Peggy Noonan, a dusty cabinet of moldering antique patent medicine bottles, hath observations, about this time we are living in. What is happening right now, in the alternate universe occupied by Peggy Noonan?
I suppose this is certainly one way to characterize our current political moment........
We’re in a time of absorbed but subtle and not fully noticed shifts. Old-time liberals and conservatives seem to understand each other more deeply, more generously than they did in the past: In some new way they see the other’s basic political decency. On the other hand the parties they’ve been aligned with offer constant confusion and surprise.
Uh huh. And these upstarts—these AOCs and these Ilhan Omars—who is their inspiration?
I think we all know where this started, the political brutishness, the ignoring of traditions and norms. Donald Trump is both origin and rationale.
The mean girls of Congress have learned at his knee. They have taken their tactics from him. They claim to be his reluctant imitators but I think they admire his ferocity.
On this planet that Peggy Noonan calls home, liberals and conservatives are understanding each other more deeply right now, and also, all bad political things began with Donald Trump, a man whose personality is admired by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Any final observations from your world, Peggy Noonan?
As the grandfather said at the end of “Moonstruck,” “I’m confused.”
Oh Peg! Never let anyone, whether human or alien, change you.