Peggy Noonan

Peggy Noonan, Nate Silver & Punditry

Nate Silver kicked up a minor fuss last Friday with yet another NY Times column deriding the Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan. There’s less than meets the eye to the specifics of this particular dustup, but what’s interesting is Silver’s ongoing critique of Noonan and what it says about both of them. For today, I’ll focus here mainly on Noonan. Assume A Can Opener Noonan’s | Read More »

NBC’s Gregory Scolds GOP for Comparing Obama to Nixon

On Sunday's NBC Meet the Press, moderator David Gregory urged Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to condemn fellow Republicans for drawing parallels between the scandals rocking the Obama administration and those that occurred under President Nixon: "Would you call on Republicans who talk about impeaching the President or who talk about this as a Nixonian-style cover-up with regard to Benghazi, would you like them to stop it?" [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

McConnell responded: "Well, what I think we ought to do is complete the investigation and found out – find out what exactly happened....we know the administration kind of made up a tale here in order to make it seem like it wasn't a – a terrorist attack. I think that's worthy of investigation and the investigations ought to go forward."

read more

How The GOP Must Restore The Republic

Sometimes the first step in building a thing of beauty is to dynamite the ugly, dying strip mall that occupies the real estate you want to build upon. We, the American Conservative Movement can rebuild once the junk gets cleared away. We just have to be ready, and we just have to avoid bailing the Progressives out of their own state-fueled death spiral of non-sustainability.

Brett Stevens of Amerika.org shows us how our society currently fulfills Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity.

Currently, our society is chasing its own tail into the abyss. The books give us certain rules and facts, and we follow those; when that doesn’t work out, we redouble our efforts using the same rules and facts. Like robots, we cannot deviate from our programming because we’ve eliminated the people who can think outside the box.

‘Meet the Press’ Panel Bemoans Failure of Gun Control Bill, Calls on Senate to ‘Kill the Filibuster’

Sunday's NBC Meet the Press panel decried gun background check legislation being voted down in the Senate, with liberal historian Doris Kearns Goodwin lamenting: "Maybe the problem is also the structure of the Senate....given the 60 votes that are needed, given who they listen to, given the power of special interests, public sentiment cannot penetrate." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan pleaded: "Something's not working there....we got a thing like Newtown, 90 percent, move it. Small, discrete parts of a bill, push it through, call it a victory, keep going." Special correspondent Tom Brokaw replied: "Well, kill the filibuster bill. I mean – or change it." Goodwin eagerly agreed: "Kill it. Definitely. Definitely. They've got to do that."

read more

Peggy Noonan Interrupts Blackout as Networks Continue to Ignore Abortionist’s Trial

The Big Three networks' morning and evening newscasts still haven't covered the murder trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell as of Monday morning. ABC, CBS, and NBC have maintained their coverage blackout despite the graphic witness testimony and the in-your-face courtroom antics of Dr. Gosnell's defense attorney during the first two weeks of the proceedings. The Philadelphia physician is charged with murdering seven newborn children at his decrepit abortion facility.

This glaring omission by the broadcast networks would have continued, if Peggy Noonan hadn't provided the first mention of the murder trial on Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC. The Wall Street Journal columnist spotlighted the "haunting and disturbing story of this doctor", and pointed out how coverage has been "hard to find."


read more

Peggy Noonan Interrupts Blackout as Networks Continue to Ignore Abortionist’s Trial

The Big Three networks' morning and evening newscasts still haven't covered the murder trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell as of Monday morning. ABC, CBS, and NBC have maintained their coverage blackout despite the graphic witness testimony and the in-your-face courtroom antics of Dr. Gosnell's defense attorney during the first two weeks of the proceedings. The Philadelphia physician is charged with murdering seven newborn children at his decrepit abortion facility.

This glaring omission by the broadcast networks would have continued, if Peggy Noonan hadn't provided the first mention of the murder trial on Sunday's Meet the Press on NBC. The Wall Street Journal columnist spotlighted the "haunting and disturbing story of this doctor", and pointed out how coverage has been "hard to find."


read more

Psst, Ed Schultz – Reagan Wanted Higher Pay for Air Traffic Controllers in ’81

So much of liberalism hinges on the willingness of liberals to engage in collective amnesia. Fortunately, many conservatives prefer to remember.

Ever since the sequester's cuts took effect, Ed Schultz has railed about their impact to the economy, particularly air travel. Since he frequently flies his own plane from Minnesota to work in New York City and to a fishing lodge he bought in Canada (did I mention how Schultz often urges others to "Buy American"?) , Schultz fancies himself an expert on aviation. (audio clip after page break)

read more

Psst, Ed Schultz – Reagan Wanted Higher Pay for Air Traffic Controllers in ’81

So much of liberalism hinges on the willingness of liberals to engage in collective amnesia. Fortunately, many conservatives prefer to remember.

