Quick Note to the Elite, Inside the Beltway Conservative Pundits: You’re not Martyrs
Peggy Noonan, a person whom I respected up until she was caught lying to her readers in a hot mic incident, digs herself a bit deeper into her hole with her own readers with her latest piece, “Palin’s Failin’.” The subtext of her article is succinctly expressed in her subtitle: “What is it she stands for? After seven weeks, we don’t know.”
Let’s quickly recount what we learned about Sarah Palin beginning with her nomination all the way through the first Vice Presidential Debate: Sarah Palin is pro-life, in favor of utilizing America’s natural resources in order to reduce our dependence on foreign energy, favors strong second amendment rights, supports capital punishment, opposes same sex marriage, and supports a preemptive foreign policy. I suppose if you exclude all of those major issues then we really don’t know much about where Sarah Palin stands.
“Aha!” Ms. Noonan might say, “but what about important game-changing issues like which school of contemporary philosophy Sarah Palin identifies with most? Does she identify more with Realism, Existentialism, or perhaps Post-Structuralism? These are important questions that must be answered with the utmost thoroughness.”
Well, I guess it’s pretty clear that Gov. Palin won’t be able to carry the coveted North Hampton-Ivy League-Neo Conservative demographic in the same convincing fashion that Senator Obama has. After all, Senator Obama has clearly aligned himself with the Christian realism school of philosophy, a contemporary school of philosophy that is viewed favorably this election cycle by the aforementioned demographic. Darn!
After a few more paragraphs of bashing Governor Palin and the barefoot rubes who are ignorant enough to vote for, let alone identify with, someone who is clearly too vulgar and inexperienced for the likes of the ultra-sophisticated beltway political scene, Peggy Noonan tops off an already bitter tirade with an uncharacteristically self-righteous, yet oddly tangential crescendo:
I gather this week from conservative publications that those whose thoughts lead them to criticism in this area are to be shunned, and accused of the lowest motives. In one now-famous case, Christopher Buckley was shooed from the great magazine his father invented. In all this, the conservative intelligentsia are doing what they have done for five years. They bitterly attacked those who came to stand against the Bush administration. This was destructive. If they had stood for conservative principle and the full expression of views, instead of attempting to silence those who opposed mere party, their movement, and the party, would be in a better, and healthier, position.
At any rate, come and get me, copper.
Ok, I’ll bite. There is no reason that you (Peggy Noonan), Christopher Buckley, Kathleen Parker, David Brooks, or any other member of the self-anointed conservative intelligentsia should be surprised at the amount of anger outpouring from your readership towards you when you write articles that appear to “pile on” an already struggling conservative campaign effort.
You dutifully qualify every criticism of Palin with some snippet along the lines of “I’m not doing this to get invited to all the cool parties,” yet the first thing you do once you’ve been booed off stage by your own readership is exactly that – you show up onto some sort of liberal haven like Hardball or The Colbert Report to apologize for how stupid and ignorant your own political movement is. You claim that your articles against the McCain campaign are written out of some concern that true conservative principles are dying, yet you express your disagreement by cheering on a man who supports out-in-the-open socialism. You all claim that you are wholly invested in traditional bread-and-butter conservatism, yet all of your actions contradict such claims.
Let me reemphasize one of Ms. Noonan’s lines:
If [high-profile conservative pundits] had stood for conservative principle and the full expression of views, instead of attempting to silence those who opposed mere party, their movement, and the party, would be in a better, and healthier, position.
Had I been given this snippet in isolation away from the rest of the self-righteous squawking screeched by our beloved I’d be inclined to think that Noonan and others believe that it would have been in the best interests of both the Republican Party and the Conservative Movement to fight Bush and push him further towards the right during his administration. I’m inclined to agree. However, if Noonan and her cohorts honestly believe that what they are doing right now in this election cycle is conducive to bringing about a conservative realignment amongst the Republican party then they are either being disingenuous or idiotic. I believe it’s the former.
If anything, the recent slide away by conservative megapundits away from McCain / Palin appears to be a rescue mission designed to salvage the credibility of conservative megapundits, not the Republican Party or the Conservative Movement. In fact, I think the deception on the behalf of these conservative pundits is a bit more duplicitous than they let on. While they claim to want a true conservative realignment of the Republican Party, they’re retooling their writing as though they expect the opposite to happen. It appears as though most of these longtime conservative pundits believe that a liberal realignment is what’s going to occur, and these conservative pundits are simply making a phased withdrawal away from their longtime readership towards a left-leaning future readership.
Ms. Noonan and other megapundit turncoats: the outrage expressed by your readers hasn’t been incurred because you’ve shifted your support away from the only conservative ticket on the ballot this November. You’re faced with reader outrage because you’ve expressed the same contempt for your readership that has traditionally been expressed solely by your colleagues on the other side of the aisle regarding conservatives – you extoll conservative virtues with one article and then damn the very candidates who embody those virtues with another, and not due to any substantive reason. Rather, it’s because those candidates didn’t attend a university with a high enough U.S. News & World Report college ranking and don’t articulate their positions using the same ebullient language found in the stump speeches of Senator Obama. You’re not sold on Palin or McCain out of lack of substance, but of lack of style; you claim that Gov. Palin hasn’t effectively conveyed her positions on any major issues, yet it’s apparent that you have not been listening.
The problem you and the rest of the intelligentsia on the conservative side of the aisle have is that most of you are profusely embarrassed by the stylistic, not substantive, failings of your candidates. To make matters worse for your readers, there happens to be a candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket who has the opposite problem (lots of style, little substance), one which was widely recognized by yourselves and your readers prior to McCain’s financial crisis poll-slide and Palin’s Katie Couric interviews. You mull it over and decide that the Democratic candidate is the better choice, not for your historical ideological alignment but because he’s the more intellectually defensible choice when it comes to your profession. You’ve made a choice that will make it easier for you to maintain your credibility as thought leaders and journalists. There is no nobler choice for supporting a particular candidate than self-preservation.
