Sullivan reminds us that Peggy Noonan was rather more sanguine about Bush the Destroyer of Worlds immediately after the ’04 election.  Here are some samples:

George W. Bush is the first president to win more than 50% of the popular vote since 1988. (Bill Clinton failed to twice; Mr. Bush failed to last time and fell short of a plurality by half a million.) The president received more than 59 million votes, breaking Ronald Reagan’s old record of 54.5 million. Mr. Bush increased his personal percentages in almost every state in the union. He carried the Catholic vote and won 42% of the Hispanic vote and 24% of the Jewish vote (up from 19% in 2000.)

It will be hard for the mainstream media to continue, in the face of these facts, the mantra that we are a deeply and completely divided country. But they’ll try!

I suppose everyone gets a bit carried away when their side wins an election, but how Bush’s managing to break 50% proved that we are not a deeply divided country remains a mystery.  Then there is this remarkable relic from the age of Iraq war triumphalism:

The elites of Old Europe are depressed. Savor. The nonelites of Old Europe, and the normal folk of New Europe, especially our beloved friend Poland, will not be depressed, and many will be happy. Let’s savor that too.

As I have said over and over again, most people–the so-called nonelites–in “New Europe” were against the war and have no great love for Bush.  The Hungarians were liable to be depressed because we Hungarians are a depressive people, but no one was going to be dancing in the streets over Mr. Bush’s victory (and no one did dance).  The “nonelites” (a.k.a., the vast majority of the people) in “Old Europe” were stunned and vaguely horrified at Mr. Bush’s re-election.  I am always hearing anecdotes from friends and colleagues who were in Europe in 2004-05, and the constant theme was the obsession the Europeans had with figuring out how Bush won re-election.  It made no sense to them, and they were seeking to understand how something so bizarre could happen.  Indeed, I have wondered about that more than a few times myself. 

In other parts of the article, there are other embarrassing comparisons to Valley Forge and Agincourt (no, really, there are) and prostrations before Limbaugh and Hannity, but perhaps it is enough to say that Ms. Noonan has come a long way in the last two and a half years.