A long time ago, Peggy Noonan was brilliant.
We will never forget them this morning as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God.
President Ronald Reagan said that on January 28, 1986, after the space shuttle Challenger had exploded shortly after launch. Peggy Noonan was his speechwriter.
But as did so many very smart people, she fell for the smooth-talking Barack Obama in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election, and became one of his most vocal supporters. That was not brilliant, given the incredible weight of evidence that said this man, who has now proved to be the most disastrous president in a lifetime, was at once arrogant, lacking in both accomplishments and the ability to accomplish, and dangerously blinkered ideologically.
Today Peggy Noonan is brilliant again.
Would the next president like a story? Here’s one. America was anxious, and feared it was losing the air of opportunity that had allowed it to be what it was—expansive, generous, future-trusting. It was losing faith in its establishments and institutions. And someone came out of that need who led—who was wise and courageous and began to turn the ship around. And we saved our country, and that way saved the world.
There’s a narrative for you, the only one that matters. Go be a hero of that story. It will get around. It will bubble up.
There’s much more of that sort of thing — read it all. Welcome back, Peggy — we missed you.