It would be a shame, and in fact a shirking of duty, for pundits and others to now turn away from the serious questions raised by the conduct of the Clintons in the race against Barack Obama.
Among those who consistently raised pointed questions about the ethics of the Clintons, doing so with a moral and political credibility recognized across party lines, was Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan [photo], who stood far above the madding crowd.
Noonan, who was born in Brooklyn and raised in Jersey, and who went on to a type of glory as a writer for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush Dad, had long viewed Hillary Clinton with skepticism, a skepticism that was first viewed through left-right political lenses, but that more recently came to be seen as expressing a deep and sincere moral indignation.
The writer for the conservative WSJ had long written of her distaste for traits she saw in both Clintons, especially a cold and self-serving pursuit of power reflected most starkly in the late race (double meaning perhaps intended) for the White House.
But the former courtier of the conservative elite came to be embraced more recently by others, especially some Obama admirers, who appreciated her fairness in treating their candidate and the way she criticized what she called Hillary Clinton's playing of the gender card.
There are those who say that Peggy Noonan was, symbolically at least, the real victor in the hot and bitter Democratic campaign.
We have before us now an online Women's Wear Daily article that explains "How Peggy Noonan Won the Democratic Primary." It's by Jacob Bernstein and it reveals inner psychic workings not normally disclosed by mainstream columnists to those who write about them. Read it.
It might be worthwhile also to check out a couple of Noonan's WSJ articles from the long Democratic primary race.
Here's "Out With the Old and in With the New." And here's "Mrs. Clinton is No Iron Lady."
[Note: Noonan in 2000 published a HarperCollins book, "The Case Against Hillary Clinton."]
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