Peggy Noonan, the sometimes Republican (but hardly conservative) columnist/ Obama supporter, devoted her weekly editorial to sticking a fork in Sarah Palin and pronouncing her “done”. Here are some of the linguistic gymnastics Noonan uses to express her disdain for everything Palin:
- she was not thoughtful
- She was a gifted retail [politician]
- She never learned how the other sides think
- She couldn’t say what she read because she didn’t read anything.
- She wasn’t thoughtful enough to know she wasn’t thoughtful enough.
- What she is, is a seemingly very nice middle-class girl with ambition, appetite and no sense of personal limits.
- She makes the[Republican]party look stupid, a party of the easily manipulated.
- …she is a ponder-free zone. She can memorize the names of the presidents of Pakistan, but she is not going to be able to know how to think about Pakistan
- She hurts, as they say, the Republican brand, with her mess and her rhetorical jabberwocky and her careless causing of division. Really, she is the most careless sower of discord since George W. Bush
This all comes from an ostensible Republican opinionator who crossed the line and endorsed Barack Obama. I might continue to read Peggy Noonan’s writing if she ever stopped complaining long enough to explain what she sees in Barack Obama that differs from the comments above.
At the end of her piece Noonan finally unloads on what has her worried:
Here’s why all this matters. The world is a dangerous place. It has never been more so, or more complicated, more straining of the reasoning powers of those with actual genius and true judgment. This is a time for conservative leaders who know how to think.
Here are a few examples of what we may face in the next 10 years: a profound and prolonged American crash, with the admission of bankruptcy and the spread of deep social unrest; one or more American cities getting hit with weapons of mass destruction from an unknown source; faint glimmers of actual secessionist movements as Americans for various reasons and in various areas decide the burdens and assumptions of the federal government are no longer attractive or legitimate.
Absent her endorsement of Barack Obama, Noonan’s opinions might merit the time for careful consideration. But in light of her choices, and the fact that she supported Barack Obama over John McCain, she is not to be taken seriously when she lectures us about leadership in a dangerous world.
