Althouse: "Many will find it ironic to read Peggy Noonan — who was Ronald Reagan's speechwriter – claiming that Republicans are not very good at The Narrative.

September 4, 2008

"Many will find it ironic to read Peggy Noonan — who was Ronald Reagan's speechwriter – claiming that Republicans are not very good at The Narrative.

"George Lakoff made a name for himself as a political commentator by expressing, at length, a contrary view."

Nice discussion, by Mark Liberman, of Peggy Noonan's open mike confession.

(And yes, it irks me that Mark spells it "mic." A lot.)

30 comments:

Richard said...: (And yes, it irks me that Mark spells it "mic." A lot.)

Your blonde quirks are so fucking tiresome.; 9/4/08, 11:30 AM
NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...: She commented on this in her column at wsj.com last night.; 9/4/08, 11:36 AM
Skyler said...: I don't know much about Noonan except that she writes flowery, melodramatic columns that usually have little to say.

But she has revealed herself to be part of a political machine that doesn't understand that people are supposed to run this nation, not political parties.; 9/4/08, 11:37 AM
Skyler said...: Oh, and "mic" is the correct spelling. It's short for "microphone. "Mike" is the phonetic alphabet's word for the letter "m."; 9/4/08, 11:40 AM
Expat(ish) said...: Mike also used to be a boys name, before we gave up on "old fashioned" names.

It's also a way to indicate millimeters (or as I like to call them: Carter Measurements) as in "I need a 44 mike wrench, please."

-XC; 9/4/08, 11:46 AM
Unknown said...: Peggy Noonan is an excellent writer, someone that I do not always agree with.

Her main flaw, to me and so many of my "peeps", is her painfully obvious insecurity, which drives her desire to both be a conservative and still be accepted by the Upper West Side of Manhattan Crowd.; 9/4/08, 11:46 AM
Anonymous said...: I agree with Brent.; 9/4/08, 11:50 AM
Unknown said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 9/4/08, 12:06 PM
Chip Ahoy said...: Complaints about a blog hosts posts being tiresome are themselves quite tiresome. Leaves one to wonder, "why read them then?" Dumbass.

Open mic
Open mic
Open mic
Open mic

See what I'm doing here?

Hot mic
Hot mic
Hot mic
Hot mic

Inuring Therapy, that's what.

Open mic
Hot mic
Open mic
Hot mic; 9/4/08, 12:10 PM
Original Mike said...: It's "mic". Trust me.; 9/4/08, 12:22 PM
paul a'barge said...: Yeah, it's mic.

Peggy Noonan is still the Blanche DuBois of punditry.; 9/4/08, 12:45 PM
ricpic said...: You're in the bubble, Peggy? Burst it baby, burst it!; 9/4/08, 12:58 PM
Will said...: Why do people keep getting into this trouble?
Just like all guns are loaded until proven otherwise, all mics are hot until proven otherwise. And even then, in both cases, they should be treated with caution.; 9/4/08, 1:14 PM
ricpic said...: Hand over mic. Don't they teach that in career survival school?; 9/4/08, 1:27 PM
rhhardin said...: It's a narrative narrative.

How the word came to be what it is, with its story defining it.

Origin is used to describe essence, as Kenneth Burke points out (``temporizing the essence'', I wonder if it will google.. not very well).

I take narrative in politics as being specifically soap opera stories, as defined by the usual characters and their possibilities, and in particular of interest to women in their complexities.

If it weren't for the (40% of) women that tune in, there'd be no political reason for the narrative, which need to be profitable for both media and politician: no audience to make it profitable, and therefore no medium for the politician to piggyback on.

Throw in Jungian psychology as analysis with soap opera.

The genre is more interesting in potentiality, because of its vast audience, than in actuality, perhaps.; 9/4/08, 1:29 PM
ricpic said...: Every other comment you're soaping up, rh. Time to rinse.; 9/4/08, 1:34 PM
rhhardin said...: Consider a non-soap campaign.

Some understanding of economics demonstrated, for example.

You can't do that today because women will lose interest and tune out.

You'd have to have a soap opera story line to illustrate the economic point, at the minimum.

Keep them tuned in, so that the network gets its cut; and then you can piggyback on it.

But a soap opera story is easily overcome with another soap opera story, and the argument is lost.; 9/4/08, 1:39 PM
rhhardin said...: The attraction for guys, of Palin, is the zingers. The soap aspect is lost on guys.

How come nobody is shooting zingers at the Democrats? The question has been on the male minds for a year.; 9/4/08, 1:41 PM
rhhardin said...: A zinger is an short remark that destroys the frame of the opponent's narrative.

Thus, in history, we should find narratives before zingers, but not much before.

Zingers would be contemporary with what in performance reviews is called a bad attitude.; 9/4/08, 1:45 PM
Original Mike said...: Will said: Why do people keep getting into this trouble?
Just like all guns are loaded until proven otherwise, all mics are hot until proven otherwise. And even then, in both cases, they should be treated with caution.

Yeah, I don't get it either. The most plausible explanation for me is that some people (a lot of people) just can't keep their mouth shut. My respect for Noonan took a big hit over this.; 9/4/08, 1:46 PM
ricpic said...: Women like to be zinged. As long as the lighting's soft.; 9/4/08, 1:51 PM
rhhardin said...: Soap opera: it's really two points.