But no long after you’ve made your decision you have to try your hand at persuading your audience, and you fail utterly. In the course of writing your article where you announce your strategic withdrawal away from McCain and towards Obama you experience severe cognitive dissonance: you can’t explain why it makes sense to abandon a conservative candidate and support an ulta-liberal candidate in order to save conservatism, but you can’t risk becoming a laughing stock among your Beltway cocktail buddies at the Washington Post by supporting a clear loser and his permapregnant rookie Governor sidekick from the backwash of the country. So you end up producing a garbage exit post and piss off the vocal majority of your readers.
Let’s make this clear: when you’re getting bombarded with angry emails from your subscribers, you know, the people who pay you money to write stuff that they want to read, you don’t have any right to call their treatment “unfair” when you’re the one being a duplicitous asshole. Just a thought.
Thank you! Yes.
lael
October 17, 2008 at 2:27 am
Excellent!
ampontan
October 17, 2008 at 2:59 am
Love it. Excellent.
Carin
October 17, 2008 at 5:26 am
Well said.
Gary Ogletree
October 17, 2008 at 5:33 am
Lots and lots to say, but let me mostly leave it at this….. BEAUTIFUL post. We in the peanut gallery are applauding.
JB
October 17, 2008 at 6:26 am
Way to drop the hammer!
Now, I’d like to see the “conservative mega pundits” who are sticking around at places like Weekly Standard, National Review, and elsewhere actually respond to their rogue brethren. Instead, it’s all “I greatly respect Pegs/Christo/Katy, but I must respectfully disagree…”
pmm
October 17, 2008 at 6:54 am
What he said.
Dan
October 17, 2008 at 7:36 am
Peggy Noonan proved years ago, when she earned tens of thousands of dollars doing PR for Enron, (a task she admitted she was unqualified for,) that she will write ANYTHING for money. Pay no more attention to hack Noonan than you’d pay to hack MoDo.
gp
October 17, 2008 at 7:37 am
I don’t get people like Noonan. If anyone is a Reaganite in this campaign, it’s Palin. What a wonderful breath of fresh air for conservatives who believe in the sanctity of life, smaller government, energy independence, a strong military, etc.
So why does Noonan hate her? I have a theory: it starts with “Mirror, mirror on the wall…..”
Meeeowwwwww!
Steve
October 17, 2008 at 7:39 am
Wow! Whittaker Chambers abandoned Communism, “the winning side,” for America, “the losing side.” Does Chris Matthews hand out Red Badges of Courage?
Christopher Davis
October 17, 2008 at 7:42 am
This was beautifully written. As with most of the articles published by the brighter lights in the conservative movement, I didn’t understand most of the big words, but I trust that they were important.
Matt
October 17, 2008 at 7:45 am
Very well said! These pundits have the right to say what they like (however illogical and desperate it may be), but this martyrdom act is tiresome beyond belief.
Joe
October 17, 2008 at 7:47 am
What a great post! Let it rip! I stopped reading Noonan a long time ago. She is vapid, vague and vaporous — think Algore sighing. I dare say she would be a great disappointment to Ronald Reagan if he were still with us. Reagan would be embracing Sarah Palin for her conservative values and love of life. Thanks!
dawndawn
October 17, 2008 at 7:49 am
I have a B.A. and M.A. in English and American literature and have come across the issues of realism and post-structuralism in my studies–it is sad how those of us can be charmed by words rather than by the meaning of words. These so-called conservative elites are surrounded by those who speak the right words without hearing what is truly being said, which explains their formidable support for Obama’s intellect. I have never been impressed by Obama. As a writer and word person his usage of words may sound powerful, but the meaning of his words run hollow.
People who understand principle and integrity, truth and common sense are naturally draw to Governor Palin. She is clear, concise, and plainly and powerfully knows what she says, and, means what she says. That in itself is more powerful than so-called eloquence.
One must remember Thomas Jefferson was not a great public speaker, he hated it, but he did understand the meaning of words and his contribution to the writings of the founding of this country is a great example.
Words matter, but the meaning of words matter more.
le combat
October 17, 2008 at 7:51 am
Well, a-f***ing-men!
thomas
October 17, 2008 at 7:54 am
Outstanding piece!.
Peggy Noonan was never a conservative, she just used her wonderful writing abilities to milk the Reagan revolution.
Also, I am not a big McCain fan, but I watched the debate and I clearly saw McCain thrashing Obama on Wednesday.
Obama lied so many times and never once did any reporter point this out. Yet, Brooks, Kristol and Barnes say that he looked “cool”. I can’t believe it!
Alex
October 17, 2008 at 7:54 am
Well said. The dynamic that you discribe is the most dispiriting aspect of the political season. At a critical moment in history, various conservateive mega-pundits are positioning themselves to gain the favor of progressives editors/publishers/producers. While conservative public intellectuals of a previous generation led movements, conservative writers today focus on selling books and syndication rights, self-promotion and managing their social calanders.
Anon
October 17, 2008 at 7:56 am
Here, and I thought I was the only one who had recognized her for the turncoat she is! I’d noticed this leaning a few months ago, and the open mic slip just confirmed it. While I stell read Peggy, I take everything she writes now with a heavy dose of salt!
Wraithrat
October 17, 2008 at 7:56 am
You are right on. I’m so weary of the “elite” idiots like Noonan and the rest. They are nothing but snobs and wouldn’t know substance if it slapped them in the face.
In regards to the “Elite,” just think Bailout -how’s the elite leaders working for you there?
Janie
October 17, 2008 at 7:57 am
If the Republican Party has failed to be a Big Tent party, it’s been because of Conservative elites like Noonan, Brooks, Parker, Buckley, and others. I went to an Ivy League school, and I know the type (on both the left and the right). They are essentially insufferable people for whom politics is an intellectual sport, not a public service.
