William F. Buckley's Legacy

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the passing
of the man credited with bringing conservatism to the
forefront of the American political scene, showing
the country, and indeed the world that conservatism is
much more than a bunch of lonely pamphleteers on city
street corners warning people of the Red Menace in
the Cold War or to exhort people to write their congressmen
to complain about rising income taxes; truly, this man,
William F. Buckley Jr. made conservatism a political force
to be reckoned with rather than treated lightly, taken
seriously rather than scoffed at. Weeding out extremist
elements such as racists, fascists, militaristic nationalists,
and general cranks, Buckley turned conservatism into
a serious and intellectually sound ideology, one that could
(and does) give a credible alternative to liberal statism
with its top-down, edict-driven method of governance.

Having begun his career as a man "standing athwart history
yelling 'STOP!' ", Buckley began a movement which took
over one major political party, resulting in its nominating
some of the most conservative candidates to run for the
presidency (not to mention candidates for both chambers
of congress, state governorships, and state legislators in
every state) and the election of Ronald Reagan as the most
transformational president since Franklin D. Roosevelt
to hold that office. Reagan put the brakes on the runaway
growth of the federal government, making it more responsive
to the people and their concerns. Founding National Review 
as a magazine of conservative thought and ideas, NR quickly
became the arbiter of the standards to which conservatism
and conservatives should comport themselves to in order to
maintain and enhance credibility, to define conservative tenets,
and to therefore create a conservative electoral majority.

William F. Buckley Jr. left this world and his work to begin
his restful repose on this day in 2008, leaving a legacy
of which we conservatives have ample reason to be proud.
As long as Buckley's ideals are honored and comported to,
he will always be alive. And conservatism shall remain a viable
and intellectually sound alternative to the rigid, uncompromising
governance of the superstate.


MEM