Speaking of Reagan, his communication skills, and new books, former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan has an interesting new offering.
It?s called Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now. In 192 pages that go by quickly, Noonan argues that our politics need a drastic change.
Bypassing the simplicity of ?why can?t we all just get along,? Noonan argues instead that partisan battles need more grown-ups. Our debates must incorporate a basic agreement from all sides that ?something big and bad is going to happen to America,? whether it?s terrorists claiming to act on behalf of Islam or some other existential threat to our current way of life:
If I am right, then ? what we need most right now in our national political life is a kind of patriotic grace, a grace that takes the long view, apprehends the moment we?re in, comes up with ways of dealing with it, and eschews the politically cheap and manipulative.
What does this mean in practice? It means, to begin with, that we must change not only the substance but the tenor of our political discourse. ?
This is no time to stop the national political debate. Conservatives are certain as to the rightness of their general philosophy, or one should say their understanding of the world. I share it. The left is certain if its rightness also. Fine. Let each side hold high the banner and make its case. But the tearing apart of the country to win, the manipulating voters you don?t even respect to triumph, the making America worse to get what you want ? that will not do.
That is yesterday. It is over. Stop it.
For more Locker Room discussion of Noonan?s commentary, click here, here, or here.
