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 6 of 53)
76. Good post brandon. But you'll probably notice that Dinesh will never concede that he flat-out lied, even when people are in his face with the facts that he did. Seems to be a popular personality traits among any extremist, right OR left.
Strados at 11:22AM on Feb 29th 2008
77. To petition AOL for the removal of this post, please send an email to the following address. Be sure to include the title of Dinesh's post "That Notorious Buckley AIDS Column" and why you object to AOL giving a voice to such an insensitive "joke".
File email complaints here: TOSGeneral@aol.com
Paul at 11:29AM on Feb 29th 2008
78. paul,
i wish you were as concerned about a stupid article like this as say the treatment of christians in bombay or iran. how about the treatment of women in general in the middle east? why does this enrage you so?
brian at 11:40AM on Feb 29th 2008
79. Paul, I'm at work so I can't get into my real email, but at home tonight you can bet I will do just that.
Strados at 11:42AM on Feb 29th 2008
80. Brian...
I repeat (because you apparently missed my first three responses or have chosen to just completely ignore them): Nothing you post warrants a response from me.
So, once again, you can stop asking me inane questions about completely unrelated atrocities.
Paul at 11:44AM on Feb 29th 2008
81. GREETINGS DD. ANOTHER JOB WELL DONE. YEA RELIGION! AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT BEHEADING FOLKS IN THE NAME OF ALLAH. WHAT A SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS. ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU CONSIDER . . .
THERE IS NO GOD !
Daniel Mullane at 11:48AM on Feb 29th 2008
82. Paul, thanks for the TOSGeneral@aol.com link to send an email to AOL. Just did so.
Perhaps we need to get this post out to the AIDS activist networks and they can also add their feedback? They've seen plenty of their friends and family die of this disease; I'm certain they'd find Dinesh's little joke just hilarious.
brandon at 11:47AM on Feb 29th 2008
83. "That's your Christian compassion in action, folks! They LOVE everyone! Christians have a monopoly on love!"Paul
Paul,
I love you, even if you can be a non-listening bastard.
That my friend is Christian Love.
Botts at 11:48AM on Feb 29th 2008
84. Strados...
I really hope that you do. Somebody must take a stand somewhere when it comes to bigotry bordering on hate speech.
I have never suggested that we tattoo a Christian's top lip with the word "shit" and arrows on either side pointing into their mouth.
Such a "joke" would be...well...perceived as "persecution".
Paul at 11:49AM on Feb 29th 2008
85. brian, I wish you were as concerned about freedom of religion in this country as you are with phony wars on Christmas and bellyaching about liberals, gays, atheists, or anyone else that doesn't believe in exactly the same ridiculous myths as you.
AndrewV at 11:50AM on Feb 29th 2008
86. Brandon...
Sadly, I really have little knowledge of the AIDS Activist Network. Feel free to pursue that, though. I'm sure they would be interested in hearing about how AOL doesn't mind providing a voice to such "jokes".
Paul at 11:53AM on Feb 29th 2008
87. Dinesh...
Are you getting the sense that you've actually stepped into something a little more meaningful than just ranting about atheism and your notions of god?
If I were you, I'd be BEGGING AOL to remove my boo-boo before somebody important notices. (Say like some federal agent who might be familiar with the specifics of America's hate speech laws.)
Paul at 11:55AM on Feb 29th 2008
88. Paul,
I have just notified about 8 ACT-UP chapters around the country, and a few in other countries, to this nasty DD post today. Just in case they want to get involved.
brandon at 11:59AM on Feb 29th 2008
89. Brandon...
Cool...I'm not out to string DD up by his private parts. I just think it's insensitive and ignorant to perpetuate (in any form) the spirit behind that tattoo joke.
We've known for years that AIDS is not just a "gay disease" and for Dinesh to resurrect that joke demonstrates his depravity and borders on a violation of America's hate speech laws.
We shall see. In the meantime, Dinesh can still do the right thing by independently removing this post and then issuing a public apology to ALL of AOL's customers and specifically to any AOL customer who might suffer from AIDS or have family members who have contracted the disease.
Dinesh, do the right thing already. Remove this post. The longer you delay, the more stubborn and ridiculous you appear.
Paul at 12:05PM on Feb 29th 2008
90. Bump
brandon at 12:11PM on Feb 29th 2008