Althouse: "Jeb Bush smiled a lot. I wondered if he was channeling Mitt Romney in 2012, who smiled at his opponents on the stage as if they were adorable frolicking children."

September 18, 2015

"Jeb Bush smiled a lot. I wondered if he was channeling Mitt Romney in 2012, who smiled at his opponents on the stage as if they were adorable frolicking children."

"But Jeb smiles sweetly. With his gray-rimmed glasses and his weight loss he looked like Woodrow Wilson in a winsome mood."

Wrote Peggy Noonan.

32 comments:

Nichevo said...: I wouldn't embrace any comparison to Woodrow Wilson if I was Jeb!.; 9/18/15, 8:11 AM
Rocketeer said...: he looked like Woodrow Wilson in a winsome mood

That is one heckuva subtle insult.; 9/18/15, 8:22 AM
rehajm said...: Bless his heart.; 9/18/15, 8:32 AM
rehajm said...: Blame RBF.; 9/18/15, 8:38 AM
Static Ping said...: At least he does not have JC Calhoun's hair style.; 9/18/15, 8:44 AM
Alexander said...: The debate was Bush's Treaty of Versailles?; 9/18/15, 8:56 AM
averagejoe said...: LOL! Peggy Noonan on the JEB! wagon! And winsome Woody Wilson- the tight-ass Princeton progressive segregationist scold. She sure knows how to pick them!; 9/18/15, 8:59 AM
Amexpat said...: Jeb didn't look presidential. He looked like someone running half heartedly for president of a fraternity.; 9/18/15, 9:00 AM
pm317 said...: Peggy is establishment media.; 9/18/15, 9:02 AM
Wince said...: Hey man, if you listen closely to the Beatle's Abbey Road "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" you can hear Jeb's name, as in the Beatles want JEB! You don't even have to play it backwards.

"JEB!" at 4:27.

I want you
I want you so bad
I want you
I want you so bad
It's driving me mad
It's driving me

JEB!

She's so heavy
Heavy, heavy, heavy

And "She's so heavy..." that's Hillary.; 9/18/15, 9:03 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: While we're all wondering, here, perhaps I'd not be out of turn to say that I now find myself wondering what sort of derogatory things Ms. Noonan could come up with to say about the Dalai Lama and his comportment.; 9/18/15, 9:12 AM
traditionalguy said...: The low energy from sneaky, sneaky
JEBBIE is a mask. He never lets us see the real Bush Family murderous cruelty behind the compassionate schitik but that is what comes into office with the creepy JEBBIE.; 9/18/15, 9:27 AM
Michael K said...: Peggy seems to have regretted her Obama fascination. Her columns this year have been pretty good.; 9/18/15, 9:27 AM
MikeDC said...: JEB the poster-child for spineless weaseling. I think Trump's strongest point is that he calls JEB on this bullshit every single time.

JEB: You should apologize to my wife!
Trump: Fuck off, I'm not.

JEB: I only spoke spanish to a poor high-school kid to make him comfortable.
Trump: Fuck off, you were talking to reporters.

I don't want Trump to win, but I do want him to follow Bush around and call him on his schmaltzy bullshit.; 9/18/15, 9:32 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "Hey man, if you listen closely to the Beatle's Abbey Road "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" you can hear Jeb's name, as in the Beatles want JEB! You don't even have to play it backwards."

That was John primal screaming "Jeb!" in "I Want You," but Paul was was also obsessed with Jeb: "Jeb! I can almost remember their funny faces/That time you told them that you were going to be marrying soon/And Jeb, I thought the only lonely place was on the moon/Jeb, was your father as bold as the sergeant major/How come he told you that you were hardly old enough yet?..."; 9/18/15, 9:49 AM
Big Mike said...: Every person I've met who lived in Florida back when Jeb was governor insists that he was their greatest governor ever!!! I'm trying to convey the way they just gush. But I think he's going to have to settle for that as his legacy. Speaking Spanish fluently isn't a good reason to nominate him.

Peggy was very insightful, and I found it telling that she "doesn't do" the Spin Room. An oversight? Or is she wiser than the rest? "President Carly" sounds good to me.; 9/18/15, 10:07 AM
Alexander said...: Carly wants us all to know that she will never, ever, ever - not in a million years - talk to Putin. Even if he was the last man on earth. Even if he does that shirtless Siberian tiger-wrestling thing.

Jeb! will stand up for the country. On tiptoes. Or as they say in his home, de puntillas.; 9/18/15, 10:31 AM
Alexander said...: Every person I've met who lived in Florida back when Jeb was governor insists that he was their greatest governor ever!!!

The same people who made Jeb! governor of Florida did the same thing for Charlie Crist. Their judgement is questionable.; 9/18/15, 10:38 AM
bleh said...: I think so far most people are underestimating the electoral impact of Spanish fluency by a Republican nominee. I am not a Jeb fan, but I can at least acknowledge the value in his ability to speak directly to the Spanish-speaking community. The GOP is in dire need of a new demographic strategy to regain an electoral majority. The Southern Strategy of 1968 has run its course.

No ethnic group is a political monolith, with the exception of the blacks. Hispanics are in play. There's no good reason why the GOP should cede the vote of Hispanics, many of whom are religious and culturally/socially conservative. Donald Trump, Hillary's friend, is there to ensure that Hispanics remain wary of the GOP.

