Buckley, Koppel, and St. Patrick's

An overflow crowd gathered Friday at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York to remember William F. Buckley, Jr. Members of Buckley's family, and Henry Kissinger, eulogized Buckley and read scripture in his memory.

The greatness of Bill Buckley has been spelled out many times on The Liberty Sphere, and he was certainly deserving of all of the accolades.

But the thing most of us will miss as much as his fierce defense and offense in the conservative movement is his sharp wit.

One of my favorites involves Ted Koppel and his long-running ABC News program entitled, 'Nightline.' When Buckley retired from his 33-year run on PBS's 'Firing Line,' he appeared on the Koppel program.

At the end of the show Koppel turned to Buckley and stated, 'We only have one minute left. Would you like to sum up your 33 years on Firing Line?'

To which Buckley replied, 'Um, no.'

He was truly one of a kind.

For the complete news story on the Buckley service at St. Patrick's, click here:
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200804/NAT20080404b.html