Most of the posts here are overly negative. Noonan’s reaction is very interesting and illustrative. She represents the thinking of the establishment republicans.
When she tells the administration that they should consider backing off, you can bet that the middle of the road Republicans are going to stick solidly to their opposition to this horrible plan. If the moderate Republicans see that position is the safest bet, you can reasonably hope that the newly elected Democrats from marginal seats are wondering the same thing.
Most of the posts here are overly negative. Noonan’s reaction is very interesting and illustrative. She represents the thinking of the establishment republicans. Understood. But the problem is that we told Noonan that this was the type of thing that was going to happen, but she was all wrapped up in going ga-ga over someone who read the "right" books, got the "right" education, and stoked the self-styled intellectual's egos.
She's late to the party, and until she admits what a fool she was, it's still the broken-clock syndrome.