1. Women tune in. 40% of them. The media need this audience. It's that audience or they're out of business.

2. The merger of this with political speech has a side effect that takes over everything.

Nobody begrudges women their interest in afternoon soaps.

It's that it takes over news, and nothing real can be said any longer.

It's business dynamics, not media bias or agenda, that's doing it.; 9/4/08, 1:57 PM
Asante Samuel said...: I read her lame-ass excuse of a column last night. I'm so not buying it. My idea of a real narrative would be Peggy whats-her name eating shit and then dying. The End.; 9/4/08, 2:20 PM
rcocean said...: I love Peggy, she's an intelligent, classy, beautiful conservative. I lover her writing.

But she doesn't like McCain and she's a complete DC-NYC establishment type. Her comment about Senator Hutchinson was typical. You can read her mind, "How can they choose some Nobody like Palin when my friend Kay is a SENATOR & has worked so hard & has so much DC experience?"

And being around a Moderate Republican Hack like Murphy didn't help.; 9/4/08, 3:00 PM
Trooper York said...: Grusinskaya (bursts into their suite, with a vein pulsing in her neck): Well you have really done it this time you pusilamous pervert. Everyone is talking about your comments about the Baron. You are a fool.
Miss Peggy Noonan (cowering on a settee, holding a whimpering dog, the marks and bruies of Grusinskaya attempted strangulation vivid on her alabaster skin). It’s not my fault. I just said it be agreeable. I am not strong like you. I want everyone to like me.
Grusinskaya: You fool they will never like you. You are not one of them. Not of the elite. You didn’t go to the right university. You don’t have the right friends. You worked for their greatest enemy.
Miss Peggy Noonan: But some people like me. Why just today a man struck a conversation with me. He wanted to talk about the opera and what type of soap I used. And he had a chicken on a leash.
Grusinskaya: So you flirted with him and led him on like the floozy you are. Wait a minute. You said he had a chicken on a leash.
Miss Peggy Noonan: Yes. It was very exciting. The chicken had many bruies and I believe that it was bleeding from it’s vagina. When I asked him what it was all about, he just said that he was a hard one.
Grusinskaya: SO YOU LED HIM ON! YOU FOOL! THAT IS THE FAMOUS CHICKEN MOLESTOR OF THE TUTENBERG FOREST!
Miss Peggy Noonan: I don’t think so. I mean I did say that love to wear a leash on occasion and I would be willing to choke his chicken. He just mumbled and walked away.
Grusinskaya: You blowsy bitch, I told you that only control you. You must be punished! (She jumps across the table and begins to throttle the albino opinion maker)
Miss Peggy Noonan: Pllleeaasse sssttttoooopppp iiitttttt, IIIIIIIII wwwwwiiiiillll lllllleeeeeaaaaveeee hhhhhiissss ccccchhhhiiiiicccckkkkkeeennnn aaaaallllllooooonnnnneeeeeee!!!!!!
Grusinskaya: Shut up you pervert…you know you are enjoying this
Miss Peggy Noonan: Yooouu onlllly hurtttt meeee cccaaauuuse yoooouuu loooovvve meeeeee (She falls unconscious as her nipples come fully erect and her shift becomes damp).
Baron Felix von Geigern's dog; Woof!
(Grand Hotel, 1932); 9/4/08, 3:14 PM
Swifty Quick said...: My respect for Noonan took a big hit over this.

Me too. I read and liked her book "What I Saw at the Revolution" back in the day. I read her WSJ columns. Her explanatory column today isn't adequate. Especially when you lay it down alongside yesterday's column, alongside what was overheard on the hot microphone. Three different things. So now what do I think of her? I dunno. Still processing it, but wherever it ends up it probably won't be the same as it was. Maybe the Blanche DuBois comment nailed it.; 9/4/08, 3:25 PM
Republican said...: 'Mic' has been used in many of the formats I'm familiar with on the Internet.

The old Paltalk and Firetalk chatware referred to turning on your 'mic', or being 'mic'd'.

It's always seemed that people knew the differences between mic, and mike.; 9/4/08, 3:50 PM
Chris said...: It bothers you a lot, or he refers to it as a "mic" a lot?; 9/4/08, 4:33 PM
Derve Swanson said...: Fwiw, from the AP Stylebook online:

Does AP have a preference for the shortened version of microphone? Webster's NWD lists both mic and mike. This comes up a lot in nightclub and comedy club listings of open mic/mike events. – from Camarillo, CA on Sat, Mar 15, 2008

Microphone is used far more frequently in AP stories than either of the shortened versions. Webster's lists both mic and mike, so either is acceptable.

Which is preferable: open-mike night or open-mic? – from Cape Cod, Mass. on Wed, Feb 28, 2007

AP uses "mike" as the abbreviated form of microphone.

How does the AP abbreviate microphone? Do you go to an open mic night or an open mike night? Was the musician's guitar mic'ed or miked? – from Newport News, VA on Tue, Jun 06, 2006

AP uses "mike" as the abbreviated form of microphone.; 9/4/08, 5:12 PM
Derve Swanson said...: I know the AP Stylebook is declining in authority as the "new journalism" grows, but I too hate to see it abbreviated that way, just reads wrong to these more traditional/conservative eyes, I suppose...; 9/4/08, 5:16 PM