Dear Mr. Buckley:
A special mark of national review has always been its stress on form as well as substance. That’s why the slow, steady slide into four-letter language is so disturbing. The cancer began with over-loving reporting of vulgar and obscene language, then spread under the guise of sophisticated humor. In recent months the trend accelerated under the juvenile umbrella of forceful writing. But surely the nadir in bad taste was reached February 16 in a four-letter reply to a reader who raised a spiritual point in one of the current debates. The offense requires an apology, without clever asides. The malady itself suggests surgery. Sincerely,
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