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Peggy Noonan: What I Saw at the Evacuation
The Wall Street Journal ^ | Thursday, June 24, 2004 | Peggy Noonan

Posted on 06/24/2004 5:02:59 AM PDT by presidio9

What I was thinking was: they brought their souls. We are all these physical repositories of ourselves, of our characters and personalities and ambitions. But everybody is a soul, has a soul, and all these people gathered for the funeral of a great man, and their souls came.

I tell you this because it somehow has to do with something that followed.

Many, not all, were aging or old. They had run the country 20 and 30 years ago. They had lived lives of import and meaning. But they were not this afternoon their official selves, their old formal selves, but something else.

We were in the Mansfield room, just off the Capitol Rotunda, a big tall gold-trimmed room ringed with old oil portraits of great men--Jefferson, Adams. As I stood near the entrance looking out at them, I had a visual memory of a book party long ago, in 1990 I think, in the sizeable outdoor yard of William Safire's house in suburban Maryland. It was late springtime or early summer. A sudden breeze came up, strong and out of nowhere, and hundreds, thousands, of small petals and pieces of pollen filled the air, and fell upon our heads. Like a benediction. It seemed barely noticed by the busy talkers, who laughed and shook their heads and continued talking. But it was beautiful. God is here. At the Capitol, there were 100 or so of us in the room, friends and colleagues and co-workers of Ronald Reagan. Air Force One would soon bring back to Washington his flag draped coffin. From Andrews Air Force Base a cortege would take him to the Capitol. The senators and congressmen were already massing in the Rotunda, where they would receive him. There would be a ceremony, and speeches. Then the politicians would leave, and the friends and colleagues of Reagan would leave the Mansfield Room to enter the Rotunda and say goodbye to him. A day of high state, of dignity and tradition.

In that room were a laughing Jack and Joanne Kemp, leaders of the 1970s revolution that became part of the '80s revolution. Richard Allen, Reagan's first national security adviser. Judge William Clark, his second. Ed and Ursula Meese, who were there from the early days, in California. Paul and Carol Laxalt--Paul probably Reagan's best friend in the Senate, Carol bubbly as champagne. Jim Miller, his budget director, still a big man in a gray suit, and his wife.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, dignified, straight standing, with great cheekbones and saucy or potentially saucy eyes. Somewhere along the way, I have always felt, she made a decision. She chose to follow the academic and analytical part of her nature--"There is a difference between totalitarian governments and authoritarian governments and we must acknowledge it"--and not perhaps other parts of her inner self, parts perhaps less definitive and constructive, and maybe more fun. But that kind of decision was true of a lot of people there, and always is when leaders are gathered. The pope felt the promptings of an artist, and followed another type of spiritual call.

(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: class; peggynoonan; peggynoonanlist; reagan; surlybonds
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To: PeoplesRep_of_LA

You can take ANY philosopher/leader and say they had good points EXCEPT FOR.

The whole country of Germany was swayed by EXCEPT FOR.

The whole country of Italy was swayed by EXCEPT FOR.

I used to support Bill Bennett wholeheartedly.

He let me down (as Cheney would say, "BIGTIME!!!")


41 posted on 06/24/2004 12:35:13 PM PDT by paulat
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To: mountainfolk

"I am just as curious as to why anybody would have a problem with how Bill Bennett spends his money."

I will put it to you this way: If I have extra food in the fridge that goes bad, I actually feel bad about it. To me, it is a sign of disrespect...all the way from the farmer who grew it to the worker who picked it, from the trucker who hauled it, to the grocer who sold it.

God is in the details.

I feel the same disrespect from someone who fritters away what God has given him.

It doesn't matter that there are OTHER ways to fritter away money. It is the disrespect of God's gifts.


42 posted on 06/24/2004 12:46:06 PM PDT by paulat
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To: paulat
I was right, you were not sincere.

You can take ANY philosopher/leader and say they had good points EXCEPT FOR. The whole country of Germany was swayed by EXCEPT FOR. The whole country of Italy was swayed by EXCEPT FOR.

