Saturday, October 31, 2009

Welcome to the Tea Party, Ms. Noonan – Meet our Leader

By Nicole Coulter

In a Wall Street Journal column last week, Rebublican columnist Peggy Noonan reveals to us that we’re a nation adrift. Millions of productive Americans, she says, are despondent about the direction of the nation. In melancholic, heartfelt tones she explains that many Americans feel alienated by both political parties, and yearn for an as-yet-to-be-found leader to offer hope for their despair. She laments:

… [P]eople are becoming and have become disheartened … this condition is reaching critical mass, and … it afflicts most broadly and deeply those members of the American leadership class who are not in Washington, most especially those in business. .. The most sophisticated Americans, experienced in how the country works on the ground, can’t figure a way out. … They do not think [current leadership] can make it better.
It was almost as if Noonan woke up this week and discovered that there’s a Tea Party going on. Well, welcome to the party, Ms. Noonan!

Yes, Americans, including business owners and executives (Noonan’s buddies in Big Pharma and Big Insura) are disheartened. They’re mad at both parties and have been for some time. Outrage began over the wrongheaded amnesty bill that would have rewarded rampant lawbreaking. It continued with the hideous bailout bill that propped up careless risktakers at massive taxpayer expense. And it really heated up with the wasteful trillion-dollar stimulus, and rushed attempts to pass cap-and-tax and Obamacare. Throw in some ACORN election-fraud rage, and you’ve got the makings of a real revolt.

But unlike in the hopeless state of affairs Noonan describes, some desperate folks are actually doing something about it – a point seemingly lost on Noonan. Aside from her few mentions of the vibrant town hall protests this August, Noonan apparently failed to notice that a million or so “disheartened” Americans took to the streets of the Capital not long ago, speaking out for lower taxes, smaller government and less debt – radical ideas, according to the “mainstream” media.

Frankly, it’s not surprising Noonan has missed so much of this actual uprising taking shape in America. Who has time to write about Tea Parties, when you’re busy interviewing a handful of your friends and slamming the genuine leader of the counterrevolution?

Yes, Noonan’s smug disdain for Governor Sarah Palin, an icon to the Tea Party crowd, emerged during the presidential campaign last fall and has continued unabated since. In her columns and appearances on liberal talk shows, she consistently derides Palin as “not thoughtful” and accuses her of living in a “ponder-free” zone. While acknowledging Palin’s appeal to the unenlightened base and ability to excite the McCain campaign, Noonan ultimately concludes that Palin is bad for the Republican party and the nation. “This is a time for conservative leaders who know how to think,” Noonan wrote when Palin resigned the governorship in July.

Strangely, for someone who prides herself on being full of “thought,” Noonan, a former Reagan speechwriter, has yet to make the connection between the angst felt by many Americans – including her buddies in the insurance and pharmaceutical industries – and the way elites trash Sarah Palin. After all, when Noonan laments that our leaders in Washington are “callous children” who don’t listen to us, she could very well be describing the media’s derisive attack on grassroots conservative hero Sarah Palin. When they mock Sarah, they insult ordinary Americans everywhere, sophisticated and otherwise.

Sadly, however, Noonan just doesn’t get Sarah’s appeal, much less her potential to lead America “out” of misery. She seems to believe that millions of Americans connect with Sarah Palin simply for her hockey-mom style – not for anything substantive she has done as an elected official; and hence, Noonan’s lack of respect. Noonan apparently doesn’t realize that many Americans , sophisticated and otherwise, actually delve into leaders’ records, and upon doing so – in Palin’s case – found a woman who cut taxes, reduced spending, and balanced a state budget – all while blowing the whistle on corruption in her own party – attributes that no doubt contribute to her enduring appeal to the GOP base and conservative grassroots. Could a fearless, honest leader not offer a “way out” for the nation? Not according to Noonan. But when last we checked, Noonan’s much-praised but elusive “thoughtful” Republicans weren’t sending other party members to prison – where some of them probably belong.

After leaving the governorship, Palin continues to show the kind of guts and independence that made her a legend in Alaska. Her support of renegade conservative Congressional candidate Doug Hoffman in upstate New York against the floundering GOP leadership has put him on a course to win. Oh, and did we mention Hoffman was also endorsed by FreedomWorks, the official organization behind the Tea Parties? Does anyone see a pattern here? Peggy?

As Noonan has now noted the sentiment behind theTea Party movement and the rising tide of discontent developing in American politics, at some point she may also shockingly discover that Sarah Palin is at the heart of it – and is the obvious choice to lead it. No other leader in America currently captures the heart and soul of the counterrevolution as much as Sarah Palin.

But don’t take my word for it. Conservative blogger and tea party protestor C. Brooks Kurtz explains what Sarah means to the grassroots revolution sweeping America:
In the months that followed the announcement of Gov. Palin’s addition to the McCain ticket and her stem-winding, cork-popping, status-gouging speech at the RNC Convention of ’08, thousands, then millions of people quite similar to Gov. Palin in attitude, background and yes, politics, began to get fed up about the direction of this country. Quite suddenly … millions of Americans realized that we don’t have to sit back and take it quietly. Tea Parties started brewing, quietly at first, and then, all the sudden, they were everywhere. … Gov. Palin was that first bubble of black gold (like the oil discovered by Jed Clampett), and all of us behind her have come rushing out in a tidal wave of good fortune for the GOP, if only the party would recognize it.
Indeed, if only the Republican leadership, and “thoughtful” GOP members like Peggy Noonan would recognize it. After all, better late to a party than not at all.

Update: For a smackdown on Noonan's scredd at Governor Palin see here (h/t Bill in Baltimore)

10 comments:

Greg 10/31/2009 9:50 PM  

Excellent, the link is not posted over at Free republic.

Anonymous,  10/31/2009 10:19 PM  

Lead, follow, or get out of the way, Ms. Noonan/GOP "Leadership." Sarah Palin could lead those of us who follow her to a new Conservative Party. Note to Dems and GOP: You're really NOT the only game in town any more...

Bill Peck 1958 10/31/2009 10:53 PM  
This comment has been removed by the author.
Bill Peck 1958 10/31/2009 10:55 PM  

For a good smackdown of Peggy's screed at Sarah last fall, go here

it's long but kind of funny, but it demonstrates the error of Peggy's elitist ways.

Unknown 10/31/2009 11:13 PM  

Hey Nicole,
Anohter great article that I posted to my page!
Seattle Moss

xthred 10/31/2009 11:21 PM  

I thank God for raising a leader like Sarah at this dangerous time for out nation.

Anonymous,  10/31/2009 11:27 PM  

Thanks, Bill. That was a good smackdown.

@Clint... Shoot me the link to your blog, maybe we can get Sheya to add you to the links. Or I can add you when I get my blog up. It's gonna be called Conservatives4Congress, modeled after Conservatives4Palin ... I'm going to be following the 2010 hot races, generating more support for the Sarah-approved "common sense" candidates. Will go live with it this month!

Unknown 10/31/2009 11:35 PM  

First they ignore you....

Ron Paul, Sarah Palin, and the Tea Parties -- they are ignoring all no longer.

Jeff Meads 11/01/2009 1:19 AM  

Excellent article. I can't remember all the vicious things I was saying about Peggy and that Parker woman about a year ago. Now they just seem pathetic.

TruthNow 11/01/2009 9:43 PM  

Peggy Noonan spends too much time with the liberal biased press in NYC and DC. Too many cocktail parties and trying to maintain her "A" list party invites. She has lost her common sense and lost touch with the American people.

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