Just as Obama has been exposed as a phony on taxes via the lowly Joe the Plumber, Noonan et al have been exposed as elitist hypocrites by Sarah the Hockey Mom. These elites simply have no concept of how an intellectual low-life can achieve success and have the temerity to be a national politician.
Instead, they gravitate to the pseudo-intellectual, mellow stylings of Obama. And for those with intellect–not snooty intellectualism–Obama is a discordant instrument. Those lacking in authenticity fall into a lotus-like trance over Obama. The rest of us simply shake our heads in disappointed disbelief.
EMD
October 17, 2008 at 7:57 am
Kudos brother
You nailed it dead on. This anti-palin gibberish is just to please there liberal friends at MSNBC.
In a nutshell they are only important to the other side as a bludegon to hit conservatives over the head.
Kathleen Parker was pretty much a back bencher until she pulled this littl stunt. Noonan is a loneley woman with a crush on Obama.
Keith from Little rock
October 17, 2008 at 7:58 am
Well, where do you think Murtha got the idea to bash his voters by calling them racists? He & Peg were chatting each other up at the latest Georgetown affair and, well, there it is. The newthink method of appealing to your audience.
CC
CapedConservative
October 17, 2008 at 7:58 am
One word…..BRAVO !
Don Bullock
October 17, 2008 at 7:58 am
Well said!!! It’s very sad that Noonan, who wrote a book on Reagan called “When Character was King”, apparently no longer considers “character” important.
don
October 17, 2008 at 7:59 am
outstanding piece. I have no use for these elite snobs
Joe (the retailer) Gorman
October 17, 2008 at 8:00 am
Tacitus;
Thank you for a well thought out editorial.
My take on why pundits like Noonan, Brooks, Buckley, et.al., are taking this route is because they clamored for McCain, he was a moderate, he would run a center of the road campaign, not ‘pander’ to the religious right, etc. etc. McCain then ran the kind of campaign they wanted him to run. And he was losing and showing no life until he picked Palin, a choice of whom these pundits had a profoundly negative reaction to because she symbolizes everything they want to move the party AWAY from. The only time McCain surged in the polls was when he picked Palin. He surged when he moved RIGHTWARD. They are getting the campaign they wanted but McCain was struggling; rather than blame McCain and his handlers for insisting on staying in the middle and not advocating strong conservative themes, the pundits must find someone or something to blame for why their guy who is running the kind of campaign they wanted is losing. So they pick on Palin. It must be that rotten choice of Palin, that’s why McCain is losing! We conservatives in this country are going to remember what these pundits did. McCain can still win – the polls consistently oversample Dem’s in the urban areas. If he wins we are going to make sure all the Peggy Noonans and David Brooks and Christopher Buckleys choke on lots of crow.
manofaiki
October 17, 2008 at 8:00 am
Excuse me, in the last post, I mistakenly said is instead of the correct usage of the verb. I should have said “How are the elite leaders working for you? That error must certainly show a lack of substance on my part.
Janie
October 17, 2008 at 8:01 am
Awesome! Excellent article. You have a new regular reader.
Michael Martin
October 17, 2008 at 8:04 am
A Freakin’ Men.
Ditto ditto.
Newagegop
October 17, 2008 at 8:08 am
AWESOME!
Jonathan
October 17, 2008 at 8:08 am
Good for you…. especially the last line – seems to fit her. Now let’s see if Peggy Noonan can read it. It’s hard to read with your nose so high in the air or up where it appears to be turning a deep brown.
Alabama Mother
October 17, 2008 at 8:09 am
Peggy Noonan has let down many fans this election cycle including me. I lost tremendous respect for Ms. Noonan when she whined about McCain choosing Palin over Kay Bailey Hutchison because of her “narrative”.
Sarah Palin has shown that she isn’t afraid to rock the boat in defense of conservatism and that is the only “narrative” I care about. Nothing against Kay Bailey Hutchison but what the hell has she done in her 15 years as a senator?
As far as I am concerned it is Peggy Noonan that is choosing style over substance and it is with a heavy heart that I no longer value her opinion.
GaJim
October 17, 2008 at 8:12 am
Bravo.
Biff
October 17, 2008 at 8:14 am
Hear! Hear!I am sick of these idiots and their elitist affectations. The fight has commenced – they need to get in it or get the hell out of the way.
Steve H. in AZ
October 17, 2008 at 8:14 am
I couldn’t agree with you more, Tacitus. A candidate who is rough around the edges, but who supports the right principles is worth so much more than a polished candidate with a history of betraying everyone in his past. Noonan and Buckley and Parker et al seem to be unwilling to listen to Palin simply because she is unpolished. Is this because Bush was also unpolished and he betrayed real conservative principles? That’s real Bush fatigue, then: the willingness to throw conservatism under the bus because one is tired of a man who falsely was identified (by Noonan, Buckly, Parker et al.) as a conservative.
Sad.
Benjamin Lasseter
October 17, 2008 at 8:16 am
Excellent article, I’d like to add a “Hell yeah!’.
kefka
October 17, 2008 at 8:17 am
Loved it! Spot on! Thank you for calling “it” what “it” is…pandering.
Elizabeth
October 17, 2008 at 8:18 am
Thank you Tacitus, for speaking for so many, my self included!
One very picauyune criticism which has strangely, neurotically stuck in my craw.
As in Mark Anthony’s famous address:
“Friends, Romans, Countryman, lend me your ears; I come to bury Caesar not to praise him.”
It should be:
Ms. Noonan and other megapundit turncoats,(COMMA not COLON) the outrage expressed by your readers hasn’t been incurred because you’ve shifted your support away from the only conservative ticket on the ballot this November.
Also note they way I have used the colon and the way the semi-colon is used by Shakespear, to connect two sequentially related sentences.
Obsessed grammarian who has dug what you say.
Nyog
October 17, 2008 at 8:18 am
I agree with Ross Douthat – I would like a moratorium on any reference to these mythical cool parties, particularly those which serve “cocktails”. These references have long ago passed into cliché and it too often betrays lazy thinking.
