No, really. Peggy Noonan accuses Obama & Cuomo of egocentrism

[Bucky]

Peggy Noonan needs to become a movie theater. Her psychological projection skills are stunning. Note how in Italics (Peggy's, not mine) she's able to crawl inside Gov Cuomo's head and figure out exactly what a hectoring know-it-all nag she, I mean he, supposedly is in moments of crisis.

[font size="4"]How Far Obama Has Fallen[/font]
[font face="times new roman"]by Peggy Noonan[/font]

{snippage}

New York's mayor, Mike Bloomberg, was sterling—a solid, unruffled giver of information whose news conferences were blessedly free of theatrics save for his gifted sign-language interpreter, who wowed a city and left the young evacuees in my apartment furiously signing "Where's the coffee?" and "I think the baby needs to be changed." Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey was his usual compelling self, similarly informative. This is a man who knows a levy from a berm. He is one tough red-state player on a blue-state field. If Mitt Romney loses, will Mr. Christie garner Republican criticism for his hearty embrace of president Obama just days before the election? Yes, he will. Will it hurt him in Jersey? Not a bit. Will it help Jersey? Yes. They are cold and wet and running out of food in the house. Keep your friends close and your president closer.

The "I" of the storm was New York's Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo. He was equally competent and effortful but took the mildly hectoring tone of a kind of leftism that is now old. It involves phrases like "As I've long said." I think this is the worst and I was appalled and when I was at HUD I handled storms and I learned a great deal and I saw we were prepared and I am relieved and I will work hard and I need you to know global warming is what I told you it was.

Really? That's what she got from Cuomo's "be-careful" speeches?

But the gems are yet to shine in the awesome tangle of Peggy Noonan's prose. Like any good Republican, her best literary moments come when she starts to rewrite history. Turning her lackadaisical crosshairs on Obama, she writes:

Look at where he started, placing his hand on the Bible Abe Lincoln was sworn in on in 1861. It was Jan. 20, 2009. The new president was 47 and in the kind of position politicians can only dream of
{snippers}
He won by 9.5 million votes. Two days after his inauguration, Gallup had him at 68% approval, only 12% disapproval. He had a Democratic Senate, and for a time a cloture-proof 60 members. He had a Democratic House (256-178) with a colorful, energetic speaker. The mainstream media were excited about him, supportive of him. His political foes were demoralized, their party fractured.

He faced big problems—an economic crash,two wars—but those crises gave him broad latitude. All of his stars were perfectly aligned. He could do anything.

That's right. Lieberman's ongoing threats to switch parties and "break the 60" had nothing to do with the "demoralized" Republican Senate caucus walking in lock-step discipline threatening to filibuster and stall every major bill nearly every sub-cabinet appointment. The country was going to hell in a handbasket and, in Peggy's view, that only made the president's job that much easier. Peggy Noonan, I salute you. No one makes bullshit smell sweeter than you doo do.

Then health care, a mistake beginning to end. The president's 14-month-long preoccupation with ObamaCare signaled that he did not share the urgency of people's most immediate concerns—jobs, the economy, all the coming fiscal cliffs. The famous 2,000-page bill added to their misery by adding to their fear.

Voters would have had to trust the president a lot to believe his program wouldn't raise their premiums, wouldn't limit their autonomy, wouldn't make a shaky system worse. But they didn't trust him that much, because they'd just met him. They didn't really know him.

See what she did there? First the president has the unprecedented confidence of the American people, but then they can't trust him and his healthcare law because they don't know him. That's writing, folks. We bitch about Romney counting on the public not being able to remember what he was saying just six months ago. Peggy Noonan manages to make us forget what the entire premise of her essay was just six paragraphs ago. That's not just writing, that's re-writing at its best.

Let's read on and watch her do it again:

But they didn't trust him that much, because they'd just met him. They didn't really know him.

You have to build the kind of trust it takes to do something so all-encompassing.

*Blink, blink*

Damn, did I miss it again? First she tells us that president at the moment of his inauguration had the unthinking robot-like compliance of 68% of all America, so why didn't he do something magical? Then she concludes by telling us Obama's biggest mistake was... wait for it... not taking more time to "build the kind of trust it takes" to do that very something.

She not only rewrites history, she's even able to rewrite the fundamentals of her own argument against Obama within the space of a single essay. Now let's watch her back this baby into the garage:

Why did the president make such mistakes?

{snipperdoodle}

Because he had so much confidence, he thought whatever he did would work. He thought he had "a gift," as he is said to have told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He thought he had a special ability to sway the American people, or so he suggested to House Speaker John Boehner and Majority Leader Eric Cantor.

{Such impeccable sources!}

But whenever he went over the the heads of the media and Congress and went to the people, in prime-time addresses, it didn't really work. He did not have a magical ability to sway. And—oddly—he didn't seem to notice.

It is one thing to think you're Lebron. Its another thing to keep missing the basket and losing games and still think you're Lebron.

What horrible ego that president has! I see it all now, Peggers! The president seems to think he's the wrong negro! My gracious, what discerning eyes you have, Grandma. All the better to admire myself with, my dear.

Ya know, I used to admire Republicans for their relentless cherry picking skills. But I realize now I was comparing them to the wrong vehicle. Peggy Noonan, at least, is more like a luxury Italian sports car: You just admire her more for her relentless horseshitpower and stunningly tight turning radius. What a virtuoso of wit and perspective our Peggy is. First she's here, then when you look for her trail, she's over there behind you! Meep, meep! She's like the Roadrunner of the Republican world view.

Of course, back here in the real world, coyotes eat those pesky little flightless birds for dinner all the time.

[hrmjustin]

1. Peggy Noonan has too much to say.

As a NYER I say Bloomberg sucked during this. Cuomo was much better, and what is not being talked about is before the storm Cuomo forced the mayors hand with evacuations and school closings.

[marasinghe]

2. as another NYCer i agree with you.

Bloomberg seemed to be more concerned with appearances, while Cuomo dealt with needs, necessities & reality; as would be apparent from the mayor pushing, then backing down on, the NYC Marathon. anyone who was emotionally involved with his constituents wouldn't have been worried about an athletic event. give him his due - Chris Christie displayed real empathy for his community.

Peggy Noonan is just another shill pushing the elitist agenda: that those in power know what's best for the masses and we should keep quiet, & follow orders.

[hrmjustin]

4. Well said my friend.

[marasinghe]

5. you too Dude, or Dudette. :) i trust things are ok with you & yours.

we're just waiting for power, water & sanitation to get back on line; hopefully tomorrow.
but, we're much better off than thousands of others. (posting from office - where power's on.)
stay safe & warm, friend.

[madrchsod]

3. "woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown"

peggy needs help....

[Yul A]

7. No

She needs a nursing home.

[winstars]

6. Lebron= Hey don't forget, is a BLACK MAN!!! Fucking smug bootlicker she is!!!

Because its all about this BS to these "people"