“William F. Buckley” on The Daily Caller

In a 1968 episode of “Firing Line,” world famous boxer Muhammad Ali took on host Bill Buckley, the conservative icon who founded the National Review, and several other guest questioners. Ali made the appearance during the period he was stripped of his titles and banned from boxing for refusing to be drafted into the U.S. military. (more)

Is it time for the Buckley Rule to go the way of geocentricism, spontaneous generation and alchemy? (more)

Some of the loudest voices on the right continue to categorize Ron Paul’s foreign policy views as “leftist.” It is true that like many on the left, Paul has been a staunch opponent of the Iraq War, our decade-long presence in Afghanistan and the recent intervention in Libya. (more)

Thom Hartmann is the host of “The Thom Hartmann Program,” America’s leading liberal radio talk show and the eighth most important talk show in the country as ranked by Talkers magazine. Weeknights, Hartmann also hosts the “The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann” on RT and Free Speech TV. (more)

For a group of people who supposedly pride themselves on the principles laid down in the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and other U.S. foundational documents, one would expect a genuine and enlightened debate instead of groundless emoting. Nevertheless, in response to Young Americans for Freedom’s (YAF) decision to expel Rep. Ron Paul from its board of advisors, the only line from pro-Ron Paul mouthpieces has been deflection. Addressing the blatant failures of Paul’s foreign policy — and/or his utter disregard for the threat posed by radical Islamists — is not permitted by any of his supporters. Best, if not most amusing, among the critiques defending the Paul line was penned by Christopher Preble and published in The Daily Caller. Preble is the director of the esteemed libertarian Cato Institute’s foreign policy studies. Despite his title, Preble’s article stands as a case study for the illogical reasoning and retorts offered by Ron Paul’s defenders. What’s worse is that this is the norm coming out of this group. (more)

Where is William F. Buckley Jr. when you need him? (more)

In September of 1960 — “a time of moral and political crisis” — nearly 100 of America’s top conservative and libertarian activists gathered at the home of William F. Buckley Jr. in Sharon, Connecticut. There, they laid out the timeless truths and principles that would govern the nation’s first conservative/libertarian activist group — Young Americans for Freedom. (more)

Steven Allen will be launching Tea Party Review, a new monthly magazine, in March. The Daily Caller asked Allen 10 questions about his new publication, his goals with it and what he plans to fill its pages with. (more)

To read a response to this article, “Christianity is conservative,” by the Family Research Council’s Rob Schwarzwalder, click here. To read “Christianity is neither conservative nor socialist,” click here. (more)

Though the John Birch Society is making a comeback through the Tea Party movement, at least some conservatives question whether the group really belongs apart of the movement. (more)

The John Birch Society, a group denounced by the late conservative icon William F. Buckley, has been making the rounds at several Tea Party events and will host a table at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February for the second consecutive year after having not attended for two decades, save one year in the 1990s. Though marginalized by Buckley in the 1960s and 1970s, the society has started to make a resurgence of sorts by tying itself to the Tea Party movement. (more)

Modern communications requires the use of shorthand to describe a whole host of concepts. When it comes to politics, we are liberal, moderate or conservative — left, center, or right. I cannot remember a time when the majority of political pundits did not believe that America was a right-leaning country with a few bastions of left-leaning elites condensed on either coast. (more)

A review of The Idiocy of Assent by Reid Buckley, P.E.N. Press, 257 pages, $32.95. (more)

In the last months of his life, William F. Buckley, Jr., the founder of the iconic National Review magazine and leader of the conservative movement for nearly half a century, saw his life’s work in shatters, writes Buckley’s brother Reid in his new book, “The Idiocy of Assent.” (more)

Richard M. Reinsch II is the author of “Whittaker Chambers: The Spirit of a Counterrevolutionary.” (more)

With the gubernatorial election tomorrow, Jerry Brown appears to have opened up a sizeable lead. Women are emerging as a bulwark of support for Brown, as they favor him by 21 points, according to the latest Los Angeles Times/USC poll. (more)

Proud to Be Right: Voices of the Next Conservative Generation (more)

The latest offering from conservative humorist P.J. O’Rourke, Don’t Vote — It Just Encourages the Bastards, is a real page turner. You may find yourself staying up way past your bedtime because you just can’t put it down. (more)

For the greater part of the early conservative movement, all conservatives, whether they were libertarians, individualists, or the later social, paleo and fiscal conservatives, had one overarching issue, one common threat that united them despite their differences: the threat of communism.  That threat served as a focal point, an issue that everyone in the movement could agree on.  This was the common cause responsible for the intellectualism of William F. Buckley, Jr. and the founding of the National Review, the founding of conservative youth groups like Young Americans for Freedom and the Goldwater and Reagan Revolutions of 1964 and 1980. (more)

When National Review last week offered its warm embrace of the GOP’s “Pledge to America,” it wasn’t the first time some conservatives had felt the magazine was backing the Republican Party over conservative principles. (more)