Noonan sees GOP 'shifting too far' towards religion
By Steve Benen Thursday Dec 20, 2007 6:05pmIn her Wall Street Journal column last week, Peggy Noonan lamented the fact that religion was quickly becoming too important to Republican voters. “[T]here is a sense in Iowa now,” she wrote, “that faith has been heightened as a determining factor in how to vote, that such things as executive ability, professional history, temperament, character, political philosophy and professed stands are secondary, tertiary.”
Noonan added that “things seem to be getting out of kilter, with the emphasis shifting too far” towards over-valuing religious faith over secular qualifications. She warned that if this trend continues, Republicans may soon find themselves in “a different kind of party.”
Noonan raised a related point today, noting the “famous floating cross” in Mike Huckabee’s TV ad this week, the former Reagan speechwriter called the commercial “creepy.”
Note to Noonan: you helped create this mess; it's too late to complain now.
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Good Lord, look what they've done.
Wow... talking about $100,000 short and a couple of decades late.
One question I wish were asked in the republican debates:
If you were to base a decision upon only one, would you choose fact or faith?
Are we just figuring this out? or what?
Its amazing to me just how many people will fight to keep spiritual conjecture out of scientific theories, but they seem to have no problem finding a place for spiritual conjecture within social or political application. Explain that logic to me.
damn straight, she helped create this mess. No she can go there and lie in it.
"Note to Noonan: you helped create this mess; it’s too late to complain now."
Exactly!! Now that they've energized their base, they don't know how to shut them up.
Zenrage @ 4:
because the wingnuttery believes that our politics was "built on christian values." They just don't get it. It's the same reason why people don't "get" the whole point of the Giant Spaghetti Monster
It's not just a silly character. It makes a very important point. And it's not just for breakfast anymore.
There are more wingnuts than corporocons in the gop.
The wingnuts are the majority and they chose huckleberry.
That's Frankenstein!
I'm glad that she's finally seen the error of her ways, but as so many have asked, did she not know this was going to happen? Are republicans really that crummy at long-term planning?
No shit, Sherlock.
That's Republican code for "we liked it when we could count on 'christian' racism, but forgadsake don't bring christian morals into to politics, we might have to give up our greed."
Like fellow paleo-cons, Pat Buchanan, Will, Buckley & Novak, Noonan has been sounding the alarm bells about W and the direction of the Republican party for several years now. Check out this column about Bush's 2005 SOTU speech appropriately titled "Way To Much God":
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006184
and the follow-up column the week after:
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110006211
In a somewhat related story, did anybody notice CNN's "What Would Jesus Really Do?" show the network can't stop promoting and advertising, just a few days after CNN's bigwig Jonathan Klein went on the attack about MSNBC's frivilous non-news programs? Does that send anyone else's irony meter into the red zone?
All of the republican presidential candidates are religious panderers and amoral sociopaths. They are mere puppets and nothing more than manufactured symbols of a theocratic Christian America that is not, never was and never will be.
"For 'tis the sport to have the enginer
Hoist with his own petar..."
Hands around their throats! And them christ like ass holes ain't gona let go. It will be the end of the Repuke party as they all try like hell to out-holy each other! You think Muslims, Jews, Mormons, Catholics, Lutherans, Protestants stand a fucking chance against them hard-core born agains? If you ain't one of 'em, you ain't a 'real' christian. The born-agains will eat 'em alive.... Canibalism at it's finest!
Noonan sees GOP ’shifting too far’ towards religion
No?! Really?
Castanea @ 10:
In one word, YES. Just look at how far behind that Party is in using the internet for fund raising during campaigns. There is no foresight at all among that group, which is obvious, because they all live in the past.
I think Huckabee truly believes that his state base is representative of the rest of the country, or at least that there are enough people with this kind of insular religious focus to get him elected. The Republicans have done nothing to disavow this presumption because they've thought it was a vote-winner.
Well, maybe the Republican party will keep shifting toward the religious right, as Noonan appears to view with trepidation, and will end up being the party of "Christianity". That might not be a bad idea, for it would keep them concentrated in a small ineffectual entity where they can spend their energies fighting each other and out of mainstream politics, where they don't belong anyway.
But what would true conservatives do then?
For more background on Mike Huckabee the dangerous extremist and radical reactionary, see:
- "Top 10 Moments in Mike Huckabee's Extremism."
- "10 More Moments in Mike Huckabee's Extremism."
Maybe these right-wingers should actually read the Bible. It's full of wisdom such as this:
"As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
Religion is the reason for the season don't you know. From the war to gay marriage to global warming to drugs,sex, and rock and roll, it's all related somehow to someones idea of what we should be believing. Please, oh please help us FSM in our time of need. Peggy has zero cred bringing this shit up now. She wrote speeches for Raygun for Christ's sake!
One more thing, Noonan, Pat Buchanan, Will, Buckley & Novak are on the outside looking in now. I wonder how they like that....
Way to go, Noonan. Your monster of a genie isn't quite fulfilling your wishes like you expected, is he? Good f*cking luck putting him back in the bottle.
Hope you enjoy swimming in the muck you created for your party, Peggy. And send my congratulations along to Faux News for helping marginalize the Repug party.
