Pish Posh, Peggy

As much as I've enjoyed Peggy Noonan's work over the years, as she delivers yet another maudlin commentary on Bush today, I find myself gritting my teeth reading her, just as she now apparently grits her teeth at Bush.

I certainly have my issues with this President, but it amazes me that an experienced Pro like Noonan can become so oblivious to the larger picture. She blasts Bush for his seemingly constant optimism, the very characteristic for which she has rightfully praised Ronald Reagan until it almost became boring to read in her column.

I disagree with Bush on immigration, I've faulted him for his prosecution of the war but, like it or not, in part perhaps because of his religious faith, Bush 43 is a man who sees a larger picture, understands the limitations of even an American President and is confident that, longer term, the direction he is trying to kick the ball is the right one. And, in fact, it is.

Iraq has not gone as well as most of us would like. But it is a type of war we are going to have to fight some number of times in our future if we are ever to see the type of freedom and democracy in the Middle-east it will require to diffuse radical Islam.

That future requires an entirely new way of thinking when it comes to the projection of American military force and it was never going to happen over night, it will take time to get good at the blend and proficiency of American diplomacy and combat forces required to accomplish what Bush told us going in was a generational challenge.

Bush has moved the Court more to the Right than Reagan ever did, despite Reagan's best intentions. Was Sandra Day O'Connor not a colossal mistake from which it has taken decades to recover? Does that make Reagan a bad President? No, of course it doesn't.

Noonan calls the column American Grit, yet displays none of her own.

We can't fire the president right now, so we're waiting it out.

Sure you can, Ms. Noonan. At least, you can try. Simply change your party affiliation and start chanting impeachment, like the rest of that gang.

Or you could show a little of that American Grit you're touting and realize we have had one of the best economies in our history under Bush, we have secured at least the political center-Right when it comes to the Supreme Court and we have engaged a ruthless enemy in a generational conflict that only the naive thought would be over in a few years, or go precisely as planned at its beginning.

What Ms. Noonan has forgotten is recent history. This President inherited an economic disaster pre-9/11 due to the bursting of the Dot Com bubble. Not nine months into his term we experienced the single most devastating attack on our homeland in history. And through it all, through both good and bad, through trials and, yes, errors, Bush 43 has stood tall. And now for that you want to attack him again and again?

Thank God he did and does remain standing tall, Ms. Noonan. Unfortunately, you have not. 

Comments

[Tom Grey]

Good note, and criticism of Peggy -- who was too enthusiastic when enthusiastic, and is too negative now she's negative.

Bush is a pro-life, pro-tax cuts, pro-gov't spending, pro-amnesty, pro-Democracy in Iraq (and the ME) ... positive president. He's right on life, taxes and Democracy, wrong on spending and amnesty.

But he's always pretty positive. And has reason to be, as does the country, although not the journalists.

Both Bush, and perhaps Peggy, should be making jokes about the low low low unemployment, low inflation (small misery index), decreasing budget deficit...
and steady progress in Iraq.

All we have to do in Iraq is continue being willing to fight, and we will certainly win.
Maybe in 10 years. Maybe in 40 years.

Keep fighting ...
or lose.
Those are OUR two choices, and also the bad guys.

But, as the Iraqi people get more experience with us and with them, and realize they DO have a choice, more are deciding to take the responsibility to fight against terror.

Noonan feels Iraq is lost, she is wrong. We are, slowly, winning.

Dan, you keep doing fine, and this was another good one. (and I love Peggy...)

[Fred Beloit]

I generally like her work. But like some others she is getting soft and mushy like Bob and Ray's Chocolate Wobblies.

[MJS]

She writes these last few years like a more vapid George Will...trying to be contrarian, yet insightful - and managing to do neither well. Pure incoherence, mixed in with some banality for good measure. I haven't been able to read her for a while now. One foot in the past, the other busy trying to lodge itself as far as possible up President Bush's rear.

[markg8]

"it will take time to get good at the blend and proficiency of American diplomacy and combat forces"

What diplomacy would that be? Bush is a lying incompetent buffoon. Latest example is his desperate attempt to paint AL Qaeda in Iraq as the main threat.

http://www.dgdemocrats.com/?q=node/318

Oh and that "Iranian" attack on soldiers in Karbala back in January? Seems like every Iraqi on base knew about it.

http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070712/1a_lede12.art.htm

[wirro]

So how does it feel to be one of the "Dead Enders" as Rummy would say?

