Bye, Random Excess.He/she/it's dead, Jim!
Posted on 01/27/2005 2:08:34 AM PST by bellevuesbest
I have been called old, jaded, a sourpuss. Far worse, I have been called French. A response is in order.
You know the dispute. Last week I slammed the president's inaugural address. I was not alone, but I came down hard, early and in one of the most highly read editorial pages in America. Bill Buckley and David Frum also had critical reactions. Bill Safire on the other hand called it one of the best second inaugurals ever, and commentators from right and left (Bill Kristol, E.J. Dionne) found much to praise and ponder. (To my mind the best response to the inaugural was the grave, passionate essay of Mark Helprin.) So herewith some questions and answers:
A week later, do I stand by my views?
Yes. If I wrote it today I wouldn't be softer, but harder.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
heehee Meg.. A very good read!
You are looking for perfection..only to be strived for..and prayed for. I believe it will be dificult, but I am hopeful minorities are protected...
They are having an election in Iraq to select people who will write the constitution.
There can be a law against persecution that even if enforced, will not stop abuse.
What will the Bush-bots find to dispute?
Have you been following politics for very long?
Who is we? If you are referring to the progressives as we- then yes, you are right.
You do know who holds both houses of Congress(for the first time since the 1950s) and who is the President right now... right?
Bye, Random Excess.He/she/it's dead, Jim!
Terrific post.
You unearthed a lost diamond for us there .... a glimpse at a statesman and a time representing our tradition at its idealistic, realistic, humble. and patient best
> She is not "getting it" and I am getting a whiff of superiority complex.
You are absolutely right. Peggy's not getting the point, and in her frustration she sprews forth this arrogant bilge. And yet, it's not entirely her fault. The President has got to make his case, and he's got to make it over and over, so that Peggy and all the rest will understand.
I don't think I'm looking for perfection. I would like to know where we are going with this Iraqi liberation. How far are we going to go? And do the American people have the stomach for prolonged war with radical Islam?
I am not against what the President has done in Iraq. However, democracy is not the antidote for tyranny. A democracy can be free, but it can also be tyrannical. Even a people ruled by a monarchy can be free. I think a healthy dose of the fear of God is the antidote for tyranny, be it tyranny of one(dictatorship) or tyranny of the masses(democracy).
Jim, is this so outrageous as to be lifted?
I believe there are millions of loyal conservative Americans who are, and will be forever, puzzled by this Iraq business despite each new daily excuse given for it.
"And do the American people have the stomach for prolonged war with radical Islam? "
Radical Islam is at war with us and Western civilization, including Judaism and Christianity.
How best to fight the war is the question.
Peggy has a major disagreement with the President on this point. I disagree with Peggy on this too. I've seen many people who share this kind of neo-racist belief. The belief that certain 'people' don't want freedom and democracy. I guess we must simply agree to disagree on this point.
I have to agree.
Agreed.
Sometimes the best you can hope for is a benevolent dictatorship. Like what Jordan and Saudi Arabia have, more or less.
If we want to be nitpicky, Peggy was probably over reaching theologically by presuming that the Challenger crew all touched the face of God. If we were to use PN's standard, it was probably too God-drenched as well. She is so over!
It is not a stupid point, she makes the point herself that she worked for the campaign (at financial loss- sour grapes), maybe she either had been promised or thought she had been promised a role in this speech, and when Bush saw that she liked Clinton-lite policies better than Reagan-like he decided that her services were not of value.
I was at the Inauguration and everyone near me all thought it was great.
I met with David Frum that same afternoon, and we discussed the speech and he said he thought it was good, but too long by half. He said that it was the kind of speech that Bush would usually return and say "cut in in half". I told him I disagreed and thought it was a great speech, and that it was obviously influenced by Natan Sharansky: A Case For Democracy.
If America can't have a vision for a safe, and peaceful world, free of tyranny-- who else is going to have such a dream? France? Germany? Sweden? If these other democracies are going to help make this world safer, they NEED TO BE LED.
President Bush IS leading, and Ms. Noonan should show some restraint (oops too late) as someone who should know better.
Are you Peggy Noonan, or related to her? To claim that these discussions are mtivated by envy and jealousy is ridiculous. Anyone can see that Peggy has been abducted by Pod people and we want her back.
Steyn quoting you know who.
Fine, memorable words but let us not twist them to our immediate needs. There is only one way to read these words. They are reactive not proactive. They are a statement of our determination to defend liberty where it is under duress or threatened! It can simply not be cited as a paean to a swashbuckling march across contemporary history stamping out tyrants on every side.
Fevered enthusiasts can be forgiven for misapplication of the quote, Steyn cannot.
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