Peggy Noonan, Drudge and Others

 

There’s nothing like getting up on a promising new morning, grabbing a cup of your favorite coffee, and browsing the news only to get depressed within minutes. The Drudge Report is now like forgetting to take out that rotten smelling trash last night. I thought well, the latest story from a respected journalist like Peggy Noonan might freshen the air. No, it belongs in the garbage can with the black banana peels. Trump can’t handle a crisis, his “photo op” at the church was stupid, Joe Biden is way ahead, the country is about to lockdown again, thugs are winning…. I’m ready to go back to bed.

Let’s begin with “Trump can’t handle a crisis” – which crisis would that be Peggy? Was it the three-plus years since Trump was sworn in, where a covert, attempted takedown of his election under the Obama-Biden administration that beat the country’s spirit to a pulp, or how about impeachment over a call to the new Ukrainian president? Was it trying to restore, and succeeding, in resurrecting a failing manufacturing sector, creating new employment opportunities for all, regardless of skin color or gender – was that a crisis?

How about the extraordinary feats during a pandemic of pulling together a medical team of experts to direct the unfolding of this new disease, pulling together major industries to create and manufacture massive supply needs, rushing ships converted into hospitals, supporting governors, closing borders when Biden and Pelosi were crying foul – is that the crisis you meant? Did you regularly check both the CDC and the World Health Organization, as I did, both very late in identifying COVID-19 an actual pandemic, even as Italy was quarantining large segments of the population??

How about handling the multiple crises of burning churches, murders of the innocent at the bar in Florida, the workplace in California, the synagogue in Pittsburgh, or the mass shooting at the high school in Florida? Healing the broken-hearted families, supporting law enforcement, changing antiquated laws, all while the weight of the last administration’s scandalizing antics bearing upon his shoulders, and managing to re-negotiate foreign trade deals, stand up to Iran, North Korea, and support our only true ally in the Middle East, Israel?

Is it not the responsibility of a community, the job of local officials, whether it be medical, civil unrest, poverty, lack of education, environmental safety, and protection of people and property? Do you and others in your field, believe leadership and “handling” of crises is the moral obligation of those we elect to all offices, not just the Oval Office?

The Obama-Biden administration created and left more problems than it ever solved, and a repeat of that is not only undesirable, I believe it will leave the unique and precious story of America, including its struggles and perseverance over adversity, and its ultimate protection of the freedom of the individual, in the garbage dump of history like other once prosperous nations, because of those that failed to protect it.

I offer to you Peggy Noonan, and the rest of the “group think” so-called news reporters, journalists, and naysayers, an uplifting piece written by a local pastor named Ronnie McBrayer as fresh food for thought.

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  1. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Tucker Carlson is the go-to man at this time.

    • #1
  2. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Donald Trump might have to do this by himself.

    • #2
  3. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Tucker Carlson is the go-to man at this time.

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem.  He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    • #3
  4. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

     

    • #4
  5. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

     

    Bad advice is ultimately just an excuse – it’s still the leader’s call to act or not.

    • #5
  6. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.  

    • #6
  7. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    I’m in Ohio.  Dewine’s national reputation on COVID does need some tempering.  And Dewine is likewise not doing a good job standing up to the Antifa or BLM fascists.

    • #7
  8. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    @garyrobbins do you think Covid-19 is the biggest problem facing the President?

    • #8
  9. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    Massachusetts is fourth in the country in infections/million, and Maryland is 10th.  This is without even considering economic consequences.  Trump would do well to ignore Baker and Hogan’s performance.

    Ohio looks good in infection rates.

    • #9
  10. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

     

    Bad advice is ultimately just an excuse – it’s still the leader’s call to act or not.

    I don’t dispute this. I think he will act.

    • #10
  11. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    @garyrobbins do you think Covid-19 is the biggest problem facing the President?

    Yes, because he needs to resolve COVID-19 to be able to fully revive the economy.  

    • #11
  12. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    Massachusetts is fourth in the country in infections/million, and Maryland is 10th. This is without even considering economic consequences. Trump would do well to ignore Baker and Hogan’s performance.

    Ohio looks good in infection rates.

