E.J. Dionne - Buckley: The Right's Practical Intellectual

E.J. Dionne in the Washington Post:

It is time that I confess to an illicit love. I am now, and have been almost all my life, an admirer of William F. Buckley Jr...

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Buckley was determined to rid the right of the wing nuts. He was, to his everlasting credit, the scourge of an anti-Semitism that once had a hold on significant parts of the right. He also blasted the strange conspiracy theories of the John Birch Society...

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But if liberals are to exercise power again, they need to come to terms with Buckley's genius in understanding how ideas interact with the day-to-day needs of politics. Buckley was more intellectual than most practical politicians, and more practical than most intellectuals...

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My main criticism of Buckley is that he was far too effective on behalf of a movement that I think should be driven from power. And if you read that as a compliment, you're right.