Agree or disagree that he's a big villain of the 20th century and why?

.@ComicDaveSmith : I view Bill Buckley as one of the great villains of the 20th century@TuckerCarlson: I couldn't agree more! pic.twitter.com/PMjKWAErIU

— Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) November 29, 2023

I knew instantly who they were talking about, but not well enough to understand why they have their opinion. Anyone care to make the argument for me as to why he should be hated?

This is one of the comments.

Quote:

---

Murray Rothbard in The Betrayal of the American Right:

"In the light of hindsight, we should now ask whether or not a major objective of National Review from its inception was to transform the right wing from an isolationist to global warmongering anti-Communist movement; and, particularly, whether or not the entire effort was in essence a CIA operation. We now know that Bill Buckley, for the two years prior to establishing National Review, was admittedly a CIA agent in Mexico City, and that the sinister E. Howard Hunt was his control. His sister Priscilla, who became managing editor of National Review, was also in the CIA; and other editors James Burnham and Willmoore Kendall had at least been recipients of CIA largesse in the anti-Communist Congress for Cultural Freedom. In addition, Burnham has been identified by two reliable sources as a consultant for the CIA in the years after World War II."

---

Rapier108 said:

---

Ellis Wyatt said:

---

Rush Limbaugh viewed him as the greatest hero. So there's that.

---

I'd agree with Rush every single day over Tucker who has been going off the rails more and more lately.

---

Tucker is not a true conservative, even if he's right a lot of the time.

Rapier108 said:

---

Ellis Wyatt said:

---

Rush Limbaugh viewed him as the greatest hero. So there's that.

---

I'd agree with Rush every single day over Tucker who has been going off the rails more and more lately.

---

Off the rails on what specifically?

Tucker is losing his mind.

The foundation of the Internationalist Right was with Teddy Roosevelt, Henry Cabot Lodge, John Hay, Elihu Root, and Alfred Thayer Mahan.

It predates the CIA by about fifty years.

Why in the hell would he be considered evil?

Tucker had a rant about "trucker's jobs" that was off the rails. Showed to me that he lacks true economic understanding. Just picks his economic principles like cashews from a can of mixed nuts.

He seems to jump at conspiracies whether or not they have substance and he seems to enjoy being deliberately contrarian. He sometimes gets ridiculous with it in my view.

I appreciate it when he points out hypocrisy and important matters that need attention be he isn't always correct in my view. He plays to an audience that wants to believe a certain counterculture dogma, and that has some flaws sometimes.

MouthBQ98 said:

---

He seems to jump at conspiracies whether or not they have substance and he seems to enjoy being deliberately contrarian. He sometimes gets ridiculous with it in my view.

I appreciate it when he points out hypocrisy and important matters that need attention be he isn't always correct in my view. He plays to an audience that wants to believe a certain counterculture dogma, and that has some flaws sometimes.

---

Thanks. I don't watch him. I just see some clips of him now and then and they usually seem to be spot on so, I wasn't sure exactly what. But I'm sure there's a lot more out there that I'm not seeing.

aTmAg said:

---

Tucker had a rant about "trucker's jobs" that was off the rails. Showed to me that he lacks true economic understanding. Just picks his economic principles like cashews from a can of mixed nuts.

---

IIRC, Tucker's point was that shifting to drone/bot trucking would put some 2M+ American males out of a job in short order and that would be very bad for the country for multiple reasons. And he is/was not wrong about that.

I don't think his point was economic ignorance so much as a canary in the mineshaft that AI and automation have some scary implications we may not be considering or heading towards too quickly.

it was coryatt

annie88 said:

---

Rapier108 said:

---

Ellis Wyatt said:

---

Rush Limbaugh viewed him as the greatest hero. So there's that.

---

I'd agree with Rush every single day over Tucker who has been going off the rails more and more lately.

---

Off the rails on what specifically?

---

He lost me with that softball interview of Trump where he didn't mention Covid or vaccines once. This is after years of Tucker railing on both and criticizing Trump. He treated him softer than The View interviewing Michelle Obama.

2ndGen87 said:

---

William F. Buckley created the conservative movement. He was a devout Catholic. He was not evil in any way.

His batting average is better than mine.

---

Buckley was slammed for not criticizing the John Birch Society a extremists and authoritarian. But Buckley was running magazine he wanted to sell and was pragmatic enough to understand that John Birch rank and file were motivated and stalwart in their support for conservatism. He was a Big Tent kind of conservative.

The Rockefeller Country Club Republicans did not like that.

