No one says it better than Peggy Noonan

By Tom Quiner

I didn’t have the stomach to watch much of the Democrat’s convention.

My liberal friends probably felt the same about the Republican convention. Touche!

I caught a little of Vice President Joe Biden’s speech. I couldn’t help but admire his rhetoric and delivery at the same time that I recoiled at his political philosophy and slipperiness with the facts.

I turned him off after ten minutes.

I’m not a big fan of Mr. Biden, and have been critical of him on this blog on several occasions. Wall Street Journal columnist, Peggy Noonan, had a different take:

“As for Joe Biden, I love him and will hear nothing against him. He’s like Democrats the way they used to be, and by that I do not mean idiotic, I mean normal—manipulative only to a normal degree, roughly aware of the facts of normal life, alert to and even respecting of such normal things as religious faith. I wish he did not insist on referring to his wife as “Dr. Jill Biden.” I’m sure she has many doctorates, but so do half the unemployed in Manhattan.”

Here’s where Noonan’s genius for insightful prose shines. Biden is normal and manipulative. Most honest Republicans will acknowledge that the GOP is no lightweight in the manipulation category either. But Noonan says so much of what happened at the Democrat’s show was not normal. It was extreme:

“The fight over including a single mention of God in the platform—that was extreme. The original removal of the single mention by the platform committee—extreme. The huge “No!” vote on restoring the mention of God, and including the administration’s own stand on Jerusalem—that wasn’t liberal, it was extreme. Comparing the Republicans to Nazis—extreme. The almost complete absence of a call to help education by facing down the powers that throw our least defended children under the school bus—this was extreme, not mainstream.”

Even more, Democrats want us all as taxpayers to pony up for abortions for the “needy.” Even more, they think same-sex marriage is hunky dory after voting against it during the Clinton years, the same Clinton who they called on to save Obama’s presidency.

Democrats have changed. They are extreme, so extreme, that Joe Biden looks halfway normal, at least according to Peggy Noonan.

7 Comments

  1. Bob Vance on September 8, 2012 at 4:29 pm


  2. Lisa Bourne on September 8, 2012 at 6:29 pm

    AND his dad was a big admirer of Barack Obama.



  3. onetenthblog on September 8, 2012 at 10:35 pm

    “The original removal of the single mention by the platform committee—extreme. The huge “No!” vote on restoring the mention of God, and including the administration’s own stand on Jerusalem—that wasn’t liberal, it was extreme. ”

    It’s getting goofy. When people campaigned and voted for change, they weren’t probably thinking of some black liberation theology- type politics to rule mainstream America. (Or the non-liberal-liberals acc. to Noonan. WHATEVER!)

    The politics brewing in there could get out of control if Americans don’t abandon its cult of personalities. It’ll be an interesting four years, for America, if the Dems win.



    • quinersdiner on September 9, 2012 at 8:09 am

      They won’t. The House looks good. The Senate can be taken. The undecided vote usually swings to the non-incumbent, which gives Romney an edge in a tight election. If Republicans have one out of three of the above, they can block more excesses, if they have at least two, they can begin a slow turnaround. If they have all three, they can accelerate our healing.



      • onetenthblog on September 9, 2012 at 1:41 pm

        “If Republicans have one out of three of the above, they can block more excesses, if they have at least two, they can begin a slow turnaround. If they have all three, they can accelerate our healing.”

        Win for White House won’t be bottleneck. It’s the congressional races you have to watch out imo (Currently, Republicans have the advantage). As for key states to check out: Colorado, Nevada, Virginia, Pennsylvania and probably Wisconsin.

        Hard to determine what role the Libertarian Party/ Gary Johnson would play come Nov– and he could well take votes away from Obama/Romney. His tweets have shifted to the
        right though (after conservative independents, maybe) tells you something about the pulse of the electorates.



  4. Shawn Pavlik on September 12, 2012 at 2:29 pm

    The Democratic Convention seemed to want to make this election about social issues, probably because Obama is losing badly on the economy. If he can scare enough women voters to believe that Romney will overturn Roe v. Wade (it takes SCOTUS to do that, BTW) then perhaps he can pull off the win. Democrats like to say they are the “big tent” party but what they actually are, are the party of political favors. Member of a special interest group? We’ll see if we can get you some favors…. They don’t want equality, they want special privileges for their voting blocks.



    • quinersdiner on September 12, 2012 at 2:33 pm

      That’s my take, too. Thanks for writing.