The Real Buckley

Some of us tired very quickly of the establishment obituaries for William Buckley that appeared earlier this month. David Gordon presents one contrary sliver of the man:

When Rothbard died, Buckley reacted with malicious spite. In an obituary published in National Review on February 6, 1995, Buckley classed Rothbard with the cultist David Koresh. He wrote: "In Murray’s case, much of what drove him was a contrarian spirit." Rothbard, in Buckley’s view, was mentally ill, the victim of "deranging scrupulosity." Buckley did not scruple to mock Rothbard, who, "huffing and puffing in the little cloister whose walls he labored so strenuously to contract," was left with "about as many disciples as David Koresh had in his little redoubt in Waco. Yes, Murray Rothbard believed in freedom, and yes, David Koresh believed in God." Buckley’s reference to "huffing and puffing" was especially deplorable, since Rothbard suffered from congestive heart failure.