Peggy Noonan fans, rejoice!

[Cocoa]

She's back with a dandy of a column.

Peggy has returned from "digging" in the dirt that is West Virginia.

She decided to go there after watching "Deliverance" and thought she might visit Appalachia and maybe score some hillbilly action.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110007054

I have just been there for the first time, and it is a jewel of a state. It is like an emerald you dig from a hill with your hands.

You know when you've passed into it from the east because suddenly things look more dramatic. You get the impression you're in a real place. All around you are mountains and hills and gullies, gulches and streams. The woods wherever I went were thick and deep. From Morgantown to Ballengee a squirrel can jump from tree to tree. It is a tall state--the hills, trees and mountains--and shadowy-dark, with winding roads, except for where it's broad and beige and full of highway, courtesy of Robert Byrd. The highways are perfect looking, unstained by wear and tear, and not many people seem to use them.

There are little churches in every town, where the highest thing is the steeples, and road signs with exhortations to follow Jesus, and big crosses made of white wood on the side of the road. The ACLU would do well not to come here and do their church-state thing. Three hours into our drive west, a police car drove by, and someone mentioned that was the first one he'd seen since we crossed the state line. Someone else said, approvingly, "Everyone keeps a gun in West Virginia. Crime is low." Later I would be told it has the lowest violent crime per capita in the United States. It is very nice, when traveling, to see your beliefs and assumptions statistically borne out.

Few people I met seemed interested in politics. I got the impression they see is as something dull and faraway, as a normal person would. I was in the southwest corner of the state, in the Fayetteville area of Fayette County, named for the Marquis de Lafayette. When I asked a man tending the grass in front of the statue of Lafayette on the courthouse lawn why they left the "La" off, he said he didn't know but "maybe it was a little lah dee dah." West Virginia has a town named Artie and a town named Bud.

more...

[bryant69]

1. I hate the country

Ben Shapiro had an article with a similar message - all the people in the country are virtuous wonderful people. Ben was a bit more explicit on what messed up monsters City people are, but over all it was the same.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[chaumont58]

2. She sure got a purty mouth

*

[PunkPop]

3. Send her to Iraq.

Then she can really see her beliefs and assumptions borne out.

She is simultaneously a windbag and an airhead.

[Gildor Inglorion]

4. What a condescending bitch...

as a hillbilly myself, from the mountains of North Georgia, I have seen all too many of these "Oh, how happy you simple primitives must be here in your unspoiled paradise" types. Then they move in and proceed to spoil it.
:puke:

[Clark2008]

22. AMEN!

I am also a hillbilly from the mountains of East Tennessee.

Hey, Peggy - I wear shoes, visit the dentist, care about my country AND I vote Democrat.

[linazelle]

23. Another native hillbilly here, from West VA. I agree with you--

she's full of it. But, I will say that West VA is one of the most beautiful places on earth.

[in_cog_ni_to]

25. W. Virginia is one of our MOST BEAUTIFUL states!

It's breathtaking. My sister lives in Virginia and we travel through W. Virginia when we go to visit. Truly beautiful. I'm sorry Peggy Noonan had to soil it by visiting. :(

[Gildor Inglorion]

26. Yes, it is...in fact, all the southern Appalachians are glorious.

:dem:

[Mika]

5. The dumber and less involved the better

Few people I met seemed interested in politics. I got the impression they see is as something dull and faraway, as a normal person would.

Leave politics to the (GOPer) pros. They'll take care of us. :sarcasm:

[Cocoa]

7. that's exactly her message

real Americans don't care about politics, only the alien cheese-eating blue-staters do.

[bballny]

6. Probably the first

time she has ever had dirt under her feet.

[vademocrat]

8. "big crosses made of white wood on the side of the road"

These are probably marking where people have died in car accidents - this trend started back in the '90s I think...

"The highways are perfect looking, unstained by wear and tear, and not many people seem to use them." Gee, MAYBE they can't afford the gas for their cars!

This article makes me want to :puke:

To bad so many people won't see through the bs to the arrogant superiority complex that lies underneath...

