELL A Member of the Perseus Books Group A Member of the Perseus Books Group New York Copyright © 1993 by William F. Buckley Jr. Hardcover first published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, in 1993. Paperback first published in 2008 by Basic Books, A Member of the Perseus Books Group All rights reserved. Books published by Basic Books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information, please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group, 2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call (800) 810-4145, ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected]. The essays that appear in this work have been previously published in Esquire, Family Weekly, 50 Plus magazine, National Review, The New York Times, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Sunday Magazine, Playboy, Primary Color, Spirit of America, Vanity Fair, and Mr. Buckley’s syndicated column. BOOK DESIGN BY NAOMI OSNOS The Library of Congress has catalogued the hardcover edition of this book as follows: Buckley, William F. (William Frank), 1925– Happy days were here again : reflections of a libertarian journalist / William F. Buckley, Jr.; edited by Patricia Bozell. p. cm. Includes index. ISBN 0-679-40398-1 1. Bozell, Patricia B. II. Title. Paperback: ISBN: 978-0-465-00335-8 For Patricia Buckley Bozell —my editor and my beloved sister Acknowledgments I am indebted primarily to Mrs. Bozell, senior editor of Regnery Gateway, who served as the editor of this collection, for her industry, her editorial shrewdness, and for her thoughtful conclusion that her older brother is the best thing to happen to literature since Homer. Samuel Vaughan, who has been my editor ever since happiness came to me as an author, superintended the enterprise. And Chaucy Bennetts briefly retired from retirement to track down my solecisms and set me right in one thousand places. Dorothy McCartney has for many years headed up the research library at National Review. I would not give out the date of the Declaration of Independence without first checking with her. I am indebted to Tony Savage for his intelligent typing and collating, to Frances Bronson for her editorial intelligence and for her warm enthusiasm, and to Joe Isola for one more example of his unerring eye as a proofreader. My thanks to Carsten Fries of Random House for his good work as production editor, and to Naomi Osnos, also of Random House, for the attractive design. Contents Acknowledgments Introduction By John Leonard ONE — ASSAILING —Twelve Targets 1 The So-Whatness of Nuclear Winter (Carl Sagan) 2 Jesse on My Mind (Jesse Jackson) 3 Cuomitis (Mario Cuomo) 4 Black Thought, Black Talk (Ted Kennedy) 5 Excavating the Titanic (Lowell Weicker) 6 The Birth of BuckPac (Lowell Weicker) 7 Lenny Explains (Leonard Bernstein) 8 Eight Down, ? To Go (Elizabeth Taylor) 9 Count Me Out (John Lennon) 10 The Perils of Perotocracy (Ross Perot) 11 It’s a Wonderful Life (John Kenneth Galbraith) 12 I Confess (Bob Dylan) —Policy: Confusions Abounding 13 Religion Scorned (Can the ayatollah and Swaggart discredit religion?) 14 Terminological Right of Way (Label it a “civil right” and you’re in) 15 Sleaze, 18-Karat (Who hurts more, the pickpocket or the demagogue?) 16 Legal Legerdemain (The liberals’ veto on capital punishment) 17 The Professor Doesn’t Understand (Why his son, the Marine, must go to war) 18 Understanding “Fairness” (The planted axioms in redistributionist policy) 19 It Is Too Much! (The failure to understand Los Angeles) 20 His Supreme Preppiness (The snob’s attack on Bush) TWO — ANALYZING 1 The Great Gorbachev Years —1985: Gorbachev Comes In (The Soviet line on arms reduction) —1988: So Long, Evil Empire? (Mr. Reagan visits Moscow) —1989: Exiting Afghanistan (The war was a mistake) —1989: Gorbachev Meets The Pope (Christianity and communism are the same) —1989: Hallelujah! (The Berlin Wall comes down) —1992: The Soviet Union Is Dead (Gorbachev writes to “Dear Ronald”) 2 The Academic Scene —Hanover Blues (Stirrings at Dartmouth) —The Great Purge (What happened at Dartmouth) —Passion Among Ivypersons (The New Protocols of the Yale Daily News) —The Indian at Dartmouth (Angela Davis is honored) —The Protesters at Wesleyan (William Manchester tells them about war) —Commencement Time! (Multiculturalism at Vassar, Columbia) —On Learning From Other Cultures (Multiculturalists, beware) 3 Morals, Religion, and Censorship —Playboy Needs Your Help (A problem or two for Hef) —Sex And Paradox (What is the role of conscience?) —The Strange Uses of Tolerance (Is tolerance always exactly the right thing?) —Are You “Responsible”? (Some reflections on unwanted children) —See No God? (Does politics exclude God?) —The Surrender of the Corcoran Gallery (Political correctness in the art world) —Understanding Mapplethorpe (The controversy, and the question of censorship) 4 The Nomination of Clarence Thomas —The Resistance of Black Leaders (But is there black solidarity?) —The Reasons Thomas Is Unfit (Given in the Aesopian mode) —The End of the Affair (Thomas is nominated, and the process is disgraced) 5 The Gulf War —The United Nations as Partner (Is our partnership binding? Wise?) —Is It Worth Joey’s Life? (How to think about the dead soldier) —Stop the U.S.S.R. Now (Reflections on D-day maneuvers by Moscow) —George Bush Faces Down Institutional Christianity (At church on D day plus 1, the president faces down his preacher) —The Abandonment of the Kurds (Bush threatens to lose his moral mandate) —Causing Tears (The purity of a commander in chief) T — C HREE OMMENTING —Oh, For the Simple Transaction (The big reminders, from small experiences) —The Fight Against Ho-Hum Anti-Terrorism (A briefing from a casualty of the Entebbe raid) —Making Policy as the Crow Flies (Why not just hang the drug merchants?) —More of the Same (Our leaders deplore drugs) —The Exquisite Philanthropy of Mr. Lang (He will pay the poor kids’ college bills) —Is There a Role for the Moralist? (It’s entirely possible that people who devote themselves to the discipline can better distinguish between right and wrong) —Quick! Get Milton Friedman on the Line! (A conversation after the market crash) —We’ll See You for $100 Billion (A fantasy: $$$ in exchange for bombs) —The Slow Death of Princess Di (Maybe the Royals should just grin and bear it?) —Restoration Time? (Maybe the Royals could actually serve) —An Agenda for Conservatives (As published in National Review in January 1990) FOUR — REFLECTING 1 Remembering Communism (Lest we forget) —Ten Years After Vietnam (The perils of losing at war) —What If They Were Nazis? (The immunities of communist leaders) —Terrorism at the Expense of the Soviets? (How to handle one’s children)
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