Buckley Dead at 82

William F. Buckley, Jr., one of the major figures in the resurgence of conservatism in the U.S. has died at 82. Buckley, "born to the manor" to a wealthy New York family, was a Yale-educated, often condescending, and aristocratic spokesman and publisher for right wing causes for some 50 years, but he was at the same time entertaining and interesting on his long-running "Firing Line" program (ironically, on commercial-free public television). He counted some progressive luminaries, such as John Kenneth Galbraith and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. among his friends. To his credit, he lacked the crude, thuggish instincts of today's Limbaugh/Coulter/Hannity/Savage crew of reactionary bloviators.