glangdale 7 years ago

They neglect to mention that when Mailer decked Vidal (I think calling it a fight is an exaggeration), Vidal, still on the floor, is reported to have retorted: “Words fail Norman Mailer yet again.”.

They do manage to keep his commentary on Capote's death ("A good career move").

DoctorNick 7 years ago

Nothing typifies Buckley's conservative intellectual schtick more than him saying "queeah" in that mid-atlantic accent.

  • nervousvarun 7 years ago

    Was a horrible thing to say, but the context is rarely fully explained. Vidal called him a "nazi" first.

    He served in the U.S. Army in WWII and was a member of Franklin Roosevelt's honor guard...so that probably was a pretty "deep cut" as an insult for someone with his military background.

    Again doesn't make it right, but probably safe to say for him it was not the same as calling someone that from r/The_Donald in 2018.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_F._Buckley_Jr.

    • dantheman0207 7 years ago

      Buckley did serve in the army during WWII, as did Vidal. Both of them served stateside and never saw any action.

      During the debate, after the infamous “queer” remark, Buckley said that he “served in the infantry during WWII,” implying that he had fought in battle, which he never had.

    • lsd5you 7 years ago

      He is not a Nazi because he fought against them, but someone who had the same views as him today simply would be labelled a Nazi (or at least Nazi sympathizer) by many in the current environment. Strange times.

      • tgarma 7 years ago

        Yes, the generation that fought the Nazis, white Christians, would now be called Nazis. Hell, you get called Alt-Right believing anything before five years ago.