The worthy opponent: Deceased Artiste William F. Buckley Jr.

America has gotten much, much dumber over the years, especially since the "Reagan revolution" (hock ptooey) hit us in 1980. The interesting thing to consider, though, is that the original standard bearers for conservatism were indeed wildly smart individuals like the now-late William F. Buckley. A mass of ticks and pretension in his public appearance, Buckley was an intellectual of the first order whose beliefs I oppose entirely, but who was worthy of debate, unlike his Neocon successors, for whom the term knuckle-dragger is a compliment (to wit, the President Chimp anecdote about how he attended a Buckley National Review soiree when he was young, and got liquor on the carpet — tee hee hee, shut up!). I have strong memories of a televised debate on PBS in the late '70s about the Panama Canal (a major issue when the Repubs were refreshingly not in power during the Swinging Seventies), wherein Ronald Reagan was soundly trounced by Buckley. Reagan may have been a friendly old evil bastard, but Buckley was his superior in all things conservative.

I eulogized the last literary wildman Norman Mailer a few weeks ago on this blog and should note that Norm was properly respectful of Bill B. — in fact, it's interesting to note that at his most volatile (right after Armies of the Night), he appeared on Firing Line and never once got cross with his host. Buckley was certainly an equal of Mailer's as far as intelligence was concerned. But genius? Buckley was not a genius, and in fact — in case, anyone thinks I'm getting misty-eyed about the old gent. I'd like to remember him with two items (both referenced in a Buckley thread on www.ronfez.net).

First this quote:
“The central question that emerges…is whether the White community in the South is entitled to take such measures as are necessary to prevail, politically and culturally, in areas where it does not predominate numerically? The sobering answer is Yes—the White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race.”
—William F. Buckley, National Review, August 24, 1957

And then this gorgeous bit of smart-guy TV. Herein, the clip I had heard so much about, but finally saw thanks to YouTube: Buckley getting tongue-tied in a debate with Gore Vidal during the '68 convention, and coming out with a homophobic slur and a challenge to fisticuffs. Vidal, definitely the last genius standing these days, has always had the ability to really PISS PEOPLE OFF. Buckley was indeed an intellectual giant, but man, just hit him with the word "Nazi" and the veneer came down....


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Let us all bow down to Tony Powers

For those who weren't around NYC in the early '80s, I humbly recommend this awesome bit of music video, which has been burrowed into my brain since I saw it in the late 1980s on U68, a UHF music-video channel in the NYC area that had a helluva playlist (Ramones, Kate Bush, Jimmy Somerville).

Powers is a character actor — you might remember him as "Jimmy Two-Times" in a bit at the beginning of Goodfellas — who blew me outta the water with this song and video. It has the sense of humor I like, some catchy damned lyrics, and a great bizarre vocal performance. I thought Powers was simply doing this on the side, but was surprised to see on his website (www.tonypowersmusic.com) that he actually co-wrote two hits for Phil Spector ('Today I Met the Boy I'm Going to Marry," "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts?"), the terrific doo-wop ditty "Remember When," the blissful "Lazy Day" by Spanky and Our Gang (damn, float me back to my childhood!), and one of my ALL-time fave one-hit wonder songs (dig those horns, man), "98.6" by Keith. Tony indeed is a multi-talented person whose face is familiar but whose name sadly isn't. He's got a new CD out (at www.cdbaby.com), and I eagerly await any and all film/video projects he may attempt in the future.

In the meantime, check out "Don't Nobody Move (This is a Heist)." The guest stars are all over the place (the oddest being a thin John Goodman, whose ass ends up in Powers' face), but the finale (Tony just sitting there, making mouth noises on the Square at night)... well, that's what NYC music is all about.


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