Battle of Dunkirk. 1956 Edition.  Once Upon a New Magazine, back in ye olde 1950s, Mr. William F. Buckley Jr. penned a weekly column (that magazine, now a fortnightly, had a more brisk publication schedule). Titled "The Ivory Tower," it was quite popular, and generally focused on matters of education. Which should come as no surprise as its author was the whippersnapper who wrote God and Man at Yale. But we digress. In the May 23, 1956 edition of National Review, Our Bill wrote an Ivory Tower piece titled "A School Superintendent Battles Pro-Communists and Pettifoggers." It talked about the Battle of Dunkirk (no, not that Dunkirk). Here's the kick-off paragraph: Thomas E. Harney is the superintendent of public schools in a small town in northern New York called Dunkirk. It is not self-evident, Mr. Harney maintains, that it cannot happen here; hence he, for one, proposes to do everything in his power to expose native Communists, pro-Communists and party-liners, especially when they step over into his territory, which is education. It soon gets into the pettifoggery, which is the thrill you anticipate, yes? Of course! Do please read the compete article here, with our compliments. And also, look at that photo of Young Bill. Look at that . . . look. No way in h-e-double-hockey-sticks any pettifoggery was ever going to slip by him. And the fact is, it didn't. Another fact: Bill entrusted National Review to keep that task as part of its mission, to discern what's important, to call out the efforts of those who sought to distract as part of their nefarious scheme to undermine our conservative principles, which just so happen to be the same principles found in the "unalienable rights" section of that thing called The Declaration of Independence. We take our WFB-entrusted responsibility seriously. Deadly so. And six decades after NR was launched, we seek new ways to do right by Bill, by you, and by Our Creator. Right now we are in the midst of NR's 2017 Fall webathon, which hopes to raise $200,000 in kindly, small contributions from decent folks such as yourself, to implement some new ideas here that will go far, and we do mean far, towards bringing conservatism to many more people (and to maybe even placing NR on such a sound footing that, well, that might mean sooner than later we'll need no webathons!). And that, friend, ain't pettifoggery. Read the details of our efforts (which have much to do with expanding our increasingly popular podcast and video operations) here. You'll find it inspiring. It'll have you rushing to open your wallets. Seriously, we do need your help. With emphasis on the your. Here's how: You can help NR by making a generous donation here. If you prefer Paypal, contribute here. And if wish to contribute by check, make it payable to "National Review" and mail it to our new address: 19 West 44th Street, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10036. Many thanks!  |
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