If Peggy had stuck with an analysis of the speech, and said she didn't like it, I wouldn't have nearly the problem with it that I do.
The angle she took makes it look like there were outside influences on her to make her make such an odd and errant criticism.
Tis a puzzle.
They are replaying the day..I am now going to enjoy the parade and actually watch it without turning to post!!
Noonan isn't complaining about references to God. She's complaining about Bush's belief that we can turn earth into Heaven. This is something conservatives used to worry about; in the Buckleyite slogan, "Don't immanentize the eschaton." It is foolhardy to think we can eliminate tyranny from the planet, and foolhardy to make such a task the goal of the United States. The Founders had a far more modest, and realistic, vision: to establish freedom here.