Mr. Narcissus Goes to Washington (Peggy Noonan)

The Opinion Journal ^ | May 26, 2005 | Peggy Noonan

[Irish Rose]

Mr. Narcissus Goes to Washington It's springtime, love is in the air, and 14 senators are gazing at the mirror.

Thursday, May 26, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT

You've heard the mindless braying and fruitless arguments, but I'm here to tell you the facts, no matter what brickbats and catcalls may come my way. Lindsey Graham defied the biases of his constituency to do what was right, not what was easy. Robert Byrd put aside personal gain to save our Republic. David Pryor ignored the counsels of hate to stand firm for our hopes and dreams. Mike DeWine protected our way of life. These men are uniters, not dividers.

How do I know?

Because they told me. Again and again, and at great length, as they announced The Deal. And I believed them, because I am an idiot. Or as they might put it, your basic "folk" from "back home."

Listening to them I thought of some of the great and hallowed phrases of our Republic. "The rooster who thought he brought the dawn." "The only man who can strut sitting down."

I know they're centrists, but there is nothing moderate about their self-regard. And why should there be? I personally was dazzled by their refusal to bow to the counsels of common sense and proportion, and stirred that they had no fear of justified insult ("blowhard," "puffed up popinjay") as they moved forward in the halls of the United States Senate to bravely proclaim their excellence.

[international american]

Linsey is a ho! Nuff said.

[clintonh8r]

I'd rather have Senator Noonan than any of the Scurvy Seven.

[international american]

I remember. I agreed with her then, and I agree with her now.

[bonfire]

Excellent article and so true.

[bonfire]

Lindsay seems a bit poofy to me and always did.

[Palladin]

Great article!

The Pompous Seven (R) remind me of the Roman Senators in the time of Julius Caesar.

You keep wondering who they are going to stab in the back next.

[onyx]

FOTFL! I only scanned the first 100 posts and saw where I was pinged, but didn't reply (thank God), but yes, I remember that thread and Peggy's column.

Fickle reigns.

Good to know you like to bitch too.
I love it. :)

[youngjim]

Congrats! your comment gets the vapid award for the night!

Everything was fine until the power grid was shut off by dickless [ambrose] here.

ambrose: Peggy Noonan can't comment--she has an inflated ego too!

Mayor: Is this true?

Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it's true. This man has no dick.

[shamelessly purloined from Ghostbusters]

[international american]

A poofter?? ROTFLMAO! He is just a con who stands for nothing except getting re elected.

[bonfire]

That AND I'll bet he gets his nails done.

[nopardons]

Peggy hit one outta the park, with this one.

[nopardons]

Only because she disagrees with you, this time. LOL

[ambrose]

blast from the past:


http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1330358/posts?q=1&&page=1#1

To: quidnunc
When Peggy first started to go off track,I called her a HACK here and got yelled at. I was right,they were wrong,and sometimes Peggy writes garbage columns,sticking both feet in her mouth,and jumping.

55 posted on 01/27/2005 9:49:55 PM PST by nopardons
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---

To: Diva Betsy Ross
She did the same thing with an article during Reagan's funeral, took a bunch of cheap shots at some good journalists and people who attended the funeral. What ever it is it doesn't look good on her.

60 posted on 01/27/2005 9:52:59 PM PST by John Lenin (Liberals: Can't live with them, I can live without them ...)
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To: nopardons
I guess I'm about to criticize her personally, but I have never felt comfortable about Peggy Noonan. In my mind she epitomizes snobbery, right down to the effected voice, insincere smile, tilted head stance, and occasional hair flip. My guess is that working around her would be maddening, but hey, I could be wrong.
On the speech, I think enough time has passed to conclude the sky did not fall as a result. Peggy didn't like it but there was no reason to panic. She thought the speech would somehow give justification to our enemies that we are "immature." Nonsense.


65 posted on 01/27/2005 9:57:02 PM PST by Williams
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To: Fenris6
I will ask again: where has anybody personally attacked Peggy Noonan?
From all I've read on this thread, we are simply disagreeing with her brain-dead remarks on Bush's inaugural, and her equally dopey defense of those remarks.

Peggy is simply out of step with the vast majority of the rest of her party. It is she who is driving a wedge into the GOP, not those of us who, for the life of us, are trying to figure out what the hell has come over her.


72 posted on 01/27/2005 10:01:25 PM PST by sinkspur ("Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words.")
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To: sinkspur
Noonan jumped the shark last Thursday.
She lost me last summer when she bemoaned the president's campaign focus on the war, urging him to change the tone and make clear that he "hates war, really hates it, and loves peace." Americans were growing tired of the drama of the times, tired of war, and want to get back to their lives, she wrote. They want drama on a personal level but not a historical level ... blah-blah-yadda-yadda. It was one in a series of columns filled with similarly self-absorbed touchy-feely dreck. (Speak, Softly, Mr. Bush)

I always found Noonan to be a bit cloying, melodramatic, pretentious, and too reliant on flowery emotion at the expense of logic, but I still read her stuff because of her obvious writing skills and her earlier work was often so damn good(What I Saw at the Revolution was an especially good book). Now, though, I usually scroll past her articles because she mostly bores the heck out of me.


110 posted on 01/27/2005 10:39:03 PM PST by AHerald ("Be what you is, cuz if you be what you ain't, then you ain't what you is." - a Boot Hill epitaph)
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[spinestein]

[I know there will be folks 'back home' who will be angry, but that's only because they're not as sophisticated and high-minded as I am. Actually they're rather stupid, which is why they're not in the Senate and I am.]


ime heer in fly over cuntrie and ime an idee ut.

pleez snatch deefeet frum the jawz uv viktory (u ass hole) and then in form me uv how stoopid i am for ever buleeving in u.

thank u somutch, egzalted wun.

[ambrose]

When Peggy first started to go off track,I called her a HACK here and got yelled at. I was right,they were wrong,and sometimes Peggy writes garbage columns,sticking both feet in her mouth,and jumping.

Yes, you were right!

[nopardons]

Just shows how FAIR I can be, dear. :-)

I complain when it's bad and I give credit where and when credit is due.

OTOH, YOU don't agree with Peggy's position on this and instead of writing something that shows where you find her wrong, you posted an ad hominum about her; something she'll never see. LOL

[nopardons]

Back then, YOU didn't think so.

You really have been on the wrong side of things for a while, ambrose.

[ambrose]

something she'll never see. LOL

You'd be surprised to find out who reads this forum.

[ambrose]

I agree with her point... that politicians have inflated egos. The "moderate" 14, Frist, George Allen, Chuckie Schumer. They're all like that. Modest and humble public servants join monasteries instead of running for office.

And she rights nasty columns about speeches that she didn't get the chance to right... if that isn't an inflated ego, I don't know what is.

[nopardons]

No, I wouldn't. I know that a LOT of pundits used to read FR and some were even ACTIVE members; a few still are. Many stopped quoting us, though they may still lurk.

You forget to whom you are talking, perchance?