I get that it’s a shorthand for Buckley’s and Parker’s triangulations in the face of the coming storm (and I even agree with you) but let’s not be sabotaging our own posts.
I also see typoes (“ulta-liberal”). You were angry when you rushed this off?
David Ross
October 17, 2008 at 8:19 am
This makes sense unlike Peggy Noonan, Kathleen Parker and Buckley. They like to think they are noble, and tell us that they are. Champions of the Freedom of ideas and thought, soldiers fighting against the “vulagarization of Politics”". The true warriors of conservative thought, dragging the mindless masses to the enlightenment they offer.
Breaking news: We don’t want any, oppurtunism, retreat and surrendering your supposed values and ideals makes you dishonest, dishonorable and ridiculous. I’ll take the diaper buying, needs child bearing, hunting ,real woman over the androgenous intellectual conservative Posers any day of any week.
Then again I’m no Ivy leaguer so it won’t matter to them. However,I do have money and I won’t be buying Patriotic Grace by Peggy because as far as I can tell she has none.
kim kelly
October 17, 2008 at 8:19 am
The last 5 paragraphs are MONEY, baby!
I agree with you wholeheartedly…
Best wishes,
Bob
Bob
October 17, 2008 at 8:20 am
I always thought Peggy was stuck-up–as we use to say in High School.I am a business woman and have owned several bussiness that make over $250,000 (what a joke) and I think Sarah is great. I may not agree with her on everything—but I do not agree with Obama on anything. Thanks for telling Peggy how inappropriate she is.
hwaldron
October 17, 2008 at 8:21 am
Clearly Noonan and the others who align with her in their various anti-McCain/Palin screeds so soon before the election have long forgotten Ronald Reagan’s rule to not speak ill of other Republicans.
Could Noonan, who served Reagan well as a speechwriter, ever imagine Reagan voting for a socialist like Obama over a Palin simply because he is fluent in Ivy League? I am certain he would not.
Or could they really have in the backs of their minds the notion that they have to help tear down the todays conservatives in the party in order to force the party to rebuild in an image they prefer? At what cost to the country in the meantime? After an Obama/Pelosi victory, and all the potential for danger they bring, it will be a generation before America recovers from them and Noonan and the rest of her friends will long be dead before they see it. If the party and the country ever does recover.
There is just too much at stake to accept their personal pique at a hero who is not their perfect candidate. I suggest that Reagan would have much preferred talking Hockey with Palin than Niebhur with Obama.
But then, of course, this modern strain of intellectual conservatives, the ‘forget Reagan,’ conservatives, keep insisting that the Reagan era is dead and, it would seem, so should be his memory.
Michael Andrews
October 17, 2008 at 8:22 am
This is my first time on your site. Wow! Great stuff!
It occurred to me this morning that perhaps Kathleen and Peggy are just jealous that there is a new hot conservative woman on the scene who has excited the male base in ways they have not. That, and contempt for middle American conservatives.
Brooks has been long gone and Christo just wants to sell books or maybe he has just grown a pair since his dad has gone.
Georgiegirl
October 17, 2008 at 8:23 am
I could not have said it better. I was already disheartened with Noonan’s off mic remarks, which in my opinion were the most honest (honest in terms of her true feelings) remarks she has made, but this new snobbery has utterly disgusted me. We need only take a look at the current mess we call Congress to discover what wonders the elite may bring. I find it refreshing that these “duplicitous assholes” are showing their true colors. At least we can trust the Democrats TO stab us in the back. Et Tu Peggy?
Alan Perry
October 17, 2008 at 8:27 am
I could not have put my feelings into words any better than this.
After ready Buckley’s column endorsing Obama I thought to myself, he is leaving because he thinks McCain is going to lose and has to align with someone who will win. There was not one concrete reason in his endorsement that any conservative could buy into. If you want to endorse someone that is fine, but at least give a viable reason other than I hope he will be more moderate?????? I am sick of the Palin bashing also. If you don’t like her fine, but do not shove your opinion down my throat. I know more about her stance on things than I do Obama and it never fails to make me angry when I see people bashing her and then no mention of Obama. Also, if i hear “heartbeat away from the presidency” again, I will have to punch something. For God’s sake, Obama would be the heartbeat of the President and he has absolutely no stance on anything. The only thing I hear from him is everyone is a racist and poor me and give me your money so i can give it someone else. After listening to all my democratic friends bash Palin for about 10 minutes, i finally asked them what Obama has done? One stinking thing? All 8 of them looked at me with amazement and could not answer. The pathetic part about it is he was my Illinois Senator for 8 years and no one could give one example of anything the man has done. It amazes me how the thought process does not go immediately to his experience when you are talking about Palin’s experience. I am now done venting.
Chris
October 17, 2008 at 8:29 am
Bravo!
ECM
October 17, 2008 at 8:33 am
“In fact, I think the deception on the behalf of these conservative pundits is a bit more duplicitous than they let on.”
My exact feeling when Buckley made his endorsement of Obama and confirmed by his lying about being fired. It smells like a PR stunt orchestrated long before the selection of Palin.
Call my cynical.
w3bgrrl
October 17, 2008 at 8:33 am
You know I’m getting a bit tired of these “conservatives” who suddenly are too smart for everyone else. They would rather look good and lose. I fight for my core and I don’t sell my soul to let Chris Matthews think he my intellectual equal. Mrs. Noonan, a devote follower of Reagan perhaps has forgotten some of his best words…
“A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency, or simply to swell its numbers.
I do not believe I have proposed anything that is contrary to what has been considered Republican principle. It is at the same time the very basis of conservatism. It is time to reassert that principle and raise it to full view. And if there are those who cannot subscribe to these principles, then let them go their way.”
And I concur “let them go their way” we don’t need them, we don’t want them, and victory will be sweeter without them.