Ever since the sequester's cuts took effect, Ed Schultz has railed about their impact to the economy, particularly air travel. Since he frequently flies his own plane from Minnesota to work in New York City and to a fishing lodge he bought in Canada (did I mention how Schultz often urges others to "Buy American"?) , Schultz fancies himself an expert on aviation. (audio clip after page break)

read more

Schieffer Cuts to Commercial When Guests Claim There Are Many Gay Priests

CBS’s Bob Schieffer was clearly uncomfortable Sunday when two of his perilously liberal guests claimed there are many gay priests.

At the end of a Face the Nation discussion about the pending selection of a new Pope, Schieffer pushed back when the Washington Post’s Sally Quinn brought up homosexuality in the priesthood, and then he cut quickly to a commercial when Vanity Fair’s Carl Bernstein supported her contention (video follows with transcript and commentary):

read more

Journalists Decry ‘Threat’ to PBS from Romney for ‘Targeting’ Big Bird, Rally to Defense of PBS Subsidy

Liberals, Peggy Noonan noted on Sunday’s This Week roundtable, want Mitt Romney “to be more specific so that you can rouse people against” budget cuts to any program. Indeed, earlier in the program, host George Stephanopoulos cited Romney’s wish to end the federal subsidy for PBS, pointing out how PBS “only takes about 1/100th of one percent of budget” and asking if “it a mistake to target” Big Bird?

On Friday night, NBC’s Brian Williams provided a full brief in defense of PBS’s subsidy, misleadingly suggesting the end of the federal subsidy would mean the end to children’s television programming and forwarding its small share of the federal budget as a justification for it, but if you can’t eliminate the small stuff how will you ever take on the big stuff?

read more

Krugman Makes a Fool of Himself: ‘The Press Just Doesn’t Know How to Handle Flat Out Untruths’

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman made a fool of himself on ABC's This Week Sunday.

Seconds after claiming "The press just doesn't know how to handle flat out untruths," Krugman called factual misstatements by President Obama during Wednesday's debate "minor fudges" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

read more

OH SNAP: Mary Matalin Tells Krugman ‘You’re Hardly Credible on Calling Somebody Else a Liar’

There were serious fireworks on the set of ABC's This Week Sunday.

Mostly at odds were George W. Bush aide Mary Matalin and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman with the former eventually telling the latter, "You're hardly credible on calling somebody else a liar" (video follow with transcript and commentary):

read more

Peggy Noonan: If Biden Were Republican Meet the Press’s Topic Would Be ‘How Stupid Is This Person?’

Following in former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani's footsteps, the Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan on Sunday made a strong comment about the media's handling of Vice President Joe Biden's recent miscues.

Appearing on NBC's Meet the Press, Noonan said, "If it had been a Republican vice presidential candidate who had made those gaffes...the subject today of the panel would be how stupid is this person, can this person possibly govern?" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

read more

Peggy Noonan: ‘Rob Portman Just Might Eviscerate’ Joe Biden in a Vice Presidential Debate

Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan said Sunday that if Rob Portman were Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's running mate, he "just might eviscerate" Joe Biden in a vice presidential debate.

Appearing on ABC's This Week, Noonan added, "I think that might lead to a certain sense, this growing meme out there of the administration as a house of cards. There's something not fully stable, not fully operating, not fully right about this thing" (video follows with transcript and commentary).

PEGGY NOONAN, WALL STREET JOURNAL: I still think Rob Portman is one of those who might be able to...

JAKE TAPPER, ABC NEWS: The senator from Ohio.

NOONAN: ... to -- the senator from Ohio, with -- with a great deal of experience and accomplishment. Everybody says that would be doubling down on almost Romney picking a Romney sort of person. I think it would be just doubling down on a certain kind of serious (ph).

But there's another thing that comes with Portman. Portman has a great ability to debate. As you know, in previous presidential cycles, he has, as a Republican, played the part of the Democrat the Republican candidate would be debating in debate rehearsals. And everybody always has been talking for years, this guy's so brilliant, he's so funny, he's so bright. Well, imagine someone taking those particular talents, bringing them into 2012 as a Republican vice presidential candidate, and facing Joe Biden.

TAPPER: What do you think that would do?

NOONAN: I think Joe Biden is a -- a very charming, but sometimes surprising and gaffe-prone person. And I think no one has pushed at him in 3 1/2 years. And I think Rob Portman just might eviscerate him. I think that might lead to a certain sense, this growing meme out there of the administration as a house of cards. There's something not fully stable, not fully operating, not fully right about this thing.

Probably any of Romney's vice presidential options would eviscerate Biden.

Twitter Feed

Categories