[jerry]

mr bush makes Richard nixon look honorable!!

[Continuum]

" . . . Does that make Reagan a bad President? No, of course it doesn't. . . ."

Reagan was a bad president because

-he said he would never deal with terrorists.

-then he sent Ollie North and crew to Iran to trade missles for hostages

[Terry Gain]

"What diplomacy would that be? Bush is a lying incompetent buffoon. Latest example is his desperate attempt to paint AL Qaeda in Iraq as the main threat."

Duh? There's another threat -to America- in Iraq? And, BTW, FYI AQI is responsible for almost all the suicide bombings you lefties think should cause America to prematurely withdraw.

[Tom]

Duh? There's another threat -to America- in Iraq? And, BTW, FYI AQI is responsible for almost all the suicide bombings you lefties think should cause America to prematurely withdraw.

Posted by: Terry Gain

You know this? Are you letting the decider in chief know about this? Folks...I think we have found the missing link of information here. HE KNOWS the bombings are AlQ - HE KNOWS THIS. Gut feeling there? Or are you just throwing stupid words into the air? You sound like an idiot to simply SAY YOU KNOW. Prof sir, is what makes you words go from blathering idiocy to actual facts. Do you have any? Are you prepared to show us how YOU KNOW about the bombings - or doesn't it matter to you that you DON"T KNOW ANYTHING? IF you want a king, go to saudi arabia. If you want to assist the soldiers - get your butt into the fight. If you have information which could save the lives of our brave soldiers - speak up. Otherwise turn on glen beck or limbaugh and STFU.

[Fred Beloit]

"Prof[sic] sir, is what makes you[sic] words go from blathering idiocy to actual facts." And this personage is belittling a better. Toujours l'audace. If you want to assist the English language, Tom, stop commenting.

[ShaqFu]

Apparently, it doesn't matter if our President makes many many mistakes, as long as he stands tall while he messes up.

So only the naive would have thought that this war would be over soon? Hmm...
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/05/20030501-15.html
Headline: President Bush Announces Major Combat Operations in Iraq Have Ended

[thibaud]

You're behind the curve. The vast majority of Americans, in red and blue states alike, "are disappointed, by both teams and both sides."

This line nails it: "Some part of [every American] fears that when history looks back on this moment, on the past few presidents and the next few, it will say: _Those men were not big enough for the era_."

Enough of our Great American Pissfest.
Those of us who supported the war should have the guts to admit that those who opposed this war intelligently and in good faith were right. Bush's administration has botched it beyond recognition and no longer has any credibility.

Gen. Petraeus is worth listening to. Bush is not.

A little humility and honesty on all sides here would go a long way toward binding up the nation's wounds. Noonan has just demonstrated both, in spades. Can you?

[nowingker]

Funny how Al Quaeda's influence and power seems to fluctuate according to the polical winds in the U.S....right on cue, when even Republicans are jumping ship Al Queda becomes front and center again.

If Al Quaeda has truly rebuilt its terror enterprise to pre-9/11 capabilities there is no stronger proof that Bush's 'war on terror' is a total, complete, abysmal failure. Six years and thats what we have to show for trillions: Iraq is on fire and Al Quaeda is as strong as they ever were, the Taliban is back and growing. Brilliant.

[Tom]

Tom, stop commenting.

Posted by: Fred Beloit

Nope...Not ever. You 28%'ers are losing losing losing. You feel if you can scare off some progessives, bush gets to be king - no way freddy boy. I have read your words through the years - sometimes you make sense, sometimes not. And AGAIN. You don't say anything concerning my point - only to point out mis-spellings? Thats all you got? Really? At 28%, I would hope you would grab at least ONE FACT you could offer me as proof you have a brain. Take a moment and walk through bush's time as presidency in your mind. Have you got it? Good. now reply with something - ANYTHING - factual about bush which makes my words untrue. I'll hold.

