Alexander Cockburn on William F. Buckley, Jr.:
"I found him mostly unwatchable and unreadable, being 97 per cent predictable and disgusting in all his views, with a style intolerably loaded with affectation -- fake English urbanity and pompous usage. He was the sort of writer who could never use the word 'punishment' without sticking 'condign' in front of it, the better to flaunt his stylistic credentials."
"Buckley wore urbanity like cheap make-up, badly applied. At the slightest challenge it disappeared and we were left with the hiss and venom of a true reptile."
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