Peggy Noonan on Sarah Palin: ‘Actually rather horrifying’
Peggy Noonan, queen of conservative columnists, has a devastating piece on Sarah Palin in this morning’s Wall Street Journal.
By all means, read the entire thing, but here’s a snippet:
In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn’t say what she read because she didn’t read anything.
She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn’t thoughtful enough to know she wasn’t thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. “I’m not wired that way,” “I’m not a quitter,” “I’m standing up for our values.” I’m, I’m, I’m.
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying.
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© 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
28 comments Add your comment
DW
July 10th, 2009
11:09 am
Ouch… However, I agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Noonan. Sarah Palin is a great “hype person” for the GOP, but she’ll never be where she needs to be on policy. She’s shown little interest in policy except for repeating what someone else has said or something related to her kids.
o
July 10th, 2009
11:40 am
Nothing new. We already know she didn’t like her.
Jimmy J
July 10th, 2009
11:47 am
Gov. Palin makes a decision and it’s labeled “horrifying”. The endless attacks on her and her children are just fine for late night entertainment and countless “news” jabs, but this is “horrifying”?
Gov. Palin could perform lifesaving CPR on a dying Mrs. Obama and it would be twisted into some obscene story. Nothing that Gov. Palin may do now or in the future will ever get a “pass” from the media. She is the worse person in the history of the world. Perhaps she should just be “put down” like the unwanted animal most everyone believes she is…
The Snark
July 10th, 2009
12:01 pm
Kudos to Peggy Noonan for showing a real commitment to her principles and her country, rather than a knee-jerk defense. Just because Sarah Palin claims to be “conservative” (whatever than means nowadays) doesn’t mean that conservatives have to defend her. She is utterly without the skills to exercise political power and responsibilities, however much interest she may generate.
And Jimmy J … whatever you think of her treatment by the media, being a “media victim” is no qualification for office.
Jimmy J
July 10th, 2009
12:24 pm
Please, she is not acting the victim role. I’m just sick and tired of the bias towards her demise while all others can say and do anything they wish and get off scott-free. Politicians for decades have had marital affairs, have lied, have stolen…and most get re-elected.
Palin comes on the scene and generates a ton of energy and excitement, and the sharks start their feeding frenzy. Ever wonder why she is so hated and attacked? No one has ever received such scrutiny. No one has ever had so many legal cases brought up against them in such a short amount of time. No one has ever had their children obscenely attacked. Why is all of this happening? Because Palin is a terrible person? Because “she’s not qualified for office”? If it were the latter, then why not just ignore such an ineffective leader? She’s down and they keep kicking. Why? It makes no sense to me…
Judith
July 10th, 2009
12:29 pm
Queen of the conservative columnists?
Isn’t it about time to de-throne the Nooner? She only gets published these days because she attacks the GOP. And she only gets linked to by conservative bloggers because her vicious attacks and off the wall comments are news — not because anyone values her opinions. Conservatives stopped considering her credible years ago.
Copyleft
July 10th, 2009
1:08 pm
And yet, many consider Palin credible… despite her proven ignorance.
Interesting, isn’t it?
L
July 10th, 2009
1:21 pm
Peggy Noonan is at best a fair-weather conservative, and that may even be a stretch. She latched on to Reagan to further her own career, and has been a “shallow” conservative ever since. Right now, her lips are so firmly planted on Obama’s rearend, that no conservative can take her seriously. Conservatives change the channel when she appears on TV. The Wall Street Journal would do well to drop her as a columnist to get conservatives to subscribe to their paper again.
Chris Broe
July 10th, 2009
1:47 pm
Everything Noonan wrote proves that Sarah would make a great prez. We want a dumb broad in the office. She can’t do any worse than the previous 40 something men we’ve had. that glass ceiling needs to be broken.
Suggested Campaign slogan: Sarah Palin ‘12. Sure’s she’s a dope, but so are you.
Gary S.
July 10th, 2009
2:27 pm
I would say kudos to Ms. Noonan for calling out Palin, but considering she’s been relatively silent since the “b******t” comment last August, she’s just a tad late, no? Palin working-class? I don’t know any working-class people that can ring up $500,000 in legal bills (not that she actually paid them herself as her legal fund pays those bills, too). It’s really tiring listening to the Palin-defenders spew the same line of nonsense. Wake up and call her what she is – an uneducated, unintelligent, uncaring, inarticulate opportunist. But, then again, as someone else posted earlier, if you buy into her garbage, you’re obviously no different.