As for me, I'll just sit here laughing. Dumb putzes.
Hasn't Peggy heard that secularism is now a dirty hippy word among the Repugs? I would love to see them tar and feather her over this comment.
Straight Shooter @ 25:
who would jesus torture? who would jesus drop a clusterbomb on?
who would jesus reward with a medal for seizing thy neighbors resources?
Remember when Noonan used to write the most bizarre speeches for Reagan. Oozing with patriotism and Christian idolatry.
Won't the chumps roll over and play dead for you anymore, Ms. Knownothing? Surely you can always sic them on gays and illegal immigrants. Just keep them busy while you "smart" Rethuglicans rob America blind, destroy the earth, trample the Constitution, wreak havoc in wars of agression, and other worthwhile endeavors.
These people turn my stomach.
Beneath the smile and the phony sincerity, Noonan is a soiled, nasty little number.
She's been a regular participant in Grover Nordquist's conservative breakfast meetings for years, where neocons strategized much of the Bush administration's policies. She invented Reagan's saintly image, and helped create the fatuous, self-righteous post-Reagan GOP, which has only provided cover for corruption and betrayal of every single so-called conservative principle.
And now she's scared by the excesses of her party's religious fervor? She's a whore, a compulsive kool-aid drinker and an utter fool.
In this time of war, religion is one of the ways that people cope with change and look for guidance. It is not a wonder that Religion, particularly Christian religion has become the bedrock in this sea of change. Christianity is the foundation of our country, it is the basis of our constitution. It is therefore imperative that those who are to be elected as our president has shown enough leadership in touting Christian Religion values.
Peggy Noonan is right in her observation, but it is a change for the good for this country. Our peace keeping forces continues to fight each day in the Iraq, Afghan, and many other parts of the world for the freedom of Christian, and peace and democracy throughout the world. We must become an example for the entire world.
DJ, Arlington Group.
It's amazing to watch these people suddenly come to the realization that their Frankenstein is through with taking orders.
After literally decades of courting and organizing right-wing fundamentalists, that the entire conservative punditocracy simultaneously decides that religion is too much a part of politics. The very *instant* that an authentic Fundamentalist pulls ahead in the polls, that is the exact instant that fundamentalism becomes something to push aside.
The GOP establishment wants another GW Bush. Another corporate stooge who only talks god for the cameras. Somebody who tosses the Christian right a little symbolic drama, but really serves Wall Street. Unfortunately, the Christian right seems to have tired of this con, and they're about to take over the party.
DJ @ 32:
I always get a chuckle when I hear this comment, considering that the constitution is as close to a codification of the ideals of the Enlightenment as a document gets.
Mike Huckabee, America's own Ayatolla!
Ain't it great? Iran's got nuthin' on America!
Clearly, Peggy Noonan has begun moving toward the left. ;)
Noonan would be screwing Reagan's rotting corpse if she could get at it.
watched a bunch of brain dead goobers worshiping a highway on cnn this morning , jesus fucking christ please get your rapture over with ,
No need for Noonan to protest at Republicans efforts to exploit religion. They are just staying the course. Doesn't fascism always march in religious garb?
Otay @ 34:
I had a PhD American History prof who said at the beginning of the semester that if anybody made the above statement in any paper they wrote, he'd give them an "F" for the course. He was right.
DJ, just b/c you believe it does't make it so.
Note to Noonan: you helped create this mess; it’s too late to complain now.
Think you're wrong there pal. Sorry but I'll take her support.
tyree @ 38:
no $#!+, ty.
get the rapture over with and let the cro magnons have a shot.
JudyLou @ 40:
I don't know how many times that myth of Christianity being the "bedrock" of American law gets touted out by the far Right. It's a blatant lie, not to mention unsupported by all historical evidence and documents left by past generations.
If the Constitution was guided by "Christian" principles, we would NOT have a First Amendment. It directly violates four of the Ten Commandment, for one thing.
But seeing that this comment was left by an "Arlington Group" individual, it's no surprise at the nonsense spouted out here.
DJ @ 32:
sorry, kemo sabe, gotta call you on your b.s.
preemptive war's illegal. don't ask me, ask the international community. ask the ghosts of hermann goering and heinrich himmler.
The Peggy Noonan's of the GOP, are desperately trying to get back in to take control of the spaceship Repuke 2008; one-bizarre-assed oddysey.
But all they hear is the robotoid voices chanting "what do you think you are doing Peggy?"
"I'm sorry, but we cannot let you back in - Peggy".
"You see, we really don't need you anymore - Peggy".
"We are taking over, and you are dispensable - Peggy".
"Good-bye Peggy".
ROM Spaceknight @ 42:
fucin a
That munching sound you now hear is the religious right coming back to bite Noonan and her Reagan loving wingnuts right on their fake, phony, flip flopping asses! Hey Peggy...you can't "write" your way out of this one, honey! You helped create this, now enjoy the fruits of your poisonous labor! You self righteous hypocrit!
Medical Diagnosis by Video @ 37:
so would huckster. perhaps they could get a three-way going.
