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photo by TJG

Zagreb, Croatia

Sep.16, 2005

 

You probably saw the signs NO DOGS and NO GUNS.

How about this one?

 

This week American conservative minds mark 50 years of National Review, an influential conservative journal, and National Review celebrates 80 years of William F. Buckley Jr., the founder, editor and ideological soul of the journal. Here are some excerpts from the New York Observer (an influential left-leaning weekly!) editorial for the occasion:

Fifty years ago, William F. Buckley brought the conser-vative movement in America back to life by founding the National Review; [...] it earned the admiration of its allies and the grudging respect of its opponents. Indeed, it could be argued that Bill Buckley has done more to foster serious intellectual debate in this nation than any other person in the past half-century.

Mr. Buckley's brand of conservatism has always been suffused with intellectual rigor, common sense, precision and a healthy dose of humor.

To run a magazine for 50 years is no mean feat; it was made possible by Mr. Buckley's passionate belief in the power of ideas, and his ability to inspire and educate an entire generation of journalists and politicians. [...] Bill Buckley has, against all odds, created a new breed of politician and political discourse in this country, embodying not only what B. Goldwater once called 'the conscience of a conservative', but also the heart and truly transcendent decency of one.

I was not aware of all that when I subscribed to National Review in 1988. Yes, it is true that I am of conservative mind, but the main reason for the subscription was my disappointment in the level of reporting and writing in Time and Newsweek. I’ve enjoyed reading Mr. Buckley’s On the Right so much that I searched for more enlightenments in his books Happy Days Were Here Again and Nearer, My God. Fourteen years later I did not renew my subscription; the reasons are twofold: (1) I've realized that (unfortunately) I do not belong to Mr. Buckley's social class, and I don’t like virtual life, and (2) I was introduced to Economist, a very informative and very well written journal.

 
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Krešimir J. Adamić