samtanenhaus - Gawker

posts about #samtanenhaus more →
Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
Where To Find Your Favorite 'Times' Journalists In The New Building
Secret Workings Of 'Times' Book Review Exposed!
Remainders: Sayonara, Honmura An

Your version of Internet Explorer is not supported. Please upgrade to the most recent version in order to view comments.

Dsmvwl Admin Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×

BookishLookish
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
Richard Johnson had shit on Chrissy Buckley (mistress and kid on the side), maybe did a bit of strong-arming himself, and that's why it landed on Page Six? Or are my dates all off?
Reply

BookishLookish was starred BookishLookish was unstarred

FormerEnglishMajor
04/27/09

@BookishLookish: My favorite is that he refuses to see or have anything to do with his own kid - then complains in his memoir that his father didn't stick around for letters C-Z at his graduation ceremony.

Complete blindness to the irony - it's beautiful.
Reply

FormerEnglishMajor was starred

gawkimo
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
I think the best way to deal with WFB is to forget about him and everything he said. Fifty years from now thinking about WFB will be like us, today, thinking about some Whig party hack in the 1850s: "So and so was a favorite columnist and fervent supporter of protectionism and Millard Fillmore." He's already a dinosaur.
Reply

gawkimo was starred gawkimo was unstarred

FormerEnglishMajor
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
Why is WFB's consideration of suicide considered such earth-shattering news?

He was old, very ill, and had no chance of recovery. Plus he didn't commit suicide, just "thought about it". Where's the story?
Reply

FormerEnglishMajor was starred

skahammer
04/27/09

@FormerEnglishMajor: You may want to ask a lifelong and very public Catholic about this.
Reply

skahammer was starred skahammer was unstarred

FormerEnglishMajor
04/27/09

@skahammer: I'm married to one (well, he's not public). I thought the whole POINT was that your Catholicism helped you rein in and master these thoughts, not that you would never have any.

Guess I didn't realize "thinking" about something was worse, than, say - cheating on your wife and refusing to see your own son.
Reply

FormerEnglishMajor was starred

If_I_Had_a_Poodle
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
buckley was a miserable son of a bitch whose used his intellect and allowed it to be used to further the cause of rich white people in general and men in particular owning and running everything. his verbal gymnastics are impressive only to those who don't own a thesaurus.
Reply

If_I_Had_a_Poodle was starred

FormerEnglishMajor
04/27/09

@if_i_only_had_a_heart: And that's really what it was - impressive verbiage to hide offensive opinions.

Did you read the NYT Mag article on these people yesterday? Pat Buckley was apparently a pathological liar who needed attention, and WFB defines narcissist. If they were of a lower socio-economic strata, they'd be looked at with rolled eyes.

Only differences between Pat Buckley and Octomom are a rich husband and 13 kids.
Reply

FormerEnglishMajor was starred

Awesome X
04/27/09

@FormerEnglishMajor: The NYT Magazine piece made me free sorry for Christopher Buckley. His hero worship of his old man is unhealthy. It's unhealthy to revere a father so, even if the father performed legitimate heroics, must less leading the great charge of conning poor whites into believing that rich whites care an iota about anything resembling their interests. People close to WFB say he was kind and gracious in person, and perhaps that's what Christopher remembers and cherishes, but the piece reads as if Christopher holds his father on an unattainable pedestal. It's sad, because he's shown signs of at least being something of an independent thinker. It's like, Dude, your dad, like most dads but to a much, much greater and wider extent, was a huge dick. It's not something to be proud of.
Reply

Awesome X was starred Awesome X was unstarred

GuyBitchy
04/27/09

@Awesome X: Yes.

He was an asshole for the ages--a perfect personification of America's ugliest traits.
Reply

GuyBitchy was starred GuyBitchy was unstarred

If_I_Had_a_Poodle
04/27/09

@FormerEnglishMajor: perfectly said: "And that's really what it was - impressive verbiage to hide offensive opinions."

pig shit wrapped in a pretty package is still pig shit
Reply

If_I_Had_a_Poodle was starred

HiredGoons
04/27/09

@if_i_only_had_a_heart: with lipstick?
Reply

HiredGoons was starred HiredGoons was unstarred

son of spam
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
The man was incredible. Pissing out a car window is not an easy thing to do.
Reply

son of spam was starred son of spam was unstarred

momof3wildkids
04/27/09

@son of spam: I'm frankly trying to imagine the vectors of that situation? How is that possible?
Reply

momof3wildkids was starred momof3wildkids was unstarred

TableNine
04/27/09

@momof3wildkids: Hasn't anyone heard of a bottle? Savages.
Reply

TableNine was starred TableNine was unstarred

BookishLookish
04/27/09

@son of spam: I don't know, he did do a lot of pissing in the wind throughout his writing life, IMHO.
Reply

BookishLookish was starred BookishLookish was unstarred

MrInBetween
04/27/09

@son of spam: Even more amazing, he simultaneously wrote a 900-word column with one-hand!
Reply

MrInBetween was starred MrInBetween was unstarred

raincoaster
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
Well, if YOU were William F. Buckley, wouldn't you think about it?
Reply

raincoaster was starred raincoaster was unstarred

If_I_Had_a_Poodle
04/27/09

@raincoaster: applause
Reply

If_I_Had_a_Poodle was starred

momof3wildkids
04/27/09

@raincoaster: Pretty heartless comment, in my opinion. Emphysema is a horrible way to go. I guess empathy only is extended to liberals?
Reply

momof3wildkids was starred momof3wildkids was unstarred

Monkeyrash
04/27/09

@momof3wildkids: Speaking as someone who just lost a family member to suicide, I do not wish that desperateness on anyone, regardless of their political leanings.
Reply

Monkeyrash was starred Monkeyrash was unstarred

onebadclam
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
Chris Buckley's comments about Gawker were a tad heartless, IMO. The Gawker editorial staff are people too, young Mr. B.
Reply

onebadclam was starred onebadclam was unstarred

Awesome X
04/27/09

@onebadclam: And it was totally off; the headline surely would've said something about Vidal.
Reply

Awesome X was starred Awesome X was unstarred

Pope John Peeps II
04/27/09

In reply to Times Suppressed News of William F. Buckley's Suicide Impulse
Although "Lion of the Right Considers Impossibly Difficult Decision Regarding Suffering and the State of His Soul Before Ultimately Making a Choice that Accorded With His Inner Beliefs" actually sounds kind of good right about now in this new Obama age of rational decision making and thoughtful consequence.

Come on, right. You contemplate. We know you do. In the post-Bush age it's okay to contemplate. You can even spell the word correctly now and not lose the NASCAR vote. There's a black man in office, anything is possible!
Reply

Pope John Peeps II was starred

Earlier discussions Other discussions Show all discussions Show featured discussions only Start a new discussion