It was 25 years ago this week (December 14, 1999) that conservative powerhouse William F. Buckley recorded the final episode of his award-winning talk show, Firing Line. That occasion, as with other important milestones in Buckley’s long and influential career, brought to the surface the liberal media establishment’s hostility toward the retiring host as well as their disdain for the broader conservative movement he helped launch.
“I suspect that there are people who’ve been tuning into Firing Line for years, awed and admiring of Bill Buckley, who for all that, have barely understood a word the man has said,” ABC’s Ted Koppel condescended in a profile of Buckley for that evening’s Nightline. “The problem with William F. Buckley Jr.,” Koppel continued, channeling frustrated liberals, “was that you could dislike him, but could never dismiss…
