As soon as I heard it I knew she'd be trying to spin it to mean something other than what she actually meant. She lies for a living and she needed to try and frame this some way that her Republican Masters could live with or she'd be out on the street.

She wishes that instead of "political BS" she had actually said "steaming pile of political BS."

Mark my words, this is a harbinger of things to come. Based on the text of Ms. Noonan's "apology", I would say she is quite pleased her remarks were recorded.

Noonan wasn't "mugged" by the media; she stated her opinion and because it was one of dissent from the republican party, she was lambasted by the right. So what does she do? Stand by her own words? No, her words obviously mean nothing as she pretends that she is a victim.

(So why is she paid such hefty sums? Why do we care what she says? She has no credibility anymore.)

There is no courage in the republican party. And there is no patriotism in a person who allows their political party to come before the good of the nation.

Obama has courage, strength, and honesty. Virtues nonexistent in the present administration, and those candidates on the right.

She said it and it's out there. I don't think anything was taken out of context.

I noticed that it hasn't received as much attention as Jesse Jackson's open mic gaffe.

And, no problem on the epithet, Peggy. One of the gripes I've always had about you is that you wouldn't say shit even if you had a mouthful of it. Now I know you can call like you see 'em - just not in your column.

This is emblematic of the real agenda behind the Novaks, Noonans and other hacks who bloviate in and on the right-wing media. In private, they know the people for whom they pimp are incompetent, power-crazed, delusional and dangerous. They KNOW this, and they despise these people. But in public, in one ghastly act of hypocrisy after another, they slash and attack on behalf of these same Cheneys, Palins, Bushes and Roves for one reason: their income, status and fame depend on them doing so. I cannot think of a more disgusting betrayal of one's duty as a journalist or one's own personal principles.

Oh, yeah -- it's SPEAKING THE TRUTH in a political setting.

Guess this is simply another gaffe -- and Noonan doesn't exactly disown her "bullshit" comment, she just tries to say she was somehow "taken out of context". Huh -- seems to ME the context was right there for all to hear in that extended audio clip. There really aren't too many ways to interpret her comments except that she really thinks Palin's selection was, and is, BULLSHIT.

Noonan's published WSJ column linked in yesterday's War Room item was very adept at refusing to stake out her personal opinion about Palin. Talk about weasel words -- Noonan simply fell back on saying, well, the Palin choice was a gamble that might or might not work. That was about it. She pointedly did NOT write anything very positive about her -- so read between the lines and you can see what ISN'T there. And that would be a positive opinion about the actual selection of Palin!

MSNBC gave her the last word during the preview in Denver, but I didn't notice them giving Carville the last word at the Republican convention. Is she officially a Freeper? Is MSNBC the official Republican, Wall St Journal network? And shouldnt they be paying taxes for campaign ads everytime they stack their newscast in favor of Bush and his friends?

Not Noonan's embarassing off-mic moment--stuff happens, and I'm pretty sure those guys talk like that in private all the time, on both sides--but Palin's smarmy (ahem, "fiery") speech last night. Not because it hit hard before adequately establishing her credentials (though it did); not becasue it was misleading at best (though it was); and not becasuse it was a shameful slight on community service (though it was). This is going to turn out bad for the GOP because they've opened themselves up to a potentally devastating strategic criticism:

The Republican Party has accepted Obama's perspective on this election and are hastily trying to rebrand themselves as the party of change. They've realized that Obama's concept of change is a winning issue and are trying to coopt the movement before they run out of time. I agree that Palin has come out strong, but does anybody here seriously believe that she would have been chosen if Obama wasn't doing so well?

These guys have already accepted that Obama's ideas are the best ones. By God, he's already won. If they are trying to fight on Obama's turf there is simply no way they can eke out a victory. All Obama has to say now is "I did it first and better. I am already a leader on both sides of the aisle. So do you want the real thing or do you want Obama lite?"

Let Palin have her day in the spotlight. It's Obama's spotlight.

Book it. Done.

cat's out of the bag and every other cliché that can be attached to your unlikely candor. You can now say what ever you want. None is buying a nickel of it. What you do have going for you is that 42% of America is too dumb to understand why its important that you got caught saying it.

Another way Peggy Noonan only sort-of takes responsibility for her open mic moment is by claiming that the clip truncated her conversation. I have watched the clip a few times and think her statement on the length of her conversation can only be true if somebody took the time to separately edit the soundtrack and remerge it with an unedited image track. The large video billboard on screen during the commercial break has a refresh rate of 10 seconds, and does not vary throughout the duration of the clip as it would if somebody had edited out certain sequences. The conversation starts at the beginning of the commercial break and ends with everybody saying goodbye and leaving the sound-stage. If Peggy Noonan asserts that the clip was truncated, she should be able to prove that that was in fact done.