And I don't think speaking Spanish would be viewed by Hispanics as pandering. If Jeb or Marco are asked a question in Spanish, they should answer in Spanish. It's a pretty simple concept, and I think Rubio made a very good point when he said he didn't want a Univision translator to skew his comments.; 9/18/15, 10:40 AM
garage mahal said...: Little Jebbie; 9/18/15, 10:45 AM
Alexander said...: Disagree. Most people do not want to live in a multi-lingual state, and those that do seem to spend all their time trying to secede. Once upon a time, it would be seen as a sign of 'hey, good for trade and relations!'. Now it's seen (rightly) among the right as a sign of pandering to the invaders. Jeb! can't get his own wife to speak English on a regular basis - he's not going to do a damn thing to assimilate 30 million people, or prevent that number from growing.

No ethnic group is a political monolith, with the exception of the blacks. Hispanics are in play. There's no good reason why the GOP should cede the vote of Hispanics, many of whom are religious and culturally/socially conservative.

Nonsense. Every Latin American government is a bunch of leftists. Ranging from mostly-left to full blown communism. Both major parties in Mexico - yes, even the 'right-wing' one, are members of Socialist International.

Hispanics vote liberal in America because they like the idea of a big, paternal government handing out goodies to Hispanics. One notes the 'republican' hispanics - the cubans, primarily, are less about championing the ideals of the Anglo enlightenment about personal freedom and more about 'what can you do for us' about the Cuba situation.

There is nothing about Anglo-Saxon conservatism that will survive in a majority-Hispanic Republican party.

If Jeb or Marco are asked a question in Spanish, they should answer in Spanish.

In Mexico, it's illegal for a foreign national to influence a Mexican election. If someone is asking a question in Spanish, the pertinent question for the voter is how on earth are they ever going to assimilate if we demand our highest political officer plead his case in their language, instead of them bothering to learn ours?; 9/18/15, 10:50 AM
chickelit said...: Now that's funny, garage!; 9/18/15, 11:46 AM
mikee said...: Ridicule only works if the target can't laugh at themselves as loudly as everyone else, garage. Alinsky knew this, and requires one to isolate the target, immobilize it, then ridicule it, in order to reduce its influence.

Get with the program.

Hillary might just have to laugh off a few thousand jokes about her adulterous husband, her lying since her Arkansas days, her disdain for the citizenry, and her inability to understand why opening the Secretary of State's emails to hacking from other countries was a bad idea.

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

And then we'll post pictures of her in pantsuits. Lots of pantsuit pictures, unedited.; 9/18/15, 1:03 PM
Bayoneteer said...: The Reagan era ended with a Bush and the end of the Republicans as national party is going end with a Bush. GOPers your party needs to die. And until it does every four year cycle is going to sound & fury to no result. All big donors, consultants, and RNC operators keep all this going for the dollars it brings them. Sure you can run a Jeb!/Kasich ticket and hope you can again win FL and OH, but it aint likely. HRC or whoever the Dems nominate is the next POTUS. If the GOP dies maybe a newer better party will form without all the baggage.; 9/18/15, 1:16 PM
rcocean said...: Peggy should have retired 10 years ago. I assume chicks love her, and that's why she has a job. I got tired of the constant substance free, emotion laden columns years ago.; 9/18/15, 3:13 PM
rcocean said...: BTW, I know plenty of well educated Hispanics. They are all liberal Democrats, despite being good family men (and women). Why should they be Republicans? All of them come from Countries where the Socialist party is either the most popular or is considered mainstream. None of them are American Patriots, they are all dual citizens, many will go back when they retire and live the good life. Nothing wrong with that, but expecting them to be Conservative Republicans is laughable.; 9/18/15, 3:17 PM
Anonymous said...: "...he looked like Woodrow Wilson..."

Looks like no more Bush.

rcocean is right. As a voter, she could vote for whoever she damned pleased. But things she wrote about Obama to justify her vote forever disqualified her as a deep thinker. Her opinions don't worth shit.; 9/18/15, 4:28 PM
Sammy Finkelman said...: "Carly wants us all to know that she will never, ever, ever - not in a million years - talk to Putin"

Obamastopped talking to Putin for a year. He must have realized Putin was pumping him for information. He now decided to do it again, because of teh Russian intervention in Syria, and is going to argue that Assad cannot win the civil war. But OPutin may niot be lookinmg for (or hoping for) total victory - just keeping his naval base and preventing Assad from losing it all,like Quaddafi; 9/18/15, 4:43 PM
Bayoneteer said...: People it doesnt matter who finishes first in this 14 month long primary/caucus/straw-poll/spitting contest/mud fight event the GOP is putting on here. There simply not enuff GOP voters in the right combination of electorally significant states to win.; 9/18/15, 4:45 PM
Nichevo said...: Oh great, so you can stay in bed the first Tuesday next November.; 9/18/15, 8:11 PM
Bayoneteer said...: Yes Nichevo, and so can you unless you happen to vote in one of about six or so states. I'm still gonna vote but I am not under any illusions here. Repubs dont win in MI. Not since '88. Not even close.; 9/18/15, 9:15 PM
chickelit said...: KenK wrote:
Repubs dont win in MI. Not since '88. Not even close.

No wonder they've been depressed for so long...; 9/18/15, 9:51 PM