Armand
October 17, 2008 at 8:33 am
You are absolutely correct. Being a Conservative is about getting things done that reflect our values and affect our lives. Sarah Palin does both very well. The likes of political courtiers such as Peggy (old speech writer) Noonan are not leaders. They are NYC and DC cocktail party intellectuals who aren’t worth the powder to blow themselves to hell.
oldpapajoe
October 17, 2008 at 8:34 am
I like your writing!.
There are millions across this country who, in such a small window, have come to know precisely what Sarah Palin stands for and against and they like her very much. Tightly held convictions formed without the pretentious wisdom of any one of these elitist pundits.
I never beleived that these writers try in any way to connect with main street. They write simply to impress those within their very own credentialed circle. Snobs with long noses.
John Sidick
October 17, 2008 at 8:36 am
Well said. And funny how these brilliant souls somehow missed the conservative blogosphere going after Bush on immigration, Harriet Meirs, spending, protectionsism, pandering to Islamicists, etc.
Lewis
October 17, 2008 at 8:38 am
Funny. George WIll has been awfully quiet recently.
eddiebear
October 17, 2008 at 8:39 am
[...] stopglobalaming- Peggy Noonan, a person whom I respected up until she was caught lying to her readers in a hot mic incident, digs herself a bit deeper into her hole with her own readers with her latest piece, “Palin’s Failin’.” The subtext of her article is succinctly expressed in her subtitle: “What is it she stands for? After seven weeks, we don’t know.” [...]
miamipress.net | miamipress.net
October 17, 2008 at 8:40 am
Note to Noonan et al:
If you can’t be helpful .. shut up.
Neo
October 17, 2008 at 8:40 am
Thank you for saying this! I thought I was the only one who found Noonan’s article despicable.
Lori
October 17, 2008 at 8:41 am
Amen. I wrote the WSJ already letting them and Noonan know that she is not only dumping on Palin, she is dumping on all of us. The masses are asses, I guess, but if you want my opinion, I’d rather hang with the asses than the elitists who think they ride us.
One more thing: Noonan has always, always struck me as a pompous fraud. I agreed with her substance so I dealt with her style. But now the substance is in alignment with the style and I can finally just plain hate her. So much more enjoyable.
Mark Jordan
October 17, 2008 at 8:41 am
Oh, thank you.
As these captains have abandoned their ship as shoals appeared on the horizon, I’ve experienced the whole range of despair and incredulity at their weasley attempts to wriggle our from under the shame of their weak-kneed cowardice.
You nailed it. They don’t want to miss the glittering coronation parties and giddy insider celebrations as the abandoned ship flounders into socialism.
Bastards.
Cathy
October 17, 2008 at 8:43 am
BRAVO!!!
There’s nothing worse than a “courageous” person issuing a “brave and controversial” dictum from on high who then decides that anyone who dares criticize them for it is nothing but a twerp. Note to the very “eloquent and verbose” Peggy Noonan (who seems to have lost her way)… lose the martyr syndrome, it’s unbecoming.
Brad
October 17, 2008 at 8:46 am
The mushroom stamp on the side of Ms. Noonan’s face might not heal for weeks.
Hoodlumman
October 17, 2008 at 8:47 am
Thank you! Couldn’t have said it better myself. I’ve turned off the tv and the east coast punditry.
Babs
October 17, 2008 at 8:48 am
[...] of Stop Global Laming has more on that: If anything, the recent slide away by conservative megapundits away from McCain / Palin appears to [...]
Deranged Punditry - A vast and broken-hearted thing whose pain I cannot, actually, imagine. : Pursuing Holiness
October 17, 2008 at 8:55 am
Well said.
Sue
October 17, 2008 at 8:56 am
It’s the Stockholm Syndrome for conservative writers in the MSM’s ivory tower. They’re desperate to please their captors.
Barliman
October 17, 2008 at 8:57 am
I am one of those conservatives who strongly defended George Will, Peggy Noonan, Kathleen Parker, et al, through most of their recent columns. I simply cannot do it anymore. I post a lot on other forums and I have come to see them as many others have, elitist snobs. I specifically remember one of Noonan’s criticisms about Hillary in one of her books being that Hillary was an elitist. “She is not one of us” Peggy said. Sadly, Peggy has proven herself to not be “one of us” either. One of us being the common folks who get up every day, worry about our mortgages, have kids who are less than perfect and choose to give life unrepentantly to a special needs child. Peggy and Kathleen and Chris Buckley and the rest have disconnected from the beliefs of the average Joe. What a shame.
Glynn
October 17, 2008 at 8:57 am
Watched Noonan’s slide has been like watching the beginning stages of alcoholism. Just a little drink here and there. Now that she’s surrounded herself with alcoholics, it appears she’s clueless why others aren’t toasting her. Oy.
Dee
October 17, 2008 at 8:58 am
Thanks –I hope she reads this, –that is if she can take her nose out of the air long enough.
Kris Perry
October 17, 2008 at 8:58 am
She’s a paid hack. Someone else is paying her nowadays. Or else she finally has enough money to speak her true mind.
Joan of Argghh!
October 17, 2008 at 8:59 am
Amen.
Oh wait, that’s probably too Christianist.
Melissa
October 17, 2008 at 9:03 am
[...] Note to the Elite, Inside the Beltway Conservative Pundits: Youre not Martyrs Stop Global Laming Serving up Anti-Idiotarian Talking Points with a Side of Snarkiness Quick Note t… Peggy Noonan, a person whom I respected up until she was caught lying to her readers in a hot mic [...]
Quick Note to the Elite, Inside the Beltway Conservative Pundits: Youre not Martyrs
October 17, 2008 at 9:05 am
Excellent.
fretless
October 17, 2008 at 9:06 am
well-informed critical thinkers. all of them. blind allegiance isn’t a very conservative trait. subscribers pay to read their opinions, not their recitation/explanation of political talking points.
tonyb
October 17, 2008 at 9:07 am
Brilliant. I couldn’t say it better.
