Peggy Noonan, a columnist with The Wall Street Journal, got caught recently on a live microphone ridiculing the choice of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as the GOP vice presidential candidate. Noonan said that “It’s over” in responding to a question as to whether Palin is the most qualified woman Senator McCain could have chosen as his running mate. This episode confirmed my growing suspicion that Noonan is not a real conservative but suffers from what all “moderates” suffer from—indecision and lack of conviction.
I loved Noonan’s book about Ronald Reagan and enjoyed her columns in years gone by. But lately her columns have had a strange ethereal quality about them, leaving me confused at the end as to what her main point was. My theory is that she has been too long around the “beautiful people” and has allowed their sappiness to creep into her thought processes, rendering her writing unclear and disjointed.
Perhaps Noonan should go back and reread her own book, “When Character Was King”, and consider the things that were said about Reagan by the elitists in the mainstream media and then compare those to her own indiscreet comments about Palin. There comes a time for choosing sides on the great issues of the day (at least as a columnist with a point of view) and Ms. Noonan evidently chose to follow the thundering herd and the empty-headed “wisdom” spouted at cocktail parties by those supposedly more sophisticated than the rest of us.
Look at Governor Palin’s record, Ms. Noonan, and you will see that the record is one of rare accomplishment and not “political bullsh** about narratives” as you characterized it. How many people can you recall who defeated a Republican governor in a primary and went on to defeat a former governor in the general election? How many governors do you know today with an approval rating in the 80% range and a list of real accomplishments including tax reduction, spending cuts and ethics reforms? Not many—and none as engaging and real as Governor Palin.
It is always disappointing to realize that a columnist you have read and admired is not “one of us” but “one of them”. The virtues that Governor Palin so articulately represents haven’t been seen in such measure since President Reagan. She has brought me, and many others, back into this election process. There are many thousands more who suddenly have new-found enthusiasm for the fight ahead because of Senator McCain’s selection of Governor Palin.
No, Ms. Noonan, this is not “political bullsh**” but rather the beginning of an effort to take political power from the elitists and return it to the people. What is surprising is that someone with your sensitivities, intelligence and sophistication cannot recognize “political bullsh**” when she sees it, as you most certainly have been hobnobbing of late with the nation’s preeminent purveyors of that commodity.
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