[patcox2]

9. So many lies, so many lies, I haven't the time to list.

Here is one, she claims WV has the lowest inscidence of violent crime because everyone owns a gun. Here is the truth:

"In the year 2000 West Virginia had an estimated population of 1,808,344 which ranked the state 37th in population. For that year the State of West Virginia had a total Crime Index of 2,602.8 reported incidents per 100,000 people. This ranked the state as having the 47th highest total Crime Index. For Violent Crime West Virginia had a reported incident rate of 316.5 per 100,000 people. This ranked the state as having the 34th highest occurrence for Violent Crime among the states. For crimes against Property, the state had a reported incident rate of 2,286.3 per 100,000 people, which ranked as the state 47th highest. Also in the year 2000 West Virginia had 2.5 Murders per 100,000 people, ranking the state as having the 38th highest rate for Murder. West Virginia’s 18.3 reported Forced Rapes per 100,000 people, ranked the state 49th highest. For Robbery, per 100,000 people, West Virginia’s rate was 41.4 which ranked the state as having the 41st highest for Robbery. The state also had 254.2 Aggravated Assaults for every 100,000 people, which indexed the state as having the 24th highest position for this crime among the states. For every 100,000 people there were 546.9 Burglaries, which ranks West Virginia as having the 36th highest standing among the states. Larceny - Theft were reported 1,556.1 times per hundred thousand people in West Virginia which standing is the 50th highest among the states. Vehicle Theft occurred 183.3 times per 100,000 people, which fixed the state as having the 43rd highest for vehicle theft among the states."


Just for shits and giggles here is a map that shows that the blue states without exception have the lowest crime rates and the red states have the highest, which I am sure Noonan would love: http://www.doc.state.ok.us/MAPS/incrimUS.htm

Here is part of a statistical review which shows that the states with the highest gun ownership also have the highest crime rates:

"The second set of data splits up the 50 states into nine regions, and ranks them by gun ownership. This column of the table , titled "Regions," therefore has a number of 1-9, with 1 being the highest gun ownership, and 9 being the lowest. While this does not break it down state-by-state, what we are looking for are trends. If we compare crime to gun ownership by region (remember, a lower number means more guns)

--The states in the top third of the crime spectrum: 3.411

--The middle third: 5

--The bottom third: 6.294



Conclusion: Using this set of data, the states with the highest crime rates have the highest average gun ownership rates. The states with the lowest gun ownership rates have the lowest aggregate level of gun ownership.



The last set of data we used is another study done on the prevalence of guns within each state. In this study, 1 is the highest level of guns, and 50 is the lowest. Therefore, the higher the number, the less guns there are. Going by this set of data:

--Third of states with most crime: 19.47

--Middle third: 28.375

--Bottom third: 28.823



Conclusion: Using this third and final set of data, we see that while there is not a significant difference in gun ownership between the middle- and lowest-crime states, there is a significantly higher level of gun ownership in the highest-crime third of the 50 states.



Final Observations: All three sets of data corroborate that, on the overall scale, the states with the highest crimes have the most guns, and the least gun control laws. A few anomalies or outliers in this trend that stand out:

--Hawaii has the second-strictest gun control laws, yeah they have the second highest level of crime in the country. Why might this be?

--Maine has very lenient gun ownership laws, yet their crime level is very low. What could be the reasoning behind this?

--Kentucky has both lenient gun laws, as well as a high prevalence of guns, yet their crime level is quite low. Another interesting outlier in the data."


I bet Noonan watches "Matewan" and pines for the days when you could just shoot union members.

[Cocoa]

15. thanks for the debunking

she sneaks in a little disinfo with her lyricism. I'd be willing to bet her slam about Byrd is utterly false as well.

David Brooks also practices this deceptive Red State Blue State garbage, debunked beautifully here...

http://www.phillymag.com/ArticleDisplay.php?id=350

[kentuck]

10. She could have went over the next holler into Kentucky...

and got her some of that good ol' Oxycontin and some hillbilly desperation, if she was looking for some more real America?

[dogday]

11. There are some hungry children in those hills

some of the worst poverty is in the hills of West Virginia... But then again she is seeing her beliefs statistically borne out.

[Cats Against Frist]

12. She's never been to Iowa City

The most liberal city and county in Iowa, ALSO has a very low violent crime rate, and was ranked one of the top places, in the country, to raise children.

I don't know what Noonan is smoking. I'm from "the country," (Southern Illinois) and while I can attest that stupid and shitty people can come from both city (Paris Hilton) & country, the brightest, most responsible people that I know -- the most creative, talented and knowledgeable people I know -- are liberals, who are city dwellers. And, from working in social services, I know that poverty, and the subsequent problems that are associated with it -- violence, theft, neglect of children, alcohol/drug abuse, etc., are no different between city and country areas. Some of the most disgusting people I've ever seen were white and lived in the country. The inner city Hispanics and blacks, with whom I worked, took more pride in their homes, and being clean and neat -- no matter how poor they were, or what their other problems were.

