http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/11/06/peggy-noonan-sarah-palin_n_779624.html Peggy Noonan: Sarah Palin A 'Nincompoop' For Reagan Reduction The Huffington Post | Nick Wing First Posted: 11- 6-10 12:23 PM | Updated: 11- 6-10 03:21 PM Conservative columnist and former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan doesn't like people demeaning the Gipper's legacy, not even Sarah Palin, and not even if she's only talking about the former president's Hollywood career. She writes in her latest column of a recent incident in which Sarah Palin attempted to explain away a Karl Rove criticism over her "reality show" by drawing parallels to former president Ronald Reagan's silver screen career, including his roles in movies such as "Bedtimes for Bonzo, bozo or something": Excuse me, but this was ignorant even for Mrs. Palin. Reagan people quietly flipped their lids, but I'll voice their consternation to make a larger point. Ronald Reagan was an artist who willed himself into leadership as president of a major American labor union (Screen Actors Guild, seven terms, 1947-59.) He led that union successfully through major upheavals (the Hollywood communist wars, labor-management struggles); discovered and honed his ability to speak persuasively by talking to workers on the line at General Electric for eight years; was elected to and completed two full terms as governor of California; challenged and almost unseated an incumbent president of his own party; and went on to popularize modern conservative political philosophy without the help of a conservative infrastructure. Then he was elected president. "The point is not 'He was a great man and you are a nincompoop,' though that is true," Noonan continues. "The point is that Reagan's career is a guide, not only for the tea party but for all in politics. He brought his fully mature, fully seasoned self into politics with him. He wasn't in search of a life when he ran for office, and he wasn't in search of fame; he'd already lived a life, he was already well known, he'd accomplished things in the world." Though Noonan's piece is not simply a jab at Palin, but rather a larger message about the real political significance of one's actions and accomplishments, as well as the necessity to "earn your way into politics," it's also worth noting that Noonan has never shied away from writing confrontational columns about the former Alaska Governor. From Palin's coming out party until her decision to step down as Governor of the Frontier State, Noonan has made it clear that she doesn't jive with the "mama grizzly" brand of politics.
Palin blunders on Reagan's education Craig Medred | Jun 28, 2010 Oh my. You had to figure this might happen when Sarah Palin, one-time best governor of Alaska, started pallin' around with those journalist types there at Fox News. Or any of those journalist types there in the lamestream media, you know. The makin' things up and gettin' things confused is dangerously contagious. So here is Alaska's ex-governor addressing a California State University-Stanislaus fundraiser over the weekend: "...this is Reagan country and (applause), YEAH! And perhaps it was destiny that the man who went to California's Eureka College would become so woven within and inter-linked to the Golden State.'' (You can watch it yourself at about minute 4:30 into a rockin', rollin', rollickin' speech.) Well, as Reagan liked to say, California is the Golden State, and he did become inter-linked with it. And yes, as Reagan also liked to say, he did go to a Eureka College, but it wasn't in California. No, Eureka College is half a continent away in the flatlands of Illinois. Reagan attended school there from 1928 to 1932. He was the school's top collegiate swimmer, a three-year letterman in football, and appeared in 14 plays. He left after graduation in 1932 to take a job as a sports announcer in Davenport, Iowa, which is closer to California but still a long way from it. Reagan would need another five years to make his way West. The Ronald W. Reagan Society, however, remains at Eureka College in Eureka in Illinois. But there is a Eureka, California, too. It is a community of about 26,000 some 270 miles north of San Francisco. It has no college of its own, but College of the Redwoods is just south of the city, and Humboldt State University is just 8 miles north in Arcata. The Chicken Wing Fest is also planned in Eureka, Calif., in Sept. It is sponsored by BAMU -- Businesses Against Meth Use -- which, according to its website, "has come together to help stop the meth problem in our area." All of which might give California's Eureka more of a connection to Sarah's hometown of Wasilla than to the late president and/or his old college. Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com .
That may be true. That's not, but then you've been told this repeatedly and choose to ignore it so what more can I say.
William F. Buckley Jr. to Ronald Reagan during a debate on giving back the Panama Canal. "I would like to take you seriously, but to do so would be an affront to your intelligence."