All human beings make mistakes, it is the level of those mistakes that is the question, never whether or not there are exceptions to a persons character. Second, this is so ridiculous, you are comparing William Bennett to the followers Hitler and Musolini? I mean get a grip this is the kind of emotional overstatements I have to deal with when I FReep the hard left here in LA. A friend of mine used to always say "the first person to bring up the Nazi's in an arguement automatically loses."

I used to support Bill Bennett wholeheartedly.

Clearly that is an untrue statement. Wholeheartedly would entail supporting him through an embarrassing revelation about his inability to stop wasting his money irrationally, if that was enough to make you get allusions to Adolph then I'd hate to see how you supported him were he to do something really bad like sell ICBM secrets to Red China.

He let me down

Awwwwww. More evidence that you do not know the meaning of the word "wholeheartedly" because you are whining that he made it tough for you, well heaven forfend if you knew the many failings of Dubya, or his father, or even Reagan and Limbaugh. There isn't a single public figure you could point to that doesn't have embarrassing skeletons in his closet like Mr Bennett, its just that his Book of Virtues struck a HUGE nerve with the left and they took special glee in throwing the kitchen sink when this supposed contradiction came out because the liberal media is inherently IMMORAL and that loath like nothing else people pointing that out. You just weren't grounded enough to realize those criticisms could never negate the wisdom of this man's larger points. You are too worried whether or not liberals like conservatives...its never going to happen.

43 posted on 06/24/2004 2:12:13 PM PDT by PeoplesRep_of_LA (I am no longer afraid to publicly say I love Jesus, thanks Mel)
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To: presidio9

The rest of the article is amazing. Writing about what she thought in her last moments of life, hanging on to her son's hand so that he would not die alone.

She is a moving writer, and a person to emulate.

Thank goodness the evacuation was unecessary.

Pinz


44 posted on 06/24/2004 2:47:34 PM PDT by pinz-n-needlez
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To: PeoplesRep_of_LA

No, my dear.

I don't care how much liberals like conservatives.

I care about how much I like conservatives in whom I invest my respect and admiration.


45 posted on 06/24/2004 3:02:48 PM PDT by paulat
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To: paulat
You've failed miserably to give me any reasonable explaination as to why you would not respect or admire William J Bennett, only that his gambling loses were very embarrassing;

Therefore-

The only logical conclusion is that you wilted under the pressure from the liberals to make this non scandal make Bill untouchable, because deep down you don't like being laughed at by liberals.

Life is hard.

46 posted on 06/24/2004 3:08:23 PM PDT by PeoplesRep_of_LA (I am no longer afraid to publicly say I love Jesus, thanks Mel)
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To: paulat

Oh I forgot-that he's like Hitler...good one.


47 posted on 06/24/2004 3:11:08 PM PDT by PeoplesRep_of_LA (I am no longer afraid to publicly say I love Jesus, thanks Mel)
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To: PeoplesRep_of_LA

"Oh I forgot-that he's like Hitler...good one."

No...sigh!!!!

What I WAS saying is that there have been too many people we have accepted as leaders while turning a blind-eye to serious flaws.

I consider Mr. Bennett's gambling a "serious flaw."

I consider Bill Clinton's inability to tell the truth a "serious flaw."

In both cases, there has not been remorse. Just a "hmm, hmm, won't do it again" kind of response.

I support George W. because his regret was true and his remorse had led him to YEARS of service.


48 posted on 06/24/2004 3:31:36 PM PDT by paulat
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To: paulat
What I WAS saying is that there have been too many people we have accepted as leaders while turning a blind-eye to serious flaws.

Right, which is why I said that is ridiculous. You are comparing personal loses due to legal gambling to exterminating 6 million Jews and 5 million Poles/Russian/Gypsies...which was patently absurd.

I support George W. because his regret was true and his remorse had led him to YEARS of service.