This reminds me of that Jeffrey Sharlet article where the religious people in Colorado Springs warned him about going to the downtown, with its ethnic food places, because it was too "confusing," and pointed him toward the TJ Cinnamon, or whatever.

In the "country," I've been witness to divorce, cheating, child abuse, someone holding a shotgun to someone else's head, someone holding a gun, to their own head, suicide, teen pregnancy, racism and just plain idiocy. And this isn't from social services -- this is from the town, in which I grew up, a small "Christian," dry town, and these people were doctors, doctor's wives, my own SUV-driving extended family, other kids from school.

Everyone has their problems -- even the aforementioned liberals have their own problems -- but their strengths -- stewardship of the Earth, feeding organic food to their kids, creativity in art, music and writing, thriftyness, culture, compassion, political activism, etc., are far more interesting than a trip to Wal-Mart and a 3-hour conversation about Swiffer.

And I like some things about the country/small town, too -- I actually like hunting, and I think shooting is kind of fun -- I like hayrides and hanging out on the farm, with the animals -- hell, I live in a VERY small town, part of the year, when I'm not in Seattle. Population 900.

I invite Noonan to come to "The People's Republic of Johnson County," and take a look around. Maybe she can even eat some sushi at Takanami, or get a latte...

[stanwyck]

13. False sentimentality

with no basis in reality. Some drive-by treacle from a smug sophisticate.
Peggy, go work in one of the hospitals for a few months. Then, a jail. Find out what desperation exists in those bucolic hills.
Report back.

[DancingBear]

14. The hypocrisy is astounding

I live about an hour and a half from D.C., and about an hour from West Virginia.

Every Friday, Interstate 66 West backs up horribly, and everyone knows why.

It is all the D.C. beltway insiders heading off to their "retreats" in West Virginia for the weekend, there to mingle with the locals, and perhaps, if the locals yes sir and no ma'am them enough, throw them a bone in the form of a few bucks.

Gee, why do I have the nagging impression that the ol' Noonan is one of them.

Don't know who you talked to Peggy, but all my acquaintances in West Virginia hate your kind.

Big time.

[warrens]

16. The lowest violent crime rate in the country?

Bullshit. And it wouldn't be as low as it is except that all the guys are home at night, doin' their sisters and daughters.

I like how she uses the term statistically, then doesn't give a citation or a statistic. "I was told..."

Pure bullshit.

[Cocoa]

17. isn't that a wonderful line?

again, "It is very nice, when traveling, to see your beliefs and assumptions statistically borne out."

[warrens]

18. I knew it, here are the STATISTICS, that lying fuck

In the year 2000 West Virginia had an estimated population of 1,808,344 which ranked the state 37th in population. For that year the State of West Virginia had a total Crime Index of 2,602.8 reported incidents per 100,000 people. This ranked the state as having the 47th highest total Crime Index. For Violent Crime West Virginia had a reported incident rate of 316.5 per 100,000 people. This ranked the state as having the 34th highest occurrence for Violent Crime among the states. For crimes against Property, the state had a reported incident rate of 2,286.3 per 100,000 people, which ranked as the state 47th highest. Also in the year 2000 West Virginia had 2.5 Murders per 100,000 people, ranking the state as having the 38th highest rate for Murder. West Virginia’s 18.3 reported Forced Rapes per 100,000 people, ranked the state 49th highest. For Robbery, per 100,000 people, West Virginia’s rate was 41.4 which ranked the state as having the 41st highest for Robbery. The state also had 254.2 Aggravated Assaults for every 100,000 people, which indexed the state as having the 24th highest position for this crime among the states. For every 100,000 people there were 546.9 Burglaries, which ranks West Virginia as having the 36th highest standing among the states. Larceny - Theft were reported 1,556.1 times per hundred thousand people in West Virginia which standing is the 50th highest among the states. Vehicle Theft occurred 183.3 times per 100,000 people, which fixed the state as having the 43rd highest for vehicle theft among the states.

[warrens]

21. I just sent this to the editors

Asking them if they hire liars and right-wing disinformationists as a preference or if someone forces them to.

[Norquist Nemesis]

19. "When they call someplace Paradise

Kiss it goodbye"

Eagles

Look out WV. Here they come.

[La Coliniere]

20. Look at that beautiful

flat top mountain! Look another, and another. Oh, and another.! WV sure knows how to take care of their mountains don't they! Hey Peg, where did all the mountain tops go?

[Straight Shooter]

24. "like an emerald you dig from a hill with your hands"

The WSJ actually accepts this tripe as worthy of publishing? :eyes:

[Blue Belle]

27. Peggy Noonan has Fans??

She'd be hard pressed to find them on the DU...