He was a massive gatekeeper ensuring that any forces that tried to pull the Republican party too far to the right were banished. He wrote a 40,000 word essay stating Pat Buchanan had said "antisemitic things" two days after Buchanan had announced he was running against Bush for the Republican nod for President. He did virtually the same thing against the John Birch society.

aggiehawg said:

---

2ndGen87 said:

---

William F. Buckley created the conservative movement. He was a devout Catholic. He was not evil in any way.

His batting average is better than mine.

---

Buckley was slammed for not criticizing the John Birch Society a extremists and authoritarian. But Buckley was running magazine he wanted to sell and was pragmatic enough to understand that John Birch rank and file were motivated and stalwart in their support for conservatism. He was a Big Tent kind of conservative.

The Rockefeller Country Club Republicans did not like that.

---

He was pretty anti-John Birch society, he wrote an article about them in the 60's in National Review urging the Republican party to "purge them from their system" as they were "far removed from reality"

Urban Ag said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

Tucker had a rant about "trucker's jobs" that was off the rails. Showed to me that he lacks true economic understanding. Just picks his economic principles like cashews from a can of mixed nuts.

---

IIRC, Tucker's point was that sifting to drone/bot trucking would put some 2M+ American males out of a job in short order and that would be very bad for the country for multiple reasons. And he is/was not wrong about that.

I don't his point economic ignorance so much as a canary in the mineshaft that AI and automation have some scary implications we may not be considering or heading towards to quickly.

---

He was wrong about that. Machines taking over tasks to allow humans to do other things has been the basis of human achievement for centuries. If we didn't have things like tractors, then 80% of us would still need to be farmers to feed ourselves. Now that each farmer can use machines to feed 150+ people, the rest of us are free to work on other stuff that greatly improves our lives. Trucking is no different. Farmers are far more important than truckers. Yet automating farms has been great for society as a whole.

annie88 said:

---

Off the rails on what specifically?

---

Quote:

---

Around the time of Buckley's editorial, proposals surfaced. Editor Frank Meyer recommended that they write an article criticizing Welch's "extravagances," but he cautioned against attacking the rank and file. "Some of the solidest conservatives in the country are members of the John Birch Society," he reasoned, "and we should act in such a way as to alienate them no more than is strictly necessary from a moral, political, or tactical point of view." Another Buckley ally reminded him in a letter, "As Senator Goldwater told you: The members appear to be high type, educated and dedicated anti-communist conservatives," including "some important businessmen."

The top editors concurred. Welch was fair game. But, as publisher William Rusher wrote in a memo, "We are going to have to open our minds to the possibility that the society is going to be around for quite a while and that its membership as distinguished from its founder has not yet earned our condemnation, by any means."

Prominent Birchers applied fierce pressure on Buckley to steer clear of the controversy and say nothing negative at all. Clarence Manion, a Birch leader and National Review contributor, pointedly warned Buckley that criticism from his magazine would enable the dreaded liberals to "drive a hole through the wall of conservative opposition," splitting their ranks and allowing their opponents to seize the political advantage. He added that "the origins of this drive against John Birch are so foul and disreputable that I cannot describe them in a telegram."

Any Birch-National Review showdown, one correspondent wrote, "could be apocalyptic." Paul Talbert, a member of the society's National Council, warned Buckley that Birchers might react negatively to any criticisms, causing them to withhold their support from the magazine. "I want to see the National Review succeed," he wrote, "but I hope you can see you are putting me on a permanent 'hot seat.'" Talbert was already taking heat from his local press in California and urged Buckley not to join the pile-on. He had been called "a satrap, fascist, neo-fascist, silver shirt, brown shirt, black shirt, red shirt, etc."

Buckley vowed "to make it absolutely clear that National Review approves of the John Birch Society, while disapproving [of] Bob's tendency to frame his entire position on the presumption of endemic disloyalty." In a letter to Goldwater, who would become the 1964 presidential nominee thanks in part to the active support of many Birchers,

Buckley was blunter: "Bob Welch is of course nuts on the Eisenhower-Dulles business. But the society has some very good people in it. … It is a pity W. didn't restrain himself. I fear he will do our cause much damage." About a month later, his first editorial about Welch, titled "The Uproar," published in National Review.

---

LINK

aTmAg said:

---

Urban Ag said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

Tucker had a rant about "trucker's jobs" that was off the rails. Showed to me that he lacks true economic understanding. Just picks his economic principles like cashews from a can of mixed nuts.

