Noam Chomsky has always seemed out of his depth not in linguistics—the field he literally revolutionized—but in the realm of political thought. Nevertheless, this clip is well-worth your time. Three major observations— 1.) Oh what a falling off was there in conservative TV programming, which was dominated in the 1960s by William F. Buckleys Firing Line—witty as hell, Ivy-erudite, and dare I say gritty—in contrast to which, Rupert Murdochs Fox News is a tragic joke and a sign of the decline of the American Intellect. Really, how much of Fox News loyalest audience members could keep apace with these 12 minutes? 2.) Theres no way around it: Chomsky schooled Buckley. Badly, too. But thats not to say that the anarcho-syndicalist was right and the arch-conservative wrong. Buckley simply wasnt a good enough shot to defend his admirable position. I get the impression that he was a bit too stunned by Chomskys intellectual showboating to formulate coherent ripostes. Hell, I saw more than a few points where I couldve interceded on Buckleys behalf. In my opinion: Buckley shouldve throw off the gloves, shuffled off his gentlemanly airs, and gone full-on-ad hominem on Chomskys hypocritical arse—for Buckley was the least hypocritical of the pair. Whereas Bill Buckley courageously owned his tweedy snobbery, never pretending to be anything other than the product of Connecticut wealth poached from Mexican oil fields, Chomsky rather ironically drew and continues to draw a paycheck from a university supported by Buckley-like benefactors. 3.) The last few minutes of this clip are the real gold. We see Chomsky, decades later, observe that the present-day conservative movement is not really conservative at all. And Id agree. Now, I know (and love) many people who are a part of this very movement, but theyre tragically unaware of how far removed their current beliefs are from the trajectory of historical American conservatism. The truth is that conservatisms great canonist Russell Kirk—and, yes, even Buckley while were at it—would consider figures like Ted Cruz and Michele Bachmann to be unconscionable hacks unworthy of even sharpening the quills or refilling the ink on the standishes of Mssrs. John Adams and Alexander Hamilton, American conservatisms true godfathers and among my most personal of heroes. Whenever Im asked why I left the GOP, my answer is a thoroughly justifiable corrective: I left nothing; my party left me. https://youtube/watch?v=-gsFb0uSG5w
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 07:31:49 +0000
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