It is frustrating as a viewer in the present moment to see the rhetorical tricks that Buckley plays against his guests. Surely he was playing to his conservativ

It is frustrating as a viewer in the present moment to see the rhetorical tricks that Buckley plays against his guests. Surely he was playing to his conservative audience members but a lot of his points seem indefensible to my modern ear. the best example I think being a protracted interrogation on Malcolm X’s “real name”. It’s not that asking the question itself it is out of bounds, but surely Buckley knew that Malcolm X would not budge on this topic and the whole thing was just fodder for his viewers to see Malcolm as obstinant. Somehow it’s even worse than the ham fisted strategies Fox News employes now like just talking over an interviewee, because Buckley was /so smart/.