THE REAL WILLIAM F. BUCKLEY
BY CHIP DUCKETT:
In the precious "he was an intellectual conservative who passed away" obituaries that appeared today, no one seems to want to say that he advocated mandatory TATTOOING of people who were HIV positive in the 80's. MANDATORY.
He wanted to FORCE everyone who was HIV+ to be tattooed, so the general public would be able to easily identify --- thanks to those tattoos --- just who was "infected" and "dangerous." The Good People could run and hide! The esteemed William F. Buckley advocated forced, permanent physical markings for people who were HIV+.
Nazi Germany's yellow stars and pink triangles, anyone? Not really...those stars and triangles the Nazis instigated were sewn onto clothes. Clothes can be discarded. The esteemed Mr. Buckley demanded permanent markings on people's flesh.
Why is this important so many years later? Because he was so socially connected back then with politicians, media figures, and NYC's high society in the 80's that his horrifying views were given credence. And were seriously discussed. When people were frightened they looked for help from people they trusted.
And before anyone tries to say that people were ignorant then, and that we've all learned better in the interim, here comes Adolf Buckley in 2005 (in the National Review) boasting about having come up with the idea and suggesting it should still be implemented --- even making fun of the Concentration Camp connection. Har de har, Nazis! Heehee, Buchenwald jokes! (http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/wfb200502191155.asp)
I'm proud to say I was the one in ACT-UP who delivered his home address for picketing purposes back in the day. And I'm happy to realize that his neo-Nazi ideas were perceived as so stupid in 2005 that no one noticed when he said them then, or even remembers them now.
In the downtown NYC world in which I live, people often say how awful it is that "The Old New York Is Dying." Sometimes it isn't so awful. Some parts of The Old New York were really, really shitty. What do you do when you find yourself in the room with something so shitty? I don't know about you, but I happily flush the toilet.
Mr. Buckley wanted to FORCIBLY tattoo everyone who was HIV+ back in the 80's. He STILL wanted to 20 years later. One word for that: Fascist. Who gives a fuck about his magazine, or his fashion-plate society wife and her friends, or his upper-crust, erudite way with words? Hey, Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Hitler could paint a nice picture, I've heard.
He made his legacy.
He made his epitaph, too: RIP, Asshole.
Chip Duckett
PS: Don't forget to flush the toilet.
In the precious "he was an intellectual conservative who passed away" obituaries that appeared today, no one seems to want to say that he advocated mandatory TATTOOING of people who were HIV positive in the 80's. MANDATORY.
He wanted to FORCE everyone who was HIV+ to be tattooed, so the general public would be able to easily identify --- thanks to those tattoos --- just who was "infected" and "dangerous." The Good People could run and hide! The esteemed William F. Buckley advocated forced, permanent physical markings for people who were HIV+.
Nazi Germany's yellow stars and pink triangles, anyone? Not really...those stars and triangles the Nazis instigated were sewn onto clothes. Clothes can be discarded. The esteemed Mr. Buckley demanded permanent markings on people's flesh.
Why is this important so many years later? Because he was so socially connected back then with politicians, media figures, and NYC's high society in the 80's that his horrifying views were given credence. And were seriously discussed. When people were frightened they looked for help from people they trusted.
And before anyone tries to say that people were ignorant then, and that we've all learned better in the interim, here comes Adolf Buckley in 2005 (in the National Review) boasting about having come up with the idea and suggesting it should still be implemented --- even making fun of the Concentration Camp connection. Har de har, Nazis! Heehee, Buchenwald jokes! (http://www.nationalreview.com/buckley/wfb200502191155.asp)
I'm proud to say I was the one in ACT-UP who delivered his home address for picketing purposes back in the day. And I'm happy to realize that his neo-Nazi ideas were perceived as so stupid in 2005 that no one noticed when he said them then, or even remembers them now.
In the downtown NYC world in which I live, people often say how awful it is that "The Old New York Is Dying." Sometimes it isn't so awful. Some parts of The Old New York were really, really shitty. What do you do when you find yourself in the room with something so shitty? I don't know about you, but I happily flush the toilet.
Mr. Buckley wanted to FORCIBLY tattoo everyone who was HIV+ back in the 80's. He STILL wanted to 20 years later. One word for that: Fascist. Who gives a fuck about his magazine, or his fashion-plate society wife and her friends, or his upper-crust, erudite way with words? Hey, Mussolini made the trains run on time, and Hitler could paint a nice picture, I've heard.
He made his legacy.
He made his epitaph, too: RIP, Asshole.
Chip Duckett
PS: Don't forget to flush the toilet.
posted by Lady Bunny at Thursday, February 28, 2008
4 Comments:
Here! Here! My glass is raised to you,Lady Bunny!What a asshole!By the way,your blog as brought many an endless tear to my eyes!!Your fabulous!!
dont forget the nazis tattooed people that got sent to concentration camp with a number, so he's really not that different is he! I hate it when we're forced to sympathise with someone because they're dead, everyone dies, it's not that special.
I'll bet Gore Vidal had a toast to the demise of this asshole, as did I!
My little bit of history included organizing a protest against he and his departed wife, Pat Buckley:
http://cyclizen.blogspot.com/2008/02/dynamic-duo-dead.html
One of the ickiest days as a cater-waiter was serving him dinner at a party. I didn't have time to spit in it, but fictionalized such an act in my 2nd novel, "Monkey Suits."
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