William F. Buckley Jr, as The New York Times so eloquently puts it,  “marshaled polysyllabic exuberance, famously arched eyebrows and a refined, perspicacious mind to elevate conservatism to the center of American political discourse”. Buckley died this week aged 82. Here, the conservative blogs mourn his loss :

Time sinks the boot: It looks like Time magazine has dispensed with the quaint custom of showing at least a little respect for the recently deceased. This story by Richard Corliss begins a long sneer in the direction of William F. Buckley, Jr. starting with its very title, “William F. Buckley: Mandarin of Right-Wing TV.” — NewsBusters

The father of modern conservatism: More than any writer, more than any thinker, more than any intellectual, William F. Buckley Jr. made the modern conservative movement what it is today. There will never be another like him. We mourn losing him with the entire National Review family. Yet we can take comfort in knowing that in this world, he lived a life without equal – and thus could be called home to the next with no regrets. What I would give to hear whatever witty line he kept in his back pocket for greeting Saint Peter. — RedState

Acid tongue: William F. Buckley Jr., the acid-tongued, staunchly conservative author (40+ books), columnist (since 1979), publishing exec (National Review) and TV host (Firing Line), helped shape the modern media landscape. His reaction to a society increasingly obsessed by celebrity and trivia was rigorously intellectual, intense and probing. Buckley never stopped at the surface, equivocated about his positions, or suffered fools gladly (“I won’t insult your intelligence by suggesting that you really believe what you just said,” he once quipped when presented with a viewpoint in opposition to his own). — AdFreak

Pronk Palisades:

His legacy – The National Review: When Buckley founded National Review as the voice of the movement, he performed two acts of statesmanship that were vital to the movement’s ultimate, if unlikely, success: he reserved exclusive ownership of the magazine to himself so as to prevent the kind of sectarian brawls that had killed other such magazines, and he prohibited John Birchers and other kooky anti-Semitic organizations from the magazine’s precincts. — Pajamas Media

Intellectual supernova: I picked up my first issue of NR in college through the conservative student journalism samizdata. Reading the magazine in public was an act of defiance. Embracing the ideas within was an act of heresy. Mr. Buckley’s Firing Line appearances vaulted him into the mainstream cultural stratosphere, but the enduring power of his written words made him an intellectual supernova. He built the Right’s communications infrastructure and laid the groundwork for the New Media. He was an engaged and engaging Renaissance man who joined conservatism and libertarianism, fought statism, and served the Lord–with trademark good humor and joie de vivre. — Michelle Malkin