She's not hateful, like Ann Coulter. She's not alternately silly or cruel in the guise of "humor," like Rush Limbaugh. She's not ridiculously self-aggrandizing, like Bill O'Reilly. But still, Peggy Noonan annoys me.
I think it's because I want to learn from listening to her. Yes, she conservative to the core, but when presented in a coherent, clear way, I can learn how and why the other side feels the way it does. I've learned a great deal from paying attention to Joe Scarborough and Bill Kristol. For I don't like believing that conservatives are simply ugly and wrong, though with the Coulters and Limbaughs and O'Reillys on the air, it's easy to make that assumption.
Because Peggy Noonan is a woman of a certain age, a woman who is elegant (and avoids the Ann Coulter traps of playing with her mane or showing up for the Today Show wearing a black cocktail dress), and astonishingly well spoken, I want to listen to her and follow her logic.
Yet every time I see her, Peggy Noonan annoys me.
It's because she's so damn pedantic. She speaks sooo slowly and uses her hands so pretentiously when she makes her points. It's clear that if we are getting our news from the outlet that gives her a platform (instead, I'm guessing, from her Wall Street Journal), we are sad, benighted little creatures. We need Miss Margaret to explain it all to us. So she speaks slowly, to make sure we "get" the wisdom she is good enough to share with us.
I imagine that immediately after appearing on network TV, she collapses gracefully upon a chaise lounge in the Green Room and calls out for a damp cloth to place upon her forehead. It's sooo exhausting to try to communicate with us tiny brains!
That's my tribute to award shows, which are in jeopardy this season because of the writers' strike. It's also my way of celebrating the award I just received from Harlekwin. She rates this blog as "E for Excellent," and coming from her this is very, very neat. For Harlekwin's blog is one of the more eclectic, entertaining and excellent I've found. If you haven't checked her out, by all means do!