If these pundits could at least give a credible explanation for their betrayal, I would understand. But their answers, such as Buckley’s (I hope Obama doesn’t really believe the stupid things he says), make no sense whatsoever.
Kelly
October 17, 2008 at 9:07 am
Has Ms. Noonan ever attended one Palin rally?
I doubt it, because it might have meant rubbing shoulders with the hoi polloi … the thousands of Forgotten Men and Women that the sophisticates of the urban coastal areas suffer to pay attention to every four years. Once the election is over, they then just settle down to sniping at each other via print but patronize the same restaurants, art galleries, film festivals, concerts and revel in their cultural elitism. The idea of actually acknowledging and maybe getting to know the millions of people who attended state colleges or trade schools, people who grow the food that ends up on those five-star restaurant bone china plates, people who run gas stations or stand alone restaurants or hair salons or dry cleaners, people who aren’t ashamed of shopping at Target or Walmart or Home Depot, people who know which end of a hammer to hold or paint their kids’ room on their own — fill Noonan or Buckley or Frank Rich or Andy Sullivan with dread. Ooooo! Icky!!! Sarah Palin is thumb in their eye … she is actually happy to live life to its fullest and not be pining for a NYCity penthouse. Horrors!
Darleen Click
October 17, 2008 at 9:10 am
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You spoke for millions of us.
Terry Sater
October 17, 2008 at 9:11 am
Awesome. I’d pay money for BuckleyParkerFrumNoonan to read this.
David
October 17, 2008 at 9:15 am
Thank you. Nicely put.
Nate
October 17, 2008 at 9:17 am
Great piece. Being a duplicitous asshole is a deserving title for one that talks about the “bullshit” over the open mike…One can include Heather MacDonald on that list too. Isn’t it interesting how populist politics is truly the sole arena of the DNC. Heaven help our intelligentsia if we have another “Reagan phenom, ooouuuugh ick”. Instead of worrying about what school philosphical, er I mean sophist, school of thought, why doesn’t Noon and crew re-forcus on strict constitutional construction schools of thought. Now, we that espouse the conservative need to continue to free ourselves from “friends” such as Ms. Noonan et. al.; we have actually been able to think for ourselves.
Nate Hale
October 17, 2008 at 9:22 am
Damned well said.
Caviat Viator
October 17, 2008 at 9:28 am
Is it too much to ask our leaders to be at least somewhat intelligent, to be able to speak in something more substantial than talking points and without a TelePrompTer? To dish out real substance as opposed to hick bromides?
I don’t think so.
RJD
October 17, 2008 at 9:32 am
I couldn’t agree more. Buckley is apparently voting for Obama because he is a Harvard Man. That, and he believes McCain is inauthentic, though he hopes that Obama will become inauthentic once in office. I’m tellin’ ya, these crackers are clueless. Probably a result of too much time in the echo chamber that is the Beltway/New York/New England fantasy land. I’m sorry to see this happening, but it’s time we got back to real people, who have actual jobs and real life experiences leading our movement. The East Coast timewasters need to STFU. Go back to your parties, stroke each others egos, and tell yourselves how smart you are. Meanwhile, the rest of us have a country to run.
ginsocal
October 17, 2008 at 9:34 am
Great post. I gave up on Peggy Noonan when she came unstrung after W’s second inaugural address. She’s been insufferable ever since. As for her current lecture to us members of the 12th estate, what she and her fellow travelers never concede is that even if it were true that we don’t know what Sarah Palin believes, it is most certainly true that we DO know what Obama believes…tax, spend, redistribute, gut defense, kowtow to the UN, etc. Exactly how does capitulating to that program advance conservatism…or the country? And she wonders why we’re pissed?
Gregg G.
October 17, 2008 at 9:37 am
Right on!
I myself would LOVE to have a cushy job in the Beltway area, where my Dad grew up, taking in the culture and the loveliness of the architechure. HOWEVER, it would be tempered with a love for American exceptionalism and the American Dream. Parker, Brooks, Buckley and Noonan have either lost those those or never had them. Regardless of the election outcome, their clout is lost.
James
October 17, 2008 at 9:38 am
Bravo! Bravo! Beautifully written and true to the core. Thank you!
Bart
October 17, 2008 at 9:39 am
Beautiful and spot on piece, however, such vulgarity cannot be allowed, so bad boy! No support from me. /deep sarcasm
Really awesome post, thanks for writing it.
Sarah
October 17, 2008 at 9:42 am
Nicely put.
Montjoie
October 17, 2008 at 9:42 am
You nailed it. These self appointed phony intellectuals just showed us what a low scum they are. How can one explain supporting even by default a self professing socialist unless admitting a self interest? Shame on all these pundits. May the Lord of heaven’s will be done in this election.
Zekarias
October 17, 2008 at 9:59 am
Thank you for voicing my exact objections to the handful of recent conservative pundit defections. Particularly annoying is the idea that Sarah Palin has failed because she can’t get the media behind her. She certainly has little trouble getting rank-and-file Republicans behind her—see the crowds she commands on the stump.
Furthermore, while I can respect a conservative argument for voting against McCain/Palin, given that the top of the ticket isn’t a particularly reliable conservative voice, choosing to vote for the “spread the wealth” candidate who never met a government program (other than the military) that he didn’t like (while still arguing that you’re espousing conservative principles) borders on insanity. I cannot respect that argument, because it’s an oxymoron.
bamaconservative
October 17, 2008 at 10:06 am
“Dear Media/Liberals: Joe the Plumber is not Running for Office”
No, but last night McCain replaced all his staff with Joe the Plumber!
Noonan et al. are suffering from the same thing that happened to the Republican party. John McCain said it best when he declared “we came to change Washington, and it changed us”.
The Republican resurgence began with Reagan, but flowered with the Contract with America. After being able to accomplish so much, they betrayed the principles that got them elected. This began a bit during the end of Clinton’s reign, but really accelerated under Bush’s term when he failed to rein in the ridiculous spending as Republicans began to employ the “K street strategy” by courting lobbyists and earmarking their way into scorn from the real conservatives out there who helped them get there.