[Fred Beloit]

The Liberal party has a good chance of nominating not only a Senator who voted for the War in Iraq but also someone who was married to the President who first named Iraq as a mortal danger to America because Iraq had WMD. Now the wise and noble thebald writes: "A little humility and honesty on all sides here would go a long way toward binding up the nation's wounds." Do you now propose, oh thebald, to call upon Hillery to withdraw from the race for president in the interests of a little "humility and honesty" to help us heal the wounds caused by Liberals in siding with our enemies?

[Fred Beloit]

Well, Tom, you wordsmith and prose meister you, you misrepresented what I said. This is what I said: "If you want to assist the English language, Tom, stop commenting." Tom, if you don't want to develop a reputation as a liar, may I suggest you lie a little less publicly.

[Fred Beloit]

Ali Tomwinkie. the paid correspondent. Are you paid in riyals, my darling?

[Ralph Dosser]

"Iraq has not gone as well as most of us would like."

3,898 soldiers dead, 35,638 wounded, more every day.

The army collapsing - equipment and men broken, burned, exhausted. Reserves spent. Officers and NCOs fed up, walking away forever. New recruits are only the desperate and deficient.

Hundreds of thousands of the "liberated" are dead who would not have been. A bad dictator replaced with a worse one: chaos.

What kind of idiot or monster could say "has not gone as well as most of us would like" over this ocean of blood and destruction?

[thibaud]

"Do you now propose, oh thebald, to call upon Hillery to withdraw from the race for president in the interests of a little "humility and honesty" to help us heal the wounds caused by Liberals in siding with our enemies?"

I ask both sides to remeber that we are all on teh same side here, and that Noonan is surely right in saying that both Houses, of Clinton and Bush, have given us men that were not big enough for the very large and daunting challenges that we face. It's not the End of History after all. More like History's Back, with a vengeance. I think we need to quit pissing on each other and find the very best man or woman we can find, in intellect and character and judgment, and stop this reign of mediocrity. I was never a big fan of Obama's but I'm beginning to see the merits of the guy now. I invite you to drop your ideological blinders and set off on the same journey.

best,

t

your fellow american

[Tom]

> it was never going to happen over night

That's the problem, Bush tried to do it overnight. He tried to inject Democracy into a region that was neither ready for it nor understood it and he failed to see the consequences of such a drastically ill considered approach, both diplomatically and militarily. It wasn't until more than a year into the failed occupation that Bush started talking about how history will be the judge, hoping he'll be remembered as the man that toppled the first domino in the Middle East towards Democracy. We can only hope that history will judge him accurately, as a weak, ineffectual diplomat, a disorganized and pitifully unaware of history military leader and an incredibly malleable puppet to those stronger than he, his Vice President and Political Advisor.

[tally]

sounds like noonan's hots for reagan have blinded the woman or perhaps she hangs in washington to much. she claims w didn't go with the people that raised him high. okay, perhaps. she states conservatives relate foreign affairs to prudent realism. hello peggy, tear down that wall was not very realistic. maybe i don't get it, but i think she's off base on that one. she states conservatives think borders must be governed. peggy, you are correct. funny thing though, i knew exactly where w stood on that one, it was where reagan stood. they were both wrong wrong wrong, but again i freaking knew the issue. she states conservatives relate high spending with irresponsibility. correct again peggy, i confess that i don't lose sleep over this one. and her comment about scaring the base, what the hell was that. noonan is being a hypocrite like everyone else. i can complain about w, but i sure as hell am not going to throw the man under the bus. he hasn't raised my taxes and he's fighting terror - i got what i voted for.

[merl. allen]

26 percent. You must be so proud. Enlist, coward. Ban me first.

[scarshapedstar]

"She blasts Bush for his seemingly constant optimism, the very characteristic for which she has rightfully praised Ronald Reagan"

I think her problem is that Bush's idea of 'optimism' is chewing on broken glass while proclaiming, between pauses to spit out rivulets of blood and chunks of shredded tongue, that it's going to turn into a filet mignon if we just give it a little more time and, besides, it's too late to turn back now.

(Apologies to The Editors.)

[Fred Beloit]

Scar has introduced a little gory Hunter Thompson-style prose into the fray. But thebald has written something very silly: "I ask both sides to remeber that we are all on teh same side here,..." I can't speak for others but I am most definitely not on your side, oh thebald, the side of defeat, of capitulation, of surrender, of fear and loathing in Las Vegas (a Thompson "novel") and elsewhere that is :"...the sickness unto death" (Kiekekaard). And your choice, Obama? Don't really know much about him. What does he stand for? He is one of the few Dems who voted against the war. What were his reasons? I'd love to know something about those. All I know is he stands for "hope". I'm impressed by that. Only problem is so few have spoken out for hope as the single plank of a platform. Oh, yes, forgot socialized medicine. One needs a lot of hope to be for that.

