Responding to my eulogy to William F. Buckley, some readers noted that Buckley had written a notorious column during the 1980s calling for AIDS victims to be tattooed on their rear ends. For one responder this was eerily reminiscent of Nazi policies.
Actually Buckley was no Nazi. On one occasion Buckley appeared on a late-night program with the writer Gore Vidal, and Vidal accused Buckley of being a "crypto-Nazi." Incensed, Buckley called Vidal a "goddamn queer." Both men ended up suing the other. Buckley won his case, because he was able to show that his opinions were never sympathetic to the Nazis, "crypto" or otherwise. Vidal lost his case, because, well, truth is an effective defense in a libel case.
So what about that AIDS column? Let's remember that not much was known about AIDS in the early 1980s. In particular, there were competing theories about how AIDS was actually transmitted. Little more was known than the fact that AIDS seemed to be concentrated in the homosexual community.
Buckley noted in his column that in previous epidemics, such as the syphilis epidemic of the early part of the twentieth century, America quarantined people who contracted the disease. Buckley argued against quarantining victims of AIDS. Somewhat light-heartedly, he suggested that a better alternative might be to have some insignia warning off potential partners. He came up with the admittedly strange idea of a small tattoo on the AIDS victim's rear end. Not surprisingly, the column caused immediate controversy.
At National Review, however, the controversy was of a different sort. The big question that arose among the editors was not whether there should be a tattoo but rather what the tattoo should say. Several entries were submitted, and the contest winner was my own English professor Jeffrey Hart, a senior editor of the magazine, who proposed the line emblazoned on the entrance gate to Dante's Inferno: "Abandon all hope ye who enter here."
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That Notorious Buckley AIDS Column
Posted Feb 29th 2008 4:09AM by Dinesh D'Souza
Filed under: Gay and Lesbian, Bizarre, AIDS
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Reader Comments ( Page 2 of 53)
16. Dinesh...
I have filed a complaint with AOL.
I encourage anyone else who finds this gleeful retelling of a truly ignorant and insensitive joke to complain to AOL as well.
Next, Dinesh, I contact my legal staff.
Paul at 8:10AM on Feb 29th 2008
17. Dinesh...
How hilarious it is to think that someone wanted to emblazon "Abandon hope all ye who enter here!" on the bottoms of children suffering with AIDS.
This is just disgusting. This is sick.
Dinesh, you should be ashamed of yourself for repeating this story. It is NOT THE LEAST BIT AMUSING.
Paul at 8:15AM on Feb 29th 2008
18. Dinesh...
Are you suggesting that you've given thought to entering the bottoms of children with AIDS?
Or is this just a thinly veiled attempt at spreading ignorance and hatred?
Either way, you lose.
Delete this post now.
Paul at 8:16AM on Feb 29th 2008
19. What would JESUS tattoo on their butts, Dinesh?
Strados at 8:16AM on Feb 29th 2008
20. Ah, the good old days, huh Dinesh? Back when you could publicly make mean-spirited jokes about people infected with aids. Getting harder and harder to get away with it, though. Creep.
Joe Bob at 8:25AM on Feb 29th 2008
21. this is sure to light the rage of all liberals. grow some skin,toughen up,quit being such babies. fire back if you don't like his comments. you think you guys have freedom from being offended? where is that in the constitution? it happens. you guys show your just babies i tell ya.babies!!
brian at 8:25AM on Feb 29th 2008
22. strados,
jesus would love those who have aids. but according to you jesus has nothing to do with this. why do you drag jesus around just to use as a little tool to make your points? jesus is on the side of truth not your or mine or DD's. but you need to support DD right to offend same as you say offensive things to me regularly and i don't whine like a baby. you guys come on grow up your not kids. get tough. you want to cry to the goverment like you do mommy.
now i may onto something there. you liberals want the goverment to play mommy and settle all your disputes. ?? yes?
brian at 8:29AM on Feb 29th 2008
23. I have only occasionally read this blog, but have always been intrigued with the constancy of some of you who apparently have found it a good place to engage in honest inquiry into the views of "believeing" Christians and those who are either agnostic or atheists. Although these conversations have, at times, become vitriolic and "ad hominem" rather than an attempt at dialogue and/or understanding, it has been apparent that the postings of DD are usually irrelevant to the ongoing conversations, generally serving only as a starting point from which to renew previous ideas. This posting re "how Buckley once made an insensitive suggestion", however, has (or at least should!!!) instigate univeral repugnance from any and all reasonable and caring people of either side of the believer/non-believer side!!! DD's obvious hero worship for the recently deceased ultra conservative pundit says volumes about his biases and unwillingness to really be critical of any of his long-stated beliefs, regardless of how thoughtful or logical his critics may be. I agree that he should be made (if that is possible) to for once own up to how hurtful, UN-CHRISTIAN, and ignorant this current posting is.
