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Thank You, Peggy Noonan
I had just wandered through a generally so-so observation about patrician and plebeian elements in our present political situation. I was not sure that I had made my points clear enough for the normal pleb to grasp fully (we are generally too preoccupied with life’s minor distractions such as rent, food, and selecting the right brand of beer).
But one can always count on their betters to provide. So Peggy Noonan was kind enough to write a Wall Street Journal piece that explains it much better than I. She, of course, is an established member of the GOP Order of Patricians and her concern was about the unwashed plebs generally known as Trump voters. Hope among her fellow elitists was that more and more of this group would abandon the notion of the former president seeking the office again in 2024, that support for him would fade and he would pass from the public’s eye. As it is turning out, that simply isn’t happening. In fact, it appears to some that their numbers might even be growing.
This is so despite the continuous dumping on the former president. Or maybe even because of it. The latest anti-Trump production is turning into a huge disappointment. It actually seems to have the opposite effect intended. Interest in the show trial sometimes called the J6 hearings has been weak and far below what was hoped for. In fact, it is probably having the opposite effect. Only the most gullible or pre-disposed believe in them and for the rest they are far too transparent. For most, they leave the distinct impression of Star Chamber episodes intended not to learn anything but to influence an election by removing a leading candidate. Plebs must be protected from their limited intellects by narrowing their choices to only acceptable options.
In any case, Trump is actually increasing in support from this sideshow. So a fresh approach in pleb management has shown its face recently. That is to agree that the plebs do have some real concerns and that maybe the down and dirty Trump demeanor helped to create attention for them. But now he has served his purpose and it is time for candidates with smoother edges to carry the banner. For the moment, they are even willing to accept some candidates who might be a little “Trumpy” themselves as long as they are not the original. For the moment, that is.
But in the end, the real call will be for “reasonable” candidates who can hopefully worm their way into those “purple” vote without really confronting the matters that will change us as a nation and having to win a thoughtful and passionate argument for Liberty. You know, the kind of candidates who made Trump possible in 2016, the kind who knows in his (or hers, or …..) heart that something can be worked out to get us by if the patricians were left to bargain among themselves.
Noonan knows enough to begin every con job with a compliment, sort of. She is impressed that every Trump voter does love America even if it is “not always been a fully thought-through love but it’s generally fully felt”. She even concedes that this is “admirable”, even if the thought process was so incomplete. So plebeian. If it got any more simple-minded, it would be on my level.
A little deeper into the piece one is able to get a clearer picture of the patrician view of those millions upon millions of the GOP base who are so regularly called on by the party elites but rarely listened to. She tries to reinforce the Dem contention that Trump was told by all reasonable and sane people that the 2020 election was fair and square but he chose to listen instead to a collection of “kooks, crooks and freaks” which was not hard to find since “Trumpworld has more than most”.
Her appeal to wayward plebs is to drop Trump or lose the shining chance to dominate in the coming elections. Everything is so very bad that just about any Republican will surely win. Any except, of course, Trump. “Only Trump” would lose.
But the truth is as soon as Trump can be eliminated, the patricians will begin to try and thin out any of the other non-conformists with plebeian tendencies. Before the discussion is over they will hope to be back to the old standard GOP patrician because they could win “in the middle”. You know, that legendary middle where gun rights can be narrowed, where new entitlements have been created, where “comprehensive” immigration reform lives, where government dollars represent educational concern, where … Oh, hell my simple mind and stubby fingers are over-loaded … You can fill in the rest.
What is so desperately needed is a clear, objective American agenda for all, with disregard for who you are speaking to. The principles of the Founding and the principles which build successful lives will reach all levels of society.
The great swath of middle America that I have spoken of very much feels the loss of our Constitution even if the patricians don’t. The party elites have yet to realize that MAGA is not a Trump thing. It is a grassroots American plebeian thing. Trump simply put a slogan behind it and then did his best to implement it.
The Peggy Noonans still talk and act as if this was about a loose-mouthed billionaire and not the saving of the republic as founded. But they do sense the shift away from them and that is what they hate, what they fight against. If Trump is at the head of the column or not is hardly the central question. The real question is the uncompromising direction of the column.
We might be in a dangerous position with our future but more and more I believe that the people who will make the long-term difference have finally realized that the damage done to us by the “warriors” on their side, it is not near the problem as the damage done by the cowards and blinded on ours. Hopefully, Noonan will save her condescension for her own kind.