Washington did change them, and you can see it in the air headed comments of Noonan et al as they strive to become relevant to the new order coming in Washington, control by Democrats.
Giving up one’s principles is always the first step toward self-loathing and decline.
Webrider
October 17, 2008 at 10:27 am
Most of these guys are what the Establishment of the Fifties and Sixties used to call “responsible” conservatives. They were the “house” conservatives who was never uppity to Massa Lib’ral, and would never, ever threaten the Plantation. I used to call them “Uncle Clints” after Clinton Rossiter, but that reference needs updating. Let’s call ‘em “Uncle Daves” after David Brooks.
Bilwick
October 17, 2008 at 10:32 am
Hmmmmm.
I don’t bother with the WSJ any longer. I’ve found, for a “conservative” media group that they’re generally on the opposing side.
And Noonan is an example of this.
The other? They’re part of the group that foisted McCain on us. Mr. “I don’t know how to fight a political battle” McCain.
Losers all.
memomachine
October 17, 2008 at 10:39 am
Right on the money!
Richard Cross
October 17, 2008 at 11:00 am
Tacitus,
Spot on! I’ve sent emails to Parker and Buckley as well.
Most of Buckley’s ‘disenfranchisment’ is based on McCain’s “once-first class temperament (becoming) irascible and snarly” as opposed to Obama’s “first-class temperament, pace Oliver Wendell Holmes”.
Oh yeah, and he also read Obama’s books and considers them ‘first-rate’.
Gushes Buckley: “He is that rara avis, the politician who writes his own books.”
Well there’s been some light shed on some of Obama’s writings…looks like William Ayers may have lent some assistance there, too.
So that’s it. Buckley and his co-defectors base their support of Obama on ‘temperment’ rather than substance, character, ideals, principles, and intent.
McCain’s been thrown into “The GOP’s abandoned us” , ‘ill temperment’ category, so their aligning with a leftwing hack who’s diametrically opposed to every principle patriotic conservatives stand for?
They’ve got to be joking.
Good riddance, Christopher Buckley, et al.
Your ‘rare avis’ will get you only so far with your new found comrades.
sfcmac
October 17, 2008 at 11:05 am
Sadly, Peggy reminds me of the has been actress who finally agrees to the Playboy spread to pay the rent.
Rudy Guiliani said at the convention, Sarah Palin represents the future. As a 47 year old female NYC republican, I am proud of the new image.
The ironic thing about prune-juice writing pundits like Noonan, Brooks and Will is that they will become even more irrelevant. With a democrat ascendency no one is going to listen to RINO’s. They will have no point, because the media will move on to commentary from democrats who oppose the democrat administration and those who support the Palin’s of the republican party.
So there is poetic justice in all of this.
JAZ
October 17, 2008 at 11:13 am
typo correction: …..so THEY’RE aligning….
sfcmac
October 17, 2008 at 11:14 am
[...] Read all of it here: http://stopgloballaming.com/2008/10/17/quick-note-to-the-elite-inside-the-beltway-conservative-pundi... [...]
Tacitus Addresses Noonan, Buckley, Parker, et al « The Foxhole
October 17, 2008 at 11:15 am
Thank you so very much for this post. I am a long time fan of Ms. Noonan, but she lost lustre when she made her “off mike” comments. With this latest diatribe, she lost me completely. What a creep.
marybel
October 17, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Excellent!
The ‘elite’ have forgotten all about Reagan. The disdain they show for the folks is showing.
Sarah Palin and Joe the Plumber is who we are, ordinary people doing extraordinary things who believes the government shouldn’t be the one picking the winners and losers.
If you can’t stand with me, get out of the way!
xqqme
October 17, 2008 at 12:39 pm
Just a thought.
And what a thought it is! Ms. Nail, meet Mr. Hammer. THWACK!
L.N. Smithee
October 17, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Greetings,
I quit reading
“Peggy” about a year ago, along with Cal Thomas. Two so called conservatives who seem to go where they think they will make the most money, with no real convictions left in them anymore. I don’t believe either were real conservatives to begin with, certainly not now. I personally am glad she has exposed herself and is gone.
richard
October 17, 2008 at 2:29 pm
[...] » I was astonished to check my email this morning and discover nearly 100 comments regarding my first significant blog entry. I guess there are plenty of other conservatives who are fed up with the likes of Kathleen Parker [...]
Quick Note to Conservative Blogosphere Connoisseurs: This Tacitus is not Trevino « Stop Global Laming
October 17, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Since the last Republican Ms. Noonan seems to have respected at all was Reagan, it’s odd that she seems to have forgotten his 11th Commandment – speak no ill of a fellow Republican.
I’m no cheeleader for McCain, W or HW, but there’s a time and place for Peggy to vent her spleen – during the primaries or after the general. Not in the midst of a narrow race against Jimmy Carter II.
societyis2blame
October 17, 2008 at 3:44 pm
[...] Peggy Noonan says that the conservative movement left her thus forcing her to vote for a leftist, if not [...]
Peggy Noonan: Who Are The Right Wing Nut Jobs? « Blog Entry « Dr. Melissa Clouthier
October 17, 2008 at 3:59 pm
Nice post. This Moron likes it.
Mephitis
October 17, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Top notch.
Tony F in DC
October 17, 2008 at 5:38 pm
Wow – great post. Enjoyed it very much!
Stephen VanNuys
October 17, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Great article! Glad someone is taking Peggy on. I used to respect and like her, her recent article made me very sad and frustrated, for all the reasons you outlined above.
Thank you for expressing this for us!
I hope she and Brooks et al read this.
Dark Defender
October 17, 2008 at 6:35 pm
While a relatively new convert to “conservatism” and somewhat plebeian in my understanding of all the issues and terms I will say THANK YOU again!