    The infection rates here so far are decent – but I have been wondering if that is due as much to Ohio being, well, Ohio, as it is to anything creditable directly to Dewine.   We don’t have the crowded mass transit of a New York City (nor New York’s idiot governor and mayor), and our cities are very sprawled out.  

    • #12
  13. Gary Robbins Member
    Gary Robbins
    @GaryRobbins

    Peggy Noonan said this:

    “Judgments on the president’s pandemic leadership have settled in. It was inadequate and did harm. He experienced Covid-19 not as a once-in-a-lifetime medical threat but merely a threat to his re-election argument, a gangbusters economy. He denied the scope and scale of the crisis, sent economic adviser Larry Kudlow out to say we have it ‘contained’ and don’t forget to buy the dip. Mr. Trump essentially admitted he didn’t want more testing because it would result in more positives.

    “And the virus rages on, having hit blue states first and now tearing through red states in the South and West—Arizona, Florida, the Carolinas, Texas.”  https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-week-it-went-south-for-trump-11593127733

    I don’t see anything inaccurate about what she said.  The problem is not the news coverage, the problem is Trump who is generating the news coverage.

    • #13
  14. SkipSul Inactive
    SkipSul
    @skipsul

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

     

    Bad advice is ultimately just an excuse – it’s still the leader’s call to act or not.

    I don’t dispute this. I think he will act.

    He had better, and soon.  This madness has more than the whiff of 1917 or 1932.  

    • #14
  15. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Peggy Noonan said this:

    “Judgments on the president’s pandemic leadership have settled in. It was inadequate and did harm. He experienced Covid-19 not as a once-in-a-lifetime medical threat but merely a threat to his re-election argument, a gangbusters economy. He denied the scope and scale of the crisis, sent economic adviser Larry Kudlow out to say we have it ‘contained’ and don’t forget to buy the dip. Mr. Trump essentially admitted he didn’t want more testing because it would result in more positives.

    “And the virus rages on, having hit blue states first and now tearing through red states in the South and West—Arizona, Florida, the Carolinas, Texas.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-week-it-went-south-for-trump-11593127733

    I don’t see anything inaccurate about what she said. The problem is not the news coverage, the problem is Trump who is generating the news coverage.

    I’m surprised that you have nothing to say about rampant lawlessness fomented by communist agitators and endorsed and facilitated by Democrat governors, mayors, and other elected officials including Democrats in Congress. Or am I?

    • #15
  16. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    @garyrobbins do you think Covid-19 is the biggest problem facing the President?

    Yes, because he needs to resolve COVID-19 to be able to fully revive the economy.

    I don’t agree – there may not be a resolved outcome to COVID-19. Even with vaccines, there may be so many allergic reactions, it may not be the hope people are anticipating, especially with rushed development. Treatment appears to not be a one size-fits all already, and people are developing their own antibodies as we speak. The ratio of deaths to overall infected is still low. I think without an economy and law and order – the biggest things, you have nothing, except fearful, jobless people hunkered down alone, afraid to talk or hug or go back to work.

    • #16
  17. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    Massachusetts is fourth in the country in infections/million, and Maryland is 10th. This is without even considering economic consequences. Trump would do well to ignore Baker and Hogan’s performance.

    Ohio looks good in infection rates.

    You can’t look at this infection this way. The “ground zero” notion is important in all natural environments consisting of biological cause-and-event chains. 

    Boston, New York, and Lombardy, Italy, were ground-zero areas–that is, places where the initial attack of the virus was the strongest. That’s because of the international travel routes, weather, and population densities. 

    • #17
  18. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    @garyrobbins do you think Covid-19 is the biggest problem facing the President?

    Yes, because he needs to resolve COVID-19 to be able to fully revive the economy.

    Then Trump had better head back to the White House basement and work on a vaccine for the virus he invented . . .

    • #18
  19. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    Massachusetts is fourth in the country in infections/million, and Maryland is 10th. This is without even considering economic consequences. Trump would do well to ignore Baker and Hogan’s performance.

    Ohio looks good in infection rates.

    You can’t look at this infection this way. The “ground zero” notion is important in all natural environments consisting of biological cause-and-event chains.

