[Pokey78]

Pinging Peggy's list.

[JennysCool]

A very good Peggy piece -- but Peggy of all people should know better about joining that fainter-but-still-audible chorus which has it that The one time he didn't follow his gut--when he didn't return immediately to the White House after the attacks--he made a big mistake.

I was reporting the news live that day and I can remember the atmosphere vividly of those early hours. New York had been hit, the Pentagon was on fire and no one had any idea what was next. Mr. Bush returned to Washington at a prudent time; to have done so earlier, prior to at least a modicum of security being restored, would have been foolhardy. This is one of those brushes Mr. Bush is tarred with by people who have nothing else with which to smear him. I think better of Peggy. The President did the right thing, no matter what Peter Jennings may have snidely inferred that day.

[ThePythonicCow]

good one - thanks pokey.

[RandyRep]

Another Peggy perfecto.

So she was in the Oval Office with other columnists? I wonder who they were? Any ideas? Was this the ballyhooed meeting with Jennings/Steffie, Brokaw/Russert, etc? Was Dan there? Was Wolfie there? Tony and Brit? NYT? WP? Time?

How come we haven't heard more about this from others? Or did I miss it?

[Tamzee]

This was a delight, thank you :)

Tammy

[Jesse]

He's a conservative who means it.

Oh, barf. A conservative believes in limited federal government. Bush is anything but. Spending under Bush is exploding, and he is proposing huge spending increases across the board. If there is a federal solution to a local problem, Bush is behind it. From education, to immigration, to farm spending, to health care, Bush is the anti-conservative.

Bush is a conservative like Saddam Hussein is a humanist.

[Mr. Mojo]

AIDS is killing Africa, it is creating a continent of orphans, and this doesn't have to be. So much can be done. So give them help. Christian groups are deeply involved in the African effort.

This is a job for charities, not the U.S. government.

[ilgipper]

There's something I don't get though. President Bush the elder backed a lot of big government spending; he didn't make the government smaller; the deficit grew; he was open to adding on new spending. And by 1992 his Republican base turned on him, and he was finished. Now Bush the younger comes along and promises more government spending, a government getting bigger, the return of deficits. And yet after the speech Tuesday his base is more rock solid than ever. How come?

IMO, he has increased spending, but strategically - in areas that are key to pleasing the overall electorate, and in areas that are 'stealing' issues away from his opponents. Bush, the elder, simply went weak against the Democrats and let their agenda slide through Congress. Bush is controlling the situation.

I think most conservatives continue to back him because he is also enacting of a positive Republican agenda in regards to tax cuts, military build-up, forein policy decisions, etc that most Republicans continue to support him and his leadership.

[jeremiah]

Generally Noonan is right on about conservatism. This article is more fit for propaganda releases. The deficit is soaring, GW has proposed more govt spending than the man he replaced. GW is no conservative, he learned that the way to keep enough Republicans happy, was to cut taxes, while giving more money away(borrowed money by the way).

[Marysecretary]

She is such a paragon of decency and common sense. I enjoy her viewpoints so much.

[rightofrush]

The most important, critical, and crucial part of GW's speech was totally missed by Ms. Noonan: The problem with our pourous southern border was ignored.

Que passa, por favor?