Posted on Tuesday, 14th July 2009 by Roland_Melnick
An interesting opinion piece from the Wall Street Journalover the weekend by Peggy Noonan. Her contention is that Palin exiting the spotlight, and the party, is a good thing. Initially, Noonan wants her readers to believe she is offering opinion to benefit the Republican party. She appears to make a balanced analysis, until I read her “retail politician” characterization of Palin. That, and referring to her as a “girl” later in the column served as indications that Noonan may be speaking from personal distaste, not entirely logical analysis.
A tactic employed by the Left where you paint Conservatives as moral pillars who want to forcetheir morality on all of us. They then set out to knock down those pillars by leveling the charge of hypocrisy. It’s all based on terms dictated by the Left…and Noonan bought into it.
Noonan allowed herself to be fooled into thinking that all the liberal media dust up was Palin’s fault. Much of it focused on the Palin family. Suddenly, the very same Lefties who claim to be working hard for unwed teenage mothers for the past 30-40 years were now pointing a finger, shouting “for shame!!” Politics, apparently, trumps the need for empathy and understanding…it’s not about standing for a principle…it’s about political advantage, plain and simple.
Another point where I disagreed with Noonan was her admission that Palin was “out of her depth” in television interviews. On its face, I agree with that statement. There were times where she appeared to be stumped by the question; something an experienced politician will sidestep. In fairness however, Noonan is perpetrating a revision on recent history. The Left and the media successfully pitted Palin against Obama. How many times, from TV talking heads down to our own local Lefty bloggers did we hear “Palin’s not ready to be President.” Does anyone think that Tim Pawlenty, a good guy but another relative unknown on the national scene, would have faced all the poking and prodding had he received the VP nod? Was this “not ready” standard evenly applied to gaffe-prone Joe Biden? Biden and Obama received pass after pass during the campaign while Palin was nitpicked for anything and everything. Noonan bought into this one as well.
My personal belief is that real world experience and seasoning, like being the Governor of Alaska is what she needs. I don’t know her plans. It will be interesting to see if she’s up to the challenge. I agree that her graduate level education will have to include more than memorizing who the President of Pakistan is this week. Where I differ from Noonan is that I think Sarah has the potential to do it…assuming her sights are still set on the national stage.
It’s that potential that scares the Left. Why else would they continue to keep her under national scrutiny? They realize that if she stocks up on substance and experience to back up her appealing “retail” image, she would be a force to be reckoned with. Can Palin do that? Will she do it? Does the Republican party need her to do it?
The most important point on which I agree with Noonan is that the Republican party needs to put forth its best candidates. My humble opinion is McCain was the wrong choice from the jump. He lacked the Conservative background and image that Palin brought to the table. She wasn’t strong enough, or ready enough, to prop up that campaign on her own.
As for Palin’s future, honest assessments need to be made because without them the “retail” label may find justification. It will be a true challenge. Regardless of who the Republicans put forth, the Left and its mostly compliant media will do their best to define their candidates for them. Conservatives can’t let themselves be suckered into accepting those definitions if they want to succeed.
Posted in Sarah Palin | Comments (8) |
8 Responses to “On Sarah Palin: Harsh Criticism or Constructive Criticism for the GOP?”
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July 14th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
Roland, great piece! While very intelligent, I’ve come to view Ms. Noonan as an east coast elitist. The bottom line is that Ms. Noonan is a snob-the kind of blue blood that looks down upon those of us who roll-up our sleeves each day and get the job done. My perception of Ms. Noonan is that of a person who would much rather spend an afternoon at the country club spa that take a stroll down Main Street and socialize with ‘those people.’
Ms. Noonan fears Sarah Palin for the same reason as the left: Palin’s lot in life resonates with middle America, where many people experience significant bumps in the road (i.e. a teenager making bad decisions, and either winding-up with a child out of wedlock or in jail; a child or another family with complex health issues; a job that’s a pain in the backside).
