Friday, August 19, 2005

Peggy Noonan

I love Peggy Noonan. No, not in an emotional way - I'm referring to her writing. She's an amazing writer, and a keen observer of the human condition - normally from a Republican vantage point.

Probably the best there is, actually.

Of course, I wouldn't be blogging about her if I agreed with her column today, would I?

Peggy talks about why Bill Clinton is chummy with GHW Bush, and vice versa.

Her points are mostly valid. Let's face it, this is Peggy Noonan we are talking about. It's not Ann Coulter who once in awhile fires off a truly wild shot. No, Peggy is mostly on in her analysis, as you'd expect. She talks about what each man has to gain from being friendly with the other. Of the political capital it is generating for both of them, etc.

The small hole in her argument, at least for me, is this: who has even noticed, other than the professional "noticers?" Seriously. Had Peggy not mentioned that George and Bubba were becoming chummy, I wouldn't have known.

Do I watch the news? Quite regularly.

Do I read internet news? Well, that's rather obvious.

Had I noticed that Bubba was surf casting in Kennebunkport, or that Barbara was calling Bubba "son?" Not even a tiny bit. Not so much as an inkling.

And, to really drive it home, I could care less. George HW Bush is a very old man at this point. I'm not saying he's feeble, mind you, but he is old. He might be my favorite president since Ike, but even I have to admit that his time is near.

We have to cut him some slack, you know? Maybe he's spending his last minutes trying to make some political capital for his son; maybe not. I don't know and I don't care. Maybe he's trying to get traction for the current governor of Florida, to make a run at the "hat trick."

But I doubt it. Even Peggy couldn't stretch it that far.

What I think he's doing is... well... frankly, I don't know, nor do I care. He's in his sunset years - can't we just let him be? The man was born in to privelege, but turned his back on it to sling a carrier bomber onto his fanny. He was an ambassador to China, ran the CIA, and worked his way up to top job. He did a fine job, regardless of whether he was steering towards a fiery right-wing star or not.

One thing he certainly did do: he didn't drop the ball as the Soviet Union collapsed. There were about 50 different ways for a president to mess that up, and Bush didn't. He might have 1/3 the charisma of Bubba, but he is at least Clinton's equal when it comes to maneuvering. I'd venture that he's superior, in fact.

As for Bill... well, Bubba is Bubba. He will always be idolized, but the people who idolize him are slowly starting to realize that they are the lunatic fringe, while the rest of us realize that the fringe is really alot larger than a fringe, but that's another blog.

He's marginalized by the true mainstream, and idolized by people who don't seem to get it. I'm not going to make them get it, and Peggy's not going to make them get it, and his hanging out with GHW Bush isn't going to change things one iota. Not for him, and CERTAINLY not for his reptilian "wife," or whatever the right term would be for people in a relationship like that.

So why is Peggy even mentioning it?

Methinks that, just a bit, Peggy might be getting too close to the very people she's supposed to be observing. She's right when she criticizes how our politicians have become a horribly elitist bunch of self-servers, beyond any group that's come before them here in the USA.

But if you get too close, you risk getting sucked in.

Leave the old warrior alone. He's earned that much.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home