| Peggy Noonan is No Fan of Bushes or Clintons |
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| by Tom Pauken | Mon, Oct 8, 2007, 12:29 PM |
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Here is what Ms. Noon has to say on that subject: “It is the nature of modern politics. A political family gains allies – retainers, supporters, hangers-on, admirers, associates, in-house Machiavellis. The bigger the government, the more ways allies can be awarded, which binds them more closely. Your destiny is theirs. Members of the court recruit others. Money lines spread person to person, company to company, board to board, mover to mover. The most important part is the money lines. Power is expensive. The second most important part is the word “winner”. The Bushes are winners; the They are, both groups, up and ready and good to go every election cycle. They are machines. There are good people on each side, idealists, the hopeful, those convinced the triumph of their views will make our country better. And there are those on each side who are not so wonderful, not so well-meaning, not well meaning at all. And some are idiots, but very comfortable ones. Is this good for our democracy, this air of inevitability? Is it good in terms of how the world sees us, and how we see ourselves? Or is it something we want to break out of, like a trance? It would be understandable if they were families of a most extraordinary natural distinction and self-sacrifice. But these are not the Adamses of Massachusetts we’re talking about. You’ve noticed, right?"
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Comments (5)
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written by ABC , October 08, 2007 Thank God someone is saying this, I hope to never see another Bush or Clinton as President again. I just hope our country can survive the damage done to date. Anybody But Clinton.
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written by Dallasite , October 09, 2007 Peggy Noonan is probably the very best Conservative editorialist in the country. She has been very critical of President Bush, and his very unconservative domestic agenda, over the last year. It would avail the GOP to finally pay attention to her.
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written by Paul Barnes , October 09, 2007 How short people's memories are. I remember Peggy Noonan going all gooey over George Bush's prancing on the flight deck of the U.S.S. Lincoln. She praised his manufactured manliness and never questioned if the mission was accomplished. Read Paul Krugman's editorial this week arguing that George W. is indeed the rightful heir to the conservative legacy - from Goldwater to Nixon to Reagan to Bush I. It is now abysmally bankrupt judging by the roster of 2008 candidates.
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written by Tom Pauken , October 09, 2007 Paul, Paul Krugman would like to convince people that George W. Bush is "the rightful heir to the conservative legacy". He is no more a conservative than Richard Nixon was. The modern conservative, political movement began with the nomination of Barry Goldwater as President in 1964 and effectively ended when Ronald Reagan left office in 1988. As for Peggy Noonan's critique of Bush, you are right in saying that she defended his presidency in the early stages. But, she has been increasingly critical of his Administration over the past couple of years. But, you miss her point which is that political families like the Bushes and Clintons have too much influence over our politics; and the results have not been good for our country.
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written by Paul Barnes , October 09, 2007 Tom, you're right. Peggy has awakened to the current situation with our president. And I, too, would be happy if not another Bush or Clinton shadow darkens the White House. But Peggy's job is to burnish Ronald Reagan's memory and she sometimes distorts it. I remember he cut taxes and spent on the military like there was no tomorrow. George W. Bush has followed this same Reagan model by waging war and cutting taxes. I remember Dick Cheney saying that Reagan proved deficits don't matter. So, I would link George W. Bush's fiscal policies directly to those of the supposedly "conservative" Ronald Reagan. That was one of Paul Krugman's points, also. Thanks for making Dallasblog an such enjoyable read. Write comment
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Former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan had a weekend column in the Wall St. Journal ostensibly about the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama. 
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