National columnist and former Republican speechwriter Peggy Noonan is known for being a straight shooter. So it wasn’t surprising when, during the 2008 Presidential election, Noonan was caught speaking candidly on a (thought to be off, but…) live microphone calling the choice of Sarah Palin to run on the Republican ticket “political bullshit.” Now that Sarah Palin has announced she will resign as Governor of Alaska, Noonan has now knowingly gone public in her disdain for Palin, even going so far as to call her “Horrifying!” `
In television interviews she was out of her depth in a shallow pool. She was limited in her ability to explain and defend her positions, and sometimes in knowing them. She couldn’t say what she read because she didn’t read anything. She was utterly unconcerned by all this and seemed in fact rather proud of it: It was evidence of her authenticity. She experienced criticism as both partisan and cruel because she could see no truth in any of it. She wasn’t thoughtful enough to know she wasn’t thoughtful enough. Her presentation up to the end has been scattered, illogical, manipulative and self-referential to the point of self-reverence. “I’m not wired that way,” “I’m not a quitter,” “I’m standing up for our values.” I’m, I’m, I’m.
In another age it might not have been terrible, but here and now it was actually rather horrifying.