They already are a different kind of party. Their base is now the fundamentalist Christian racist. The candidates are merely playing to their base.
Say what? A neocon like Noonan (I sometimes enjoy her writing) lamenting that religion is combining with politics TOO much?
A Christian theocracy, isn't that what the neocons ALWAYS wanted? A government rule by the myths in the Bible? And not the constitution? Suck it up, Peggy. Ronnie Reagan was the guy who set us down this path.
Hmmm. She's a woman. How long till that right to vote for her gender is thrown out if the neocons get their way? But then again Ann Coulter would be all for it as we know.
Sinto @ 50:
i once heard ronnie reagan got shot by a hinckley, whose family was friends with the bushes and in fact were oil tycoons. is that true?
supposedly, neil bush had dinner plans with one of the hinckleys the day reagan was shot.
i think the hinckleys are affiliated with the vanderbilts...
and i think all of this was reported on freerepublic, of all places.
Well I'll give her credit. If she's really recognizing it, kudos to her.
The only reason she is complaining is that she thinks he'll lose (if he's the nominee).
She's as much of a theocrat as he is. She understands though that you have to be stealthy about it, use code words, lie.... Thats the only way youre going to get what you want (ban abortion, get creationism in science class, prayer time, censor pron, etc...). Huckleberry is being honest about it; you cant win that way.
This election is extremely important too, since the supreme court (Roe v Wade, etc... ) is on the line.
DJ @ 32:
There has always been war. Maybe because there has always been religion of one form or another.
And, yes, we've become an example, all right. A really really bad example.
DJ @ 32:
Sieg Heil ! Gott mit uns. Amerika uber alles? No thanks.
This from one of the people who spent the last few decades telling America that GOP stood for "God's Own Party?"
What do I call this? Poetic Justice.
This woman is a joke
poor Peggy. The southern baptist sharia strategy has come home to roost
When fake piety and religiosity produced a winning candidate in Bush, Noonan had no problems. It is just that it has now thrown up someone they sense cannot win.
I threw up a little in my mouth when I heard PEGGY NOONAN mention "political philosophy."
DJ,
You were being sarcastic, right? Come on, no one can really buy into that stuff you wrote like you pretend to. Peace Keeping Forces? No disrespect to the troops intended, but don't you mean invading and occupying army. Good one DJ, you almost had me going.
Has Noonan been asleep since the Reagan years?
Instead of "emphasis shifting too far” they should b "shitting".
Peggy Peggy Peggy.
As ye sow, so shall ye reap. You were in on the seeding, so you can not complain about your harvest.
What did you expect of your party, Peggy?
Did you expect that by spreading seeds of hate, that a harvest of love would bloom!
But what would true conservatives do then?
As stated earlier the Jesus Freaks outnumber them.
Most true Conservatives are in there 60's.
They're dying off.
The true Conservatives have already lost power.
Huckleberry will be the icing on the cake to the end of the Republican party.
I love how Our Lady of the Dolphins can write [T]here is a sense in Iowa now,” and things seem out of kilter about the mood of actual people living in Iowa when it's pretty obvious the closest our Peggers has ever gotten to Iowa in the winter is opening her Amana refrigerator door for a chilled bottle of chardonnay.
Yes, all you morons who have faith:
Keep the faith that under republican rule you're losing your homes, your healthcare, your jobs, your purchasing power, your children to the war machine, your Bill of Rights, your Constitutional guarantees, and your sanity.
Religion: The only time it's used in politics and government is for evil reasons.
And when God, who created the entire universe with all of its glories, decides to deliver a message to humanity, HE WILL NOT use, as His messenger, a politician
"When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying the cross" So said Sinclair Lewis 80+ years ago. He was prescient because he understood the stultifying power of religious extremists in American culture, exemplified over the years in: the KKK, Amy Semple McPherson, William Jennings Bryan, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker and the PTL Club, Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, etc, etc. The theo-crats, the jihadists, keep coming back because of the human gene that perceives safety in homogeneity, ie, if everyone is like me, we will all be safe. It's a myth - but they don't see it because they don't understand the principles of evolution. Homogeneity breeds extinction, and mankind survives and grows only through tolerance of broad diversity.
sulphurdunn @ 15:
----------------------
All the politiitans are panderers to something that is not, never was and never will be.
The country is "built on Christian values". The dominant social norms and predominant ethical codes are based on Judeo-Christian morality. While I support separation of organized religion and state, you're never going to separate Judeo-Christian values from government.
They're only complaining because Huckabee isn't their guy. If Huckabee was under their thumb or on their payroll it would be"a brilliant salvo in the Culture War".
Maybe the kooks really are fed up with being taken for fools and are bucking the GOP establishment.
Funny she should say that, because what I see happening has nothing to do with faith to my eyes. Just a bunch of power hungry psychos speaking a language that is only peripherally related to issues of genuine faith or spirituality, in order to manipulate others and thusly extract their votes from them. To my senses, Huckabee and Romney are about as sanctified as dog turds. They strike me as being every last bit of everything that Jesus warned his faithful against.
No, baby. You decided to marry fundamentalist religion. Now it owns you. Come to daddy.
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