help us extract meaning from these conventions, two of america's most eloquent commentators william f. buckleyore vidal. >> bill buckley was the first modern conservative to see that ideological debates were cultural. >> do you think mini skirts are in good taste? >> on you i think they are. >> people at abc asked him was there anybody you wouldn't go on with, and he said, "the only one i can think of is gore vidal." >> gore vidal is one of america's most successful and distinguished writers. >> we are all prostitutes in one way or another, ethically if not sexually. >> for buckley, vidal was the devil. >> i'm a happy warrior in battle. i'm enjoying it. >> he represented everything that was going to moral hell. >> these were two visions of america clashing. >> each thought the other was quite dangerous. >> all this security makes me very nervous. it's necessary, apparently. >> if buckley were not taken out, his ideas would take down the nation. >> the country-- >> it's almost as if they were matter and antimatter. >> freedom breeds inequality. >> he's always to the right and almost also alzhei

. ♪ charlie: william f utley junior and gore vidal -- william f buckley junior and gore vidal were frequentsts at this table. >> you must realize that some of the political issues are here. people in the united states happen to believe that the united states policy is wrong in vietnam and the viet cong are correct and wanting to organize their country and own way politically. this is in agreement in western europe. it is a novelty in chicago that is too bad, but i assume that the point of american democracy -- >> as you can express any kind of -- >> shut up. the answer is they were well treated by those who ostracize them. i am for ostracizing people for egging on people to shoot american marines. >> the only cryptonazi i can think of is your self. >> stop calling me a cryptonazi. have him go back to his pornography and stop making allusions -- >> i was at three of the last 4 -- >> you're distorting your own military record. charlie: a new documentary, best of enemies, look at the impact they had on the role of political debate. here is the trailer for the film. >> this is miami, day one. t

when two intellectual giants-- william f. buckleye right, gore vidal on the left-- attracted a huge national audience with intelligence and wit, but also put-downs and insults. filmmakers morgan neville and robert gordon explored a series of debates the two held during the 1968 political conventions that for a variety of reasons, would alter the future of political discourse on television. we spoke recently at the a.f.i. docs festival in washington. you set this up as both a personal and a kind of national epic. why do you think it rose to that level? >> gore vidal and william buckley represented the polar opposites-- the left and the right-- at a time when america was kinda coming apart at the seams a little bit. this is 1968. there's rioting in the streets and they're representing those poles there on national tv, but what i think what makes it such a dramatic story for us is that it was deeply personal, it was under the veneer of politics, but i think they saw in the other person somebody who could detect their own insecurities an

>> rose: we continue with a new documentary about william f. buckleyore vidal called "best of enemies." >> they're not just fighting about 1968. they're fighting about the republic, and both of them had such an understanding not only of the american republic but republics going back to ancient times. i mean there were such scholars in that way that the stakes for them couldn't have been higher. >> rose: and we conclude this

was a cultural revolution that was indeed televised and to stake its claim abc news looked to william f. buckley gore vidal, political opposites but intellectual equals. now a new documentary takes us inside their legendary debates. >> he was the first modern conservative to see that ideological debates were culture debates. >> mr. buckley, do you think mini skirts are in good taste. >> on you i think they are. >> the people at abc asked him, well, is there anybody you wouldn't go on with. he said "the only one i can think of is gore vidal. >> gore vidal is one of america's most successful and distinguish writers. >> we are all prostitutes in one sense or another, ethically if not sexually. >>> joining me now is robert gordon, co-director and producer of "best of enemies." welcome to you, i can say "my friend" now because this is the third time i've seen this. i loved this film it's so fantastic. whoo i'm curious about, how did these guys end up in the debates? you heard one woman saying william f. buckley would debate anybody but gore vidal. >> i suspect the first call that was made when he "an

for your 1849 fans they probably don't know william f. buckley and gore vidal.s. it got funny. >> jimmy: it's fantastic. >> it is. it's a pisser as my aunt used to say. [ light laughter ] >> jimmy: i love your aunt. >> aunt ester always said that. >> jimmy: now you see -- people see people fighting on tv all the time, now. you know, reality shows and whatnot. >> jimmy -- >> jimmy: this was at a time when no one was doing that. >> this is where it was born. it's never lived up to this again. and here is a moment that shows how they feel about each other, i think you could say. and it's -- the operative word is in this sentence, call me a a crypto nazi. watch for that. it's right at the top. >> jimmy: here's a clip from "best of enemies." take a look. >> i know you don't -- >> as far as i'm concerned, the only crypto nazi i can think of is yourself. feeling that -- >> listen, you -- >> stop calling me a crypto nazi. let's stop calling names. let's stay plastered. >> gentlemen, let's go. >> go back to his pornography and stop making any illusions of -- >> i beg you

