William F. Buckley, Jr.: master of snobbish affectation and a lightweight intellectual despite profuse (and incessantly self-promoted) pretensions bolstered by a hefty gallery of sycophants. True to his class, he played dilettante in the US army and even the CIA, where he stayed for 2 years in the 1950s. Typical of his temperamental impudence, in 1954, Buckley co-wrote a book McCarthy and His Enemies with his brother-in-law, L. Brent Bozell Jr., strongly defending Senator Joseph McCarthy as a patriotic crusader against communism. In McCarthy and his Enemies he asserted that “McCarthyism … is a movement around which men of good will and stern morality can close ranks.” So much for this much admired icon of American conservatism.
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[learn_more caption=”MR. BUCKLEY AND DEMOCRACY”]
Buckley’s opposition to Communism extended to support of the overthrow and replacement of leftist governments by non-democratic forces. Buckley supported Spanish authoritarian dictator General Francisco Franco who led the rightist military rebellion in its military defeat of the Spanish Republic. He called Franco “an authentic national hero,” applauding his overthrow of Spanish Republican “visionaries, ideologues, Marxists and nihilists.”[61] He supported the military dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet that led the 1973 coup that overthrew Chilean president Salvador Allende’s democratically-elected Marxist government, referring to Allende as “a president who was defiling the Chilean constitution and waving proudly the banner of his friend and idol, Fidel Castro.”[62] SOURCE: Wikipedia. [/learn_more]
Social Science Findings about Conservatism
Why America is led by scumbags—(Summary)
“It’s a population unlikely to sustain democracy — fundamentally hostile toward democracy, favorable toward aristocracy; more respectful of people who take for themselves than of people who give of themselves; more trusting of people who exploit than of people who serve; more-comfortable being led by the callous than by the compassionate — a fundamentally myth-dependent deceived population…”
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SPECIAL COMMENT __________________________________ Animal People: Wake Up And Smell The Blood! Most animal activists are dog and cat rescuers. They relate to companion animals and dedicate themselves to helping them. They rescue, foster, transport, cross-post, and donate. Some trap, neuter, and release feral cats; others place shelter animals, hold adoption events, pick up strays, do home checks, raise funds for food and veterinary care. Rescuing is how most of us got involved in the animal movement. Because people of all political persuasions love animals and are willing to help, it was not readily apparent to most of us that rescuing… Read more »