[Phoenix]

eeeu. Fred. That was pretty ghastly was Scar wrote. In a perverted artsy sense I kind of liked it.

Best

p

your fellow american

[Phoenix]

F,

i really like the profundity of that sign-off. what do you think?

p

your fellow american

[thibaud]

"defeat, capitulation" - snicker.

OK, Rambo, get yourself over to Baghdad. Maybe then your big words will carry some weight.

Reaching out was worth a try, but Fred and Phoenix are obviously too obtuse to grasp what William F Buckley, George Will, Peggy Noonan and just about every intelligent Republican now sees: Bush is a small man who's way out of his depth and who lacks the strength of character to admit that the war, which I was a strong supporter of, is a complete fiasco.

btw Obama's not my first choice, which is None of the Above.

[Fred Beloit]

I'm crazy about your profound, your profound...new sign-off. By the way, may I try my new line on you? Ahem, Ich schau dir in die Augen, Klines. Translated: Here's looking at you, kid. Oh and, In der Liebe und im Krieg ist alles erlaubt.

[Fred Beloit]

"...the war is a complete fiasco." What a goofy statement to put your name under, oh toobald. A vicious, murdering, dictator was removed from the backs of the long-suffering Iraqi people. A real election was held. A new government installed. Many enemy are being killed every day. Enemy countries like Syria and Iran are starting to show their a--es. All with absolutely minimum American casualties. Don't lose heart, my dear comrade in arms. The war you supported is being won. Cheer up. A rosy dawn is about to break.

[Fred Beloit]

Sorry, P, my fellow American, it is Kleines not Klines. I can't spell in German any better than I can in Englisch.

[salvage]

Oh dear, feeling lonely Danny?

Rats fleeing the sinking ship but Dan and a few others will go down with their Dear Captain.

[The Other Steve]

I am convinced this blog is a spoof. You're just trying to give Republicans a bad reputation of being stupid and incompetent.

[Dan Riehl]

"What kind of idiot or monster could say "has not gone as well as most of us would like" over this ocean of blood and destruction?"

One with a little historical perspective when it comes to war you sniveling little wretch. Go pour yourself a glass of milk, spill it and cry into that for a change. You handwringers need your necks wrung, instead.

[Islamollama]

I know what you're thinking, Dan. Why is this ship so suddenly devoid of rats? It just seems like everyone is abandoning the unsinkable HMS GOoPer, and you can't figure out why. Don't worry. I'm sure in time it will come to you.

[Fred Beloit]

I know what Islama is thinking. Nothing. Nothing at all in that head but Lib slogans and talking points.

[Ralph Dosser]

What "historical persepective" tells you that destroying our army is a good strategic move, Chickenhawk Riehl? And why aren't you over there? If not in the army, then filling a civilian post that desperately needs to filled? Is it because you're not willing to put your own ass on the line in a war you know is lost. Or maybe you don't want to give up your safe, comfy chair?

[Phoenix]

William F. Buckley? What? Windbag of the World. He doesn't even know what he's saying.

Peggy Noonan - Won't you have some casserole? Let her be president of the Quilt-Makers League.

George Will - "Hmmm...should I say this or should I say that? Dang it. My deadline's coming up."

Wow. I am h u m b l e d. Oh. And obtuse. :)

p

your fellow american

[Phoenix]

Hey, Ralph,

The "chickenhawk" thing was over just before Christmas. Keep your fat ass in your chair so you can keep up with the latest and greatest of blog insultry. And who is trying to destroy our military besides the libs?

[Fred Beloit]

I wonder what Mr. Douser understands, or doesn't, about the word volunteer? See Douser, while you were out hunting water, we've been fortunate in having many fine and patriotic young men and women volunteer to serve in the armed forces of the US. They do this, I suppose, for two reasons. One, to associate closely with other fine and patriotic young men and women. Two, to avoid associating with people like you.

[gfbvbxv]

people are stranger