William F. Buckley

Seems like some awfully good people have "shuffled off this mortal coil" recently.

This week I pay tribute to William F. Buckley, an author and probably most well-known for his conservative commentary and views. He wrote more than 50 books, including works of fiction in the spy genre. He also played the piano and harpsichord quite well.

He founded National Review magazine, was a delegate to the United Nations, and spent much time on the television show, "Firing Line."

He passed away on February 27 at 82 years old.

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THE WIT AND WISDOM OF WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY

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

"I would like to electrocute everyone who uses the word 'fair' in connection with income tax policies."

"Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive."

"Liberals claim to want to give a hearing to other views, but then are shocked and offended to discover that there are other views."

"I get satisfaction of three kinds. One is creating something, one is getting paid for it and one is the feeling that I haven't just been sitting on my butt all afternoon."

"I'd rather entrust the government of the United States to the first 400 people listed in the Boston telephone directory than to the faculty of Harvard University."

"The academic community has in it the biggest concentration of alarmists, cranks and extremists this side of the giggle house."

"I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth."

[collected from at least five different quotation sites on the Web]

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And here is your obligatory reminder that if you live in a state which has decided to observe Daylight Savings Time, you must flip your clock ahead one hour on Sunday morning at 2:00 a.m., or do what the rest of us do and notch it up 60 minutes before your head hits the pillow on Saturday night.

I'll see you on Monday.

Mark

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WEB SITE of the WEEK: With this week's site, you can "keep the kids in mind" before selecting which movie to see. At http://www.kids-in-mind.com, you'll get a blow-by-blow account of such things as sex/nudity, violence/gore, profanity, substance use, and even suggestions for discussion topics and a quick take on what they think the movie is trying to say. Needless to say, a lot of spoilers are given away, and the site makes no judgments about the ethical or moral merits of the movie. One thing is sure, you won't be able to say you didn't know what was coming before you walk into the cinema.

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Mark's Musings is a Habeas-certified spam free mailer that is delivered to your Inbox each weekday for free. Subscribe, view past issues in the Archives, or help me defray publishing costs - I could really use the help - at my web site. To contact Mark, click here. To see me as a "featured guest blogger" on my friend Andy's often funny and always interesting blog, go to http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/aheller/. You can forward or reprint "Mark's Musings" freely but please keep the credits attached. The credits are fine, the credits are cool. Detaching the credits makes you a big ... meanie. Original material and commentary © 2008 by Mark Raymond. I update my blog with a copy of this post daily, and extra thoughts, videos, and things that go bump in the night periodically on the weekends. My personal mission statement is John 3:30. I'm growing my beard out, but I'm not exactly sure why, anymore.

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WORDS for YOUR WEEKEND: "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." (Martin Luther King, Jr.)