day's events for abc news, two of the most celebrated intellectuals of the era, on the right, william f. buckleythe right, gore vidal. best of enemies the new documentary looks back at this ivy league slugfest. the other networks were running gavel to gavel coverage inside the convention hall. abc couldn't afford to in 1968. >> they needed to make money by running their shows like bewitched and batman and the flying nun, instead. >> reporter: we spoke with the filmmakers it's strange to watch these two guys, both of them speaking like thurston howell iii. >> it's another era. having two lek chuls like this who were so good on tv. >> if you did it today, you would have, you know, you could also do it on mute. >> reporter: the real fireworks came the night the night chicago police cracked down on the anti-war protesters. he insults vi s buckley. buckley erupts. by outi ining vidal on televisi >> they hated each other, didn't they? >> it was not a frenemy relationship. that hate didn't end when that red light turned off. >> i think they were not fighting about 1968 they were fighting for the sole o

writing a book right now about the conservative movement, and, you look back at someone like william f. buckleyrt of policed the far right. he was able to excommunicate the frifrng elements. and eric erickson, i give him a lot of credit for standing up and saying that what donald trump said is inappropriate. he wasn't, he was, you know, kicked out of the red state gathering. and i wish that rush limbaugh would exercise that same sort of moral authority. he has a huge audience, a huge megaphone. if rush limbaugh stood up to donald trump, it would make a huge difference. >> can i make one poichbts about this, that donald trump got a big cheer if front of that audience when he said, i only said this about rosie o'donnell. and none of the people who've been interviewing donald trump on this, and he says i got a big laugh about rosie o'donnell. when did we decide as a society that it's okay to use these words in relation to one person. that you can call this one person these words. and before we go, the truth is, he did not reserve those words for rosie o'donnell. he used the word dog for someone el

william f. buckley, the then editor of national review, the great conservative commentator, did at great political risk, i think, stand up, stood up and said, look, these people should not be defining the conservative movement. they should not be defining the party. he drew lines and a number of other republicans did so. i think in many ways they saved the republican party. i would suggest today, this is a time not just for donald trump but for a lot of other republicans to very bluntly say, there are just some lines that shouldn't be crossed. there are some people who claim to be supporting republicans that we don't want. >> thanks for that answer. sorry we have to cut this segment a little short. thank you very much. we'll be right back. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. because it gives me... zero heartburn! prilosec otc. the number 1 doctor-recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. when you're not confiden

and somebody who is just a great first-person voice on the 1960s and a huge personality and william f. buckley there was an equally large personality on the right founder of national review and it never occurred to me that they would be friends. after norman mailer died he sold his papers to the harry ransom center at the university of texas in austin and a couple of those letters got picked up in a magazine and i was leafing through the magazine one night and i read some of the letters. i just stopped cold because i read one of the letters between norman mailer and buckley and there was cutting humor. there was deep inside into what was going on in the 1960s. they were obviously friends and i have been sitting around thinking about what to write our next as far as my next book. in the 1960s i wanted to tell a story from the 1960s and it has become this time in our past that is almost mythologized but not quite. you see madman and some of the movie. people are talking about trying to understand it and i was there too. i thought by taking a figure on the left and a figure on the right those art

william f. buckley, i could use a few terms that he used with gore vidal. would you like me to mention a few? >> you know, i think it is important, obviously rich is exactly right. he has changed on these things and he should get attacked by the other candidates and let the american voters decide which is more trustworthy. voters are very good at that. >> i would say buckley was even more politically correct than trump. >> coming up, just when you thought iranian nuclear deal couldn't get any worse, wait until you hear what we heard today. then tonight -- >> you have criminals, you have black racialists, you have cop haters and anarchists have now put together this bold movement. >> he called out the black lives matter movement. what if one stalk of broccoli could protect you from cancer? sfx: crunch what if one push up could prevent heart disease? [man grunts] one wishful thinking, right? but there is one step you can take to help prevent another serious disease-pneumococcal pneumonia. one dose of the prevnar 13® vaccine can help protect you from pneumococ

