On the Right

New York, Oct. 2—This is not a call to defend Al Capp. As the saying goes, he can take care of himself. But I note two recent reactions to him which are very interesting, insofar as they suggest that the Left makes no allowance for the right-wing bruiser. The accent is on “right wing.’’ It is not the bruiser that they object to. When last did you hear a liberal complain of the tactics of Herblock? They give him prizes. Al Capp, who is not inaccurately described as a Herblock on the Right, is getting the business.

There is, for instance, a dear girl who writes for the New Yorker and the Village Voice, and I am not being sarcastic —I am extraordinarily fond of her, and admiring of her perceptions. But it is necessary to understand that ideologically she is orthodox, and when, a couple of weeks ago, she found herself at Sharon, Conn. covering the annual convention of the Young Americans for Freedom, it was apparently the singular ordeal of her young life to have had to listen to a speech by Al Capp.

About the Author

William F. Buckley Jr.

William F. Buckley Jr. founded National Review magazine in 1955.

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New York, Oct. 2—This is not a call to defend Al Capp. As the saying goes, he can take care of himself. But I note two recent reactions to him which are very interesting, insofar as they suggest that the Left makes no allowance for the right-wing bruiser. The accent is on “right wing.’’ It is not the bruiser that they object to. When last did you hear a liberal complain of the tactics of Herblock? They give him prizes. Al Capp, who is not inaccurately described as a Herblock on the Right, is getting the business.

There is, for instance, a dear girl who writes for the New Yorker and the Village Voice, and I am not being sarcastic —I am extraordinarily fond of her, and admiring of her perceptions. But it is necessary to understand that ideologically she is orthodox, and when, a couple of weeks ago, she found herself at Sharon, Conn. covering the annual convention of the Young Americans for Freedom, it was apparently the singular ordeal of her young life to have had to listen to a speech by Al Capp.