Goodbye, Mr. Buckley

William F. Buckley, Jr. died today at the age of 82.

My favorite story about Bill Buckley was that he had, at some point in the sixties or seventies, decided to find out what all this stuff about marijuana was about - so, he took his yacht out past the 20-mile limit and gave it a try. Legally, by his lights, I suppose.

Buckley was the founder of a new kind of conservatism, one that has affected every administration since the founding of the National Review. In his last years, he was highly critical of the Bush administration over its conduct of everything from the war in Iraq to school lunch menus.

Buckley was a gifted analyst and scholar, and his opinions were worth the listening, especially if one disagreed with him, as I often did.

Buckley worked up until his death, publishing his last article in the NRO on Feb. 2d. I'm glad it wasn't a two-parter.

R.i.p. W.f.b.

Another man who has helped form not only my belief structure, but my logic/arguing process. I'll miss him, even if I don't cherish him as I did when I was younger.

Bye bye.

Probably the true father of the modern conservative movement.

I learned a lot of new words (and lots of other good stuff) listening to Mr. Buckley.

RIP, Bill.

Also, goodbye to Boyd Coddington, hot-rodder el supremo, who went to the big garage in the sky on the same day as Mr. B.

RIP, Cod.

'I won't insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said.'

Dude could speak.