Noonan Award Nominee: Jonah Goldberg

As those who read this site regularly know, the Noonan Award (named after Wall Street Journal editorialist Peggy Noonan) goes to people who an invoke an argument to score some minor rhetorical point without realizing how easily that argument can be turned against them.

Today's nominee is Jonah Goldberg of the National Review. At 'The Corner' today, Goldberg's colleague, John Podhoretz, took a quick jab at John Kerry for a recent quote:

"Every troop I've met in Iraq comes up to me
and says, 'Thanks for speaking out on this.'"

Every single one? Gee, I really don't believe him.

Goldberg then jumped clumsily into the fray with the following post:

John -- It is technically possible that Kerry's
telling the truth. Perhaps very, very, very,
very few troops come up to Kerry at all and
of the ones who do they all say that.

More: A reader suggests: "Or perhaps Kerry
gives his staff very specific instructions to
only let soldiers who agree with him come up
and speak to him. That way he knows he'll be
able to say that every troop he met supports
him."

Let's be clear, I have no problem with people making fun of John Kerry. Everyone deserves to be ribbed a little, especially when they say things like that. But did Jonah really not realize how easily that argument can be turned around? Let's see, which major politician is notorious for allowing only people who agree with him to speak to him? Hmmm, that's a tough one. Here's a hint: he only does speaking engagements in front of captive military audiences or pre-screened town halls. That's right, it's the ultimate bubble boy: George W. Bush.

Just yesterday Dan Froomkin of the Post wrote a long column on Bush's increasing insularity. He wrote:

What does it say about the president of the
United States that he won't go anywhere
near ordinary citizens any more? And that
he'll only speak to captive audiences?

President Bush's safety zone these days
doesn't appear to extend very far beyond
military bases, other federal installations
and Republican fundraisers. . . .

When was the last time that Bush spoke
in a forum open to citizens who are
representative of the diverse array of
views in the country? Certainly not since
last October's presidential debates, and
not often before then, either.

During last year's campaign, White House
advance teams began screening audiences
at Bush events to insure that only supporters
were allowed in. After the election, that policy
gave way to a new, "invitation only" approach,
in which tickets to so-called public events
were distributed largely by Republican and
business groups. Now Bush is in phase three,
where almost everyone he appears before is
either on the federal payroll or a Republican
donor.

How you like them apples, Jonah? Was a minor swipe at John Kerry really worth opening the door to all that? I doubt it. That's why you've been nominated for a Noonan Award.