Peggy Noonan: Why We Talk About Reagan

Opinion Journal ^ | 02/08/2002 | Peggy Noonan

[Pokey78]

A small band of former aides and friends of Ronald Reagan were all over TV this week talking about the former president on his 91st birthday. Our memories and reflections were treated with thoughtfulness and respect by the media. It wasn't always this way but I'm glad it is now, and I think there are reasons for it.

[Pokey78]

Ping for the PNPL.

[Sabertooth]

Thanks Pokey!

(((ping))))

[Lorena]

Thanks, Pokey. Here's a God Bless President Reagan Bump!

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[habs4ever]

Thanks, but Peggy is too kind to his detractors.He was right,they were famously wrong, and for that, they call him a doofus.Funny 'ole world that way.Peggy tries too hard to make nice with her ideological opponents, and they don't wish her well.

[Jean S]

Thanks for this post.

[Sabertooth]

Thanks, but Peggy is too kind to his detractors.He was right,they were famously wrong, and for that, they call him a doofus.Funny 'ole world that way.Peggy tries too hard to make nice with her ideological opponents, and they don't wish her well.

Yes, but look how they wrinkle, and she doesn't.

You're right about the detractors though... they never miss a shot. I did some work for President Reagan for about five years during his retirement. My liberal friends were less than generous with their sympathy, and more than ample with their unkind humor over his Alzheimer's.

[Pompah]

May I add my thanks to you for this post. Thank You.
And close with a thought that has been with me a long time.
Peggy is a Fox. Oh yeah.

[RLK]

After 20 years of corruption and chaos, Ronald Reagan brought a sense of sanity back to this country. That's why I talk about him and love him. There are few national figures that mean anything to me. Reagan is an exception.

[ValerieUSA]

Speaking of Peggy being a fox - don't you wish FOX news would have hired her to host a show rather than the unspeakable greta creature?

[TPartyType]

[Jonathon Spectre]

The-man-who-saved-the-world-again-and-again BUMP.

We will never know another with his particular kind of greatness. God bless Ronald Reagan and the freedom he brought so many.

[My2Cents]

I suspect Peggy doesn't want the kind of gig these talking heads have on Fox. Peggy is articulate; she's contemplative about our political culture; she's a thinker; and her defense of conservatism and Reagan are unassailable. She's a treasure. She is best suited for what she does: the occasional column, and an occasional appearance on Hannity and that Other Guy, or some such program. I doubt that Peggy Noonan could ever wear out her welcome on my TV, but even the best sort of wear thin.

[ValerieUSA]

Those of us who lived in and feel we understood the age of Ronald Reagan have a great responsibility: to explain and tell and communicate who he was and what he did and how he did it and why. Where he came from and what it meant that he came from there. What it meant, for instance, that he came from the political left, was trained in it, and then left it--for serious reasons, reasons as serious as life gets. And: what it cost him to stand where he stood.

Exellent passage. Also, imagine what it would have cost him (and us) if he hadn't turned right before he took his stand.

[MeekOneGOP]

Peggy Noonan: Why We Talk About Reagan

Excerpt:

But let me tell you why we make those arguments as often as we can. When I talk about Mr. Reagan, media people often preface my remarks, or close them, with words like this: "You adore him." Or, "You of course have great affection for him and so it's your view that . . ."

These are not unfriendly words, but they're a warning to the viewer: Take what you hear with a grain of salt. Needless to say the grain-of-salt warning doesn't come when the subject is, say, JFK or FDR or Martin Luther King, all of whom had friends, supporters and biographers who have spent decades advancing their causes with affection and respect.

Ronald Reagan's old foes, the political and ideological left, retain a certain control of the words and ways by which stories are told. They run the academy, the media; they control many of the means by which the young--that nice, strong 20-year-old boy walking down the street, that thoughtful girl making some money by yanking the levers of the coffee machine at Starbucks--will receive and understand history.

But the academy and the media may not in time tell Mr. Reagan's story straight; and if they do not tell the truth it will be for the simple reason that they cannot see it. They have been trained in a point of view. It's hard to break out of your training.

That is why we don't let the subject pass. It's too rich with meaning. To speak of Mr. Reagan honestly, to speak of his fabled life and his flaws, is to make a contribution to the young, who 10 and 20 and 40 years from now will be running history, and who will need lives on which to pattern their own, lives from which to draw strength.

The young could do worse. The young often have.

---

This entire article is great - what I've come to expect from this former Reagan speechwriter.
Peggy's article is a sincere tribute to Reagan, with a clear message regarding the terrible tragedy of media bias. I was so disappointed regarding some of the things going on in the media (and in Congress) this week surrounding Reagans birthday. . .
Thanks for posting this Pokey, and for the ping Sabertooth!
(((PING))))))
Please let me know if you want ON or OFF my ping list!. . .don't be shy.

[JohnHuang2]

Thanks for the ping =^)

[JohnHuang2]

[redrock]

Can't speak for anyone else...but I know WHY I speak of President Reagan ...

He said what he believed...and MEANT every word.

He had the courage to stand up and say some things that grated on some people's ears...but said them anyway.

.....and he NEVER stopped believing in the promise of America...in the 'Shining City on the Hill'.

I wish such courage...and downright devotion to the Ideals this Nation was founded upon...existed in the Government today.

redrock--Constitutional Terrorist

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Ronald Reagan made us feel good about ourselves and our country.

God bless Ronald Reagan.