    Boston, New York, and Lombardy, Italy, were ground-zero areas–that is, places where the initial attack of the virus was the strongest. That’s because of the international travel routes, weather, and population densities.

    I’m not sure that I understand.  Are you saying that infections/million is not a valid way to judge success in fighting the virus?  I understand that Ohio is distinguishable based on its location, but I don’t agree the infection rate is irrelevant because . . . Logan Airport.  I live in VA, within an hour of two international airports and Reagan airport.

    We should also note that, if anything, the residents of an incredibly blue state such as Massachusetts are more likely to abide by imposed mask and social distancing rules.

    I don’t live there anymore, but I’d be very reluctant to take my hat off to Charlie Baker.

    • #19
  20. Arvo Inactive
    Arvo
    @Arvo

    Drudge is basically just a headline aggregator, right?  So when Drudge is like the morning trash, it’s because the news is like the morning trash?

    • #20
  21. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    I am a fan of Charlie Baker because of the way he handled this virus. He and I were both reading the Wall Street Journal in December. I’m sure I’m right about that. :-) And his asking the nearly 4,000 Chinese national students who came back to school from China to self-quarantine in early January was really smart. We did not get hit hard until mid-April, unlike New York City that was knocked off its equilibrium in March. I was very grateful for the steps Baker took early on.

    From then on, I have been applauding his smart actions. Baker came to the governorship from a stint as the CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and he has a statistics-health orientation that is unique among the nation’s governors.

    We have to be careful to blame the governors for the things they are responsible for and the things the virus is responsible for.

    Republicans should be very proud to own Charlie Baker. He has been an extraordinarily effective executive leader in this crisis.

    • #21
  22. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    Arvo (View Comment):

    Drudge is basically just a headline aggregator, right? So when Drudge is like the morning trash, it’s because the news is like the morning trash?

    The fact that Drudge is a headline aggregator makes it easier to track the changes at the website by virtue of the headlines that they select to aggregate.

    • #22
  23. Hoyacon Member
    Hoyacon
    @Hoyacon

    MarciN (View Comment):

    I am a fan of Charlie Baker because of the way he handled this virus. He and I were both reading the Wall Street Journal in December. I’m sure I’m right about that. :-) And his asking the nearly 4,000 Chinese national students who came back to school from China to self-quarantine in early January was really smart. We did not get hit hard until mid-April, unlike New York City that was knocked off its equilibrium in March. I was very grateful to the steps Baker took early on.

    From then on, I have been applauding his smart actions. Baker came to the governorship from a stint as the CEO of Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and he has a statistics-health orientation that is unique among the nation’s governors.

    We have to be careful to blame the governors for the things they are responsible for and the things the virus is responsible for.

    Republicans should be very proud to own Charlie Baker. He has been an extraordinarily effective executive leader in this crisis.

    You have much greater knowledge of the situation in your own state than I do, so I will bow to that knowledge.

    • #23
  24. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

    I very often agree with Tucker, but not on this. 
    They have been trying desperately to bait Trump into over-reach, or something they can portray as an over-reach. There wasn’t a ‘winning’ play here. 

    There really was little he could do, and this is already fizzling out, while huge questions are being raised about our city governments. I bet Trump just got about 5% -10%more of the black vote in the last 2 weeks.

     

    • #24
  25. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Peggy Noonan is a good writer but a terribly sloppy thinker. She occasionally has insights, but she often reveals huge logical blind spots. Whether she’s that vacuous or whether she just likes to be accepted by her friends remains a question.

    • #25
  26. Franco Member
    Franco
    @Franco

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    Peggy Noonan said this:

    “Judgments on the president’s pandemic leadership have settled in. It was inadequate and did harm. He experienced Covid-19 not as a once-in-a-lifetime medical threat but merely a threat to his re-election argument, a gangbusters economy. He denied the scope and scale of the crisis, sent economic adviser Larry Kudlow out to say we have it ‘contained’ and don’t forget to buy the dip. Mr. Trump essentially admitted he didn’t want more testing because it would result in more positives.

