Wikipedia
Back in the beginning of the AIDS crisis, Buckley suggested all HIV+ Americans get visibly tattooed to warn and protect the public. Very soon after this Machiavellian suggestion, Buckley had a biopsy sent to a laboratory where an AIDS activist from ACT-UP was a technician. When becoming aware it was Buckley’s biopsy, the diagnosis of “Kaposi Sarcoma” was sent out. To Buckley’s horror, that he may have contracted an AIDS related cancer, he was re-biopsied and coincidentally, the same lab tech received the specimen and the same diagnosis was sent. Biopsy Terrorism. Ah. Sweet Revenge. Good riddance to bad karma.
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ABC Whitewashes Buckley – Neo-Nazis Don’t
Buckley Calls Gore Vidal A “Queer” on Live TV 1968 – But during one of the TV debates at the 1968 Democrat Convention between the highly erudite William F. Buckley, Jr. and the celebrated novelist Gore Vidal, Buckley called Gore a “goddamn queer” and threatened to beat him up. – Sweetness & Light
“Now listen, you queer- stop calling me a crypto-Nazi, or I’ll sock you in your goddamn face and you’ll stay plastered.”—To Gore Vidal, 1968 Ooooh! I’m sure Gore was just shakin’ in his go-go boots!
DC Republican calls us a “leftist blog.”
READ RADAR’S WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY’S GREATEST HITS
[…] What is the posts headline: William F. Buckley Jr. Joins Dead Homophobes Club […]
As a liberal I too am sad today over this death.
As a teenager I found myself watching his “Firing Line” program, and was in awe that someone could have such a rich and diverse vocabulary. And use all the words in such a way that the ordinary sentence was almost poetry. While listening to his program I would learn new words for my own usage. When was the last time anyone said that about a television program?
I know of very few people on television that could ever match his intellectual power. While his political point of view was often in sharp contrast to mine I was never able to stop listening to the way he spoke. Even years later, in the occasional interview on televison, I would be drawn to his slightly elitist charm and world-class intelligence.
I guess the best programs he ever did on the air, in my estimation, were the debates that he orchestrated and helped star in. Powerful thinkers engaged in serious dialogue on issues that mattered. Sadly, much has passed over the years, including the art of debate without rancor.
We always say when the big names such as William F. Buckley pass away, that we will not see their kind again.
In this case it is true.
It is unfortunate when men of power and intellect are grossly biased and base. Even great dictators have been admired for their cunning.
We don’t speak badly about the dead. Buckley’s dead. Good.
It’s William FRANCIS Buckley. His father’s middle name was Frank. May his brain reside in heaven and his tarred little heart remain in hell where it always has been. Still, the American scene is already less interesting as a result of his passing.
What proof or support do you have for the KS diagnosis anecdote?
[…] But I haven’t been a part of it, and I intend to keep it that way. When I see the sort of over-reactive disrespect engendered by over-reactive disrespect, it makes me sad for society, and all the more likely to […]
Melissa- correction noted. Back in the mid to late 80s when many of us in the HIV community were grappling for sound advice and hoping for swift action on the part of our leaders, Buckley – already exposed as a racist and a homophobe – thought it prudent to have HIV+ individuals tattooed in obvious places. This type of rhetoric was reminiscent of Nazi Germany.
This anecdote was told to me first hand by the technician as it was happening. Granted, it is all heresay – but within the context of a horrific time for many – the story was satisfying despite the unethical behavior on the part of the technician.
I find it puzzling how after twenty five years, even Reagan is being remembered well.
Stop your obsessive concern over my sexuality. That is criminal. Buckley was a homophobic prick. Good riddance.