This isn’t an issue of the elite v. the non-elite. This is showing you have the ability to evaluate a person for who they are, and a politician for what they will be able to do for you if elected to represent you. Palin is a person of ZERO substance and if she ever gets elected to a public office, her inability to grasp even the most minor of complex matters will be the end of our great country.
AH
July 10th, 2009
3:27 pm
Ha Ha Ha Ha
Why so much fear?
will jones - fifth pillar of filth with extra pope goodness
July 10th, 2009
3:36 pm
Palin has no political future, just like obama after term #1. All we have at this point is a nation of loser-voters voting for loser politicians. I liked the old america, where people actually exercised cognizant thought and reacted upon them. Today? DC is the new reality show. Enjoy.
Betty Boop
July 10th, 2009
3:49 pm
I have been hoping SP would run for President. Betty could use the comic relief. Still, I wonder what that woman is up to. Not like her to resign a lucrative gig unless she thought she could grab a bigger brass ring and/or expensive wardroble. (If what she wanted was the clothes she could have just gotten herself a gig on “What Not to Wear” and gotten a $5k wardrobe. OOPs. Forgot the repugnicans spent about 10 times that much on their loser.
If it was a run against Obama for the presidency SP was aiming at, I think she seriously miscalculated. From her speech it was hard to tell what she was thinking or even if she was thinking at all.
Betty Boop
bushwacker
July 10th, 2009
4:36 pm
Can we forget Palin, she has no chance of getting elected president and she knows it,if she can “cash in” on her celebrity, surely the liberals out there would not deny her her chance to earn a living for her family.
Let’s talk about is there anyone out there who gives the republicans a chance to in in 2012.
There is only one person if we could figure a way to get her.
AS a lifelong conservative, I cannot believe I’m saying this, but we need HILLARY!!!!
bushwacker
July 10th, 2009
4:37 pm
Palin is a person of ZERO substance and if she ever gets elected to a public office, her inability to grasp even the most minor of complex matters will be the end of our great country.
Sounds alot like the empty suit we have in white house now!!!
Ted
July 10th, 2009
4:45 pm
Peggy Noonan was never a conservative. She liked to parade herself around as one when it was considered cool to be one, but let’s be real. She gravitates towards big government, and is so far out of touch with mainstream America that it isn’t even funny.
As for Palin… She’s done with politics. She’s not running for President, and I would venture that she won’t run for political office again. She will probably write her book, and maybe garner a show on Fox. She could also be the next RNC Chair. But elected office is over and done with.
For those who call her uneducated, well I don’t know what to tell you. She has a firm grasp of the facts, had more knowledge and experience with regard to energy than all the other presidential hopefuls in 2008, and had more executive experience than Biden, Obama and McCain.
Some people just don’t like her folksy ways, so they attack her. They see her as an energizing figure to the right, so they do what they can to denigrate her and her family. You can always tell when a liberal can’t win an argument on facts. They start the name calling. And with Palin, they were name calling from the day she came on the national stage last year.
Ted
July 10th, 2009
4:54 pm
Uh, Bushwhacker – Palin was elected to public office. Did a great job as Governor of Alaska for 2.5 years. But I agree, her leaving office early pretty much seals the deal that she’s never going to get elected to anything again.
As for the Republicans not having anyone and your wanting Hillary to run as a Republican. Yeah, funny, nice try. The Republicans have many stars waiting in the wings. Like Governor Pawlenty of MN, Governor Perry of Texas, and of course, Mitt Romney. Any one of those three would be a huge step up over Obama, and much better than HIllary.
joe
July 10th, 2009
5:04 pm
Baaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh. Sheep – all of you.
will jones and max cleland stumping for your vote
July 10th, 2009
5:05 pm
“The Republicans have many stars waiting in the wings. Like Governor Pawlenty of MN, Governor Perry of Texas, and of course, Mitt Romney.”