---

IIRC, Tucker's point was that sifting to drone/bot trucking would put some 2M+ American males out of a job in short order and that would be very bad for the country for multiple reasons. And he is/was not wrong about that.

I don't his point economic ignorance so much as a canary in the mineshaft that AI and automation have some scary implications we may not be considering or heading towards to quickly.

---

He was wrong about that. Machines taking over tasks to allow humans to do other things has been the basis of human achievement for centuries. If we didn't have things like tractors, then 80% of us would still need to be farmers to feed ourselves. Now that each farmer can use machines to feed 150+ people, the rest of us are free to work on other stuff that greatly improves our lives. Trucking is no different. Farmers are far more important than truckers. Yet automating farms has been great for society as a whole.

---

Thanks. I had no idea machines made life easier. I'll let Tucker know.

TRM said:

---

Agree or disagree that he's a big villain of the 20th century and why?

.@ComicDaveSmith : I view Bill Buckley as one of the great villains of the 20th century@TuckerCarlson: I couldn't agree more! pic.twitter.com/PMjKWAErIU

— Liam McCollum (@MLiamMcCollum) November 29, 2023

---

Buckley is a true conservative and a better model for who our representatives should be than much of what is championed these days. I'm sure many will just call him a RINO because he doesn't fit neatly into the new conservative definition which includes burn it all down, bowing to Trump and believing every conspiracy over the last 7 years.

Yep, they'll likely find ways to vilify Reagan soon. But hey, this is just my 'schtick' according to Cosmonaut.

Buckley a villain?

Lmfao.

Buckley was also a virtuoso of writing and the English language.

aggiehawg said:

---

2ndGen87 said:

---

William F. Buckley created the conservative movement. He was a devout Catholic. He was not evil in any way.

His batting average is better than mine.

---

Buckley was slammed for not criticizing the John Birch Society a extremists and authoritarian. But Buckley was running magazine he wanted to sell and was pragmatic enough to understand that John Birch rank and file were motivated and stalwart in their support for conservatism. He was a Big Tent kind of conservative.

The Rockefeller Country Club Republicans did not like that.

---

Buckley was largely the guy who officially read the Birch society out of the "conservative" movement.

He also disowned many of the original "Old Right" thinkers who didn't go along with open borders and globalism in general.

He may have started out as a "big tent" conservative but when the neoconservatives declared war on the Old right during the 1980's he made common cause with them and disowned many of the original members of the Old Right such as Russell Kirk, etc...

Terminus Est said:

---

He was a massive gatekeeper ensuring that any forces that tried to pull the Republican party too far to the right were banished. He wrote a 40,000 word essay stating Pat Buchanan had said "antisemitic things" two days after Buchanan had announced he was running against Bush for the Republican nod for President. He did virtually the same thing against the John Birch society.

---

At the time, some people felt Buchanan's candidacy was a false flag operation designed to take the wind out of David Duke's sails.

William F Buckley is often quoted as saying that he would rather be governed by the first 1,000 people listed in the phone book than by the faculty members from Harvard. He created conservatism, denounced the Birchers, and did more to promote private property rights, the free market, and most importantly, limited government, then anybody. Tucker and this comedian are just going for clicks as usual.

He said what a lot of people wanted to say when he threatened to punch Gore Vidal in the mouth.

Urban Ag said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

Urban Ag said:

---

aTmAg said:

---

Tucker had a rant about "trucker's jobs" that was off the rails. Showed to me that he lacks true economic understanding. Just picks his economic principles like cashews from a can of mixed nuts.

---

IIRC, Tucker's point was that sifting to drone/bot trucking would put some 2M+ American males out of a job in short order and that would be very bad for the country for multiple reasons. And he is/was not wrong about that.

I don't his point economic ignorance so much as a canary in the mineshaft that AI and automation have some scary implications we may not be considering or heading towards to quickly.

---

He was wrong about that. Machines taking over tasks to allow humans to do other things has been the basis of human achievement for centuries. If we didn't have things like tractors, then 80% of us would still need to be farmers to feed ourselves. Now that each farmer can use machines to feed 150+ people, the rest of us are free to work on other stuff that greatly improves our lives. Trucking is no different. Farmers are far more important than truckers. Yet automating farms has been great for society as a whole.

---

Thanks. I had no idea machines made life easier. I'll let Tucker know.

---

Somebody should let him know. That's econ 101.

i would have liked to hear that entire segment of the interview rather than just the one soundbyte with almost no context. It sounded like Tucker's guest was about to elaborate when the video cut out.