Reading Mr. Brooks’ column in the New York Times this morning almost made me keel over.
Keep at it!
Jonathan
October 17, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Well stated. Peggy Noonan deserved a good bashing for her antics of late. More Palin to the People!
Jason Raines
October 17, 2008 at 7:03 pm
That’s a fine kick in the ass you’ve generously granted the conservative diminati. I stopped reading Peggy Noonan about a year and a half ago – I used to read her column to my fiance every Sunday morning. She was a favorite of ours, but after running out of material she decided to attack the president incessantly (which he deserves, but her points were thoughtless and bitter). If I wanted to read a nag lecture me about how stupid Bush is, I’d read the Huffington Post.
But thanks again for signaling them all out – We all know conservatism had been abandoned long ago, so it makes no sense to have these nitwits declaring everything is our fault…
Shane from PV
October 17, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Beautifully stated. I think Noonan, Parker, and Buckley believe their own hype – promoted by the MSM – as the leaders of conservative thought. It’s not as if they’re the only conservatives with graduate degrees.
AmericanGirlRising
October 17, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Reagan would never have trashed another Republican DURING the election.
Reagan would never have considered an enthusiastic, principled conservative as anything other than an asset to the party.
Reagan would never have decided to support a far-Left Democrat over a moderate Republican.
Reagan would never have sucked up to the media elites the way Peggy Noonan has.
To parphrase Stephen King (and I hope he chokes on it): Peggy Noonan has forgotten the face of Ronald Reagan.
DaveP.
October 17, 2008 at 10:07 pm
RE: ginsocal comment at 17 Oct 08 at 9:34 am
Best comment ever! Very well put! You are right, let the pundits talk to each other, we’ll run the country.
CBDenver
October 17, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Crack Hos have more discipline and integrity than our lost little soul, Ms. Peggy. Sad. Sad. Sad. Can’t explain her. Can only lament her descent into cupidity and irrelevance.
Stu
stu
October 17, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I am not sure why Ms. Noonan fails to appreciate the most salient point of a presidential election dynamic: The PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE sets the agenda, and the VEEP follows along, politely. Isn’t it obvious, Dear Peggy? Palin is a Reaganite trapped by her running mate into defending positions that she abhors. That’s why she sounds “tinny”. She doesn’t believe it, but she is a good soldier. And then somehow you – you find your way to blaming her for the fact that McCain’s positions are so washed up that he can’t define himself viz a viz Obama. Yep, must be Sarah’s fault. Good Lord.
Weird Al
October 18, 2008 at 1:01 am
[...] Quick Note to the Elite, Inside the Beltway Conservative Pundits: You’re not Martyrs « Stop Globa… If anything, the recent slide away by conservative megapundits away from McCain / Palin appears to be a rescue mission designed to salvage the credibility of conservative megapundits, not the Republican Party or the Conservative Movement. In fact, I think the deception on the behalf of these conservative pundits is a bit more duplicitous than they let on. While they claim to want a true conservative realignment of the Republican Party, they’re retooling their writing as though they expect the opposite to happen. It appears as though most of these longtime conservative pundits believe that a liberal realignment is what’s going to occur, and these conservative pundits are simply making a phased withdrawal away from their longtime readership towards a left-leaning future readership. [...]
The Fat Guy » Blog Archive » What I said, minus the profanity
October 18, 2008 at 6:42 am
Beautifully written. Your descripton of Peggy Noonan as a “duplicitous asshole” was absolutely perfect. Absolutely perfect. Absolutely perfect. Absolutely perfect.
bill
October 18, 2008 at 7:19 am
Wow! Incredibly well said!…you are right on!!…but I guess I don’t count to Noonan et. al. out here in Texas…what could we folks possibly know?…they expect that we conservatives need to look to them for advice…NOT ANYMORE…EVER!!.
MicehelleT
October 18, 2008 at 10:02 am
“[I]f Noonan and her cohorts honestly believe that what they are doing right now in this election cycle is conducive to bringing about a conservative realignment amongst the Republican party then they are either being disingenuous or idiotic. I believe it’s the former.”
I believe it’s both.
Me
October 19, 2008 at 11:56 am
Thank YOU for putting in words what has perplexed me – this rush to rip Palin and/or McCain by so-called conservatives. These people are elitist snobs and are horrified by someone who doesn’t speak with a plethora (lol) of 5-syllable words. They can’t possibly imagine having to support someone for their beliefs if they sound (to the East Coast elite) like a “hick”. Heaven’s NO.
They feel that they have “suffered” with that “idiot Bush” and his inability to speak “coherently” and they will no longer tie themselves to someone who sounds (to them) “simple”. Style over substance is right.
How sad. How pathetic.
Suzanne
October 19, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Peggy Noonan’s column brings to mind a French girl flirting with a German soldier hoping for some chocolates, not realizing that in his eyes she is a collaborator to be used and discarded.
I will always see her as shaven headed no matter how many big words she uses.
Rignerd
October 20, 2008 at 1:42 pm
How can Buckley write such drivel without realizing his readers can see right through him? He critcizes McCain for becoming “inauthentic”, with the inferrence that Obama is somehow authentic???
Apparently the threshold for constructing a logical argument at Ivy League schools is extremely low.
I’m simply amazed how elitists are easily duped by language and appearance, even if the substance of one’s beliefs is contrary to their own.
Tom K
October 27, 2008 at 3:22 pm
[...] What good has becoming more inclusive of “modern,” “nuanced” conservatives in the GOP gotten us so far? Packs of rogue senators and congressmen who snatch defeat away from the jaws of victory in order to do nothing more than add a “bipartisan” descriptor to their resumes? Presidential candidates who pin the “Global Warming Believer” button onto their lapels? Intellectuals supposedly representative of the GOP who openly endorse unrepentant socialists? [...]
Rick Moran’s GOP: A Party Doomed by Triangulation « Stop Global Laming
October 31, 2008 at 12:32 am