In her new obit of Sarah Palin, Peggy Noon works to strip conservatives of some "Palin myths".
The myths: that Palin's working class, that she represents the only hope of the non-Ivies, that elites hate her, that she makes the GOP look inclusive, that she'll use the next few years to do her homework.
A few of those are questionable. Relative to her political class, Palin is working class. And elites do hate her. But that's just because most elites are liberal. Conservative elites (who are every bit as elitist as liberals) adore her. Sean Hannity is just as much an elite as David Brooks. Same with Coulter vs. Noonan. Again, elitism is not ideology.
But beyond the political opportunism Noonan sees, there's a much larger concern.
And that is that Sarah H. Palin is the second coming of George W. Bush, and we're only a half year from his disastrous Presidency (And it was disastrous. The statute of limitations for conservatives admitting it was disastrous is officially gone).
Noonan (ea):
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.
.... Really, she is the most careless sower of discord since George W. Bush, who fractured the party and the movement that made him. Why wouldn't the media want to keep that going?
The reaction from Palin fans is already predictable: they'll call Noonan an odd-toed ungulate (and this about the woman who wrote many of Reagan's great speeches, incidentally), and they'll say she has it out for Palin. And they're right. Noonan does have it out for Palin.
But if Palin's really the second coming of Ronald Reagan, why would Noonan criticize her so sharply? Noonan knew Reagan much better than nearly all of us, and knows Palin probably as well as all of us, if only because even Sarah Palin's toe glitter gets attention.
So why the great apprehension?
If Palin were to concede even an inch of ignorance, that might mean a mile. But it would be a mile in the right direction.
