Every now and then a book comes along that captures the political moment in an especially compelling way. It manages to crystallize what many of us are thinking but can’t quite articulate. And it does so with a precision of language, quality of thought, and clarity of perception that keeps us nodding our heads in agreement while we’re reading.
Peggy Noonan’s little gem, Patriotic Grace, is one such book.
A columnist for The Wall Street Journal, Noonan has blended a set of previously published articles and new thoughts together to reflect upon the tone and style of politics as it is currently practiced in Washington.
I typically do not find assembling a collection of columns inside a single cover a noteworthy publishing event. But Patriotic Grace has a thematic coherence that raises it far above the genre’s standard offering.
Like many Americans, Noonan is disheartened by the coarse and sometimes brutish tone of politics today. She worries that political debate in Washington has descended into a form of gangism with rival teams defending their own turf at all cost.
In a wonderful metaphor, she says that everyone is “dug in. “ The parties, the pundits, the lobbyists, the bloggers. They’ve chosen their side and they’re screaming at the other side. Sometimes just because they think they should be screaming.
Noonan suggests that there are significant casualties in the wake of this approach. In her opinion, independent thinking is becoming less valued as the fear of ostracism from your own side increases. (As a Reagan conservative who became distressed by the Bush presidency and ultimately found positive things to say about Obama, there is clearly a personal dimension in her writing here.)
She also suggests that the Washington culture is increasingly forgetting a fundamental rule of politics. You have to work with people you dislike and occasionally even hate in order to accomplish good things.
I was impressed that Noonan’s prescription for addressing this condition avoids the mushy sentiment of the “why can’t we all just get along” approach that is often expressed.
Noonan, who worked in the Reagan White House and was the chief speechwriter for George Herbert Bush’s first presidential campaign, understands what all of us who are around the political arena know.
Politics is a hard fought and competitive enterprise. The stakes are important. The passions are engaged. Winning is a whole lot better than losing. Be it an election or a policy debate.
But Noonan urges us to recognize two principles.
First, she says that political fights should be about issues that really matter and “we shouldn’t be fighting and hitting each other over the head about little, stupid things.”
We have big elections in Virginia next year that will have major consequences for the state. These will be expensive, impassioned and hard fought. But if we do it right, the winners will be empowered to make real progress on issues that have not been fully addressed.
Second, Noonan reminds us that in the post 9-11 world, there are real enemies out there who want to do much worse things to us than the rival gang does here at home. And she believes that at some time in some way they are going to strike again.
She reminds us that when that happens we’ll have to be helping each other out, not just screaming about which gang is to blame.
Not a bad message for a Political New Year.
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