On the other side of the tracks, the east coast elitists sweep their family matters under the carpet by rushing their daughters to the abortionist, checking their spouses into high-priced rehab facilities, slipping a few bucks here or there to the right judge or political figures, or use their family connections to make bad things go away. As such, they are the real hypocrites looking down their noses at those of us who actually face consequences for our actions.
July 14th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
If Palin is similar to anyone, it would be Reagan. A strong Conservative that pretty much told the blue-blood RINOs to “shove it” but had the class to include them on his terms rather than exclude them completely.
We as Conservatives need to remind the RINOs in charge of the GOP that we have tried their way again and again and it has failed, terribly! From Bush Sr. to Dole to McCain. Not to mention the squandered opportunities because of weak leadership the GOP had while being a majority in Congress.
It’s not just weak leadership and candidates, it their refusal to recognize that the Media and the Democrats are not interested in getting along with them or being “fair”. The deck is stacked against them and they need to deal with it accordingly.
July 14th, 2009 at 6:29 pm
A perfect “missed opportunity” would have been the media spin on how the GOP has no alternative to deal with the healthcare “crisis”. Rather than stand there with a blank stare or stumbling response they should bring up the fact “Rep. Ryan outlined our plan last month, didn’t you report on that?”
July 14th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
I read that article and seethed, it was so full of underhanded venom and outright lies.
Roland hints at one of Noonan’s lies. She wrote, “The media MADE Palin”. (Hmmmm. Kathleen Parker made virtually the same claim days earlier).
That is absolutely false. Palin made Palin. With a single speech. And from the very moment that speech ended the The Democratic Mainstream Media set out to destroy her.
It is sad. Noonan used to be one of my favorite wordsmiths, but she has been losing grip on reality for several years.
In October of last year, she wrote of Obama, “He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief. He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections. He rose with guts and gifts. He is steady, calm, and, in terms of the execution of his political ascent, still the primary and almost only area in which his executive abilities can be discerned, he shows good judgment in terms of whom to hire and consult, what steps to take and moves to make.”
Notwithstanding the “good judgment” shown in hanging with Ayers and Wright, multiple failed nominations, and hiring tax cheats and Joe Biden, the Hah-vahd class sticks together like Ivy on brick and defend each other with barrages of fancy words and sentences structures even when one of them is a blithering idiot.
To wit:
“The more that we can do to stimulate the economy in the short term, the challenge we’ve got as everybody knows is that we inherited a big deficit, and it is at a certain point potentially counterproductive if we’re spending more money than we’re having to borrow.”- Obama, July 7
Such is the subject of praise in the neo-Noonan world.
Give me, “Well, ya know… ” anytime.
July 14th, 2009 at 10:09 pm
My apologies. I just checked and I mixed up the Parker/Noonan articles.
It was Parker who wrote on July 8th, “The media INVENTED Sarah Palin.”
Noonan wrote, “The elites made her.”
(One in the same?)
The October 2008 Noonan quote is, however, correct.
Again, apologies for letting my seething get the best of me.
July 15th, 2009 at 7:32 am
I am Sarah Palin and there are millions more like me. I’m a woman, I’m a mother, I work, I take care of my family & home, I volunteer, I’m active in my church, I sometimes am active in politics, I enjoy the outdoors (fishing, camping, my cottage on the lake). I love NASCAR and football and hockey, I’m pro choice - I CHOOSE LIFE, I speak with “common” words, I’m proud of my country, I get tears when I hear the Star Stangled Banner. I could go on and on but I’m an average American woman who wakes up every day and does what needs to be done.
Peggy Noonan and Maureen Dowd are snobs and they do not speak for me, they do not represent me and the MSM better wake up, smell the coffee because the Sarah Palins of the world are about to roar - the sleeping giant is waking up.
July 15th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Well, kneenor…I highly doubt Thomas Frank
would understand you any better than Peggy Noonan…
August 7th, 2009 at 2:59 am
eventhough there are lots of criticisms against Sarah Palin, i still admire her. she also did a lot of things in the area of politics specially in Alaska.