Posted on 10/27/2006 4:10:15 AM PDT by Zakeet
A year ago I wrote a column called "A Separate Peace," in which I said America's leaders in all areas--government, business, journalism--were in some deep way checking out. They saw bad things coming in the world and for our country, didn't think they could do anything about it, and were instead building a new pool or buying good memories for their kids. Soon after I was invited to address a group of Capitol Hill staffers to talk about the piece. When the meeting was over a woman walked up to me. She spoke of what was going wrong in Washington--the preoccupation with money, a lack of focus on the essentials, and the relentless dynamic of politics: first thing you do when you get power is move to keep power. And after a while you don't have any move but that move.
I said I thought the Republicans would take it on the chin in 2006, and that would force the beginning of wisdom. She surprised me. She was after all a significant staffer giving all her energy to helping advance conservative ideas within the Congress. "Yes," she said, in a quiet, deadly way. As in: I can't wait. As in: We'll get progress only through loss.
That's a year ago, from the Hill.
This is two weeks ago, from a Bush appointee: "I hope they lose the House." And one week ago, from a veteran of two GOP White Houses: "I hope they lose Congress." Republicans this year don't say "we" so much.
What is behind this? A lot of things, but here's a central one: They want to fire Congress because they can't fire President Bush.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Peggy seems awful down in the dumps lately.
They've upped her medication...
I'm convinced she's dealing with "mental pause."
Actually, I think that she doesn't believe the last part of this. The moving finger has written, and it is 'Mene, mene, tekel upharsin' for the West.
Get her to the Betty Ford Clinic, quick.
The only loss that would be positive peggy, would be if YOU GOT LOST!!!!!
LLS
Noonan drops another notch with this stinker. There is no progress through loss, only a quicker path to socialism. The fact that the staffers and Bush appointees that she speaks to are in such a funk just shows that some very stupid people have been put in these positions.
I get the sense that they are all longing for all the problems of the world to just go away because they are inconvenient to deal with. Many of us adults out in the real world recognize that some important things are difficult and take time, and cannot be fit into neat little boxes. The Battle of Iraq and the overarching War on Terror are two such things.
Peggy Noonan can be so wrong sometimes-- real life is not like soaring political rhetoric found in speeches-- it is sometimes a rough, hard cold slog in the mud.
She recently described Bush as "...yearning[?], vain and intensely limited." What's up with Miss Peggy?
And because of Theodoric's Arian bent, you get the Great Schism. The influence of the germanic barbarians dragged Europe into an age of twilight for a few hundred years. We are there again.
It is to late stop the fall. Demographics are destiny, and even if all the women in the West started having babies we still couldn't stop Europe from falling. But perhaps we can preserve enough so when the West regains itself (if Judgment Day tarries that long), it will be able to do as my germanic ancestors and try to rebuild some of what was lost.
I'm not an elite by any means, but I think this is a good summation of how I feel about it anyway.
I'm sorry, but I'm not so pessimistic. In their hearts, the conservative base of the party, the moms and pops, small business owners, and the Young Republicans in the red states, know what is right. They know the path to continued greatness for this nation. And they know that either through the elective process or revolution this country can move forward. Our civilization, our culture, our vision will survive.
The difficulty that we're facing in this dark time is lack of leadership. Or perhaps leadership in the wrong direction. We need a Washington, a Jefferson, a Madison, a Lincoln, or a Reagan--a leader with vision, charisma, faith, and strength. At the moment, our party has no such leader at the front, but there are second stringers who have those attributes. It's incumbent on us to push these future heroes to the front. We don't need more Hasterts, Frists, Lotts, Muehlmans, or Bushes.
"Power Corrupts..." and the Republican leadership in Congress is a prime example. It may take a loss of the House and/or Senate to get rid of this self-righteous cabal, but I refuse to concede defeat.
The history of this nation is replete with examples of rising from darkness, 1778, 1865, 1919, 1929, 1942, 1969, 2001. In each of these cases, great men and great leaders stepped forward, not just in government, but in business, industry, and in our homes. We're at another one of those times. We have great conservatives waiting in the wings. We have to push aside those closing the curtains.
Still bitter about not getting a job in W's Administration, Peggy?
PING
I read her column on that other thread you mentioned in post #29. I disagree with just about every word she said. LOL
If the opposition is Howard Dean, Ted Kennedy, Pelosi, Reid, Hillary, Kerry, etc. THEN THE ANSWER IS NO.
Losing is Ok as long as you are not turning over a 2 trillion dollar enterprise to these anti american, traitors.
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