the first people to sign up for this electronic mail service were reporters, one of whom was william f. buckley, and i maintained a lovely correspondence with bill over time before he passed away, and i remember that i had come and gone to mci, left to join bob kahn and then rejoined mci to help them get into the internet business. in around 2003 it was clear that charging people for e-mail wasn't exactly a great business model anymore, so we shut down the mci mail service, and i got a whole bunch of angry e-mails from reporters who said, i have had my mci mail address since 1983, how can you do that? but the honest answer was it was time for that service to go. so i have two themes that i would like to address this afternoon. the first one has to do with technology, and i will drop into geek a bit. i apologize but it's the only way to be precise. and then i want to talk a little bit about policy. so i have eight points or so on the tech side and four or five points on the policy side. so let me start on the technology side. i'm really proud of the fact that the internet continues to evolve. th

the first people to sign up for this electronic mail service were reporters, one of whom was william f. buckley and i maintain a lovely correspondent over time before he passed away. and i remember that i had come and gone, to mci and left to john bob khan and rejoined cmi to help them get into the internet business and around 2003 it was clear that charging people for e-mail wasn't a great business model so we shut down the service and i got angry letters from reporters who said i've had my mail since 1983 but the honest answer is it was time for that service to go. so i have two themes i would like to address this afternoon. the first one has to do with technology and i will drop into geek a bit. apologize, but it is the only way to bee precise. and then i want to talk about policies. i have eight points on the tech side and four or five points on the policy side. so let me start on the technology side. i'm proud of the fact that the internet continues to evolve. this is not a design which was fixed in time 40 years ago but rather it is one which has adapted to new technology, it has swept in

even william f. buckley supported a public service for--young people who are 18. i think when you're part of the risk, you're gonna be part of the solution. our founding fathers did not want a professional army. they were very explicit about this. they called it-- we did not want a standing army. and the moment we get awe and a tiny number of people go to fight when they shouldn't be sent to fight because "they're a professional army" doing their job--the moment we have that awe, we surrender to that kind of militarization of our foreign policy. and having been in the army, i can assure you that when you're in the army, navy, air force, or marines, you don't have awe of those people when you get out, because you know too much. >> second question, what are the most important questions you would ask the presidential candidates in the next debate? >> how will you shift power from the few to the many in ways that make it very easy for people to band together as consumers, as workers into democratic trade unions, as small taxpayer groups, and as communities who are bei

because they are rock ribbed william f buckley conservatives who believe in this idea of wealth redistribution long as it is somebody else's being redistributed to them but when it is time for them to take their wealth and redistribute it to other people they are all of a sudden thinking ronald reagan is a swell guy and that is where you put people in the position where they have to put their money where their mouth is. of course, you are a college student. you don't have any wealth to redistribute. you want other people to give you stuff and you will until you start getting jobs and paying taxes at which point your opinion will change. and that is normal. this is, in fact, my phone. it is mine. i don't owe this phone to an. you know why i have this phone. because i work like a slave is why. i get up every day, i work seven days a week. i very, very hard and this is one of the benefits of the extra work that i do that i don't have to do. i earned it. it's mine. it's my phone. mine. [ applause ] >> and those phones are yours. well technically thur your parents but we're not going to split hairs

it used to be william f. buckley who stood up and called up the fringe on the far right, the john birchers, the ayn rands and excommunicated them. we haven't had anybody with the courage to do that and i think eric erickson is doing a great service in calling out donald trump for this. >> okay. and jonathan has been nodding in agreement with you. i want to play for both of you what rush limbaugh said yesterday about the treatment of trump by the fox news moderators. here's that. >> big time republican donors had been ordered to take out donald trump. in the debate last night. we all made a mistake. we assumed the orders went out the the candidates. is, but the candidates did not make one move toward taking donald trump out. is the broadcast network did not one of the remaining nine candidate s candidates joined megyn kelly in taking a shot at trump. not one. yet we have been told that there were orders from republican donors to take trump out. >> matt, is that the conservative belief that it was the fault of the mode

was raised on the altar of william f. buckleyfreedman but i was vehemently opposed to the iraq invasion. i knew what a debacle it would be i studied history as an undergraduate and i could have 'predicted the domino effect and the chaos that ensued from the ill-fated -- its offended me deeply. the whole freedom fries frenzy really insulted me. i do descend from colonial setters. my father was a world war ii veteran so i know what i'm talking about here. southboundly, it would warm my heart if you could align yourself with the grow very nordquist on the pentagon budget. that's an issue i'm passionate about. i cannot believe the lack of transparency and the other issue that i think you would support and i know you do, but i wish it were a top priority, is the low voter participation in this country, and i think you could find alliances on the conservative side. our voting rights rarely exceed -- voting rates rarely exceed 30%. the stranglehold of the lobbyist culture, of wall street -- >> host: suzanne i apologize. if we want to ge