Defending Noonan
Writing for Right Wing News, conservative blogger Melissa Clouthier criticizes Peggy Noonan for criticizing Sarah Palin and the ‘type’ of Republicans she ‘represents’ and, above all, appeals to. According to Clouthier, Noonan is simply an elitist snob who seemingly dislikes the ‘base Republican’ from the Republican heartland.
That is, according to Clouthier, wrong.
Sadly, I feel compelled to defend Noonan on this one. The average rank and file Republican Clouthier talks about (Limbaugh fans, Christian fundamentalists, and so on) should indeed be disliked by those with important positions in the Republican Party and above all by the intellectuals behind the party. These rank and file Republicans, the ones Clouthier speaks about and seemingly considers herself to be part of, are exactly those who turned the GOP into a caricature of itself in recent years. They have taken over the Republican Party, and turned it from a solid, thoughtful conservative party into one of fundamentalist Christians, intolerant xenophobes, and unlimited government spending while refusing to pay any taxes.
These are the same people who constantly push for ‘anti-gay marriage amendments’ to the Constitution, and who find the most important issue to be abortion.
Noonan is right to rebel against those individuals – who often do indeed run the most right-wing blogs, who used ‘citizen journalism’ in order to advance their, frankly, radical agendas – and to try to reclaim her party and her ideology. The kind of conservatism the others want, has proved harmful for the country as a whole, the relationship with the rest of the world, and for the Republican Party itself. If people like Noonan would have more power, and would set the agenda of the party, the GOP would appeal to far more people than it does right now; the Reagan era would come back full force.
And before people say that Reagan was one of those conservatives Noonan despises: no he was not. He paid lip service to their demands, but he was most certainly not one of them.
Which is exactly why he was able to convince so many Democrats and Independents to vote for him.
Elitist SNOB is what she is…
Gosh, we haven’t eve had the elections yest and the second-guessing, recriminations and blaming has already started.
They have taken over the Republican Party, and turned it from a solid, thoughtful conservative party into one of fundamentalist Christians, intolerant xenophobes, and unlimited government spending while refusing to pay any taxes.
This is why I never seriously considered becoming a Republican. This branch of the party screwed that right up for me.
Gosh, we haven’t eve had the elections yest and the second-guessing, recriminations and blaming has already started.
Michael;
<i>it’s an internal battle that should have been fought 2 years ago. </i>
What happened to the “big tent”
“The Big Tent” ended when conservatives like Noonan realized they were being used as intellectual excuses, but with little to no influence in the party itself.
Peggy Noonan was selected as a speech writer for Reagan because she was talented at taking ideals and expressing them in words that were uplifting and inspiring. As a fan of Peggy Noonan I must say that I love Sarah Palin because her life is inspiring and uplifting. She is pro life even when it is hard and personal. She is self reliant and self confident without being arrogant. She does what is right even when the people on her team are doing what is wrong and she will stand up to them and win.
Yes I am a Christian, you can call me a fundamentalist if you think its an insult, and a conservative. I accept all people into my party, the Lord commands us to love the sinner but not the sin. So when some “moderate” says i should be thrown out of MY party because I believe the institution of marriage is working and shouldn’t be changed to fit some progressive definition, then i wonder why they don’t join the progressive party and work with the others who believe as they do.