Ghost of a flea: When Jackie Onassis died

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March 01, 2008

When Jackie Onassis died

I was not sure what to say and so I said nothing. Now Peggy Noonan has said it for me: On the passing of William F. Buckley.

I share here a fear. It is not that the conservative movement is ending, that Bill's death is the period on a long chapter. The house he helped build had--has--many mansions. Conservatism will endure if it is rooted in truth, and in the truths of life. It is.

It is rather that with the loss of Bill Buckley we are, as a nation, losing not only a great man. When Jackie Onassis died, a friend of mine who knew her called me and said, with such woe, "Oh, we are losing her kind." He meant the elegant, the cultivated, the refined. I thought of this with Bill's passing, that we are losing his kind--people who were deeply, broadly educated in great universities when they taught deeply and broadly, who held deep views of life and the world and art and all the things that make life more delicious and more meaningful. We have work to do as a culture in bringing up future generations that are so well rounded, so full and so inspiring.

Noonan has soaring rhetoric, appropriate to the occasion. All I have got is a personal analogy. A great teacher once explained to me you don't ride a Harley Davidson because it is the best bike on the road. Harley's generally do not have the most torque, the most power, the best acceleration or mileage. They are not competitively priced, are not necessarily a great ride and spend more time in parts on the living room floor (much more) than they do on the road. You do not ride a Harley for any quantifiable reason, you ride it because you see another guy on a Harley and you realize you want to be that guy.*

Reading Peggy Noonan now I think back to watching William F. Buckley on Firing Line. I wanted to be that guy.

* Or, in my case, on a BMW. There is a machine you can ride wearing a jacket and tie.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at March 1, 2008 07:44 AM

Comments

I spent five minutes looking for my copy. Hopefully, it's in storage. But the image I wanted you to see is here:

http://tinyurl.com/2la6p7

It's not a great image. But you get the idea. When I think of WF Buckley, this is the image of a "happy warrior". Not HHH.

Posted by: OregonGuy at March 1, 2008 12:21 PM