Peggy Noonan: The Ben Elliott Story (What I saw at the funeral)

Opinion Journal ^ | 06/14/04 | Peggy Noonan

[ontos-on]

Thanks so much for your detective work. I feel better knowing it was not Robinson. I had heard him with Laura Ingraham and he seemed like a decent guy.

Do you have any idea on the Hack?

[GipperGal]

As for the identity of the Hack, that's harder to pinpoint. Peggy doesn't give us as many clues. All she really tells us is that he "didn't write but only kibitzed." And it is also revealed that the Hack never wrote a book.

Well, it's true that Rohrabacher never wrote a book. However, he did do a lot of writing. Maybe not during the same years as Peggy, but he DID do a lot of work. So, I don't think it's a done deal on him being the Hack. But he could be.

On the other hand, Ken Khachigian was also a speechwriter during Peggy's tenure there, and he never wrote a book, and it appears that he wasn't as busy as the others. This is, of course, all guesswork. There were a lot of speechwriters and most of them didn't write books, and most of them worked sporadically. Peggy herself was a sporadic writer during those years -- given big assignments that took more time than the standard "Rose Garden Rubbish." So who can say who the Hack really is.

However, I can say definitively that it was not Pat Buchanan. He was Elliott's boss. So that puts that one to rest.

[GipperGal]

Peggy was not the first presidential speechwriter to "break the code of silence" and write about her work. Schlessinger wrote about his work with Kennedy. Bill Safire wrote a great book about being a Nixon speechwriter (titled "Before the Fall"). Peggy definitely wasn't the first. She was, however, the funniest and most enjoyable to read IMHO.

[bert]

I expected more of her......

Does this mean you are upset because she actually has a waist?

[chiller]

Duh....but who are they?

[chiller]

Peggy used the occasion to sing the praises who had heretofore been UNsung. How you find ill intentions here is way beyond me? Love Peggy.

[ontos-on]

I had originally proposed Ken Khachigian as the Hack but the Rohrabacher lobby became strong for awhile. I offered the following about Ken Khachigian earlier concerning my meager knowledge and impression of him.

"Just between you and me, I would take a guess at Ken Khachigian as the Hack, he is a former Nixon and Reagan speechwriter who is essentially a political consultant in California. From what I have seen of him, he appears inarticulate [see his October 03 interview with Brit Hume on the Arnold sex disclosures by the LA Times--google his name and it will come up fairly quickly] and greasy. But I really don't know. I only say this as names that could be ruled out or in with further info. "

[GipperGal]

I had originally proposed Ken Khachigian as the Hack but the Rohrabacher lobby became strong for awhile. I offered the following about Ken Khachigian earlier concerning my meager knowledge and impression of him.

I must have missed your post. But, yes, I agree with you! I even think that Peggy mentioned Dana Rohrabacher in the interview she did with Peter Robinson on the "Hugh Hewitt" show. I also remember her mentioning Dana Rohrabacher in a speech she gave at an AEI dinner a few years ago. As she was standing at the podium, she looked out into the audience and commented on the fact that so many of her old Reagan White House colleagues were in attendance. One of the colleagues she greeted was Dana Rohrabacher, and she sounded genuinely pleased to see him. Of course, it's possible that she was just being polite in greeting him. But the Hack she described in her column yesterday seemed to invoke a knee-jerk disgust reaction in her. I doubt if she would have acknowledged him even to be polite. But I could be wrong...

On the other hand, I don't remember her ever mentioning Khachigian. In "What I Saw At the Revolution" she alludes to fellow speechwriters who were jerks or kiss-ups. She wrote about one speechwriter who was constantly sucking up to Don Regan (who Peggy loathed). I remember laughing out loud when she quoted a line from the movie "Broadcast News" -- "No, I think anyone who puckers up their lips and presses it against their boss's buttocks and then *smooches* is an ass-kisser."

[GipperGal]

Take a look at this comment from John Derbyshire on National Review's "The Corner":

PEG O' MY HEART [John Derbyshire]

If what I am hearing off-line is correct, after her column this morning, Peggy Noonan may have trouble filling her dance card at the next Vast Right Wing Conspiracy ball...

I wonder what he means by that...

[AmishDude]

There are several pictures of Reagan with Rohrbacher on the congressman's web site. Are these the pictures being touted on TV? http://www.house.gov/rohrabacher/

I see no such pics. Could it be a little shame on DR's part?

[GipperGal]

There are several pictures of Reagan with Rohrbacher on the congressman's web site. Are these the pictures being touted on TV? http://www.house.gov/rohrabacher/

I see no such pics. Could it be a little shame on DR's part?

Hmmm... Good point.

[ItsForTheChildren]

Boy, they sure disappeared in a hurry.

[nana4bush]

Uh, oh.... They were sure there this morning.

[ItsForTheChildren]

I see a statement mourning the loss of the Columbia crew but nary a word about Reagan anymore. Maybe he decided to quietly slink away?

[valleygal]

Thanks for such a thorough reply re: Dana Rohrbacher. Interesting read.

[RobbyS]

FDR was a great leader. Never forget that he was pro-active in his leadership against Nazi Germany.

[RobbyS]

FDR was a great leader. Never forget that he was pro-active in his leadership against Nazi Germany.