The End of Placeness

Written by Jack Burden on August 15th, 2008 Peggy Noonan should publish a book that is simply a compilation of all her columns. Her average weekly musings tend to be better than the standouts in the careers of most journalists. Her article this week is, as always, eloquent and thought provoking: I was at a gathering a few weeks ago for an aged Southern sage, a politico with an accent so thick you have to lean close and concentrate to understand every word, so thick, as they used to say, you could pour it on pancakes. Most of the people there were from the South, different ages and generations but Southerners—the men grounded and courteous in a certain way, the women sleeveless and sexy in a certain way. There was a lot of singing and toasting and drinking, and this was the thing: Even as an outsider, you knew them. They were... [read full story]