Farewell to a Conservative Gentleman

Tony Blankley, the “right” in KCRW’s “Left, Right & Center,” has died of stomach cancer. He was 62. Truthdig Editor Robert Scheer remembers his public radio sparring partner as “a conservative gentleman in the best sense. Tony was always well-informed, decent, with a wry sense of humor. I never knew him to lower his standards. It was a pleasure jousting with him.”

Blankley was a child actor whose British accent disguised a uniquely American life. Like the president he worked for, he went from Hollywood to politics, with a 10-year stint as a prosecutor in between. Blankley was the voice of Newt Gingrich during the former House speaker’s political peak and he continued to support Newt with his commentaries on television, radio and in print.

Even his enemies had to concede he was a thoughtful and witty man, which is why he didn’t have so many. — PZS