One upon a time, I used to like (and admire) Peggy Noonan, in spite of numerous disagreements concerning her opinions. Since 9/11, however, she has lost her edge, like many of her government-worshipping colleagues who went from skeptical journalism to being a conduit for the state’s propaganda. It seems like her new book, Patriotic Grace: What It Is and Why We Need It Now, is being trotted out as some kind of anti-government tirade by some reviewers (read the Amazon reviews), which leaves me perplexed.

MSNBC has this headline: “Written in the pamphleteering tradition of Tom Paine’s “Common Sense,” Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan’s new book suggests that Americans must face common challenges together — not just by rising above partisanship, but by reaffirming what it means to be American. An excerpt.”

The comparison of Noonan’s call for blind unity to Paine’s agitations is an illiterate statement. Someone had better go back and re-study Paine.An email to me from the War State Journal puts up this quote from her book: “We’ve never been an isolationist country and now is not the time to become one. It’s time for us once again to be a beacon to the rest of the world.”

Paine?

This reviewer on Amazon quotes from her book.

“If we had a major terrorist attack tomorrow, half the country — more than half — would not completely trust the federal government to do what it has to do, would not trust it to tell the truth, would not trust it, period.”

Reading some other excerpts, it sounds as if Peggy is angry that the government’s facist tactics and assorted sheep herding has caused the citizenry to lose trust in this great institution of godliness. And that, she thinks, is bad for America! A long time ago, I wrote about Noonan’s worship of American Empire and presidents, and this book sounds like it may be more of the same, only a post-9/11 version of how to be a good and loyal and trusting patriot to your ruling Empire. If anyone has read it and has some good review notes, I’d like to hear from you.