Oh now you've stepped in it, because Bush wasn't doing unending mea culpas about the bombshell the press held til days before the campaign about his drunk driving. He just said "I'm sober now, sorry it ever happened" He should have made that public before running for Governor. Bennett's gambling didn't threaten the safety of a single person, while Bush's DUI could have killed many people, I know my aunt and uncle were killed by a drunk driver. Bush didn't get sober til years after being busted, so there's no telling how many times he did it again.

So I, unlike yourself, could most easily hold a personal grudge and say "I'm never voting for Bush because he let me down, big time" but I realize you have to look at the totality of the man, and so I don't knee jerk whenever someone says something positive about Bush into scorning lectures about the immorality of drunk driving, because it has no relation to the other issues he is talking about.

49 posted on 06/24/2004 4:02:38 PM PDT by PeoplesRep_of_LA (I am no longer afraid to publicly say I love Jesus, thanks Mel)
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To: presidio9
She made me cry again.

So we ran there. I heard reports later of pushing and shoving and people falling as the evacuation from the Capitol began. I saw none of this. I saw people running. And I saw Capitol Police standing their ground, directing people toward what they thought was the safe area, and I saw them running toward the Capitol to help people who needed them. I saw nothing but excellence. If these people had been at Pearl Harbor they would have manned the guns. I'll tell you who else stood their ground: the photographers for the news services and newspapers. Those crazy bastards took pictures of us running and then moved closer to where we were running from to get more dramatic pictures of the last to leave. Shooters, they are something.

I could ride cross country with Peggy Noonan and listen to her and probably ask if we could do the same for the trip back. And I live in Hawaii.

50 posted on 06/24/2004 4:23:02 PM PDT by Ruth A.
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To: Corporate Law
Frank Rich is a frustrated little queen. How he wields such power in NYC is beyond me.

It is precisely because he is a "frustrated little queen".

51 posted on 06/24/2004 4:44:08 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: paulat
Are you proud of what Bill Bennett has done?

On balance, yes.

And I would not want friends and family who did not accept me on balance.

I do the best I can but, like all other men, I am a mixture of the good, the bad and the merely average.

If you are seeking perfection, it was available but once and can now be found only in faith.

52 posted on 06/24/2004 4:51:48 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: okie01

Not EIGHT...MILLION...DOLLARS...worth....


53 posted on 06/24/2004 6:13:08 PM PDT by paulat
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To: OldFriend
Wonder what Peggy will think of the IMUS show this morning. Frank Rich attacking the week of memorial for President Reagan. IMUS egging him on in total disrespect.

A polite person, like Peggy, doesn't discuss maggots eating excrement.

54 posted on 06/24/2004 6:13:57 PM PDT by Forgiven_Sinner (The Passion of the Christ--the top non-fiction movie of all time)
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To: paulat
Not EIGHT...MILLION...DOLLARS...worth....

I wouldn't have done it. Not with my money.

But, so long as its legal, Bill Bennett is free to spend his money as he sees fit.

What if he had won EIGHT...MILLION...DOLLARS...?

Would you have had any objection to that?

55 posted on 06/24/2004 6:33:45 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: okie01

Yep.


56 posted on 06/24/2004 8:40:09 PM PDT by paulat
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To: presidio9

Peggy Noonan: A Dignified Lady.


57 posted on 06/24/2004 9:04:12 PM PDT by avenir (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous / Look at them, who can blame us / Lessons in the subject of decay)
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To: paulat
I thought so.

Gambling's legal, y'know, in many states. Some states even sponsor lotteries.

Of course, Bennett could've speculated in the stock market. Would that have been O.K. by you?

How about cattle futures...???

Junk bonds? Certificates of deposit?

58 posted on 06/24/2004 9:46:27 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: Ignorance On Parade)
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To: okie01

You tell me your wife's response when you tell her you just pulled the handle for $8 mil and came up with nada.

You tell her...I'll wait over here....


59 posted on 06/24/2004 9:53:11 PM PDT by paulat
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To: paulat
My wife's response is irrelevant.

And Mrs. Bennett was entitled to whatever response she chose to make.

60 posted on 06/24/2004 10:38:48 PM PDT by okie01 (The Mainstream Media: Ignorance On Parade)
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