By the way, if any of you fellow plebs actually want to read the Noonan column you will find it behind a paywall. Unless you have the devious computer skills to bypass “the wall”, you will have to take my word for the content of the piece. Otherwise, you can join me in some simple plebeian pleasure as I take off these smelly socks, let the air hit these more than smelly feet, pour three, possibly four fingers in a cup, and soak up the quiet of an evening that has finally begun to cool.
Published in General
He said he had hired a couple of lawyers who specialize in slander, defamation of character, whatever fancy terms lawyers use. They advised him, he said, to “keep his powder dry“. Levin has made these sorts of comments before, but I don’t think anything ever came of them.
They may have some kind of immunity no matter how far they go.
Threadjacked by comment #5 (and all downhill from there) by the guy that frequently insists on apologies from commenters for their soiling of front page comment sections. And it’s gone on for nine pages now. All very aggressive and unhinged more than usual. It’s almost like he thinks he owns the place now…
I recommend that everyone bookmark this post because there is a lot of good material in here for future use. (HINT: I can almost guarantee it will be the subject of a deep dive…maybe sometime after the midterms. Keep it handy.)
He sort of reminds me of a gnat on a warm summer evening. Harmless but irritating. You think you’ve managed to crush it between your palms, but 30 seconds later you realize you missed and it’s buzzing around your ear again.
Harmless? Gnats don’t vote for Joe Biden.
Oh my.
I suppose that’s easier than actually responding to other comments that call your judgments into question.
He seemed particularly irritated at the reporter, but also said he believed that the committee had leaked it to the reporter. He mentioned some ruling years ago regarding libel, maybe Sullivan vs NYTimes? Sounded like he doesn’t have much to work with at this time.
I wonder if Pelosi didn’t want federal troops because the House leadership wasn’t sure of their loyalty.
I could be wrong, but I think she is just a bitter, nasty piece of work who wouldn’t accept anything from Trump.
And yet, once the Capitol was overrun it took some 187 minutes for Trump to do anything.
It is almost as if Trump was hoping that the rioters would have succeeded.
When Kevin McCarthy called Trump, Trump told McCarthy, well it looks as if the rioters care more about the election than you.
Trump has some [ex]plaining to do …
Exactly, these are civilian soldiers who aren’t on alert to deploy. Governors would have to release them. Congress pissed off several governors after Jan 6 and they recalled their troops because of how they were being treated.
Do what?
McCarthy, along with The Turtle, is one of those we need to send to the back bench. Trump owes you nothing other than a middle-finger salute.
Why, to explain why he didn’t violate the Constitution and the established legal procedures for using US soldiers on American soil, I guess.
Only the Left can do stuff like that.
Unless the Left says, Oh, but you should have!
And of course, if he had, that would have been terrible.
Seriously. For his entire presidency I heard DJT was a facist; those on the left never screamed louder than when he didn’t take the opportunity to act like one.
And now Joe isn’t one, while BEING one.
This is literally the only point the other side has. And he never wanted it to come to this. This is all about him not using Twitter fast enough.
I, for one am looking forward to the hearings today. I will be wearing my “TEAM CHENEY” t-shirt with the symbol of Wyoming’s bucking horse and rider on it.
More aggressive trolling. Meet the new boss…
She won’t go out with you, bro.
The reporter used the term “mastermind” as if Levin thought it up and was taking all kinds of initiative.
I think he was just offering his opinion on the constitution and trying to keep what they were doing constructive and logical. The Democrats, for two decades haven’t give a damn about behaving that way.
Was there ever anything more than an effort to have state officials re-examine the voting data and the certification process to assure legal validity of what had been certified?
It seemed to me people were just doing what was expected without much thought. The media declares the winner, the electors do the ritualistic vote, the legislature signs it, the VP counts it. Prim, proper, more ritual than process.
I thought the push to re-evaluate was to get the VP and legislatures to not just phone it in. There’s reason for these steps and there’s more to it than empty ceremony. The media doesn’t determine who wins. The electoral college protects the vote from fraud. The legislature isn’t just a write off. There are places to stop and halt if something is funky about the vote.
Otherwise, this country could so easily be hijacked given how insecure our voting process is.
Already has been hijacked.
This