With all the hullabaloo surrounding Senate candidate Rand Paul’s criticism of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it seems appropriate to share (once more) this video of Barry Goldwater explaining his own principled but politically perilous opposition to the bill:

I have to live with myself and I took an oath to defend and uphold the Constitution.

SEE ALSO: Mr. Conservative

Some scenes from the excellent documentary “Mr. Conservative: Goldwater On Goldwater” (2006), directed by Barry Goldwater’s granddaughter CC Goldwater. Among other things, you will learn from the movie that Goldwater– the most perfectly conservative national political figure in memory– commands considerable respect (and more than a little fondness) from the decidedly unconservative Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, Al Franken, Walter Cronkite and James Carville (each of whom appear in interviews for the movie.)

I. Goldwater opposes the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (with balanced commentary).

II. Goldwater at the 1964 Republican National Convention. I love George Will’s story about the reaction of a journalist to Goldwater’s famous line about “extremism in the defense of liberty.”

III. Goldwater vs. the Religious Right

IV. In Goldwater’s late career, his libertarian approach to social issues alienates many on the right.

Barry Goldwater enunciates his Burkean view of conservatism in a 1966 interview with William F. Buckley’s “Firing Line.”

The conservative position I don’t think should be one of constantly coming up with so-called answers to every problem that a Democratic president or a Democratic Congress or political enemies of ours seem to see in this country.

He’s absolutely right, of course– if the Republicans aren’t the “Party of No” then there should be a Party of No. But these ideas didn’t win in 1964, and I don’t know whether they’d win now.

His analysis of the passage of Medicare– hastily, sans debate– aptly describes what seems to be happening right now with an emboldened Democratic majority and Obamacare.

UPDATE: Additional videos from the Firing Line interview.

UPDATE (2/11/10): Andrew Sullivan embeds video #2 in a post about a center-right “CenPAC” conference contemplated by David Frum.