William F. Buckley est Mort

Here.

28 February update: Selected commentary on Bill Buckley's legacy:

http://www.lewrockwell.com/westley/westley26.html

http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/blogs/wolcott/2008/02/given-the-melli.html

http://radioequalizer.blogspot.com/2008/02/talk-radio-mourns-passing-of-william-f.html

http://blog.beliefnet.com/crunchycon/2008/02/bill-buckley-was-a-good-man.html

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/019662.html

http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/019644.html

The CIA agent, founder of the modern conservative movement, enforcer of warfare-state discipline on the right, brilliant writer and editor, transoceanic sailor, harpsichordist, TV star, charming aristocrat, founder of National Review and Young Americans for Freedom, enabler of neoconservatism, expeller of heretics from Birchers to Rothbardians, and thoroughly bad ideological influence in general, is dead at 82.

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat?pid=291671

http://leagueofthesouth.net/rebellion/index.php/site/buckley_bush_not_a_true_conservative/

29 February update: James Wolcott links to Dennis Perrin, who doesn't hesitate to speak ill of the dead.

Rich Lowry's retrospective on Buckley, originally from a 2004 issue of National Review.

Lew Rockwell and company have many posts on Buckley, diverging greatly from the standard line that Buckley was the saviour of modern conservatism. Below, a choice example:

Buckley's Tainted Coup
Posted by Lew Rockwell at February 29, 2008 10:44 AM
Writes Kevin Griffin: "William F. Buckley, Jr., was a favorite among 'liberals' (albeit, not classical liberals) because he purged the conservative movement of their nemeses: the Original Rightists. Buckley was the prototypical Big-Government conservative, i.e., the Cold War Democrats' Republican. His 'New Right' movement has since been augmented by the statist force of the neoconservatives. Thus, behold the end result of Buckley's tainted coup: John Sidney McCain III."

And a McCainite praises Buckley:
When he founded National Review more than 50 years ago (and to me, it does seem like only yesterday), conservatism looked like a dead philosophy. Prior to World War II, the dominant Republican philosophy on foreign policy was isolationism. In fiscal affairs, Republicans -- well, most of them -- were in favor of a balanced budget, something that was unlikely during World War II and in the subsequent Cold War.

Buckley's conservatism contained a strong element of traditional Roman Catholicism, although with a deep suspicion of Rooseveltian governmental intervention in people's affairs. Most of all, Buckley was opposed to collectivism, the dominant viewpoint underlying Communism, which appeared at the time to be the main competitor for mankind's hearts and minds.

1 March update: Cockburn weighs in.

17 March update: Grant Jones's Dougout posts Edward Cline's good-riddance.