A Sourpuss? Moi? [Peggy Noonan responds to her last column on the inaugural speech]

WSJ - Opinion Journal ^ | 1-26-05 | Peggy Noonan

[Fenris6]

"I think that Peggy is jealous that she didn't get chosen to write the speech for Bush"

I think you're jealous of Noonan.

Good. Goose. Gander.

[Paul_Denton]

We should be engaged but Bush's vision will lead to the loss of more privacy and civil liberties. I am glad we invaded Iraq. Let's finish the job there and Afghanistan; that's quite enough.

And defend Taiwan and Japan from China.

[BigSkyFreeper]

But I wonder what caused her to go to the dark side?

Spending too much time with the foaming-at-the-mouth Liberals and alleged "Conservatives" on MSNBC and living in a cozy enclave deep inside a blue state. She's basically lost touch with the very same Americans she spent so many years defending in her articles to one degree or another.

[smiley]

Peggy really has a high opinion of herself doesn't she. Looks like Peggy is morphing into one of the journalistic elites....like we care what she says....Peggy, darling, we will take your views into consideration....but we will not live by them.

[Molly Pitcher]

Okay! Thanks Jane. I did, BTW, when going thru my tape of the I-Day speech, come across Peggy's remarks on Fox directly after the speech, listened carefully & found the whole affair puzzling, to say the least!!

[MEG33]

It is a very provocative statement....Others have explained their disapproval of Bush's speech in far less offensive terms.

It jumped right out at me.

[syriacus]

Powerline summed it up best: "If our tent isn't large enough to hold Noonan, then we're in trouble"

Interesting thinking on the part of Powerline. I'd like to follow their train of thought a little bit....

When Peggy is halfway out the left flap of the tent, can we finally assume she is running for public office or for some job that is usually held by liberals?

[PGalt]

Yes. But words have meaning.

Metaphor Peggy...quit digging.

I did exciting and I hope helpful work at considerable financial loss.

Soooo sorry. Your writing is intellectually bankrupting you.

[Ditto]

But when they are removed, the garbage--the freelance terrorists, the grievance merchants, the ethnic nationalists--pops out all over.

Makes it sound as if the garbage does not stink as long as we hold our noses. The lid always comes off and chaos is alway one of the potential results. Why not have a plan for removing the lid and avoiding the chaos?

[Petronski]

"Here is an unhappy fact: Certain authoritarians and tyrants whose leadership is illegitimate and unjust have functioned in history as--ugly imagery coming--garbage-can lids on their societies. They keep freedom from entering, it is true. But when they are removed, the garbage--the freelance terrorists, the grievance merchants, the ethnic nationalists--pops out all over. Yes, freedom is good and to be strived for. But cleaning up the garbage is not pretty. And it sometimes leaves the neighborhood in an even bigger mess than it had been."

I'm stunned with that quote. Ronald Reagan would NOT approve.

I'm done with Peggy Noonan. If she is to be at all appealing to me in the future, it will have to be after some kind of redemptive moment and new birth.

[petitfour]

What is "equality for all"?

[syriacus]

I think that Peggy is jealous that she didn't get chosen to write the speech for Bush

Good point. Do we know anything about her previous interactions with the folks who helped Bush with his speech?

[Fenris6]

"When Peggy is halfway out the left flap of the tent, can we finally assume... "

Assume all you want dear. These threads bashing Noonan remind me of why we are called the "stupid party". We always manage to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory - probably b/c we have you and your kind to show us the way.

"halfway out the left flap". LOL. I also found Bush's speech to be over-reaching. You going to consign me to the Gulag too?

[samtheman]

In all the questions she "answered", she didn't touch on the number one question people are asking:

Dear Peggy: Are you jealous?

[jennyjenny]

Schizophrenia is not your friend.

Actually, for this person it may be his only friend(s).

[BigSkyFreeper]

"If our tent isn't large enough to hold Noonan, then we're in trouble"

If she rolls out of the GOP fold, I won't shed a tear. I didn't cry in my beer with Jumpin' Jim defected, nor did I wallow in misery when Arianna Huffington defected into stupidity literally and figuratively.

People come, people go. There is no need to eulogize, or feel sorry, or think the world is going to come to a screeching end over those who have left for one reason or another. That's the nature of politics.

[Fenris6]

"I think that Peggy is jealous that she didn't get chosen to write the speech for Bush"

"Good point."

No - its a stupid point. If you knew anything about speech writing, you would know that the writers are already in place, usually on staff. Noonan had about as much expectation of writing that speech as you or me.

"Do we know anything about her previous interactions with the folks who helped Bush with his speech?"

Gee, maybe you could raid her garbage can for "proof" she is a dissadent. Or perhaps Monty Python's Float Test for Witches. You people amaze me.

[xsmommy]

i think you hit the nail on the head, her criticism of the speech WAS more offensive than that of other's and i think that is what has bothered me the most about it. the tone of this current column is more than a little defensive. she doesn't LIKE criticism herself, apparently.

[Petronski]

And we must do nothing that provides our foes with ammunition with which they can accuse us of conceit, immaturity or impetuousness.

Okay, who is this broad, and what has she done with the real Peggy Noonan?

[DCPatriot]

Some people have no capacity for self governance and must be led by authoritarian means or tyrants.

No...some people refuse to accept the results of an election or the validity of the outcome and need to be dispatched with extreme prejudice...in very large numbers.