Letting Us Know What They Think

One of the great pleasures of working at the Missourinet (or in any newsroom, for that matter) is the constant flow of e-mail from all kinds of groups wanting to let members of the media know what's on their collective minds.  And, they're not shy to react to just about any event that's being talked about in the news.

Some of these reactions are clever and biting ... others are just biting ... still others are respectful ... then there are even more that are humorous.  It's a couple of examples of the latter two that I want to point to as being among the reactions we received regarding the death of conservative icon William F. Buckley Junior.

First ... the respectful.  Missouri Political News Service has sent us its regular e-mail with links to political stories from throughout the state, including a link to comments from former Senator Jim Talent on the death of Buckley:

“Next to Ronald Reagan, Bill Buckley was more responsible for the rise of conservatism in this country than anyone else — and that’s a very considered statement,” former Sen. Jim Talent (R., Mo.) told National Review Online on Wednesday. “He taught what conservatism was about. He did it with an élan, a humor, and a boldness that itself was an enormous example. He changed the psychological approach to politics that conservatives had.”

Then comes the humorous.  There's no Missouri connection to this one ... but I'm including it because it's humorous and - as I have explained before - I have an oblique sense of humor.  It's conservative flame thrower Ann Coulter's weekly newsletter in which she writes of some of the notable comments made by Buckley:

"Some of Buckley's best lines were uttered in court during a lengthy libel trial in the '80s against National Review brought by the Liberty Lobby, which was then countersued by National Review. (The Liberty Lobby lost and NR won.)

Irritated by attorney Mark Lane's questions, Buckley asked the judge: "Your Honor, when he asks a ludicrous question, how am I supposed to behave?"

In response to another of Lane's questions, Buckley said: "I decline to answer that question; it's too stupid."

I'm guessing that any reporter who has had to sit through lengthy court cases that seem to drag on and on and on would get a good snicker out of that.  Not that anyone would suggest a lawyer - and there are plenty of them walking the halls of the State Capitol - would ask silly, time consuming, seemingly irrelevant questions during trials.  But let's be honest ... It is funny.

- Steve Walsh