Peggy Noonan: Way Too Much God (Freepers let's tell her our thoughts)

WSJ ^ | 1/21/05 | Peggy Noonan

[TheDon]

If you mean military power, you are right. And, thankfully, President Bush suggested no such thing. Surely it is a conservative idea to encourage, by non-military means, dictators and tyrants to give way to democratic forms of government. You know, that old "we hold these truths to be self-evident" bit.

[Mikmur]

Please cut and paste from the Presidents speech where he said he was going to use force....I get influence.

[Aquamarine]

IIRC, Peggy has recently become somewhat religious herself.

But the President's speech wasn't about religion, it was about faith in God.

[Dustbunny]

Peggy Noonan: Way Too Much God

No it wasn't!

[Yardstick]

"""now on the Inaugruation thread, some guy is taking one sentence out of the speech out of context and saying the President wants communism or something...."""

I wonder if you're talking about *my* comment on that thread.

Just as a FWIW, someone challenged me on it and I explained myself here:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1324749/posts?page=219#219

[Earthdweller]

"It is very unusual to come across "hate America" types on these threads."
-------
I love my country as much as the next blow hard. Let's just remember that it has taken our country many decades to get a handle on the out of control hate and violence. KKK come to mind? Civil War ring any bells? Mafia, War of 1812? Heck the US invented unconventional warfare..that's why we beat the Brits! Yes we are a great nation..but not by no blood spent..and when blood is spent..yes..it is pretty disgusting. Saying I discussed you because I remind you of this fact is like shooting the messenger.

[little jeremiah]

I just caught the beginning of this thread (was it yesterday already?) Computer's going out, got the box to send it back in.

I REALLY like that statement: (Is the source noted? I'll check back up the thread to find out.)

"Self-government relies, in the end, on the governing of the self."


"Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites--in proportion as their love of justice is above their rapacity;--in proportion as their soundness and sobriety of understanding is above their vanity and presumption;--in proportion as they are more disposed to listen to the counsels of the wise and good, in preference to the flattery of knaves. Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon the will and appetite is placed somewhere: and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds can not be free. Their passions forge their fetters."
-- Edmund Burke

[Earthdweller]

Wonderful reminder. Very fitting here. Thanks.

[Endeavor]

You obviously haven't read enough Peggy Noonan or you wouldn't call her an elitist. Get serious. She's also a Christian. If you'd read her works, you'd know that, too.

I think she's wrong, here. I think the two prior columns were wrong, too. I don't like what she wrote about the speech - the comments in this article are far different from her comments yesterday, live. But she's no elitist.

[Endeavor]

thanks, I replied to this thread, above.

[Endeavor]

And she's right about the music.

[Endeavor]

"To: ovrtaxt If you cannot see what is wrong with your statements and why people might not like the ideas you express, you are just plain obtuse."

My, that was much more "nuanced" than what I was thinking (grin).

[Endeavor]

"I like Peggy a lot and have bought several of her books. But she's wrong here and I'm disappointed she's given the Lefties some talking points."

Ditto

[The Ghost of FReepers Past]

I added both of those quotes to my FReeper page. Thanks for the Burke addition, lj.

[EdJay]

"Perhaps she is just not comfortable with God herself."

Peggy Noonan not comfortable with God? She's an extremely religious person herself, a very devout Catholic, and she has often expressed her religious convictions in her writings, so that is NOT the explanation.

I have a different take: She's probably miffed because she didn't get to write or at least contribute to the speech!!!

[Endeavor]

Noonan left her column for several months last year to devote that time to the Bush campaign. When she took that leave of absence, she also lost that income. She's no traitor to conservatives and she's no traitor to George W. Bush.

Some folks on this thread really should identify the target before they fire.

[hardworking]

Dear Ms. Noonan,
As an intellectual 'leader' in our community, could you please define for me what 'too much' God is? Would 'too much God' mean that you should only breathe between the hours of 6 am and 12 noon and then He can take some time off so that you don't experience 'too much' God? Or, maybe you should ask Him to not overdo it with 'too much' God the next time you have a near miss in heavy traffic. Hm-m-m-m, sure am interested in when you believe you have 'too much' God in your life. Thanks in advance for the edificaiton.

[jla]

Well, Ronald Reagan himself was very complimentary of Miss Noonan. And her outlook & viewpoints haven't changed since she worked in his administration.
Miss Noonan was also on the speech writing team during our current President's reelection campaign. A task she voluntarily took an unpaid leave from the WSJ to do - because she wanted to make a contribution in seeing that Dubya was reelected.
But nevertheless, The Ghost of Freepers Past, and others here, know better. ;^)

[jocon307]

I wish I had the energy to write down all the names of those who resonded to this thread, but I don't.

The responses on Opinion Journal are FINALLY up, 7 pm eastern time. Most of the responders agree with most of us here. Others, understandably, accuse Noonan of stupidity (or worse) for foisting this maniac who now frightens her onto the public. She did take a leave to help elect Bush, and indeed his lack of nuance did not bother her at that time.

She had one person happy and willing to read her again; this gain was off-set by another swearing her off. Many cited what I heard on the radio (and this thread?) today, that she was fine with the speech when she commented on it on TV last night.

Anyway, interesting reading, and a fine kerfuffle!

Now, back to read "Best of the Web Today".

[cajungirl]

LOL,,what can I say? I am trying to be more nuanced and get less flames,,part of my resolution to be kinder and gentler.