Harvey at 8:53AM on Feb 29th 2008
24. Paul....
How does one enter a complaint with AOL?
Harvey at 8:54AM on Feb 29th 2008
25. Dirty little secret about AIDS, other than transfusions and birth, which thank God are becoming more rare, AIDS is a behavioral disease. AIDS has to be one of the most preventable diseases on the planet.
Greg at 8:53AM on Feb 29th 2008
26. In most of the United States there is a policy of checking on any stalled vehicle on the highway when temperatures drop to single digits or below. About 3AM one very cold morning, Montana State Trooper Allan Nixon #658 responded to a call there was a car off the shoulder of the road outside Great Falls, Montana. He located the car, stuck in deep snow and with the engine still running. Pulling in behind the car with his emergency lights on, the trooper walked to the driver's door to find an older man passed out behind the wheel with a nearly empty vodka bottle on the seat behind him. The driver came awake when the trooper tapped on the window. Seeing the rotating lights in his rearview mirror, and the state trooper standing next to his car, the man panicked. He jerked the gearshift into 'drive' and hit the gas. The car's speedometer was showing 20-30-40-50 MPH, but it was still stuck in the snow, wheels spinning. Trooper Nixon, having a sense of humor, began running in place next to the speeding (but stationary) car. The driver was totally freaked, thinking the trooper was actually keeping up with him. This goes on for about 30 seconds, then the trooper yelled, "PULL OVER!" The man nodded, turned his wheel and stopped the engine. Needless to say, the man from North Dakota was arrested and is probably still shaking his head over the state trooper in Montana who could run 50 miles per hour. Who says troopers don't have a sense of humor?
Bridget at 8:58AM on Feb 29th 2008
27. Look folks, we are in a war. Of course, we don't know exactly who it is against, what our objectives are, why we are fighting it, when it will stop, how much it will eventually cost in lives and money, or even how to win it. But between the govert, the media, the private contractors, the banks, and the corporations, who are we to say that they don't deserve their well earned profits? So get with the program and enjoy the climbing deficits, the polluted environment, the lack of civil liberties, the restricted press, the raising taxes, the overcrowded prisons, the out of control federal government, and an illegal immigrant behind every tree.
gshort3011 at 9:02AM on Feb 29th 2008
28. Denise lied again, what a surprise. Buckley did not win his case against Vidal. In fact, Buckley was forced to publicly apologize and then pay everyones' legal fees.
gshort3011 at 9:11AM on Feb 29th 2008
29. Imagine yourself as a 12 year-old girl in some embattled, impoverished region of Africa. Your name is Souza. Life, so far, hasn't been that great for you, Souza, why with the constant hunger and fear haunting your every waking hour.
Then one night, things get suddenly, terribly worse for you, Souza, when a gang of marauding soldiers comes to your village to burn it down and repeatedly rape you.
Later, Souza, you find out that you're pregnant from the rape.
After that, you find out that you and your fetus have AIDS from the rape.
Then, Souza, as if all of that weren't enough suffering, you find out that some Dartmouth-educated "Christian" derives a perverse sense of pleasure from your suffering. He actually thinks it's mildly funny that one of his favorite, insensitive English professors wanted to tattoo your bottom with a vile warning to anyone who might want to "enter" or otherwise use your bottom at some future date.
Hilarious, isn't it Souza?
You've been raped. Your pregnant, and you've contracted AIDS through that gang rape. Now, Souza, we'd like to treat you with the utmost compassion by tattooing you with a warning. And if that's not enough, we're going to joke about your suffering and repeat the joke for decades to come!
Aint your life wonderful, little Souza?
Dinesh, in case you didn't realize this, REAL people with REAL suffering read your column. You have sunk to a brand new low with this perpetuation of a truly tasteless story.
I sincerely hope that one of your children (or grandchildren) gets AIDS so we can tattoo their butt with such a vile warning. (Or at least joke about doing that. Won't that be funny?)
Delete your post now, Dinesh. You've compromised just what a truly thoughtless pig you are with this latest blog entry.
Paul at 9:11AM on Feb 29th 2008
30. To register a complaint about this post with AOL, go to the AOL Welcome page. Scroll to the bottom where you'll find a collection of menu options. Click on "Customer Support" to find a toolbar of options. Select "Notify AOL". From there, choose the menu option of "Screen Names and Profiles".
Now, there is no real option for complaining about AOL blogs (such as Dinesh's) that I could find, but notifying AOL of this offensive post through any avenue is better than not notifying them at all.
I've been with AOL for a while. They will listen. And for Dinesh to derive any sort of glee from the suffering of people (especially children with AIDS) will draw AOL's attention.
Again, go to the AOL Welcome page, scroll to the bottom and select Customer Support to get going.
paul at 9:25AM on Feb 29th 2008