    “And the virus rages on, having hit blue states first and now tearing through red states in the South and West—Arizona, Florida, the Carolinas, Texas.” https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-week-it-went-south-for-trump-11593127733

    I don’t see anything inaccurate about what she said. The problem is not the news coverage, the problem is Trump who is generating the news coverage.

    Peggy is mind-reading again. No evidence whatsoever. More like Democrats loved every problem COVID gave the administration. That’s much more in evidence. They gleefully shut down the economy and have been using it as a political cudgel since day one.

    Peggy is a nitwit, or a fraud. Pick one.

    • #26
  27. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    Franco (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

    I very often agree with Tucker, but not on this.
    They have been trying desperately to bait Trump into over-reach, or something they can portray as an over-reach. There wasn’t a ‘winning’ play here.

    There really was little he could do, and this is already fizzling out, while huge questions are being raised about our city governments. I bet Trump just got about 5% -10%more of the black vote in the last 2 weeks.

     

    I appreciate your viewpoint, I also think there was a baiting strategy. I suspect there are any number of federal laws that have been breached for which offenders can be arrested and prosecuted. I think that should be done to the fullest extent. Any major intervention at the troubled cities can wait a little longer while we see if the riots fizzle out.

    • #27
  28. WI Con Member
    WI Con
    @WICon

    Franco (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

    I very often agree with Tucker, but not on this.
    They have been trying desperately to bait Trump into over-reach, or something they can portray as an over-reach. There wasn’t a ‘winning’ play here.

    There really was little he could do, and this is already fizzling out, while huge questions are being raised about our city governments. I bet Trump just got about 5% -10%more of the black vote in the last 2 weeks.

     

    I agree with the “no win” aspect of the problems and that they are trying to bait him (he can’t fix in 5 months what they haven’t been able to fix in 50 years) but he needs to cogently make that case repeatedly.

    • #28
  29. Doctor Robert Member
    Doctor Robert
    @DoctorRobert

    Gary Robbins (View Comment):

    If Trump wants to see a Republican Governor who is doing well with COVID-19 might I suggest Mike DeWine of Ohio, Larry Hogan of Maryland or Charlie Baker of Massachusetts.

    Bite your tongue.  Baker is a disaster, we are more oppressed here even than Michigan, the deaths have been largely in nursing homes.  Google “Holyoke soldiers home covid deaths” to learn about the 76 elderly vets who died as a result of stupidity and state malfeasance.  He takes no responsibility for this, will not fire the people who were in charge, will not even admit to appointing all but a few of them to office.

    Baker has far exceeded the powers given to him in our state constitution, but no one will oppose him.

    Baker is a disaster, authoritarian and clueless. He banned vaping and even his director of DPH would not support him.  He banned menthol cigarettes.  He is the ultimate RINO.  

    And no one stands up to him.  No one dares.  A gym that opened up was hit with water and electricity shut offs and fines for the owner.

    His only silver lining is that Senile Uncle Joe referred to him a few months ago as “Charlie Parker”, which has become our regular name for the guy.

    He can’t go quickly enough, but he has no intentions of going.

    • #29
  30. Bob Thompson Member
    Bob Thompson
    @BobThompson

    WI Con (View Comment):

    Franco (View Comment):

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    SkipSul (View Comment):

    Even Tucker is losing patience with Trump’s seeming unwillingness to do more than tweet at the mayhem. He’s the CinC, why in hell isn’t he acting like it?

    Probably just what Tucker says, bad advice in the White House. I thought Meadows would do better than this.

     

    I very often agree with Tucker, but not on this.
    They have been trying desperately to bait Trump into over-reach, or something they can portray as an over-reach. There wasn’t a ‘winning’ play here.

    There really was little he could do, and this is already fizzling out, while huge questions are being raised about our city governments. I bet Trump just got about 5% -10%more of the black vote in the last 2 weeks.

     

    I agree with the “no win” aspect of the problems and that they are trying to bait him (he can’t fix in 5 months what they haven’t been able to fix in 50 years) but he needs to cogently make that case repeatedly.

    He better make it perfectly clear just how bad those failing the cities are including the fact that it goes well beyond incompetence.

    • #30
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