Truthfully, best comedy I’ve read all day. Three losers left, just like the demo’s. Wow, brains are in short supply now.
ladyliberty
July 10th, 2009
5:11 pm
Talk about a pretty face who is jealous of a younger prettier face with a more successful career and marriage. Peggy Noonan is a pretty face who can turn a pretty phrase but watching and reading about her 29 years I think she totally fails to understand the Goldwater and maybe the Palin wings of the GOP. I’ll concede that Palin was unprepared to be a national candidate. But that’s a far cry from being unprepared to serve in a national office. She had more on the job business and executive training than Obama-Biden-McCain put together. People used to criticize Reagan (and both Bush’s) for not being suitably “wel-read” to satisfy an academic’s criterion. As for Peggy Noonan she writes beautifully. But what does she create?
I was convinced she utterly failed to comprehend the driving philosophy behind Ronald Reagan when I read his autobiography “Ronald Reagan:An American Life”. She’s an erudite CRITIC; not much of an author herself, and not much of a leader. I wouldn’t vote for Peggy Noonan and I don’t take her advice on anything except how to be a smug, self-righteous, insufferable bitch.
Conservative Georgian
July 10th, 2009
5:15 pm
Sarah Palin – The Democrats’ last, best hope for 2012.
will jones: call in 5 minutes, get a free statue of the pope
July 10th, 2009
5:28 pm
Wait, what? Was Peggy Noonan running for office? Huh? Really?
Me thinks someone is jealous over an old, wrinkly, leathery columnist.
“I wouldn’t vote for Peggy Noonan and I don’t take her advice on anything except how to be a smug, self-righteous, insufferable bitch”
Wow, well she knows how to clean a countertop & her whites are whiter!
crablegs
July 11th, 2009
2:50 am
I don’t understand why anyone is even talking about Sarah Palin. 95% of the stuff that comes out of her mouth doesn’t make the least bit of sense. Just seems like there are a bunch of conservative guys that fantasize about bedding her. I just don’t get the fascination.
Mike Licht
July 11th, 2009
6:25 pm
You may dub Peggy Noonan “the queen of conservative columnists” but Sarah Palin sees herself as royalty.
Mrs. Palin actually said she loves Alaska so much that she’s “sacrificing her title” for the state.
See:
http://notionscapital.wordpress.com/2009/07/07/sarahs-sacrifice/
Bill Orvis White
July 12th, 2009
1:28 am
Can someone pass a resolution to flog Peggy Noonan? She lost her conservative credentials when the Gipper left town over 20 years ago. Sorry, but you’re yesterday’s news, Miss Peggy. Sarah is thankfully the future of a super-successful GOP that will return the party to an enriched version of Reaganism which will mean very low or no taxes, bringing God back into all schools and homes, eliminating the FDA, EPA and every Commie Czar created by Lil Hussein. We will see a much-needed expansion of our military apparatus and God-willing, an invasion of Iran, France and Canada. All countries will thank us for spreading the seeds of Democracy into their Islamo-Fascist/Socialist territory.
So, Peggy, we don’t need you. We need Beautiful Sarah and Jonathan Krohn. With the help of Rush, Mitt, Sean, Rep. Boehner, Ambassador Keyes, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Phyllis Schlafly, the GOP is rising again. Good riddance, you Socialist whacko. Go home to Vermont where they make ice cream that turns you into a homosexual that will try to redecorate the White House into ultra-pastel colors. I’m off to church in a few hours to pray for you, Peggy Noonan, a once-great conservative who fell off the tracks of common sense Reagan ideals.
will jones & the fifth pillar of ganga: Light the Pipe
July 12th, 2009
5:29 am
Old cletus mcorvis, step away from the oxycontin. Both sides are truly rotten & hate america, but you have to admit that this:
“With the help of Rush, Mitt, Sean, Rep. Boehner, Ambassador Keyes, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Phyllis Schlafly, the GOP is rising again.”
Really shows just how stupid some people are.
MC
July 12th, 2009
7:36 am
This is trash journalism. Trashy writing attempting to trash Sarah Palin; but then this subpar reporter is just a horn tooting member of a very large band.
GOP hypocrisy on freedom
July 13th, 2009
12:47 pm
<>
This statement says it all about the social agenda for the GOP. How does a party who wraps itself in the flag, freedom, NRA, the constitution, free markets and small government support social programs that dictate sexuality, morals, drinking, and abortion rights? Where’s the “freedom” in this approach?
I would love to vote for someone with Romney’s financial skills and a “live and let live” social agenda.
Why can’t the GOP support this kind of candidate? Answer: the fundamentalist right has them by the ear. Until this grip is released, the GOP will not win the presidency, in my opinion.