…for Peggy Noonan. I just read Peggy Noonan’s new column in the Wall Street Journal and I want what she’s drinking (or smoking).
Read it all but here’s our favorite part when she writes about those who oppose the DeLay/Bush spectacle (including the bulk of GOPers, according to the CBS poll) that has been thrust upon the country:
Why are they so committed to this woman’s death?
They seem to have fallen half in love with death.
What does Terri Schiavo’s life symbolize to them? What does the idea that she might continue to live suggest to them?
Why does this prospect so unnerve them? Again, if you think Terri Schiavo is a precious human gift of God, your passion is explicable. The passion of the pull-the-tube people is not.
So all of the GOPers, Catholics, Evangelicals, Protestants, Democrats, Independents — the 80 percent of Americans who thought Congress and the President should have stayed out of this…all of US love death?
So all of the people who felt this case needed to be litigated through the courts via normal processes — and would have accepted a court’s decision either way — love death? So all of the Americans who felt DeLay/Bush were tinkering with checks and balances and dishonoring the philosophies of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan — the real issue to them was that they just love and adore death?
For this analysis, we offer Ms. Noonan a highly coveted spot — a room on Mars with Alan Keyes and Dennis Kucinich.
BUT THAT’S JUST OUR VIEW. THERE ARE OTHERS WHO FEEL PEGGY NOONAN QUALIFIES FOR A RESIDENCY ON MARS — OR AT LEAST TO BE FEATURED IN AN EPISODE OF ‘THE TWILIGHT ZONE’:
–The liberal site World O’Crap (which is not named after what Bush/DeLay have gotten the GOP into, despite what you think):
As far as I know, Howard Dean hasn’t argued for Terri’s death. In fact, he was recently quoted as saying, “Most Americans believe this is a deeply private, tragic matter, and that politicians ought to stay out of it. I believe it is.”….Peggy seems really proud of that line “half in love with death,” and repeats it again later (“Those who are half in love with death will only become more red-fanged and ravenous.”) Too bad Keats isn’t around to sue her for plagiarism.
–Nor is the respected and highly thoughtful conservative blogger James Joyner impressed:
So, those of us who believe Michael Schiavo ought to be able to carry out what he has demonstrated for over a decade to various courts are his wife’s wishes, are death-obsessed people who say mean and nasty things. Conversely, it is not at all vitriolic to say that we are “in love with death.” Priceless.
While I risk sounding like a broken record* here, this debate would be much easier if conducted rationally. When even the likes of Peggy Noonan are resorting to name calling and obvious logical fallacies, we’re in trouble.
—No More Mr. Nice Blog notes that Noonan has used comparisons to Nazis to describe the vast majority of Americans (and here we thought she and other conservatives decried loose use of the Nazi adjectives on political opponents): “With her column today, Peggy Noonan has entered the ranks who should be shunned when they walk down the street. She declares today that the vast majority of Americans are Nazis-in-development. That’s beyond the pale.”
—Norbizness:”She’s gotten so crazy she’s actually hot right now. What’s wrong with me? Stop staring at the picture, dumbass! But I can’t tear my eyes away! “You know how much I dislike doing this type of post, but as a lover of death, I am tasked to constantly monitor and counteract the holy light of life-giving propaganda columns. In any event, I think that the linked column ironically represents the sort of death rattle/eulogy for this sad spectacle…
—Pandagon’s Amanda Marcotte:”Peggy Noonan has finally come out and said it–liberals love our damn freedoms and rights because we like watching babies and braindead white women die..”
TMV Note to Wall Street Journal management: I’ve heard you’re doing an ongoing redesign of your fine paper. Have you thought about adding a comic page? I can immediately suggest one feature that would perfectly fit there….
(Linked to OTB Traffic Jam)
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.